UW Extension Welcomes New Plant Science Specialists

A man with short straight black hair and a short beard wearing a collared shirt.
Surendra Bhattarai.

The University of Wyoming Extension welcomes four new specialists in the Department of Plant Sciences.

With experience in education, nonprofit organizations, and extension, the new faculty will support forage, plant pathology, and horticulture education throughout Wyoming.

“Due to several retirements and departures over a short period, we’ve had substantially reduced extension capacity in plant sciences over the last two years,” says Andrew Kniss, head of the Department of Plant Sciences. “We’re very excited to get these new faculty on board so that we can more effectively serve our students and our extension stakeholders.”

Surendra Bhattarai joined UW Extension as a forage agronomy specialist. He will assist Wyoming producers with forage crop questions and conduct research on forage crops.

Bhattarai completed his doctorate and post-doctoral training in plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, where he studied alfalfa breeding and salt tolerance. Most recently, Bhattarai was a research scientist with SARDA Ag Research, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable agricultural production.

A woman with short brown hair and glasses wearing a light green shirt.
Jennifer Thompson.

Bhattarai also has experience in community outreach through Practical Action in Nepal, a nonprofit charity dedicated to global development, where he taught corn producers about resilient farming practices.

Formerly UW Extension’s small acreage outreach coordinator, Jennifer Thompson transitioned to a new role as a horticulture specialist.

In Thompson’s previous position, she coordinated the small acreage issue team, which works with partner organizations to assist and teach Wyoming land managers through efforts such as the Barnyards & Backyards magazine. She has been educating Wyoming residents on horticultural topics for 16 years and is very experienced in working with Wyoming landowners in partnership with UW Extension educators and specialists.

In her new role, Thompson will serve the people of Wyoming by diagnosing plant issues, growing native plants, feeding communities with small-scale gardens, and more.

A man with short gray hair and glasses wearing a checked blue and green collared shirt.
Richard Woodward.

Thompson earned her master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Richard Woodward is also a horticulture specialist with UW Extension. In his new position, his responsibilities will include managing the student farm in Laramie, where he will support students as they learn how to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Woodward will also be evaluating specialty crops and production practices to determine if new options are viable in Wyoming’s challenging environment.

Woodward earned his doctorate in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota. As an elementary teacher in Athens, Georgia, he developed a farm-to-table program and specialized in teaching science literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects. Prior to his time as an elementary teacher, he owned his own business diagnosing plant diseases, worked as a plant pathologist for the Georgia Forestry Commission, and held a pest management position at a tree nursery.

A woman with wavy bobbed gray hair wearing a brown cardigan and a light pink collared shirt.
Jean Williams-Woodward.

Jean Williams-Woodward joined UW Extension as a plant pathologist. She will conduct research on agronomic and horticultural crop diseases and help Wyoming residents diagnose plant diseases in the UW Extension Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic.

Williams-Woodward received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Wyoming. She earned her doctorate in plant pathology at the University of Minnesota.

Most recently, Williams-Woodward worked as an associate professor and extension plant pathologist in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia (UGA). In this role, she provided plant disease diagnosis, management recommendations, and extension programming about ornamental plants, urban and commercial forestry systems, Christmas trees, legume forage crops, hydroponic systems, and hemp. She also served as the interim director of the UGA Athens Plant Disease Clinic.

The four specialists assumed their new roles with UW Extension earlier this month. Contact the Department of Plant Sciences at plantsciences@uwyo.edu or (307) 766-3103 for more information.


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