Native Pollinators In Agriculture Workgroup BioSketches
Chair: Rudy Rice
Rudy is a lifelong dairy and grain farmer from DuQuoin, IL and has been
involved in the conservation movement since 1974. Rudy served as the
President of the Illinois Conservation Districts and was President of
the National Association of Conservation Districts from 1998-2001.
Project Director: Ernie Shea
Ernie is the President and CEO of Natural Resource Solutions, LLC, a
conservation planning and consulting firm in Lutherville, MD. Prior to
starting Natural Resource Solutions Ernie was the CEO of the National
Association of Conservation Districts and also worked for the State of
Maryland for 10 years where he held a number of senior leadership
positions including Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Agricultural
Development and Resource Conservation.
Work Group Members:
Ray Beck
Ray is the Director of the Conservation & Resource Development
Division for the Montana Department of Natural Resources &
Conservation Development. Ray's Division provides technical and
financial assistance to local governments, state agencies and private
citizens for conservation, development, protection and management of
the state's natural resources.
Dave Biddinger
Dr. David Biddinger is a tree fruit entomologist and biological
control specialist at the Penn State University Fruit Research &
Extension Center. He grew up on a 2,000 acre, 125 year old family farm
in central Michigan raising field crops including dry beans, corn, and
soys. He holds a BS & MS in Entomology from Michigan State
University. He put himself through school as a crop consultant working
out of extension offices in field crops, vegetables and tree fruits. He
has more than 25 years of experience in tree fruit entomology and has
also worked for eight years as an R&D rep for the Rohm & Haas
pesticide company developing reduced risk insecticides and fungicides
and on resistance management worldwide.
Yvonne Erickson
Yvonne is the President of the American Agri-Women Association.
American Agri-Women is a non-profit, non-partisan, all volunteer
national coalition of 51 farm, ranch, and agri-business organizations
and works with consumer awareness, industry promotion and on
legislation and regulation issues. Yvonne also serves on the national
advisory board of "America's Heartland" public television series.
Yvonne has taught vocational high school, worked for the Minnesota
Extension Service, and served as chairman of her local school board.
She has also served on the Board of Directors for Minnesota Farm Bureau
as the chair of their promotion and education committee.
Bob Haberman
Bob is President of No. 9 Hay, LLC in Ellensburg, Washington. Bob is a
successful grower of alfalfa and is active with the Washington State
Hay Growers Association.
Frankie Hall
Frankie Hall is associate director for Florida Farm Bureau's
Agricultural Policy Division and is responsible for coordinating the
activities of Farm Bureau's commodity advisory committees as well as
the organization's policy development and implementation programs.
A.G. Kawamura
A.G. is the former Secretary of the California Department of Food and
Agriculture and a produce grower and shipper from Orange County, where
his family grows strawberries, green beans and other specialty crops.
A.G. has also served as president of the Orange County Farm Bureau,
chairman of Western Growers Association, and president of the Orange
County Agricultural Association. He has also served as a director on
the boards of the California Strawberry Commission and the California
Celery Research Advisory Board.
Janet Knodel
Janet is an Extension Entomologist with North Dakota State University
in Fargo, ND. She has an active interest in integrated pest management
strategies and insects associated with the growing of sunflowers in the
upper Great Plains.
Adrienne Kravitz
Adrienne Kravitz is the Chief Operations Office of MCG Partners,
running the operations of the firm. Previously, Adrienne spent seven
years as Vice President of Client Services for the world's largest
organizational consulting firm. She worked with small to Fortune 50
companies and was the Account Executive for two of the company's top 50
clients worldwide. Adrienne is involved in the ownership, management
and growth strategy for over 200 acres of cranberry bogs in
Southeastern, Massachusetts. Her family's farm crop is sold across a
variety of wholesale channels including a line of value-added products.
She is a graduate of Bridgewater State College with a Bachelors of
Science, majoring in Marketing and Public Relations.
Jeff Lafleur
Jeff is Executive Director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers
Association. CCCGA is the trade association representing the cranberry
industry in Massachusetts. CCCGA has over 330 grower members. CCCGA
conducts government affairs, environmental matters, horticultural
research and provide a weather advisory service for its members. Jeff
also runs a small diversified farm producing pumpkins, plums, cut
flowers, and miniature horses. Jeff is also serves as President of the
New England Farmers Union.
Kelli McCune
Kelli McCune manages Sustainable
Conservation's ecosystem services program, overseeing its integration
across the organization's many other efforts to address climate change,
and promote clean water, clean air and biodiversity. A key aspect of
Kelli's work involves quantifying ecosystem services so they can be
registered as credits, and provide financial rewards for California
farmers and other landowners for sound environmental stewardship that
enhances the natural benefits that their land provides. Prior to
joining Sustainable Conservation, Kelli worked for the Bureau of Land
Management in California's Central Valley and southeast Arizona,
assisting with the management of a variety of large-scale species
conservation and habitat restoration projects. Kelli received her
master's degree from the Bren School of Environmental Science and
Management at UC Santa Barbara where she specialized in conservation
plannin. She holds a BA in environmental science and Spanish (magna cum
laude) from Northern Michigan University.
Mike Omeg
Mike is President of Omeg Orchards comprised of 400 acres divided into
8 operations located throughout The Dalles, Oregon. He raises 7
different varieties of sweet cherries and his orchard is certified as a
sustainable production farm by EurepPGAP, as well as Britian's number
one supermarket chain Tesco, under the Nature's Choice brand. The
orchard is audited annually by a third party to maintain these
certifications. The Omegs also abide by Wasco County's Integrated Fruit
Production (IFP) guidelines. Wildlife habitat in the form of native
food bearing shrubs, brush piles, and untouched wild areas have always
existed side-by-side with the Omeg's orchard trees. Mike is acutely
aware of how critical bees are to his orchards. Because of this, bees
have always been a major consideration in Omeg's orchard.
