New faculty and staff received rounds of applause and new N.C. A&T Chancellor James R. Martin II paid a visit to the college’s annual, celebratory kick-off to the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, called Faculty Staff Institute.
With a theme of “Momentum,” the event highlighted the college’s progression to R1 high-doctoral research status and the way Cooperative Extension’s on-farm demonstrations, video conferencing and other tools are helping small farmers, families, youth and communities.
“We have a three-year rising trend of high-impact publications and research dollars awarded, and we have become a major player in addressing the impacts of climate change on crops and food systems,” said Gregory Goins, Ph.D., associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.
“Our new faculty and staff, including our new non-tenure-track faculty and staff in Cooperative Extension, will help us achieve our goals.”
This year, the college welcomed these faculty and staff into new roles:
Dean’s Office
- Ashley Bracey, NextGen business manager
- Johnnetta Brown, administrative support associate
- Sharon Criner, NextGen grant program manager
- Victoria Weeks, Student Success and Workforce Development Center project coordinator
- Adonica Williams, assistant dean for administration
Academic Administrators
- Niroj Aryal, Ph.D., Natural Resources and Environmental Design department chair
- Muditha Senanayake, Ph.D., Family and Consumer Sciences department chair
Agricultural Research
- Elayne Jones, Evans Allen budget manager
- Mario Lewis, technology support analyst
- Cathy Nicholson, grant administrator
Department of Animal Sciences
- Ahmed Ali, Ph.D., research associate
- Deji Ekunseitan, post-doc
- Sanjaya Ghimire, research associate
Center for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies
- Erute Adongbede, Ph.D., visiting research scholar
- Salar Hafez Ghoran, Ph.D. , post-doc
- Zongde Jiang, Ph.D., post-doc
- Yanhe Li, Ph.D., post-doc
- Yichen Lin, Ph.D., research operations tech
- Maria Ortiz, Ph.D., post-doc
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design
- Sourabh Chakrabroty, Ph.D., research associate, Biological Engineering
- Jewel Das, D., post-doc, Biological Engineering
- Jiyanna Hewitt, administrative associate
- Sherri Kendall, administrative associate
- Jeffrey Kuehner, lecturer, Landscape Architecture
- Abubakarr Mansaray, Ph.D. research assistant professor
- Tariqul Shajib, Ph.D., research associate, Biological Engineering
- Harjot Singh Sudhu, Ph.D., research associate, digital agriculture
Cooperative Extension
- Thasya Campbell, 1890 Youth Empowering Agriculture program manager
- Jada Hines, administrative support specialist
- Chase Lemons, grant manager
- Mark Light, Ph.D., associate professor of practice and extension, 4-H STEM specialist
- Morgan Malone, urban agriculture and community gardens coordinator
- Trequan McGee, Ph.D., assistant professor of practice and extension, horticulture specialist
- Elsie Mpere, Evans-Allen research specialist
- Sanjok Poudel, Ph.D., assistant professor of practice and extension, animal production specialist
- Hannah Talton, Ph.D., assistant Professor of Practice and Extension Plant Pathology Specialist
- Saul Trujillo, business services coordinator
- Addie Wilson, EFNEP coordinator
- Zamaria Williams, administrative support associate
University Farm
- Daniel Cooper, farm superintendent
- Douglas Jones, assistant farm superintendent
- John Kimes, cattle research specialist
- Hope Manley, administrative assistant
- Joseph Blake Thompson, field crops coordinator
