In the Southeast: Promotions, New Hires, New Certifications of Staff and Facility at Florida Ag Research

Frank Sances and Mark Keeley inside the new Insect Pollinator Lab

• Mark Keeley was promoted to Director of Regulatory (GLP) Services - Ag Metrics Group
• Assistant Station Manager Charlie Boone is the Interim Station Manager for Central Florida
• Jacqueline Coburn joins FAR as Field Trial Coordinator and Nematologist
• Kaleb Williams was promoted to Field Operations Manager
• Marissa Cassaway hired as an Entomologist
• FAR is now a USDA-approved bio-safety containment facility (APHIS-PPQ/BRS Research)

We are happy to announce promotions and new talent at Florida Ag Research.
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Mark Keeley has been promoted to Director of Regulatory Services - Ag Metrics Group, developing the corporation's GLP business nationally. Mark will complete the 2021 bio-efficacy season with FAR.

Assistant Station Manager Charlie Boone is the interim Station Manager. Charlie continues in his supervisory role overseeing the facility's land and labor resources for our Central Florida farms. As an Environmental Horticulturist, Charlie is particularly well-suited to manage FAR's extensive greenhouse, shadehouse, and microplot experimentation programs.

New to the Florida Ag team is field trial coordinator and plant nematologist, Jacqueline “Jackie” Coburn. Jackie worked in insecticide R&D at FMC and Dupont for several years where her primary role was coordinating field trials with corporate research managers.  She joins Florida Ag after receiving her Masters in Nematology from the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville.

Kaleb Williams recently added his Certified Crop Advisor license to his Pesticide Research licenses and has now been promoted to Field Operations Manager. Kaleb grew up in agriculture and has independently farmed commercial vegetables for several years in Central Florida. Appropriately, he now manages all farming activities for station trials and off-site projects. He continues to oversee his farming and technical staff conducting test substance and trial maintenance applications. Kaleb also leads trial imaging, including drone overflights and colorimetric plot evaluations for field trials.

Also joining the ranks of Florida Ag Research is entomologist, Marissa Cassaway.  She is a graduate of the University of Florida and was most recently the Lab Manager for Small Fruits IPM at the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. At Florida Ag Marissa is responsible for maintaining insect and mite colonies, and collecting efficacy data on entomology, field, and greenhouse trials.

New for 2021!
Florida Ag now conducts Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense “Panama Disease” trials on banana.

Panama Disease