Hudson Reese
Mr. Reese owns and operates Reese
Farms in Scottsburg, VA, growing a variety of crops including
vegetables and cucurbits. Mr. Reese also serves on the Board of
Directors for the Virginia Agribusiness Council where he has served in
a variety of leadership positions including Chairman of the Board in
2007 and was the recipient of VAC's Distinguished Leadership Away in
2008. Mr. Reese has a long history of service to his community,
conservation efforts, and the agribusiness industry. He has held
leadership positions with Roanoke Farm Credit and Farm Credit of the
Virginias, served as a member of the Halifax County Planning
Commission, and has been a member of Halifax Soil and Water
Conservation District for 34 years.
Richard Rominger
Richard raises alfalfa, beans, corn, rice, safflower, sunflowers,
tomatoes, wheat and other crops near Winters, California. He headed the
California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1977 to 1982. During
that period, he served as president of the Western Association of State
Departments of Agriculture and the Western U. S. Agricultural Trade
Association. He also was on the board of directors for the National
Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Richard served on the
board of the American Farmland Trust from 1986 to 1993 and as Deputy
Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton Administration.
Karen Scanlon
Karen has been the executive director for the Conservation Technology
Information Center (CTIC), West Lafayette, Ind., since 2005. In that
role, Karen is responsible for overall operation of this national
not-for-profit organization dedicated to environmentally sound,
economically viable decision making in agriculture. Before joining
CTIC, Karen worked in the Oklahoma County Conservation District office
and directed the Oklahoma City Blue Thumb program, a water quality
education and volunteer monitoring program in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Kent Schescke
Kent is the Executive Director of the National FFA Foundation. The FFA
Foundation is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of
students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal
growth, and career success through agricultural education.
Lloyd Snyder
Lloyd is a longtime beekeeper, supply dealer, package bee supplier and
honey packer. He is the owner operator of Snyder's Apiaries and past
president of Central Maryland Beekeepers Association. For the last 25
years, Lloyd has been an avid brewer of award winning mead, beer &
wine. He is also the current vice president of The Wootown Brewers and
member of the Free State Homebrew Club Guild.
Alto Straughn
Alto is President and CEO of Straughn Farms in Windsor, FL where he a
successful grower of blueberries and other agricultural crops. Mr.
Straughn's blueberry crop accounts for one-third of the annual
blueberry crop in Florida.
Mace Vaughan
Mace is Conservation Director, Xerces Society for Invertebrate
Conservation. Mr. Vaughan has led the Xerces Society's Agricultural
Pollinator Conservation program for the last four years. In this
capacity, he supervises research and outreach on habitat restoration
for crop pollinating native bees, develops and presents educational
materials to policy makers, land managers, and growers, and
collaborates extensively with scientists researching the role and
habitat needs of crop-pollinating native bees. He has written numerous
articles on the conservation of bees, butterflies, aquatic
invertebrates, and insects, and is co-author of the Pollinator
Conservation Handbook and lead author of Farming for Bees: Guidelines
for Providing Native Bee Habitat on Farms. He has spoken on numerous
occasions about pollinator conservation and invertebrate conservation
and he was a lecturer on honey bee biology and beekeeping at Cornell
University. His background includes Masters Degrees in Entomology and
Teaching from Cornell University, research into the behavior and
community ecology of insects, and stints as an insect wrangler for PBS
Nature.
Jay Vroom
Jay is chief staff executive of CropLife America. He serves as its
chief representative before U.S. congressional and regulatory bodies
and is chief media spokesperson for the association. Established in
1933, CropLife America (formerly the American Crop Protection
Association) represents the developers, manufacturers, formulators and
distributors of plant science solutions for agriculture and pest
management in the United States. Jay previously served as chief
executive of the Merchants Exchange of St. Louis and later of the
National Fertilizer Solutions Association (now the Agricultural
Retailers Association).
Daniel Weaver
Daniel Weaver is a fourth generation beekeeper, President of Bee Weaver
Apiaries. Inc. of Navasota Texas, and CEO of Beartooth Apiaries, LLC,.
Bee Weaver and Beartooth Apiaries produce honey and pollinate crops in
Texas, North Dakota, Montana, and California. In addition, Bee
Weaver Apiaries, Inc., also produces and sells queens and bees that are
genetically resistant to damaging pests and pathogens of honey bees.
Bee Weaver's Varroa resistant honey bees have proven capability
to survive and thrive without reliance on acaricides or other chemicals
to control exotic parasitic mites. Daniel also owns and manages a
research and consulting business, Bee Power, LP, devoted to providing
expert advice and scientific research related to various apicultural
challenges. Daniel is the Past-President of the Nation's largest
apiculture organization - The American Beekeeping Federation.
A.J. Yates
A.J. is an almond farmer from Kerman California. A.J. has also served
as the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. A.J. has also worked as a senior marketing
consultant and agricultural specialist based in Fresno, Calif., with
Panagraph Marketing Solutions, an agricultural marketing firm. He
served as under secretary of the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, based in Sacramento, from 1996-2000, after having served
as its deputy secretary from 1991-96. In those positions he managed a
number of CDFA divisions, including Animal Health, Food Safety
Services, Inspection Services, Marketing Services, Plant Health,
Natural Resources and Environmental Planning, and Pest Prevention
Services. Yates served as president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau
from 1989-90 and was state director of the California Sugar Beet
Growers Association for six years in the 1980s.