2011 Expo Presenters
Speaker Bios
Dr. Robert Mace, Texas Water Development Board
Robert Mace is a deputy executive administrator for Water Science and Conservation at the Texas Water Development Board. Managing a group of 66 staff, they study rivers and aquifers of the state, promote water conservation, and pursue innovative technologies such as desalination, rainwater collection, and water reuse. Robert has a BS in geophysics, a MS is hydrology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and a PhD in hydrogeology from the University of Texas at Austin. He has over 20 years of experience working with water in Texas.
|
Sonia Lambert, Cameron County Irrigation District
Sonia has been with Cameron County Irrigation District #2 for 34 years, currently holding the position of General Manager for the District, as well as for Cameron County Drainage District #3. She is a past president of the Texas Water Conservation Association, the LRGV Water District Managers' Association, and the Texas Irrigation Council. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Rio Grande Regional Water Authority, and as a board member of the Region M state water planning group.
|
Tom McLemore, Harlingen Irrigation District
Tom McLemore is project manager for the Harlingen Irrigation District, where his primary duties are management of the Agricultural Water Conservation Demonstration Initiative (ADI), construction and operation of the district’s flow meter calibration facility, and coordination of all parties involved in the ADI project. He also is responsible for the district’s expansive telemetry system, overseeing the installation and implementation of flow and water level measurement devices, automated gates, weather measurement devices and the software and hardware required to support the system. He and his team have installed over 160 devices and successfully relayed the data to the district’s main telemetry server for distribution via local network and internet displays.
|
Deputy Commissioner Drew DeBerry, Texas Department of Agriculture
Drew DeBerry was appointed Deputy Commissioner
of the Texas Department of Agriculture in early 2007 by TDA Commissioner Todd
Staples. Previously, he had served Deputy Chief of Staff for the US Department
of Agriculture in Washington, DC, and, before that, as House liaison at USDA. Drew
has been involved in agriculture all his life, beginning as a child with his
family's farming and custom harvest operation. Drew holds a degree in
Agricultural and Applied Economics graduated from Texas Tech University.
|
Dr. Shad Nelson, Texas A&M University
Shad Nelson is an Associate Professor at Texas
A&M University-Kingsville, where he serves as Chair of the Department of
Agronomy & Resource Sciences. Shad teaches and conducts research in
Agronomy and Horticultural Sciences and is based in part out of the
A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center located in Weslaco. His diverse research
interests are targeted at finding environmentally safe methods of the
preserving agriculture practices for future generations. His research program
assists growers in finding alternative irrigation methodologies using water
conservation practices to produce citrus. Shad earned a doctorate in soil
chemistry/physics from the University of California, Riverside, and a masters
in agronomy and a bachelors in horticultural science, both from Brigham Young
University.
|
Mac Young, Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Mac Young is Extension Program Specialist II-Risk Management for Districts 10, 11 and 12 with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. He is based in Corpus Christi. Young joined the Texas A&M System in April 2005. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's of Science in Agricultural Economics from Texas Tech University. His responsibilities include coordinating the FARM Assistance Program in South Texas and providing economic analyses for the ADI project in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. He previously served as an agricultural economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and spent 19 years with the Farm Credit Bank of Texas in Austin.
|
Phil Tacker, Delta Plastics
Phil received BS and MS degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Arkansas and was an irrigation engineer with the U of A Cooperative Extension Service for 27 years. He joined Delta Plastics in 2009 to help create an Irrigation Resource Division that provides comprehensive support on various aspects of soil, water and energy management for optimizing agricultural crop production. His experience and on the farm knowledge of agricultural drainage and irrigation enables him to develop practical irrigation methods to help growers increase profits while conserving natural resources.
|
Dr. Juan Enciso, Texas A&M University
Juan Enciso is an Associate Professor &
Extension Agricultural Engineering Specialist for the Texas AgriLife Research
& Extension – Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department. Juan has taught and served as post-graduate
adviser at several universities in the United States and in Mexico. He also has
published extensively, in more than 90 scientific publications. But Juan is
perhaps best known for the practical application of his knowledge, working with
ag producers served by various irrigation districts and agricultural areas in
Texas, Nebraska, Mexico, and Spain. Juan earned his doctorate from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a registered professional engineer in the
State of Texas.
|
Brent Clayton, Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Brent Clayton is an Extension Program Specialist for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Corpus Christi, Texas. He helps develop educational materials and programs related to water management and conservation. He recently earned a master's degree in Water Management and Hydrologic Science from Texas A&M. His research involved the effect of tank color and shading on water temperature in rainwater harvesting systems. Brent received a BS in Horticulture from Virginia Tech in 2007.
|
Billy Kniffen, Water Resource Specialist
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
Billy Kniffen is a Water Resource Specialist – mostly
retired as of May 1, 2011 - in the Biological and Agriculture Engineering
Department with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. He is also the vice
president and education coordinator for the American Rainwater Catchment
Systems Association (ARCSA). He co-authored the Rainwater Harvesting: System Planning manual used in the Accredited
Professional course for ARCSA. He and his wife Mary live in Menard, Texas in a
home solely dependent on rainwater.
|
Robert Vanderveer, Texas Master Gardeners
Robert retired as CEO of Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco after 27 years of service. He is a member of the Deep South Texas Master Gardeners, and has been a Master Gardener for approximately five years. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Baylor University, and a M.S. in Health Care Admin. from Trinity University. |
|
|
|
