Innovation and dedication: Ferguson alumnus provides honorable service to agricultural engineering
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
From small-town beginnings to groundbreaking research, Michael Buser has dedicated his career to improving the field of agricultural engineering.
Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, Buser watched his father, Gary, work for the oilfield industry, which led to Buser moving across Oklahoma as a child, he said.
Upon graduation, Buser attended Oklahoma State University for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biosystems engineering.
After completing his master’s degree, Buser accepted a position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service in Mississippi to be a research engineer.
“After starting at the USDA-ARS as a research engineer with only a master’s degree, I quickly learned those scientists without an engineering doctorate were not openly welcomed to research planning meetings,” Buser said. “After a few of those meetings, I figured if all I needed was another piece of paper, I was going to go back to school to get my Ph.D.”
While earning his doctorate from Texas A&M University, Buser continued to work for the USDA-ARS in Stoneville, Mississippi.
During the fall and spring semesters, he took on-campus classes, and during the summer, Buser went back to Stoneville to continue his research. While at Texas A&M, Buser worked with Calvin Parnell, who was the cotton engineering chair and one of the most respected researchers within the cotton industry, Buser said.
After completing his doctorate, he and his wife, Susie, moved to Lubbock, Texas, where Buser set up one of the largest air quality labs in the country to conduct agricultural particulate matter research. The data from these tests are now used in more than 98% of the cotton ginning air-quality permits in the U.S. as well as internationally, Buser said.
While returning from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual meeting in 2008, Buser sat on a plane next to Doug Hamilton, OSU biosystems and agricultural engineering faculty member.
“Doug asked if I was ready to come home,” Buser said. “It took me a minute to clue in, but he was saying a position was open to be on the faculty at OSU in the BAE department.”
Buser accepted the OSU Extension and research position and moved with his family to Stillwater, where he served as a faculty member for nine years. While at OSU, Buser connected with Mark Wilkins, a former OSU BAE faculty member. Wilkins and Buser became good friends through the opportunity to work on multiple projects together, Wilkins said.
“Mike is hard-working, smart, and gets things done,” Wilkins said. “If you were to look at his résumé or curriculum vitae, he has all of these different projects and has been an integral part of them.”
Buser had his boots on the ground doing the work, Wilkins said. He remembers watching Buser in the field harvesting switchgrass, not afraid to put in the time, Wilkins added.
“Buser can work well in multiple fields,” Wilkins said, “whether in academics, in research or in the field.”
One of Buser’s career highlights, he said, was working on a large national air sampling study for cotton ginning.
“When I do research, it needs to be stakeholder-driven,” Buser said. “If the research is not going to benefit the producers, then I don’t need to be doing it.”
Buser’s work ethic, passion and desire to educate have made a significant impact on students as well as on industry professionals, said Erin Portman, assistant manager of marketing and communications in the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.
Buser is in the profession to make the cotton industry better for future generations, Portman said, whether that is through teaching students or serving on the national level. His passion for the industry shines through, she added.
In Fall 2024, Buser was inducted into the CEAT Hall of Fame.
“To be selected for the CEAT Hall of Fame, the individual must be a distinguished engineer, architect or technologist who has made an outstanding contribution to their profession or OSU,” Portman said.
The CEAT Hall of Fame selection process takes up to six months, as nominations are gathered and given to a selection committee for review.
After the CEAT selection committee has made its final decisions, the CEAT dean calls to congratulate the honoree, she added.
The CEAT Hall of Fame is an honor bestowed to individuals who have made an impact on the college and their area of discipline, Portman said, and is a way CEAT can say thank you.
“I am humbled to have received this honor,” Buser said. “Most people receive this award upon retirement, and I feel like I am just getting started.”
Story by Caitlyn Mack | Cowboy Journal