Nesli Akdeniz

Program Affiliations

Biological Systems Engineering

UW-Madison Extension

Education

• Ph.D. 2008- Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University

Fields of Interest

I mainly focus on intelligent ventilation design for cooling and air quality management in dairy facilities, and on remote sensing applications in dairy pasture systems. My work also extends to greenhouses and other indoor plant growing systems.

• Intelligent ventilation design for dairy buildings and greenhouses using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations
• Ventilation and building design considerations for dairy facilities with robotic milking systems
• Measuring air emissions using drone-based systems
• Airborne disease control and diseased animal tissue containment strategies

Teaching

• BSE/ENV STU 367 Renewable Energy Systems

Publications

Google Scholar
ORCID

Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications:

* corresponding author, underlined advisees

• Ly, N. N. Akdeniz*, C. Choi. 2026. Ventilation design for indoor-housed pre-weaned calves: computational fluid dynamics simulations using discrete ordinates radiation model and true-to-scale calf geometry. Smart Agricultural Technology, under review. 
• Jiang, L. N. Akdeniz*. 2026. Design of ventilation systems for calf hutches to mitigate cold and heat stress using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Applied Sciences, 16(19): 9503. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16199503
• Yi, Y. N. Akdeniz*. 2026. Assessing microclimate characteristics in a geodesic dome greenhouse under different ventilation strategies: A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study. Applied Sciences, 16(8), 9227. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16189227
• Yi, Y. N. Akdeniz*. 2026. Computational fluid dynamics simulations of photovoltaic-powered ventilation systems in deep winter greenhouses. Smart Agricultural Technology, 15, 102569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2026.102569 
• Choi, C. S. Karapitiya, T. Standiford, D. Panditharatne, N. Akdeniz, et al. 2026. Frontier: LLM-driven agentic digital twins for dairy housing: From data-rich facilities to intelligent controlled environmental systems. Journal of the ASABE, 69(4): 663-669. https://doi.org/10.13031/ja.16663 
• Yi, Y. N. Akdeniz*. 2026. A comprehensive review of computational modeling, data analytics, and intelligent approaches to greenhouse ventilation systems. Smart Agricultural Technology, 102153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2026.102153
• Ly, N. N. Akdeniz*. 2026. Practical guidelines to improve the sustainability of ventilation fan use in agricultural operations. Sustainability, 18(5), 2453. https://doi.org/10.3390/su18052453
• Froelich, E., N. Akdeniz*. 2025. Enhancing anaerobic digestion of agricultural by-products: Insights and future direction in microaeration. Bioengineering, 12(10): 1117. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering12101117
• Yang, D., N. Akdeniz*, KG, Karthikeyan. 2025. Direct air emission measurements from livestock pastures using an unmanned aerial vehicle-based air sampling system. Remote Sensing, 17(17): 3059. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17173059 
• Jiang, L., N. Ly, N. Akdeniz*. 2025. Assessing ventilation design of dairy buildings equipped with automated milking systems using computational fluid dynamics. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 239, 110904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2025.110904  
• Akdeniz*, N. L. Polzin. 2025. Ventilation fans offset potential reductions in milk margin from heat stress in Wisconsin dairy farms. Agriculture, 15(9): 955. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15090955
• Yi, Y., N. Akdeniz*, JM. Shutske, CY. Choi. 2025. Mitigating heat stress for agricultural workers using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Energy and Buildings, 328, 115186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.115186
• Jiang, L. Y. Yi, N. Akdeniz*. 2024. Energy-saving cooling strategies for tunnel-ventilated dairy buildings: Computational fluid dynamics simulations and validation. Smart Agricultural Technology, 100576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2024.100576
• Yang, D., Y. Wang, N. Akdeniz*. 2024. Field measurements of spatial air emissions from dairy pastures using an unmanned aircraft system. Remote Sensing, 16 (16), 3007. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16163007
• Jiang, L. Y. Yi, N. Akdeniz*. 2024. CFD simulations of supplemental cooling techniques in cross-ventilated dairy buildings and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 108480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2023.108480
• Wang, Y. N. Akdeniz*. 2024. Mathematical modeling of biochar’s role in elevating co-composed poultry carcass temperatures. Waste Management, 173, 40-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2023.11.008
• Sun, Z., N. Akdeniz*, C. Banik, J.A. Koziel. 2024. Alkaline hydrolysis of poultry carcasses and health risk assessment of exposure to target volatile organic compounds. Journal of the ASABE, 67 (2), 373-383. https://doi.org/10.13031/ja.15744

Recent Conference Presentations :

• Yang, D., N. Akdeniz, C. Choi. 2026. Measurement of Air Emissions from a Dairy Barn with Positive Pressure Plenum & Natural Ventilations Incorporating Sand Bedded Stalls & Straw Bedded Calving Pens, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Ly, N. N. Akdeniz. 2026. Effects of Wind Shadows on Airflow and Ammonia Distribution in Naturally Ventilated Calf Barns: An On-Farm CFD Assessment and Mitigation Strategies, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Singh, S., N. Akdeniz. 2026. Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Tunnel Ventilated Dairy Barns Equipped with Automated Milking Systems, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Yi, Y., N. Akdeniz. 2026. Assessment of Microclimate within a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), ASABE Annual International Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Akdeniz, N. 2026. A Mobile Decision-Support Tool for Heat Stress and Ventilation Management in Dairy Barns, ASABE Annual International Meeting, Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Dairy Ventilation” App

• Search “Dairy Ventilation” on Google Play or the App Store.

Recent Extension Articles

• Nuts and Bolts of Dairy Ventilation: Interactive Calculators for Ventilation Design – Dairy
• Automated Milking Systems- Facility Design Considerations
• Ask the Experts: Your Automatic Milking System Questions Answered
• Dairy Ventilation Energy Needs Grow as Seasonal Temperatures Shift (with podcast)
• Adopting and Evaluating Mechanical Ventilation in Dairy Barns: A Calculator Guide (with podcast)
• Lighting in Dairy Buildings in Wisconsin
• Tunnel Ventilated Dairy Buildings (with podcast)
• Ventilation Fan Noise in Dairy Buildings
• Natural Ventilation in Dairy Buildings (with podcast)
• Air Quality in Calf Housing (with podcast)
• Harnessing the Power of Ag Tech: What Farms Need to Know
• Balancing Technology and People: The Evolving Role of Farm Workers in Automation
• Renovating Tie-Stall Barns for Indoor Calf Housing
• Ventilation in Dairy Buildings

• Greenhouse designs provide an opportunity for year-round crop production in WI 

Professional Service

Associate Editor, Natural Resources & Environmental Systems (NRES), ASABE. 2023-current.

ASABE 270X Livestock Ventilation Systems review committee, 2024-current.

ASABE Plant, Animal, and Facility Systems (PAFS) 40 Animal Housing, Facilities and Systems, 2024-current.