Presenter Bio's for the 2008 Annual Workshop
Augustin, Dr. Bruce J.
Dr. Bruce J. Augustin is currently the Director of Environmental Agronomy for The Scotts MiracleGro Company. He joined Scotts in 1998 as Director of Product Development in the Research and Development Division.
He is the technical leader for environmental and product stewardship. He develops and coordinates science-based assessments and recommendations for product development, product stewardship and strategic direction for the entire lawn and garden category within Scotts.
Prior to joining Scotts, Dr. Augustin was a turfgrass professor at the University of Florida and conducted research in plant nutrient and water relations. He has also worked for major agrochemical and fertilizer suppliers to the professional and homeowner turf and ornamental industries.
Dr. Augustin received a Ph.D. in turfgrass physiology from The Ohio State University, a M.S. in grass seed production from the University of Idaho, and a B.S. in urban horticulture from the University of Delaware.
He is an expert in the plant and soil sciences and has authored of over 120 popular and scientific articles on turfgrass and landscape management.
Dr. Augustin has spoken to numerous professional, homeowner, and governmental groups at seminars and conferences throughout the United States.
Borges, Ofelio
Ofelio Borges is a farmworker education specialist for the Washington State Department of Agriculture's Farmworker Education Program. This program provides interactive courses, "Train the Trainer" workshops for growers and their supervisors, and the all-day "hands-on" training for pesticide handler employees to learn safe pesticide practices. Today, over 18,000 individuals primarily those from the highest vulnerability group of young, Hispanic males, have been trained to work safely around pesticides and their residues. Mr. Borges has been with the program since 2001 and has become a leader in the Northwest on the Worker Protection Standard and education pesticide handlers on the safety use of pesticides. Mr. Borges has an extensive practical experience. He has worked in the agricultural industry as safety and health specialist, implementing various pest control programs in tree fruit orchards, orchard manager, pesticide handler and fieldworker and is a dedicated collaborator with industry extension and researchers.
Bowman, Jr., Thomas, C.
Tom Bowman is a Pesticide Inspector with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. His primary responsibilities are inspections and investigation work concerning commercial pesticide applicators, dealers and market places for compliance to state and federal laws in 11 counties. Tom graduated from North Carolina State University in 1977 with a B.S. in Natural Resources and completed his masters' degree in Agricultural Education in 1985. Prior to joining the Pesticide Section he taught High School Agriculture Education from 1977 through 1998. Tom is married to the former Pam Angline and they reside in Lenoir, NC with their two four-legged English Setter "children" (birddogs), Bracken and Boswell.
Butzler, Tom
Tom Butzler is a Penn State Cooperative Extension horticulture educator for central Pennsylvania working with all facets of the green industry; landscaping, greenhouse and vegetable production. He also manages the Master Gardener programs in Centre and Clinton counties. His BS was obtained in Horticulture from PSU and his MS in Plant Pathology from NCSU.
Mary Concklin
Mary Concklin is the horticulture Extension Educator in Montgomery County. She was previously with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Prior to working with Extension she managed a fruit farm in New England and worked with her husband on his NY farm. She received her BS from U of Mass, MS horticulture from WVU and MS Education from College of St Rose. Her primary responsibilities are with the landscape and nursery industry as well as consumer horticulture.
Day, Rick
Rick Day is Assoc. Professor of Soil Science and Environmental Information Systems in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at Penn State and is Director of the Geospatial Technology Program. His activities include teaching, research, and extension in uses of geospatial technologies for environmental assessment, agriculture, land use, and planning. He has been at Penn State for over 26 years. Rick is a native of Franklin, WV and has lived in Stormstown, PA for the past 21 years with his wife and 4 children.
Ewing, Dr. John
John Ewing is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State University. He earned his Ph.D. in 2006 from the Department of Human and Community Resource Development at The Ohio State University with a focus in Teacher Education. John's academic responsibilities at Penn State include instructing students in the art and practice of teaching. His research program focuses on experiential learning in teacher education.
John earned his B.S. degree in Agricultural and Extension Education from Penn State in 2000. Following graduation, he taught Agricultural Education at the high school level for three years at Octorara Area High School in Chester County, Pennsylvania. John resides near Warriors Mark with his wife Joy and daughter Catherine.
Fry, Kevin
Kevin Fry is a Penn State Extension Agronomy Educator based in Armstrong County since 2002. His primary responsibilities are agronomic educational programming and pesticide recertification trainings in western PA. Prior to his Extension employment, Kevin worked on the family dairy farm in north central PA, where his father and brother continue to operate. Kevin's western PA influence comes from his wife, Kelley whom he met while obtaining his B.S. in Agronomy at Penn State. They live near Greensburg on Kelley's family dairy, where she is employed as the herd manager of the 250 cow dairy. Kevin and Kelley have two children, their son Jordan is 3 and daughter Nora is 1.
Galvin, Kit
Kit Galvin, Research Industrial Hygienist, is the Pacific Northwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center's Certified Industrial Hygienist. She received her MS in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley. At PNASH her research focuses on interventions to minimize hazards to agricultural workers and the community. She has a special interest in including workers and managers in research and translating research results into practice.
Gatton, Steve
Steve Gatton is a Pesticide Inspector with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. His primary responsibilities are inspecting private pesticide applicators and producer establishments for compliance to state and federal laws and investigating EPA referrals in 12 counties. Steve graduated from North Carolina State University in 1979 with a B.S. in Agronomy and Animal Science. Prior to joining the Pesticide Section he worked for the Extension Service, worked on a farm, owned a lawn care business and worked as a livestock inspector. Steve is married to Brenda and they reside in Statesville, NC.
