David is a third generation Montanan who grew up Billings, MT where he completed his first two years of college. His love of animals and years of working on ranches and feedlots during his youth lead him into his first career in Veterinary Medicine. He received a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University in 1966. David’s interest in the study of disease mechanisms during veterinary school led him into his second career as a research pathologist. He …
Ninfa Peña-Purcell
Ninfa, a public health educator at heart, has a strong passion to serve vulnerable populations. A native Texan, she lived in Georgia and Wisconsin as a young adult but returned to her home state in 1994. At that time, she relocated to El Paso, Texas, from Atlanta, Georgia, where her family made plans to settle down and put down roots. In 1997, she completed her masters in kinesiology with a focus in worksite health promotion from the University of Texas …
Roberta Riportella
Growing up in New York on Long Island, Roberta visited the Big Apple where its cultural and art life become part of her. School trips were to the Metropolitan Opera, the symphony, and the ballet. Her dad was an artist so that enhanced the time spent in and around museums and galleries. She loved hanging out of dad’s 34th floor art studio on Madison Avenue where she got to watch many ticket-tape parades, including those for the astronauts and JFK. …
Donna Shanklin
Donna Shanklin is a traveler. As a military brat in the 1960s, she lived in half dozen places before settling in Kentucky when her dad retired.
Her first job was working at the local hamburger joint, but the job that impacted her life was working as a Integrated Pest Management Scout through the University of Kentucky’s Todd County Cooperative Extension Service office. There she was introduced to insects, weeds, and action thresholds. Growing up in a rural area, Donna wasn’t …
Julia Storm
Julia Storm serves as Agromedicine Information Specialist at North Carolina State University and North Carolina Cooperative Extension. She is actively involved in the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, a partnership of East Carolina University, NC State University and NC A&T State University, whose mission is to promote the health and safety of farmers, foresters, fishers, workers, and their families and communities through research, education, and outreach.
Julia grew up in a small town in East Tennessee. She went to school …
Andrew B. Crocker
As Extension Program Specialist III – Gerontology and Health, Andy Crocker’s focus is to support education and outreach regarding the health and well-being of the aging population in the State of Texas. His main role is to support the County Extension Agents for Family and Consumer Sciences in their outreach efforts to older adults, caregivers and the professionals who serve them.
Since joining AgriLife Extension in 2003, Mr. Crocker has worked to develop resources to help older adults improve their …
Bonnie Braun
Bonnie Braun was born, raised and educated in Missouri. The Midwest vantage point framed her understanding of the diversity of people and perspectives. She was introduced to ideas and ways of living “back East, out West, up North and down south.” Over the years, her positions with Extension in multiple states and at the USDA took her to those areas where she experienced life in all four geographic regions. She moved from living on a farm, to small towns, to …