Ryan Lefers
Griffith Endowed Chair, SD WRI Director & SDSU State Extension Specialist
Biography
Dr. Ryan Lefers is the Griffith Endowed Chair, South 啵啵直播秀 Water Resource Institute director and state water quality extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at SDSU.
Lefers' research interests at SDSU revolve around developing technologies and programs to protect, utilize and enhance water resources in South 啵啵直播秀 for the benefit of state residents, farmers, businesses, livestock, fish and wildlife.
Lefers holds a B.S. and M.S. in agricultural engineering from South 啵啵直播秀 State University and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Throughout his career, Lefers has focused his efforts on systems that serve to advance water and food security in a sustainable way. A broad range of experiences in business, research, agriculture and water has set him apart as a global expert in his field. Lefers grew up on a mixed crops and dairy farm in Corsica, South 啵啵直播秀. After graduation from SDSU, he became a licensed professional engineer while working for Wenck Associates (now Stantec) in Minnesota. From there, Lefers moved to Saudi Arabia to pursue his Ph.D. at KAUST. At KAUST, Lefers investigated technologies that could enable food to be grown in harsh, hot environments with minimal water and resource use. Lefers went on to serve as a postdoc and research scientist at KAUST before moving to Tucson, Arizona, as the co-founder and CEO of iyris (formerly Red Sea Farms). Lefers began his current role as the Griffith Endowed Chair, South 啵啵直播秀 Water Resource Institute director and state water quality extension specialist at SDSU in August 2025.
Lefers has co-founded three companies in agriculture and water resources: a Saudi-based aquaponics produce company called Ghiras alSahra, a USA-based scientific services and aquaponics consultancy company called A&A Epiphany, and a global deep-tech IP-based company providing abiotic-stress resilience and agriculture water saving technologies called iyris (formerly Red Sea Farms).
Lefers is an expert in water quality and water management in agriculture systems and understands well the complex interactions between food, water, energy, environment and climate. Lefers' passion is to serve people and steward the planet through education, research, extension and innovation.
Lefers' research interests at SDSU revolve around developing technologies and programs to protect, utilize and enhance water resources in South 啵啵直播秀 for the benefit of state residents, farmers, businesses, livestock, fish and wildlife.
Lefers holds a B.S. and M.S. in agricultural engineering from South 啵啵直播秀 State University and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Throughout his career, Lefers has focused his efforts on systems that serve to advance water and food security in a sustainable way. A broad range of experiences in business, research, agriculture and water has set him apart as a global expert in his field. Lefers grew up on a mixed crops and dairy farm in Corsica, South 啵啵直播秀. After graduation from SDSU, he became a licensed professional engineer while working for Wenck Associates (now Stantec) in Minnesota. From there, Lefers moved to Saudi Arabia to pursue his Ph.D. at KAUST. At KAUST, Lefers investigated technologies that could enable food to be grown in harsh, hot environments with minimal water and resource use. Lefers went on to serve as a postdoc and research scientist at KAUST before moving to Tucson, Arizona, as the co-founder and CEO of iyris (formerly Red Sea Farms). Lefers began his current role as the Griffith Endowed Chair, South 啵啵直播秀 Water Resource Institute director and state water quality extension specialist at SDSU in August 2025.
Lefers has co-founded three companies in agriculture and water resources: a Saudi-based aquaponics produce company called Ghiras alSahra, a USA-based scientific services and aquaponics consultancy company called A&A Epiphany, and a global deep-tech IP-based company providing abiotic-stress resilience and agriculture water saving technologies called iyris (formerly Red Sea Farms).
Lefers is an expert in water quality and water management in agriculture systems and understands well the complex interactions between food, water, energy, environment and climate. Lefers' passion is to serve people and steward the planet through education, research, extension and innovation.
