Billy Dictson is Director, Office of Biosecurity for the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at New Mexico State University. He has served in this position since retiring as Associate Dean and Director of the New Mexico Cooperative Extension Service in 2002. In this capacity he and others in the center conduct all agriculture training and exercises for the NM State Department of Homeland Security. Billy is a member of the State Biosecurity working group in cooperation with the Department of Justice, as well as the Infragard group in cooperation with FBI. Billy is an adjunct faculty member of the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training Academy of Counter Terrorist Education at LSU and assisted in developing two courses for them. He was also a member of the team that developed the Agriculture and Food Vulnerability Assessment Training Program in cooperation with the University of Tennessee and is a certified adjunct instructor for the School of Veterinary Medicine. Billy is a member of the New Mexico Agriculture Livestock Incident Response Team (NM-ALIRT). Billy helped organize the Agroguard Program in New Mexico which is a neighborhood watch type program for agriculture. He was named Chair of the Extension Disaster Education Network Agrosecurity Committee which has focused EDEN and the Extension System to the issues surrounding agriculture emergencies whether they are natural, accidental or criminal in nature.
Roberta Dwyer is a Professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky. Her areas of specialty are veterinary preventive medicine, biosecurity and agricultural disaster planning. She regularly consults with veterinarians and horse owners on infectious disease outbreaks (from local to international cases). Roberta is double board certified in Veterinary Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology. She has received training as Planning Section Chief for a Type II Incident Management Team, completed the Ag Emergency Response Team course (Anniston, AL) and has served as the Agriculture EOC Coordinator for Fayette County, KY. She has also planned and evaluated several full-scale exercises for the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, and has been involved in many other disaster planning and response efforts.
Andrea Husband is Agrosecurity Program Coordinator for the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky. Her work includes development, dissemination of, and training based on EDEN products, including the EDEN Animal Agrosecurity and Emergency Management Course, EDEN Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning Workshops, EDEN Regional Food Protection Conferences, and other related activities. Andrea’s education includes animal science and safety, security, and emergency management, with a concentration on homeland security. She has attended statewide agricultural disaster exercises, both as a participant and as an evaluator. She is a trained Liaison Officer for a Type II Incident Management Team. Although she was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, her summers as a child were spent on her grandparents’ Standardbred horse farm.
Melissa Newman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Animal & Food Sciences at the University of Kentucky, where her duties include agricultural disaster planning and biosecurity. Her research interests include pre- and post-harvest food safety, concentrating on the control of food-borne pathogens both in the live animal and on the finished food products. This research includes the evaluation of novel feed additives to alter the microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tract of domestic livestock and the use of GRAS compounds to control or eliminate biological threat agents in foods. She is also the canine (K9) coordinator for Ohio Task Force 1 (a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team), a firefighter, and Deputy Sheriff. Melissa has been involved with over 300 searches as either a dog handler, team leader or operations officer; her K9s have over 40 finds and are certified in disaster, air scent, trailing, and cadaver (land and water).
Jeff Witte has been the director of Agricultural Biosecurity for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) and New Mexico State University since November 2003 and previously served as the assistant director of NMDA from 1994 until November 2003. In this capacity he works closely with various private, state, and federal agencies and research institutions on agriculture issues related to homeland security and coordinates those activities with sister agencies in Mexico through the Border Governors Association. He is an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University National Center for Biomedical Research and Training and the University of Tennessee. He was the 2009 recipient of the James Graham Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award presented by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Jeff is a member of Infragard New Mexico; New Mexico Biosecurity Work Group with the U.S. Attorney’s office; and was a founding member of AgriGard, a national workgroup that brings together industry and law enforcement. He also is a member of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Food and Agriculture Security Task Force. Jeff comes from a ranching family in northern New Mexico. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural business management and Master of Science degree in agricultural economics and economics.
Ricky Yeargan is a Senior Extension Associate for Ag Programs at the University of Kentucky. His work includes distance learning development in the areas of production agriculture and agrosecurity. Ricky’s education includes the areas of agronomy and plant physiology. Ricky is a co-developer of the EDEN Animal Agrosecurity and Emergency Management Course and the EDEN Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Planning Workshops (including being a lead instructor for both curricula). He is also certified in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program. He served for nine years as an Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Caldwell County, KY. Ricky was raised near Clanton, AL on a diversified family farm that included cotton, fruits, vegetables, and livestock.
Last Updated:2/10/2010 12:42 PM