Fueling Future Leaders

Thursday, March 26

Welcome

Icebreakers, T-shirt Exchange, Banner Introduction, etc.

Dinner

Keynote speaker: Dean Johnny C. Wynne

Johnny Wynne became Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State in December 2004 after serving as Interim Dean since May 2003. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is one of the largest colleges at NC State University with more than 5,000 students in two-year, four-year and graduate programs. The college is also the home of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service and the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service.

From 1992 until being named Interim Dean in 2003, Dean Wynne served as Associate Dean and Director of the NC Agricultural Research Service. He has been on the faculty at NC State University since 1968. He taught undergraduate and graduate plant breeding and conducted peanut breeding research until 1989 when he was appointed Head of the Crop Science Department. Dean Wynne is a North Carolina native with BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees from NC State University.

Friday, March 27

Workshops

What's Your Ideal Style of Leadership?
Tierza Watts

Ever wonder why you get along well with other and argue with some in a leadership setting? Come learn about your dominant leadership style and how to work effectively with others.

Tierza Watts serves as the Associate Director in the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service (CSLEPS) at North Carolina State University.

Tierza began working with college students as a Resident Assistant as an undergraduate student at Appalachian State University and decided to make a career out of that experience. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Communications Media in 1988 and a Master's in College Student Development: Administration in 1991 from Appalachian. She went on to live and work in Housing & Residence Life for 14 years at Appalachian, UNC-Wilmington and NC State. She has supervised over 125 staff members and led numerous large scale events on campuses.

She has also served as an academic advisor with First Year College and has been in her present position in CSLEPS for over 6 years. Tierza has presented workshops at state, regional and national conferences.

Finding the Perfect Career
Marcy Bullock

As Director of the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Career Services, Marcy Bullock goal is to inspire everyone around her to reach their potential. She teaches courses, councils students and manages the career services staff, which has been nationally recognized for its success in helping students acheive their career goals.

Be true to yourself! If you don't know your purpose in life, then your purpose is to find it. Use all the resources available to you to help in this self-discovery process. If you plan ahead you will have a higher probability of finding a great job after you leave college.

Workshops

The First Step to Leading Others: Trust
Mitch Owen

Dr. Owen (Mitch) holds a B.S. degree in Horticulture and a M.Ag. in Farm Mechanization and Business from Clemson University. He completed his Doctorate of Education at North Carolina State University in Adult Education while focusing his research on technology and Jungian psychology.

Mitch's responsibilities include program leadership for the Personal and Organizational Development System for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension System and administrative leadership for faculty and staff in the POD unit. Mitch serves as a member of the Extension Council and Extension Administration. He also provides leadership for the personal and professional development of all NCCE employees and volunteers, for the program development process in NCCE, and for organizational development programs and activities for NCCE.

Chris-Reberg Horton

Dr. Horton has been at North Carolina State University since 2005 as an associate professor of Organic Croping Systems. He earned his B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994, his M.S. in Agronomy from U. of California at Davis in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Horticulture from North Carolina State University in 2002. From there he became Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, University of Maine before joining the NC State faculty.

Championing Agriculture
Michele Payn-Knoper (Kedzie, '91)

Feel like consumers don't understand where their food comes from? Frustrated by the way agriculture is portrayed in the media? Wondering why legislators don't seem to value the agrifood business? Agricultural advocacy isn't about the "warm fuzzies" - it's about protecting our bottom line. This program will help leverage the trust invested in farmers and give participants 6.5 easy-to-remember tools to take back to members.

Biofuel Discussion Panel
Lyle Estill - Entrepreneuer
Sam Brake - Director of Farming, Biofuels Center
Ron Fish - Assistant Director, Division of Marketing, N.C. Dept. of Ag and Consumer Services
Steven Burke - Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Lyle Estill - Entrepreneuer
Lyle Estill is a traveling salesman who accidentally became an environmentalist, stumbled into being an activist, and went on to become what is referred to as a “social entrepreneur.”

I doubt he would know what that means. He has founded companies, grown enterprises through intrapreneurship, and has traveled successfully through the business world for several decades.

Although he has written epistles, and treatises, he is best known as the publisher of Energy Blog, and for his newspaper columns, and books. Here’s a blurb on his writing bio.

He is the author of Small is Possible; Life in a Local Economy, and Biodiesel Power; the passion, people, and politics of the next renewable fuel. His other print work can be found here.

Sam Brake
Director of Farming - Biofuels Center

With more than 30 years experience in North Carolina agriculture, Sam Brake came to the Biofuels Center from Red Birch Energy, a startup renewable energy company, where he consulted, recruited, and coached farmers on growing canola as an oil feedstock.

He previously served as CEO of the North Carolina Grain Growers Cooperative, where he promoted specialty soybeans as a renewable energy. A graduate of N.C. State University, Sam spent four years as a 4-H agent with the Cooperative Extension Service in Carteret County and over 27 years managing crop production on the Open Grounds Farm.

Sam's experience with biodiesel at the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association also makes him an invaluable resource, as he understands the agricultural significance and economic impact biofuels can have in North Carolina.

Ron Fish
Assistant Director for the Division of Marketing - N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Grew up on a tobacco farm in southern Wake County. Member of FarmHouse Fraternity and graduated NC State in Agricultural Education. Worked with the NC Dept. of Agr. and Consumer services for 17+ years and currently serves as Assistant Director for the Division of Marketing.

