AMES, Iowa — Jordan Macknick will present the 2026 Shivvers Memorial Lecture, “The State of Agrivoltaics Research: Global insights, trends and frontiers” on the Iowa State University campus, Tuesday, May 19, at noon, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.
This free public lecture will be hosted by the Electric Power and Research Center at Iowa State University and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
Macknick is the lead energy-water-land analyst at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His primary work addresses national and regional implications of different energy pathways in the context of water and land resources, opportunities to improve the energy management and flexibility of water infrastructure and innovative approaches to co-locate solar and agriculture.
Since 2015, he has led the InSPIRE Project, the largest and longest running agrivoltaics research program in the United States. He chairs the National Agrivoltaics Research Network in the United States and serves as co-chair of the International Energy Agency’s Agrivoltaics Action Group, which coordinates agrivoltaic research globally. Since 2019, he has chaired the Department of Energy’s National Laboratory Working Group on energy-water research.
Macknick has a bachelor’s in mathematics and environmental studies from Hamline University and a Master of Environmental Science degree in Transboundary Natural Resource Policy from Yale.
“We will benefit from Mr. Macknick’s experience in the agrivoltaics sector to help inform efforts to generate renewable energy that is most compatible with continued agricultural production,” said Matthew O’Neal, Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture and a professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology.
Agrivoltaics is used to describe the variety of agricultural practices conducted under and around solar panels. Directly integrating solar energy technologies with agriculture is an emerging field that has been growing rapidly in the past decade, according to O’Neal.
“Agrivoltaic systems create novel ecosystems that can lead to important changes in plant growth, microclimate conditions, soil quality and solar technology performance,” he said. “Thanks to a public-private partnership with Alliant Energy, Iowa State is exploring a subset of agricultural activities most amenable to the unique environment of a solar farm and developing best practices for economic and environmentally sustainable production conducted within utility-scale solar farms designed for mega-watt scale production.”
The Shivvers lectures hosted by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture focus on issues of sustainability, agriculture and the food system, in memory of John Shivvers, who farmed near Knoxville. Initiated in 1969, the events are held with support from the Shivvers family.
“The Leopold Center is pleased to be able to help bring this distinguished expert in agrivoltaics to the Iowa State campus and Ames,” said Stephen Dinsmore, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and chair of Iowa State’s Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management.
Register for Electric Power Research Center annual meeting
This lecture opens the annual meeting of Iowa State’s Electric Power Research Center.
The annual meeting is also open to the public, but participants are asked to register by Tuesday, May 5. The registration includes a buffet lunch after the lecture on May 19 and access to a series of additional talks May 19-20 on topics of electric production and data center development. For those who cannot attend in person, there is an online option for registrants.
Those attending in person are invited to a free tour to the Alliant Energy Solar Farm at Iowa State University the afternoon of May 19 (weather-permitting). A separate registration is requested to attend the tour.
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Contacts:
Matthew O’Neal, Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, 515-451-3168, oneal@iastate.edu
Stephen Dinsmore, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 515-294-1348, cootjr@iastate.edu
Michael Killewald, Agrivoltaics Outreach Coordinator, 989-278-6590, killewal@iastate.edu