Douglas Hamilton

I am an Associate Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Extension Waste Management Specialist.

The mission of extension is to bring the land grant university to the people. True, the extension service delivers unbiased, scientifically-sound research information outside of the university classroom, but extension also serves as a conduit bringing real-life, researchable questions back to the laboratory. As an engineer, my role is to seek out problems at the intersection of agricultural production and environmental preservation and solve them through educational programs and applied research.

I have worked for Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service since 1995. I mostly work in manure handling and treatment, but deal with all types of organic materials. My three program areas are material properties and handling, systems management (including safety and regulation), and treatment.

Before coming to Oklahoma, I was the Soil and Water Extension Specialist for the Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service. Many years ago, I also worked as an engineer at the pollution control agency for the State of Arkansas. I earned all my degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Arkansas, Iowa State University, and Penn State University. I also graduated from the world's most famous high school – Little Rock Central.

Research Interests:

I conduct applied research in organic waste treatment and nutrient recycling.

For nearly four decades I have worked on anaerobic digestion of liquids and slurries. The focus on my most recent efforts has been development of the Anaerobic Sequencing Batch Reactor (ASBR) for treatment of low-solids liquids. An ASBR digester is able to treat organic liquids with a very small hydraulic detention time, which greatly reduces reactor size. I also contributed to the understanding and standardization of facultative lagoons for agricultural waste treatment.

I also work with composting and vermicomposting to treat solid waste materials. I have developed process parameters to treat food wastes, poultry litter, and poultry mortality compost using earth worms. Early in my career at Oklahoma State I developed an easy to operate composting system for horse owners.