His primary responsibility is managing the Agribusiness Development Section, working primarily with biofuels, biomass and agribusiness policy. He has two daughters attending Fuquay-Varina High School and lives in Fuquay-Varina.

Steven Burke
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs - North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Mr. Burke is responsible for varied activities and programs with which the North Carolina Biotechnology Center - a private, non-profit corporation established in 1984 as the world's first targeted initiative for biotechnology development - addresses strategic, governmental, policy, societal, and international issues.

Mr. Burke has been an active participant in the national and international biotechnology communities since the mid-1980's. He speaks frequently throughout the United States and internationally on biotechnology development, with particular attention to:

* The factors, strategies, and issues shaping effective biotechnology communities.
* The specific requirements of regional biotechnology development and gain.
* The international and cultural imperatives of biotechnology development.
* The policies and issues attendant to forest biotechnology and biofuels.

Saturday, March 28

Vick Family Farms - http://www.vickfamilyfarms.com/

Vick Family Farms is a Family owned and managed farm operation currently farming 5000 acres of cropland since 1975. Jerome and Diane Vick are the original owners and both oversee day-to-day operations on the farm. They grow a variety of crops including tobacco, cotton and sweet potatoes that are cured and stored in a state of the art controlled atmosphere storage facility with the storage capacity of 200,000 bushels.

Southern Farm Tilapia - http://www.ncagr.gov/ncproducts/ShowSite.asp?ID=2574

Southern Farm Tilapia is the state's largest indoor aquaculture operation, raising more than two million pounds of tilapia annually. They have hatchery, advanced fingerlings and processing facilities, and operate fish production sites at nine locations. They process their products at a modern 17,000 square-foot plant in Bailey, N.C. Their state-of-the-art equipment includes a tilapia filleting machine, which is one of the few in the U.S., deboners, skinners and automatic grading machines. They have the unique capability to process seafood and added-value products under the same roof, possessing both FDA and USDA certification.

AgTour - Piedmont

Piedmont Biofuels - http://www.biofuels.coop/

Piedmont Biofuels makes, markets, and sells biodiesel at their Industrial location. They consult on setting up biodiesel businesses (plants and stations); They provide fuel maker and lab tech training; They run a teaching/learning biodiesel plant and farm at their Coop location in Moncure, NC where worker-members can make their own fuel from locally collected vegetable oil; Their farm is registered with the USDA for oilseed crop research and market gardening; They teach classes and workshops on biodiesel and straight vegetable oil; They lobby the NC legislature, as well as national representatives on behalf of biodiesel and renewable energy; They have an intern program that allows people to live on site and learn about all facets of Their operations.

J.C. Raulston Arboretum - http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php

The JC Raulston Arboretum is a nationally acclaimed garden with one of the largest and most diverse collections of landscape plants adapted for landscape use in the Southeast. Plants especially adapted to Piedmont North Carolina conditions are collected and evaluated in an effort to find superior plants for use in southern landscapes.

N.C. State Feedmill - http://www.ncsu.edu/project/feedmill/feedmill.html

The North Carolina State University Feed Mill Educational Unit supports the extension, research, and teaching efforts of the Departments of Poultry Science, Animal Science, and Biological Agricultural Engineering. The feed mill focuses on teaching, developing, and implementing new technology associated with feed milling and animal agriculture in North Carolina.

Syngenta - http://www.syngenta.com

Tour of Syngenta research facility. More details to follow.

J.C. Raulston Arboretum - http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php

The JC Raulston Arboretum is a nationally acclaimed garden with one of the largest and most diverse collections of landscape plants adapted for landscape use in the Southeast. Plants especially adapted to Piedmont North Carolina conditions are collected and evaluated in an effort to find superior plants for use in southern landscapes.

NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine - http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/

North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is a dynamic community whose members are dedicated to preparing veterinarians and veterinarian scientists while advancing animal and human health from the cellular level through entire ecosystems. With the graduation of its first class in 1985, the CVM is one of the youngest veterinary programs in the country. Despite its relative youth, the College has gained international recognition on the strength of its teaching, research, engagement, and patient care efforts.

Honorary Initiation

Steve Troxler - North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture

Commissioner Steve Troxler has been North Carolina's Commissioner of Agriculture since taking office in 2005. Born and raised on a family farm in Guilford County, Troxler was brought up raising tobacco, wheat, vegetables and soybeans.

In addition to being Commissioner, Troxler has served on the Board of Directors of North Central Farm Credit Association; the Board of Supervisors of the Guilford County Soil and Water Conservation District; board member and vice president of the Guilford County Farmers Organization; the Guilford County Extension Advisory Board; the State Extension Advisory Council at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University; and the boards of the North Carolina Tobacco Settlement Phase II Entity and the Guilford County Farm Bureau.

Each semester he personally meets with our new candidate class to help them in their path to becoming Brothers and has participated in our annual Cow Milking contest since becoming Commissioner. Troxler graduated from N.C. State University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in conservation, with a concentration in environmental studies.

Alpha Zeta Awards Banquet

Celebrating Agriculture
Michele Payn-Knoper (Kedzie, '91)

Michele's keynote is filled with poignant moments from her life on the farm, lessons from working across the industry and how to really make a connection that impacts future of agriculture. She'll even incorporate kickboxing moves and throw in a little humor with audience involvement. This memorable keynote will help you understand how to lead through the significant changes facing agriculture in the 21st century and leave a legacy.

Closing Ceremony