Bryan Keller
Bryan Keller, an Environmental Economics and Management major from Peachtree City, Georgia, plans on graduating in the spring of 2004. He was a co-founder, vice-president, and president of the UGA Soil and Water Conservation Society and served as secretary of the Agricultural and Environmental Economics Club.
When he is not in class, Bryan doesn't like to waste time. He spends his time going to the gym, working on web pages, watching sports, doing homework, golfing, fishing, hunting, camping, playing paintball games, hanging out with friends and taking a lot of road trips. Bryan is impressed with "how much there is to do at our school and university. I think some students don't realize that there is so much you can do!"
Bryan has worked for the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission and is now working for Paragon Consulting Firm on the south side of Atlanta. He has been working on a webpage design for <www.pcgeng.com> which will soon be published. Bryan's future work with the firm will include environmental documentation, construction management, and civil design, among other things.
Kara Kirchoff
Kara Kirchoff, an Agribusiness major in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, is from Conyers, Georgia. She plans an early graduation in December 2004 after only three and one half years at the university. Kara received the Stars Scholarship and a departmental scholarship for the Study Abroad Mexico program in the summer of 2003. She plans to study in New Zealand and Fiji in the summer of 2004.
Kara's schedule is full! She has worked in the department as a student worker for three years and is active in numerous extracurricular and volunteer activities. Her duties as a student worker include mass mailings of newsletters, working as a receptionist, banquet coordination, recruitment of new Agribusiness students, and working on other assigned projects. She is vice-president for Agribusiness of the Agricultural and Environmental Economics Club, with duties in the recruitment of new members and event coordination, including the Conner Connects Banquet. She is in Intramural Tennis and UGA Tennis Ladder. In addition, she volunteers for Empty Stocking Funds, Adopt-A-Highway – Milledge Avenue and church fund-raisers.
When she has leisure time, Kara enjoys camping, hiking, sports and spending time with friends and family. She hopes to find employment in the food and fiber marketing field after graduation. At some future time, Kara plans to pursue a graduate degree.
Clint Murphy
Clint Murphy, an Agribusiness major, will graduate in December 2004 with honors. He has been at UGA two years and attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before starting classes in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Clint is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, a Presidential Scholar and on the Dean's List. Presently, Clint is deliberating whether to start working immediately after graduation or to begin graduate school. At some point, he plans to acquire an M.S. in Agribusiness or Agricultural Economics. He hopes to work in the agricultural field in a full-time sales job with either DuPont or John Deere and, perhaps, farm for himself. He enjoys spending time learning new ways to help the agricultural field.
Clint is chairman of UGA Ducks Unlimited, secretary of AGHON, the Ag Hill representative of the Agronomy Club and a member of Ag Hill, Agricultural and Environmental Economics Club and Colquitt County Young Farmers. He is also a volunteer with Georgia Ducks Unlimited and Hunter for the Hungry and a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Moultrie.
With his busy schedule, Clint has little leisure time. When time permits, he spends four hours driving south to Bay community near Moultrie to be at home with his family, hunting and working on the farm with his dad and brother. He also enjoys spending time gulf fishing with his friends. When he isn't hunting or fishing, Clint can usually be found on a tractor or cotton picker. He states, "Some people tell me that I am crazy for driving four hours south to get on a tractor, but I love it – once a farm boy, always a farm boy."
Clint wants to share a few words of wisdom that he has gained from people in his life who have meant a lot to him: "Never forget where you came from;" "Live life day by day and make the most of it;" "Hard work will pay off;" and most important, "Thank God everyday for what he has given you."
Featured Staff
Christy Porterfield
Christy Porterfield has worked as a senior secretary in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics for three years. She provides secretarial support for several research and teaching faculty and manages the office suite. Her various duties include maintaining files, making travel arrangements and scheduling meetings, developing mailing lists and mailing out documents as necessary. Christy is also responsible for typing manuscripts and making copies of course materials, exams, reports and class notes and posting course materials on WebCT for students. She was recognized with the Outstanding Service Award in 2002 by the Agricultural and Environmental Economics Club..
Christy received a B.S. in Business Administration from Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia in 1999. Prior to joining the department, she was the office manager for Whitsel Construction.
