CLENTON
OWENSBY
Professor of range management
Clenton Owensby arrived at Kansas State University in 1964 as
a range management scientist. Since then, he has performed extensive
research in the areas of range burning and the greenhouse effect,
written an award-winning book and assisted in the production of
an Oscar-winning movie.
Owensby, professor of range management at K-State, spent the early part of his career studying the advantages and safety procedures behind range burning. His expertise led him to supervise a fire scene in the 1979 movie, "Days of Heaven," which won an Academy Award for best cinematography.
The greenhouse effect became a major research area for Owensby in the late 1980s, when he began an experiment to show the effects the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide would have on Kansas' grasslands.
Owensby's research has earned him distinction in the Gamma Sigma Delta, Sigma Xi, Alpha Zeta and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. He has been awarded the Gamma Sigma Delta Faculty Award of Merit, the Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit and the K-State outstanding faculty member. His book, "Kansas Prairie Wildflowers," won the 25th annual Midwestern Books Competition.
NASA, U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute for Global Environmental Change all have been major grant contributors to Owensby's work. He has been awarded nearly $3.5 million in research grants.
Owensby, a New Mexico native, received his bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University and his doctoral degree from K-State.
Owensby can be reached at 785-532-7232, or via e-mail at owensby@k-state.edu.