Dr. Marty Matlock, professor of ecological engineering, has taught at the University of Arkansas Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department for ten years. Since arriving at U of A, he ecological engineering classes of all levels and researched a number of topics, including life-cycle analysis, stream restoration and risk-based pollutant load allocations.
Matlock’s educational career did not lead him straight to engineering. He earned his first bachelor’s and master’s degrees in exploration for solutions to the estimated ratio of people on earth in future decades and amount of farming land.
“There are technology solutions to it,” he said. “How do humans live without destroying the planet we live on?” he asked.
The search for future reliable food and energy sources turned him to science for solutions.
Matlock completed a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in plant sciences from the Oklahoma State University, and began his career as a professor at Texas A & M University. During his time there, he developed waste treatment systems and directed the Water Quality Research Laboratory.
“I’m a scientist to the core,” he said. But his work experience at an engineering firm put the right tools in his grasp.
“I liked the problem-solving power and I wanted those skills. I knew I had to have them, so I returned to earn my undergraduate equivalent and masters in engineering.”
When Matlock realized that feeding the world had shifted from an agricultural problem to an economic problem, he knew he had to become an engineer.
“During the 1979 famine in Ethiopia…my global consciousness changed,” he said. “I developed a crucial understanding of causes,” which helped him develop solutions more efficiently.
The challenge, Matlock said, is against scarcity or high demand for resources.
“Sustainability is the ability to do what we do today and not hurt the future generations,” he said. “This is not a philanthropic concern…instead, it’s a self-survival concern—profit persists.”
He believes the fundamentals of sustainability rely on the basic rules of commerce.
“Know your supply chain, make it controllable, understand the full evolution of it, the unique integrated solution,” he said. “They’re all driving to put the product on the shelf. Whether you’re growing soy, cotton for jeans, it’s all commerce…the ability to (keep it going) is the challenge of resources. Scarcity is conflict.”
But commerce can’t function without engineering, which is why Matlock accepted sustainability and engineering as a package.
“It deals with efficiency, solving complex problems with limited resources. Here, engineering is key,” he said. “I couldn’t solve (major, world-scale) problems without engineering skills.
“In 20 years, engineering fundamentals haven’t changed…it deals with every facet of how we take energy from the planet.”
Matlock’s passion for science, sustainability and world solutions comes largely from an adoration for the late Norman Borlaug.
“He’s the only agronomist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He saved 2 billion lives, which is more than anyone else,” Matlock said. “He was a friend and mentor at Texas A & M, why I went to teach there.”
In 2001, Matlock arrived in Arkansas after Borlag’s retirement. “There was no other reason to be in Texas,” he said.
Teaching millennial generation students is different, given the combination of contemporary events, technology and connectivity that affect their viewpoint, Matlock said. It sets them apart from previous generations of students.
“Global vision. Their understanding of the world around them is so different from even students five years ago,” he said. “They have a better perspective of global platform. That’s a dramatic change.”
In nearly twenty years of teaching, Matlock noticed significant differences in the students at U of A.
“In Arkansas, motivation is social. It’s less personal and more community.”
In other universities, Matlock found plenty of students that served their own interest or were only professionally-centered.
“U of A is not a cut-throat environment. These students don’t feel entitled and they have a good work ethic,” he said. “They have a sense of collaboration.”
When he’s not teaching, conducting research or advising students and student organizations, Dr. Matlock is usually spending time outdoors with his three children.
“My life is teaching and raising them,” he said. “We ride bikes, hike in Arkansas…we’ll swim, canoe and sail along Beaver Lake.”
Matlock enjoys machine-within-a-machine movies. His former favorite the Matrix was replaced by Inception. “It makes the Matrix look silly…the perception of (Inception) is much more exotic.”
Matlock acts as advisor for the American Ecological Engineering Society, a student organization of which he was formerly vice president and president. The group will attend a national conference in North Carolina in May, and make a trip to Milan, Italy, the week before.
“Our Senior Design Teams are on the cutting edge of bio-medical research,” he said. “These are highly sought-after students.”
“We focus on life-cycle analysis…and neighborhood development.”
Matlock suggested a key to success for biological and agricultural engineering students is through AEES certification workshops and research opportunities.
“It’s a big opportunity for students to work with professors,” something he said is an achievable position. “There are as many as 20 students to one professor. Students benefit from their skill and expertise.”
Matlock’s favorite aspect of teaching is opening up a new worldview to students.
“College opened up the world to me,” he said. “The vision…power of what we do. That’s why I work here.”
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