The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) was authorized as part of the 1985 Farm Bill and first funded in 1988 as LISA (Low-Input Sustainable Agriculture) program. The name was changed to SARE in the early 1990s to reflect the broader scope of the principles of sustainable agriculture and to express the dual mission of research and education.
From its inception, SARE’s goal has been to support farmers, researchers, and educators as they explore practices that improve stewardship, profitability, and the social and economic health of farm communities.
There are four SARE regions—Southern, Northeast, North Central and Western—and a national SARE office in Maryland. The Southern SARE region is made up of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
GOLD LEVEL
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Alumni Foundation Event Center, 200 N. Benbow Road, Greensboro, NC 27411
Transforming people’s lives so that together we can grow a better world.
Pyxus International, Inc. proudly supports North Carolina A&T State University.
Thank you for your continued support of farmers and the state's developing hemp industry.
pyxus.com
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SPEAKER BIOS
PAUL R. ADAMS III
Originally from Beaufort, Adams graduated from NC State in 2012 with a bachelor’s in zoology and again in 2015 with a master’s in entomology. He specialized in insect diversity among varying agroecosystems. He began working with the NCDA&CS in early 2016 and has transitioned from temporary to full-time field staff, to a supervisory role, and finally to the role of Industrial Hemp Program Manager. He has been with the Industrial Hemp Program since 2018.
MOHAMED AHMEDNA, PH.D.
Ahmedna, an N.C. A&T faculty member from 2000 to 2010, began his tenure as dean of the university’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in October 2018. Prior to rejoining A&T, Ahmedna worked as a science and technology fellow at USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture in Washington. Earlier in his career, he was a professor of food science and nutrition at Qatar University, where he served as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor in the College of Health Sciences. He has 20 years of experience in teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, student advising, academic administration, and applied research. He has served as PI or Co-PI on 29 externally funded research projects totaling more than $26 million.
ARNAB BHOWMIK, PH.D.
Bhowmik, an assistant professor of soil science and soil microbiology, currently serves as the lead PI for a USDA NIFA Evans-Allen funded project on “Determining Optimal Growing Conditions for Industrial Hemp for CBD Oil in North Carolina,” a project designed to determine the best nutrient requirements and soil conditions for different CBD hemp varieties in North Carolina. His group’s research also focuses on identifying different climate-adaptive, sustainable, soil-health management practices to produce value-added hemp products. The overall goal is to improve North Carolina A&T’s research capacity by developing a knowledge platform on sustainable hemp production that will ultimately benefit small-scale, limited-resources farmers interested in adopting this high-value crop.
MARTY CLEMONS
Clemons is president and board chair of the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Association, a 501(c)(6) trade association that represents more than 400 growers, processors, service providers and retailers. She has been working to build the industrial hemp industry in North Carolina for the past 3 years. She also creates the programming for The Industrial Summit in Virginia, a multi-stakeholder B2B collaborative event with a mission to advance the U.S. Industrial Hemp Industry. Clemons is a former securities lawyer with government and corporate experience.
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SANJUN GU, PH.D.
Gu’s industrial hemp efforts are focused on outreach and demonstration. He organizes industrial hemp workshops and field days that help small farmers decide if industrial hemp should be included in their farm operation. He also offers training opportunities to Extension agents on industrial hemp education. His work includes cultivar demonstrations of industrial hemp varieties for fiber, seed and CBD oil production; high tunnel CBD hemp production for CBD; and hemp production for CBD with and without plastic mulch.
SHIRLEY HYMON-PARKER, PH.D.
Hymon-Parker has served as associate dean for the Agricultural Research Program at N.C. A&T since 2009. Under her guidance, the CAES continues to lead the University in research funding, bringing in more than $20 million each year. She also established and coordinates the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, which has successfully operated since 2010. A native of Warrenton, she has a Ph.D. in education policy planning and administration from the University of Maryland, a master’s in apparel design from Cornell University, and a bachelor’s from N.C. Central University in Durham.
JOHN IVEY
Ivey is the research specialist for the university’s industrial hemp research project. Focusing mainly on production, Ivey is also one of the project’s designers. An alumnus of A&T, a farmer and a former agriculture Guilford County Extension agent, he’s proud to bring his passion for research and helping farmers back to the university.
JON LANIER
Lanier is assistant general counsel with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. As in-house counsel for the department, he advises the commissioner of agriculture, assistant commissioners, division directors and department staff on a wide range of legal areas to help the department fulfill its mission. He graduated from Campbell University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a master’s degree in business administration, and a juris doctor degree.
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HAROLD L. MARTIN SR., PH.D.
Martin was elected as the 12th chancellor of N.C. A&T in 2009, bringing more than 30 years of leadership experience in higher education to the role. Under Martin’s leadership, A&T has dramatically improved its standing in the ranks of land-grant, doctoral research universities as well as among historically black colleges and universities. It has expanded research funding, boosted its status as one of the state’s top three public research institutions, increased endowment holdings by 150 percent, become the nation’s largest HBCU and grown its statewide economic impact to more than $1 billion. A&T is one of the nation’s top producers of African American graduates in engineering, mathematics, statistics, agriculture, journalism, visual and performing arts, marketing and physical sciences. A native of Winston-Salem, Martin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from A&T and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech.
