About

The Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy (ESCOP) is the representative governing body of the Experiment Station Section (ESS), a unit of the APLU Commission on Food, Environment, and Renewable Resources (CFERR), Board on Agriculture Assembly (BAA). ESCOP handles continuing business, organization, and policy issues on behalf of the state agricultural experiment station directors and administrators. The ESCOP also provides liaison representatives to a variety of other committees, agencies, associations, and organizations. These representatives are appointed by the Chair of ESCOP after consultation with the Executive Committee.

Each 1862 agricultural experiment station director and 1890 research director participates in a regional association: Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (NERA), the official representative body of the agricultural experiment station directors in the Northeast Region; North Central Regional Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (NCRA), the official representative body of the agricultural experiment station directors in the North Central Region; Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (SAAESD), the official representative body of the agricultural experiment station directors in the Southern Region; Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (WAAESD), the official representative body of the agricultural experiment station directors in the Western Region; and Association of Research Directors (ARD), the official representative body of the agricultural research administrators of the 1890 Land-grant institutions. All regional associations are affiliated with APLU through the Experiment Station Section and are represented on ESCOP, but are fundamentally independent organizations.

Members

NamePositionAffiliationEmail
Matt WilsonESCOP Chair NERAmatt.wilson@mail.wvu.edu
George SmithESCOP Incoming ChairNCRAsmithge7@msu.edu
Chris PritsosESCOP Past Chair, ECOP LiaisonWAAESDpritsos@unr.edu
Tom CoonChair PBDAHSthomas.coon@okstate.edu
Paul PattersonChair BACAHSpmp0003@auburn.edu
Marshall StewartChair CLPAHSstewartmars@missouri.edu
Hongwei XinNC-FAR Rep and Regional Incoming ChairSAAESDhxin2@tennessee.edu
Anton BekkermanChair BLCNERAAnton.Bekkerman@unh.edu
J.F. MeullenetChair CMC SAAESDjfmeull@uark.edu
Brian RaisonChair DCCECOPraison.1@osu.edu
Jan NyropChair NPGCCNERAjpn2@cornell.edu
Mark McGuireChair NRSP RC, ESS PBD Rep, Regional Past ChairWAAESDmmcguire@uidaho.edu
Bernie EngelChair STCNCRAengelb@purdue.edu
Martin DraperESS PBD Alternate RepresentativeNCRAmaddr@ksu.edu
Vernon JonesRegional Past ChairARDvjones@langston.edu
Hector SantiagoRegional Past ChairNCRAhsantiago@unl.edu
Chandra ReddyRegional ChairARDcreddy@tnstate.edu
Germán BolleroRegional ChairNCRAgbollero@illinois.edu
Eric WommackRegional ChairNERAwommack@udel.edu
Rob GilbertRegional Past ChairSAAESDragilber@ufl.edu
Chris DaviesRegional ChairWAAESDchris.davies@usu.edu
Louis WhitesidesRegional Incoming ChairARDlwhitesides@scsu.edu
Bernie EngelRegional Incoming ChairNCRAengelb@purdue.edu
Mark HuttonRegional Incoming ChairNERAmark.hutton@maine.edu
Paula AgudeloRegional ChairSAAESDpagudel@clemson.edu
Scot HulbertRegional Incoming ChairWAAESDscot_hulbert@wsu.edu
Ron BrownLiaison / Executive DirectorECOPrab2@msstate.edu
Damona DoyeLiaisonECOPdamona.doye@okstate.edu
Nina LiljaLiaisonICOPnlilja@ksu.edu
James ThompsonLiaisonBVMjthompson@utk.edu
Laura JollyLiaisonBHSljolly@iastate.edu
Suzette RobinsonLiaisonAPLUsrobinson@aplu.org
Katie FrazierLiaisonCARETkfrazier@fcvirginias.com
Ron TrewynLiaisonCRPGEtrewyn@k-state.edu
Drenda WilliamsLiaisonNIFAdrenda.williams@usda.gov
VACANTLiaisonARS
Rick RhodesExecutive Director, Ex-officioWAAESDrcrhodes@uri.edu
Dave LeibovitzCoordinator, Ex-officioNERAdavid_leibovitz@uri.edu
Jeanette ThurstonExecutive Director, Ex-officio (effective 11/28)NCRAjthurston@ksu.edu
Christina HamiltonAssistant Director, Ex-officioNCRAChristina.hamilton@wisc.edu
Gary ThompsonExecutive Director, Ex-officioSAAESDgat009@uark.edu
Cindy MorleyCoordinator / Program Manager, Ex-officioSAAESDcmorley@uark.edu
Bret HessExecutive Director, Ex-officioWAAESDbhess@unr.edu
Jennifer TippettsAdministrative Management, Ex-officioWAAESDjennifer.tippetts@waaesd.org
Alton ThompsonExecutive Director, Ex-officioARDathompson1@ncat.edu
Doug SteeleLiaison, Ex-officioAPLUdsteele@aplu.org