Contact

Dr. Patrick J. Stover is the director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, a state agency noted for excellence in research and development for agriculture, natural resources, and life sciences. For five consecutive years, the National Science Foundation has ranked AgriLife Research No. 1 in agriculture expenditures for research. Stover joined the Texas A&M University System in 2018 and also serves as Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M AgriLife. Previously, he served as director of the Cornell University Division of Nutritional Sciences, one of the leading nutrition programs in the world. The division grew markedly during his tenure both in its research funding and its portfolio of academic programs. Stover led efforts to aggressively recruit and diversify the faculty, secure extramural research support, and expand the division’s audiences through on-campus and distance education. He also created key partnerships with external groups such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as with the private sector. Stover led a research group that investigates the mechanisms underlying the relationships between nutrition, metabolism, and risk for birth defects, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. A first-generation college student, Dr. Stover graduated from Saint Joseph’s University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, went on to earn a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia, and then completed his postdoctoral studies in nutritional sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. Executive Assistant: Kelsey Agnew

Dr. David W. Ragsdale earned his bachelor's in biology in 1974, master's in entomology 1977, and his Ph.D. in entomology in 1980. He joined the Entomology Department at the University of Minnesota in July 1981 and rose to the rank of professor and served for two years as the interim department head (2009-2010).  In October 2010, Dr. Ragsdale relocated to Texas A&M University as professor and department head of Entomology.  His research focus is on vector ecology with an emphasis on aphid-transmitted plant viruses.  His most recent work centered on the management of the invasive soybean aphid, Aphis glycines and exotic insect that has cost US soybean producers more than $1B in losses and added management costs.  His lab worked on developing an economic threshold for soybean aphid, classical biological control which involved searching for natural enemies in northern China, Inner Mongolia, Korean and Japan.  He and his team collaborated with scientists across the United States and Canada to evaluate several breeding lines for aphid-resistance.  Aphid-resistant soybean varieties are now commercially available.  Dr. Ragsdale has led efforts to establish exotic insect herbivores to control invasive perennial weeds.  There has been widespread adoption of the management recommendations for soybean aphid and it was recently estimated that producers have prevented losses of more than $1.3B by using the team’s recommendations.  Dr. Ragsdale has published a total of 244 scientific communications including 104 peer-reviewed journal articles and editor reviewed contributions.  His work has been cited over 4,500 times.  Dr. Ragsdale served 6 years on the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) ending in 2018. Executive Assistant: Jackie Slovacek

Contact

Email: David.Ragsdale@ag.tamu.edu

A public health scientist with expertise in community-based nutrition and physical activity intervention research, Dr. Rebecca Seguin-Fowler will provide administrative leadership for the organization’s social and behavioral intervention research initiative. She also will serve as the Healthy Texas community health research director, leading and fostering closer integration of AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension efforts. Her current research focuses on understanding how people’s social, food and physical activity environments influence behavior change and maintenance—particularly in at-risk populations and settings, such as low-income families and rural communities. Combining her interests in behavioral theory, health communications and the context in which people develop, change, and maintain health behaviors, Seguin-Fowler has co-developed comprehensive curricula and trainings for evidence-based health promotion programs to benefit midlife and older women. To date, more than 4,000 health educators in 48 states have been trained to implement these community-based physical activity and nutrition programs in predominantly non-urban areas. Seguin-Fowler has secured more than $12M in competitive funding to support her research, with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has received numerous awards throughout her career including the Mead Johnson Award from the American Society for Nutrition, the Citation Abstract Excellence Award from the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, and a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. A registered dietician, Seguin-Fowler received her bachelor’s degree in clinical exercise physiology from Boston University, and a master’s degree in nutrition communication and a doctorate in food policy and applied nutrition from Tufts University in Boston.