Education
- Ph.D. in environmental science and engineering | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia | 2017
- M.S. in engineering | South 啵啵直播秀 State University | 2006
- B.S. in agricultural and biosystems engineering | South 啵啵直播秀 State University | 2004
Research and Scholarly Work
啵啵直播秀s and Honors
- Griffith Endowed Chair in Agriculture and Water Resources
- Instructor, Circular CEA Systems, UA CEAC Short Course
- Judge, Food Tech Challenge 3.0
- Invited speaker, World Agritech Innovation Summit Mexico
- Invited speaker, The Owner鈥檚 Forum
- Invited speaker, Flat6Labs Startup Accelerator
- Startup mentor, MISK Startup Accelerator
- Invited speaker, Sunbolah Agriculture Startup Accelerator
- TechRound Sustainability60 List
- CEAg World Advisory Board
- Invited speaker, Web Summit Qatar
- Invited speaker, World Agritech Innovation Summit Dubai
- Invited participant, COP 28 Innovation Pavilion
- Winner, ASABE Davis 啵啵直播秀
- Winner, ASABE AE 50 啵啵直播秀
- Featured scientist, National Geographic 鈥淐hasing Answers鈥 Series
- Judge, Food Tech Challenge 2.0
- Winner, United Nations Food System Summit 啵啵直播秀
- Invited speaker, KAUST 12th Academic Convocation
- Winner, Food Tech Challenge 1.0
- Winner, Gulfood Startups, UAE
- Third-place finish, Global Entrepreneurship World Cup
- Winner, Saudi Arabia Entrepreneurship World Cup
- Sponsored speaker, AgriTech Aquaculture and Food Safety Forum, Oman
- Visiting Scientist 啵啵直播秀, Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture, UAE
- Best Poster 啵啵直播秀, European Desalination Association, EuroMED 2015
- ASABE 鈥淣ew Face of Engineering鈥 Professional Nominee
- Winner, Air and Waste Management Association鈥檚 student research poster
- Co-winner of SDSU Senior Design Project Competition: Irrigation Control
- Appointed as United States National Security Education Program Boren Scholar
Patents
- U.S. Patent 11/638, 403:
- U.S. Patent 12/063, 900:
- U.S. Patent App. 17/263, 300:
- WO/2024/200554:
- U.S. Patent App. 18/617,152:
- U.S. Patent 12,419,265:
- U.S. Patent App. 18/617, 176:
- U.S. Patent App. 18/617, 724:
- U.S. Patent App. 63/699 304: Polyploidization of Interspecific Hybrids to Create Rootstocks for Cucurbit (not yet published)
- U.S. Patent App. 63/299 314: Polyploidization of Interspecific Hybrids to Create Rootstocks for Eggplant and Pepper (not yet published)
Publications
- Almashharawi, A., Bamasag, A., Abulkhair, H. and Lefers, R. Pilot study on liquid desiccant systems in greenhouse for water saving and climate control. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering, 61, 105165. 2024/9/1.
- Matthews, T.A., Kaishentayev, D., Augsberger, N., Lefers, R. and B. Hascakir. Exploring innovative applications of evaporative cooling for high-total-dissolved-solids produced-water treatment. SPE Journal, 1-8. 2024/4/1.
- Goddek, S. Korner, O., Keesman, K.J., Tester, M., Lefers R. et al. How greenhouse horticulture in arid regions can contribute to climate-resilient and sustainable food security. Global Food Security, Vol. 38, (2023).
- Pasqualin, P., Lefers, R., Mahmoud, S. and Davies, P.A. Comparative review of membrane-based desalination technologies for energy-efficient regeneration in liquid desiccant air conditioning of greenhouses. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 154, (2022).
- R. Lefers, M. Tester and K.J. Lauersen. Emerging technologies to enable sustainable controlled environment agriculture in the extreme environments of the Middle East-North Africa coastal regions. Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol. 11, (2020).
- Lefers, R., Alam, A., Scarlett, F. and Leiknes, T. (2020). Aquaponics water use and nutrient cycling in a seawater-cooled controlled environment agriculture system. Acta Horticulturae, (1271), 395鈥402. doi:10.17660/actahortic.2020.1271.54.
- Lefers, R., Srivatsa Bettahalli, N.M., Fedoroff, N.V., Ghaffour, N., Davies, P.A., et al. (2019) Hollow fibre membrane-based liquid desiccant humidity control for controlled environment agriculture. Biosystems Engineering 183: 47鈥57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2019.04.010.
- R. Lefers, P. Davies, N. Federoff, N. Madhoun, M. Tester and T. Leiknes. Proof of concept: Pozzolan bricks for saline water evaporative cooling in controlled environment agriculture. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 34(6): 929-937, (2018). doi: 10.13031/aea.13013
- R. Lefers, N.M.S. Bettahalli, N. Fedoroff, S.P. Nunes and T. Leiknes. 鈥淰acuum membrane distillation of liquid desiccants utilizing hollow fiber membranes鈥 Separation and Purification Technology, Vol. 199, pp 57-63, (2018). doi: 10.1016/j.seppur.2018.01.042
- N.M.S. Bettahalli, R. Lefers, N. Fedoroff, T. Leiknes and S.P. Nunes. 鈥淭riple-bore hollow fiber membrane contactor for liquid desiccant-based dehumidification.鈥 Journal of Membrane Science, Vol. 514, pp 135-142, (2016).
- R. Lefers, N.M.S. Bettahalli, P. Davies, N. Fedoroff, S.P. Nunes and T.Leiknes. Liquid Desiccant Dehumidification and Regeneration Process to Meet Cooling and Fresh Water Needs of Desert Greenhouses. Desalination and Water Treatment, pp 1-13, (2016).
- R. Lefers, R. Maliva and T. Missimer. Seeking a consensus: water management principles from the monotheistic scriptures. Journal of Water Policy, pp 984-1002, (2015). doi: 10.2166/wp.2015.165
