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Research Interests

• Climatology
• Agriculture
• Biogeography
• Sports Statistics
• GIS

Bio

Dr. Steven R. Schultze is a climatologist and an Associate Professor of Geography in the Department of Earth Sciences at the ºÚÁÏÌìÌÃ. He received his degrees from the University of Florida (2008), Western Michigan University (2011), and Michigan State University (2015) – all in Geography. Dr. Schultze focuses on Agricultural Climatology wherein he explores the interplay between crop production and global climate, mesoclimate, and microclimate change. He uses a combination of field observations – mostly in-situ­ measurements supported by mesonet observations – along with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to analyze changes to agricultural landscapes over space and time. Solving agricultural mysteries is one of his favorite pastimes.

As a Ph.D. student, he explored the connection between climate change and Michigan's wine industry. He found that climate change has contributed to the existence of Michigan's improbable industry and will continue to make the region more accommodating for high quality wine production in the coming decades. Since then, he has published numerous papers on the topic of climate change and cool-climate viticultural regions. Such regions require intense study in the present, because they are the future of the global wine industry. Dr. Schultze has also worked with cherries, potatoes, peaches, satsuma oranges, and hops.

In addition to climate research, Dr. Schultze (a huge sports fan) looks the role of statistics in sports.  In particular, he has looked at creating an objective +/- metric for establishing player performance in soccer while spatially mapped differences in shot location depending on different scenarios presented by the +/- metric. As shown in his research, if there was ever an empirical way to single out a player for bad play, this is it.

In 2017, he became the Program Coordinator for the GIS Program at the University of ºÚÁÏÌìÌà Alabama, and founded the USA GIS Center in Early 2020. The Center was created to be a resource for the university faculty, community, and students to come together to find GIS and Remote Sensing based solutions for any number of problems. The GIS Center has worked on projects ranging from urban floodzone mapping to finding spatial patterns in cancer patients to archaeological hot spot mapping in the Mobile Bay region, and is always looking for more opportunities.

Dr. Schultze enjoys working with undergraduate students in the field or in the lab. If you are interested in working on any of these projects, please send him an email or stop by his office. 

Publications

Journal Articles

• VanderWeide, J., Gottschalk, C., Schultze, S.R., Nasrollahiazar, E., Poni, S., & Sabbatini, P.  2020. Impacts of pre-bloom leaf removal on wine grape production and quality parameters: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 2245.

• Schultze, S.R., Campbell, M.N., Walley, S., Pfeiffer, K., Wilkins, B. 2020. Exploration of sub-field microclimates and winter temperatures: Implications for precision agriculture.  International Journal of Biometeorology, 65, 1043–1052.

• Schultze, S.R., & Sabbatini, P. 2019. Implications of a Climate-Changed Atmosphere on Cool-Climate Viticulture. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 58(5), 1141- 1153.

• Schultze S.R., Mujica, F.C., Kleinheksel, A.J. 2019.  Regional Trends and Preconceptions of Diabetes-related Health Care Management. Social Science and Medicine, 222, 225-230.

• Schultze, S.R., & Wellbrock, C. M. 2018. A weighted plus/minus metric for individual soccer player performance. Journal of Sports Analytics, 4(2), 121-131.

• Schultze, S.R., Sabbatini, P., Luo, L.  2016.  Effects of a Warming Trend on Cool Climate Viticulture in Michigan, USA. Springer 5:1119, 1-15.

• Schultze S.R., Sabbatini, P., Luo, L.  2016.  Interannual Effects of Early Season Growing Degree Day Accumulation and Frost in the Cool Climate Viticulture of Michigan. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(5): 975-988.

• Schultze, S.R., Sabbatini, P., Andresen, J.A.  2014.  Spatial and Temporal Study of Climatic Variability on Grape Production in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 65(2): 179-188. 

• Baustian, M.M., Mavrommati, G.M., Dreelin, E.A., Esselman, P., Schultze, S.R., Qian, L., Gim   Aw, T., Luo, L., Rose, J.B.  2013. A One Hundred Year Review of the Socioecological System of Lake St. Clair, North America. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 40(1): 15-26.

Courses

• GEO101 - Atmospheric Processes**
• GEO102 - Landscape Processes*
• GEO314 - Geography of Europe (Study Abroad to Germany)''
• GEO410 - Biogeography^
• MET/GEO443 - Climatology**
• GIT461 - Environmental Apps in GIS^^
• GEO475 - Field Work'
• GEO490H - Geography of Alcohol*

* = Every Fall, ** = Every Spring, ^ = Every odd Fall, ^^ = Every even Fall,  ' = Every odd Summer, '' = Every even Summer