In her leisure time, Christy enjoys crafts, fishing, flower gardening, and spending time with her husband, Mitch, and other family members. She is a member of Meadow Baptist Church in Danielsville, where she teaches fourth, fifth and sixth graders in Team Kids on Wednesday evenings. She also helps with the children's music program each summer during the church's Bible School.
Donna Ross
Donna Ross is a senior secretary in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. She joined the department three years ago and provides secretarial support to Drs. Wetzstein, Epperson, Vedenov, Escalante and Centner. Her duties include entering course work into WebCT, creating question banks and exams, posting grades, typing, proofreading, copying, scanning, revising documents, completing forms, setting up advisement appointments and meetings and making travel arrangements.
Donna grew up on a dairy farm in Rome, Pennsylvania. After high school, she graduated from Airline School. She has lived in six states and had an array of work experience before joining the university. She has worked in various bank positions, as an insurance claim adjuster, a dental assistant, a secretary and was co-owner/operator of a mini-mart/dry-cleaner.
Donna's most important position is that of being a "Mother." She and her husband, Gary, have raised their eight children – Trudy, Sonya, Jeffrey, Shelly, Brian, Brenda, Tyler and Jason. They also have eleven grandchildren – Paul, Chaves, Keidis, Mustaine, Paisley, Zachary, Morgan, Logan, Nicholas, Robert and Mason.
Every summer, Donna looks forward to visiting her family in Pennsylvania. In her leisure time, she enjoys walking, working in her yard, sewing, reading and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Professor Centner Receives Research Award
Professor Terence J. Centner was presented the Senior Faculty Award by Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture. The award was presented at the University of Georgia Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta's Initiation and Awards Banquet on March 31, 2004. A professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Professor Centner also serves as the department's undergraduate coordinator. With a research program involving the policy analysis of environmental and agricultural legislation, his findings have been published in more than 100 journal articles and a new book entitled Empty Pastures: Confined Animals and the Transformation of the Rural Landscape (University of Illinois Press, 2004). Professor Centner's teaching and research programs have been recognized internationally through his selection as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow for 1990-91 (University of Göttingen) and a Fulbright Senior Scholar for 2002-03 (University of Mannheim). He has served as president of the American Agricultural Law Association and was presented their Professional Scholarship Award in 2003.
Jeffrey D. Mullen
Dr. Jeffrey D. Mullen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at UGA. He has worked at the university for three and one half years with duties in teaching and research focused on the interface between agricultural production, natural resources and the environment. Since joining the faculty, he has enjoyed working with undergraduate and graduate students on research projects. Prior to accepting his position at UGA, Dr. Mullen worked as an economic consultant for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a program assistant at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corp in Ghana.
Dr. Mullen received a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In his leisure time, Dr. Mullen enjoys spending time with his wife, Susan, and their three children, Madeleine, Joseph and Isaac. He also enjoys cooking, eating, building toys and nonsense play.
Dmitry Vedenov
Dr. Dmitry Vedenov is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He joined the department in October 2001. His work involves the development and implementation of a financial analysis research program that will assist farmers, agribusiness firms, lenders and policy makers. The research is useful in evaluating the impacts of individual and firm-level financial decisions on economic returns and the overall financial health of firms and people in the agricultural sector. Dr. Vedenov uses creativity and advanced research methods in developing a research program that demonstrates academic scholarship and serves the public interest at the state, national and international levels. He also advises students and teaches Agribusiness Finance and Dynamic Optimization in Agricultural and Resource Economics.
Dr. Vedenov received an M.S. in Applied Economics and Computers from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology in Moscow, Russia in 1993. He received an M.A. in Economics in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics in 2001, both from The Ohio State University. He received The Ohio State University Graduate Fellowship for 1996-1997 and worked as a graduate research assistant at The Ohio State University from 1996-2001. His Ph.D. dissertation received honorable mention from the American Agricultural Economics Association in 2002.
During his leisure time, Dr. Vedenov enjoys reading, movies and tinkering with computers. He states, "Watching football games at Sanford Stadium is about as close as I get to sports." Most of his travel is related to work, but he always takes the opportunity to visit a new place. His personal vacation favorite is the Oregon coast. Dr. Vedenov's parents and sister live in Russia, but he enjoys the company of his cat.