JOSH MAYS
Mays is the agronomy services manager for Pyxus International, Inc., a global value-added agricultural company based in Morrisville. Since joining the company in 2019, he has been responsible for agronomic program evaluation, grower affairs, hemp testing procedures, procurement, and quality assessment. He previously served as the lead agronomist for Criticality, LLC, an industrial hemp company based in Wilson. Throughout his career, Mays has worked mainly with row crops, serving as a regional agronomist for NCDA&CS, crops unit manager for NC State’s Sandhills Research Station, and owner/operator of Full Circle Agronomics. Mays is currently pursuing his master’s degree in agricultural education and professional service from N.C. A&T. He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education and professional service from A&T and an associate’s degree in turf management from NC State.
MICHELLE MCGINNIS, PH.D.
McGinnis serves as field services section chief for the Agronomic Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. This division houses the soil testing, plant, waste, solution, and media analysis, and nematode assay labs. Field services is comprised of 13 regional agronomists who provide on-farm consultations, specializing in soil fertility, plant nutrition, nutrient/waste management, and nematode management. McGinnis is also adjunct faculty with the Horticultural Science Department at NC State and is currently collaborating with NCSU Crop and Soil Science Extension Specialists on a multi-location study to determine optimum nitrogen and potassium rates for hemp production.
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THOMAS A. MELTON III, PH.D.
Melton is associate director emeritus of N.C. State Extension at NC State University. He currently serves as chair of the NC Industrial Hemp Commission. Previously, he served as interim department head in Crop Science, director of the NSF Center for Integrated Pest Management, and as assistant director of the NC Cooperative Extension Service. Prior to these administrative positions he served as an Extension plant pathologist and department Extension leader at both the University of Illinois and at NC State, where he was named a Philip Morris Professor. He holds a B.S. in botany and a master’s in integrated pest management from NC State, and a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Illinois.
STEPHEN MUNDY
Mundy, a resident of Stokesdale and co-owner of Carolina Canna Co., discovered his passion for growing food and medicine at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. He has learned and worked in Colorado’s medical cannabis industry. Carolina Canna, based in the Rockingham County town of Madison, is a craft hemp company producing genetics and all natural products for consumers from bulk to bottle. The company is working with other small farms to find success as the hemp industry evolves.
ANGELA POST, PH.D.
Post has grown industrial hemp as part of her NC State University research since the NC Industrial Hemp Program’s inception in 2017. She conducts research on industrial hemp grown for grain, fiber, and floral parts. She has been researching such topics as biomass production, nutrient inputs, planting and harvesting equipment, and planting dates. When not working with hemp, Post is NC State’s small grains specialist.
CLARENDA “FARMER CEE” STANLEY
Stanley, a fifth-generation farmer, is the CEO of Green Heffa Farms, a medicinal plant and hemp farm in Liberty. One of the first black women licensed to grow hemp in North Carolina, she was selected as the 2019 Featured Farmer for Hemp History Week. She has been featured in more than 200 national and international publications and is a sought-after speaker at national conferences. An award-winning fundraising and marketing professional, she is currently a senior principal gifts officer at The Nature Conservancy’s World Office, the world’s largest environmental organization. She earned a bachelor’s in marketing from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a master’s degree in education from Troy University.
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ALEXANDER M. “SANDY” STEWART, PH.D.
Stewart, vice chair of the N.C. Industrial Hemp Commission, serves as assistant commissioner for agriculture at NCDA&CS. In this capacity, he has responsibilities for the agricultural services programs of the department, which include the following divisions: agronomics, food distribution, marketing, plant industry, research stations, small farms, soil and water conservation as well as environmental programs. Previously, Stewart served as director of the research stations for NCDA&CS and NC State, and has been a faculty member as an Extension tobacco specialist at NC State and an Extension cotton specialist for Louisiana State University. He has also held positions in private industry in the cotton seed industry and as an independent consultant. Stewart earned a bachelor’s in agronomy, a master’s in crop science, and a Ph.D. in crop science, all at NC State.
MATTHEW TODD
Todd, an Aggie engineer, is analytical lead for industrial hemp research. He is also responsible for the design, construction, operation, optimization and maintenance of pilot-scale bio-refineries for the college’s grant-operated research for the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and more. USDA and more. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biological engineering, with a focus in bioprocessing, from A&T.
BRENNAN WASHINGTON
Brennan Washington, a Georgia farmer and limited-resource outreach specialist for the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program, spends much of his time traveling the region to connect with farmers and others in rural communities in the areas of sustainable agriculture. At any given time, he can be found attending a conference to promote sustainability, production and marketing practices; visiting a farm to connect farmers and ranchers with more efficient farming resources; or networking with a community group to help expand sustainable agriculture development across the urban/rural divide.
GUOCHEN YANG, PH.D.
Yang is a professor of horticulture at N.C. A&T with more than 30 years of teaching and research experience. His research has led to two U.S. patents, one U.S. patent pending, and four invention disclosures. He is a commissioner on the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission. He has served on various grant proposal review panels at USDA/NIFA and other funding agencies, and on the editorial boards of two scientific journals. Yang earned his bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Jilin Agricultural University (China), and his master’s degree in horticulture and Ph.D. in horticulture & forestry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He currently advises two master’s students and a doctoral student.
