PhD from Cornell University
Graduate fields: Physiology
Area(s) of interest: agricultural and food system sustainability; small farm viability: the economic and non-economic impacts of farms and farming in local communities; systems thinking: whole-farm management and agricultural business development, expansion and retention.
Teaching:
- none
Description of Current Extension Activities:
My programmatic efforts focus on agriculture and food system sustainability, particularly in the 6-county Northern NY Region. I currently serve as the Coordinator of the CALS Northern NY Agricultural Development program (NNYADP; www.nnyagdev.org) and Coordinator of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) agricultural programs across the region. The NNYADP was established in 1960 to focus on sustaining a strong agricultural production sector in the North Country. A key component of this program is a $400,000 small grant program that is funded by the NYS Legislature. Projects focus on near-term research that has immediate application on dairy, livestock, horticulture and maple production enterprises in NNY. Much of the research is done on operating farms; other research sites are: the W.H. Miner Institute in Chazy, the Cornell E.V. Baker Farm in Willsboro, the Uihlein Maple Research Station in Lake Placid, the Uihlein Potato Research Farm in Lake Placid and the St. Lawrence CCE Learning Farm in Canton.