Ian Kropp

Environmental and Computer Science Engineer

Curriculum vitae

Ian Meyer Kropp, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science

Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH, United States

About

I am an assistant professor of computer science at Ohio Northern University. My research covers both fields of my Ph.D.: Biosystems Engineering and Computer Science Engineering. I design algorithms that develop sustainable agricultural management practices, while simultaneously balancing environmental, social, and economic goals using multiobjective optimization. My primary research interest is in merging mathematical optimization and human decision making through multi-objective optimization, especially through interactive optimization.

Education

InstitutionDegreeYearField of study
Michigan State UniversityPh.D.2022Biosystems Engineering (dual degree)
Michigan State UniversityPh.D.2022Computer Science (dual degree)
Michigan State UniversityM.Sc.2018Biosystems Engineering
Ohio State UniversityB.Sc.2015Computer Science Engineering

Core Skills and Expertise

  1. Optimization: Multiobjective optimization, evolutionary optimization, interactive optimization, large-scale optimization
  2. Artificial Intelligence: Data Mining, Model Selection, Decision Trees, Ensemble Methods, Regression, Support Vector Machines, Clustering
  3. Agricultural Engineering: Crop modeling (DSSAT), Agent-based modeling, irrigation management, climate variability
  4. Engineering Education: 4 years experience in teaching computer science and engineering students
  5. Software Development: Python, C, C++, JavaScript, Java
  6. Data Science: Python, Pandas, numpy, matplotlib, pymoo, R
  7. Web Development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Vue, Express
  8. Databases: MySQL
  9. Presentational Speaking

Publications

Peer reviewed articles

  1. Kropp, I., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Jha, P. K., Spinner, E., & Pulido, G. T. (2026). Integrating interactive decision making into evolutionary multiobjective agricultural optimization. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 242, 111359.
  2. Kropp, I., Nejadhashemi, A. P., & Deb, K. (2024). Improved Evolutionary Operators for Sparse Large-Scale Multiobjective Optimization Problems. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 28(2), 460–473.
  3. Ghane, E., Nejadhashemi, A. P., & Kropp, I. (2023). A drain spacing tool that estimates the optimum subsurface drain spacing for maximum profit. Journal of the ASABE.
  4. Estell, J. K., Coffman-Wolph, S., & Kropp, I. M. (2023). “Mmm… Donuts!” Using Real-World Scenarios in a First-Year Programming Course. In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  5. Kropp, I., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Jha, P., & Hernandez-Suarez, J. S. (2022). Agricultural Innovization: An Optimization-Driven solution for sustainable agricultural intensification in Michigan. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 199, 107143.
  6. Kropp, I.M., Nejadhashemi, A.P., Julien, R., Mitchell, J., & Whelton, A.J., (2022). A Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Downstream Water End-use Events with Upstream Sensors. Water Supply.
  7. Kropp, I.M., Nejadhashemi, A.P., Kalyanmoy Deb, (2022). Benefits of Sparse Population Sampling in Multi-objective Evolutionary Computing for Large-Scale Sparse Optimization Problems. Swarm and Evolutionary Computation.
  8. Deb, K., Lu, Z., Kropp, I., Hernandez-Suarez, J. S., Hussein, R., Miller, S., & Nejadhashemi, A. P. (2022). Minimizing Expected Deviation in Upper-level Outcomes Due to Lower-level Decision-making in Hierarchical Multi-objective Problems. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.
  9. Ferriby, H., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Hernandez-Suarez, J. S., Moore, N., Kpodo, J., Kropp, I.M., Eeswaran, R., Belton, B., & Haque, M. M. (2021). Harnessing machine learning techniques for mapping aquaculture waterbodies in Bangladesh. Remote Sensing, 13(23), 4890.
  10. Herman, M.R., J.S. Hernandez-Suarez, A. P. Nejadhashemi, Kropp, I.M., A.M. Sadeghi. (2020) Evaluation of Multi- and Many-Objective Optimization Techniques to Improve the Performance of a Hydrologic Model Using Evapotranspiration Remote Sensing Data, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
  11. Ley, C.J., Proctor, C.R., Jordan, K., Ra, K., Noh, Y., Odimayomi, T., Julien, R., Kropp, I.M., Mitchell, J., Nejadhashemi, A.P., Whelton, A.J., and Aw, T. G. (2020) Impacts of Municipal Water–Rainwater Source Transitions on Microbial and Chemical Water Quality Dynamics at the Tap. Environmental Science & Technology 54.18: 11453-11463.
  12. Kropp, I., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Deb, K., Abouali, M., Roy, P. C., Adhikari, U., & Hoogenboom, G. (2019). A multi-objective approach to water and nutrient efficiency for sustainable agricultural intensification. Agricultural Systems, 173, 289-302.
  13. Hernandez-Suarez, J. S., Nejadhashemi, A. P., Kropp, I. M., Abouali, M., Zhang, Z., & Deb, K. (2018). Evaluation of the impacts of hydrologic model calibration methods on predictability of ecologically-relevant hydrologic indices. Journal of hydrology, 564, 758-772.

Oral presentations and posters

  1. 2026: iEMS, Dublin, Ireland – Interactivity in Evolutionary Multiobjective Agricultural Optimization (presentation)
  2. 2025: DEMO Seminar, University of Jyväskylä, Finland – Mobile Health Clinic Management as an Explainable Multi-Objective Optimization Problem - An Exploratory Analysis (presentation)
  3. 2024: AGU, Washington DC – Interactively Integrating Decision Making into Agricultural Evolutionary Multi-Objective Optimization (poster)
  4. 2024: DEMO Seminar, University of Jyväskylä, Finland – Interactively Integrating Decision Making into Evolutionary Multi-Objective Agricultural Optimization (presentation)
  5. 2024: iEMS, East Lansing, MI – Interactively Integrating Decision Making into Evolutionary Multi-Objective Agricultural Optimization (presentation)
  6. 2021: EPA grant R836890 decision support tool (presentation)
  7. 2020: Midwest Cover Crop Council Annual Conference, Kansas City, MO – Cover Crop Selection Tool Reboot
  8. 2019: International Conference on Evolutionary Multi-Criterion Optimization. East Lansing, MI – A Multi-Objective Approach to Improve Crop Production in a Sustainable Manner (poster)
  9. 2018: ASABE annual international meeting. Detroit, MI – Engineering Crop Water and Nutrient Management for Sustainable Agricultural Intensification (presentation)
  10. 2017: National Systems Conference. Agra, India – A Systems Approach to Water and Nutrient Efficiency for Sustainable Agriculture (presentation)

Honors and Grants

Courses Taught

Peer review and professional service

Prior and current employment

08/22—present: Assistant Professor of Computer Science

05/17—08/22: Graduate Research Assistant

06/16—04/17: Web Developer — Mighty Company

05/13—06/16: Software Engineer — OCLC