Kevin Janni

Kevin Janni wearing glasses and has short brown hair posed in front of a grey background.
Professor
Extension Engineer
He/him/his
[email protected]
+1 612 625 3108
204 BioAgEng Building

1390 Eckles Ave
St. Paul, MN 55108
United States

Education
  • Bachelor of Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota, 1976
  • Master of Science in Agricultural Engineering, Purdue University, 1977
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Purdue University, 1979
External Affiliations
  • Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA)
  • American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
  • American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
  • American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
  • National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)

Areas of Interest

Ventilation and air quality

Biography

Kevin Janni is a professor and Extension engineer in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He joined the department faculty in 1980. He has served as Director of Undergraduate Studies for six years, Director of Graduate Studies for six years and Department Head for five years. He currently teaches an air quality and pollution control engineering course. He also co-teaches a process control and instrumentation course and the capstone design course. He works closely with the Dairy Extension team. He has authored or co-authored over 60 refereed research publications and over 85 conference or ASABE meeting papers related to ventilation, air quality, odors, and biofilters associated with animal agriculture. He produced six videos on animal feeding operation odors and their mitigation, has written Extension articles and made presentations related to ventilation, air quality, heat stress, biofilters and biosecurity. He has received several professional awards including the ASABE Henry Giese Structures and Environment Award, the Richard C. Newman Community Impact Award and the Extension Dean’s Distinguished Team Award as a member of the Extension Biosecurity Education Team. He is also an ASABE Fellow and a registered professional engineer in Minnesota.

Teaching

  • BBE 4753 – Air Quality and Pollution Control Engineering
  • BBE 4023W – Process Control and Instrumentation (co-teaching)
  • BBE 4502W – Capstone Design (co-teaching)

Research

Dr. Janni has begun a phased retirement plan. His current research interests are narrowing as he wraps up some work and publishes it before fully retiring. His main focus is on a thermoregulation model of heat exchange between a lactating cow and the surrounding environment. He is collaborating with colleagues on research teams that are dealing with biosecurity issues for poultry and swine facilities and development of a national manure characteristics database.

Select Publications

  • Janni, K.A., W.J. Maier, T.H. Kuehn, C.H. Yang, B.B. Bridges, and D. Vesley. 2001. Evaluation of biofiltration of air, an innovative air pollution control technology. ASHRAE Transactions, Vol 107, Part 1. pp. 198-214.
  • Janni, K.A., M.I. Endres, J.K. Reneau and W. W. Schoper. 2007. Compost dairy barn layout and management recommendations. Applied Engineering in Agric. 23(1): 97-102
  • Janni, K.A., L. D. Jacobson, B. P. Hetchler, J. P. Oliver and L. J. Johnston. 2014. Semi-continuous air sampling versus 24-hour bag samples to evaluate biofilters on a swine nursery in warm weather. Trans. of ASABE 57(5): 1501-1515
  • Janni, K.A., M. M. Torremorell, L.D. Jacobson, C. Alonso, B.P. Hetchler. 2018. Modeling airborne virus concentrations in filtered swine barns with negative-pressure ventilating systems. Trans of ASABE 61(3):1089-1099 doi.org/10.13031/trans.1256
  • Nelson, C.R., Janni, K.A. 2016. Modeling dairy cow thermoregulation during warm and hot environmental conditions 1: model development. ASABE Paper No. 162462138. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Nelson, C.R., Janni, K.A., Heins, B.J. 2016. Modeling dairy cow thermoregulation during warm and hot environmental conditions 2: model application. ASABE Paper No. 162462140. St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.
  • Janni, K.A. 2019. Modeling lactating cow respiration rates during heat stress based on dry-bulb and dew-point temperatures, daily milk production and air velocity. ASABE Paper No. 1900297. St. Joseph, MI. ASABE.
  • Janni, K.J. 2020. Reflections on Odor Management for Animal Feeding Operations. Atmosphere 2020, 11, 453; doi:10.3390/atmos11050453

Honors and Awards

  • ASAE Structures and Environment Division Director’s Award (1997)
  • ASAE Blue Ribbon Award, Educational Aids Competition, Manual or Workbook Publication (2001)
  • ASABE Superior Paper Award (2006)
  • ASABE Outstanding Reviewer for Structures and Environment Division (2010)
  • ASABE Fellow (2011)
  • Richard C. Newman Community Impact Award (2012)
  • 2012 ASABE Blue Ribbon Award, Educational Aids, Long Publications. Three Extension publications on covers posted online on the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center website.
  • 2013 ASABE Henry Giese Structures and Environment Award
  • 2013 ASABE Blue Ribbon Award, Electronic and Web-based Delivery, Air Quality in Animal Agriculture eXtension website. R. Stowell, J. Heemstra, K. Janni, R. Sheffield, E. Wheeler, D. Schulte
  • 2016 CFANS Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award
  • 2016 ASABE Outstanding Reviewer for Plant, Animal and Facility Systems
  • 2017 CFANS Distinguished Extension/Outreach Award
  • 2018 Dean’s Distinguished Team Award as member of the Extension Biosecurity Education Team