Goll, Warren
Warren Goll is the Southeast Regional Commercial Greenhouse Educator with offices in Delaware County. Prior to joining Penn State Extension in 2000 he was the owner/operator of Woodhaven Gardens Greenhouses and Nursery in Bensalem, PA. Warren received his BS in Ornamental Horticulture from Delaware Valley College before running the family greenhouse business. He provides programming and services to the horticulture industry in the 9 counties of SE PA. He is responsible for the Penn State Poinsettia Growers Trial which is in its 12th year.
Gripp, Sharon
Sharon is the database administrator/webmaster for the Penn State Pesticide Education Program. She provides writing support such as editing of the joint pesticide newsletter with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, maintains the content on the web site, and manages the Regional Pesticide Education Proposal program. Sharon also has also become the program's West Nile Virus contact person.
Hipkins, Pat
Pat Hipkins is a senior research associate at Virginia Tech in the Department of Entomology. She has a 100% Extension appointment, and has been the Assistant Pesticide Coordinator of Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs since 1989. Her primary responsibilities are to:
- Support the VA Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) and the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) agents and specialists who participate in it, and
- Provide accurate information about pesticides and pesticide management to VCE agents, specialists, and the public.
Before coming to Virginia Tech, Pat worked as a teacher at many levels...she's taught science courses (mostly in the biological sciences) to students from 6th grade through graduate level courses.
Pat is originally from Oil City, Pennsylvania. Her parents and several other family members reside there, and she has relatives who live in the Pittsburgh area. Pat now lives in the small town of Newport, Virginia, which is west of Blacksburg, where VA Tech is located. She and her husband have two sons, ages 23 and 36.
Keaney, Kevin
Kevin Keaney, Chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Pesticide Worker Safety Programs and Pesticide Container / Containment Programs, manages the implementation of: the national agricultural worker protection program; the national pesticide applicator certification program; the national pesticide container / containment program; the regulation proposal development to establish a national pesticide container recycling program; the pesticide worker and applicator safety program in Mexico under NAFTA; the pesticide worker and applicator safety program in Central America and the Dominican Republic under CAFTA; and, an initiative to better prepare health care providers to recognize and manage pesticide poisonings. He has worked in a number of senior policy and management positions in the EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs. Before working for the EPA, he taught at universities in Pittsburgh and in Baltimore, and was a planner / economist for the Washington Metro subway development. He has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Economics and in English Literature, and has studied law.
Krenzelok, Dr. Edward P., Pharm.D., FAACT, DABAT
Dr. Krenzelok is Director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center and the Drug Information Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a Professor of Pharmacy and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin in 1971 and his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota in 1974. Dr. Krenzelok is active in numerous professional toxicology and medically related societies and associations and is a Past-President of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. He is board-certified in clinical toxicology by the American Board of Applied Toxicology and has been awarded the distinction of being a Fellow in the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology. Dr. Krenzelok is on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. He is a former Chair of the United States Pharmacopeia Clinical Toxicology and Substance Abuse Committee, a former member of the Food and Drug Administration Nonprescription Drug Advisory Committee, on the editorial boards and review panels of numerous medical and toxicology journals and is the author of several hundred scientific publications and book chapters and the editor of three books.
Landers, Dr. Andrew
Dr. Andrew Landers studied and taught agricultural engineering in England. He obtained his masters degree at Cranfield University and his Ph.D at the University of Bath. His thesis work involved the development of a direct injection crop sprayer, leading to variable rate application in precision farming. He taught agricultural students at the Royal Agricultural College before becoming head of the engineering dept at Harper Adams University. He joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1998, and is based at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. He directs the application technology program and his teaching/extension/research appointment involves the use of engineering solutions to provide safer spraying. His group works with application systems in grapes, apples, vegetables and turfgrass and he believes in a multi-disciplinary approach to pesticide application, working with biologists to ensure engineering techniques are biologically effective. Andrew Landers is author of the classic text book, Farm Machinery: Selection, investment and management.
Neiderer, Bob
Bob Neiderer is an Extension Associate within the Geospatial Technology Program at Penn State and provides outreach coordination and technical support on various projects using geospatial technologies. Bob is a native of McSherrystown, PA and has resided in State College for the past 28 years with his wife and two sons.
Richards, Dr. Kerry
Kerry Richards is the of Manager of the Pest Management Information Center. Her responsibilities now include promoting informed pesticide regulatory decisions by the federal government and keeping Pennsylvania stakeholders abreast of regulatory changes. Kerry works with USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service to survey PA farm managers on pest management techniques and pesticide use. She then reports the economic impact of the pesticide use to the USDA and EPA as necessary. Kerry will continue her youth education work by developing IPM and pesticide safety curriculums for high school science and agriculture programs. In 2004 Kerry's responsibilities expanded to include outreach education for the Worker Protection Standards.
Whitford, Dr. Fred
Dr. Fred Whitford is the coordinator of Purdue Pesticide Programs of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service. He received a B. S. in wildlife management from Louisiana Tech University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University. He has authored more than 200 research, extension, and regulatory publications, and has delivered over 2500 presentations to a wide array of audiences. He has written three books: The grand old man of Purdue University and Indiana Agriculture: a biography of William Carroll Latta, published in 2005 by Purdue University Press; The complete book on pesticide management: science, regulation, stewardship, and communication, published in 2002 by Wiley & Sons; and The complete federal and state compliance guide for Hoosier businesses, published in 2001 by Purdue University Press. He is currently working on a biography called Virginia Claypool Meredith: the queen of United States agriculture. Dr. Whitford's prior professional activities include lab and field research, extension outreach, regulatory work, and commercial pesticide application.