Kristin Poley has accepted a position as the Michigan research manager for the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan.

Poley, who started in August, will be in a joint research position with CMPM, Soil Health Partnership (SHP) and The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, with the primary responsibility to build research partnerships to answer key soil health and water quality questions.

“Agriculture in this era presents challenges to growers, markets and the general public,” Poley says. “Being able to work as part of a team that takes a focus on sustainability to overcome those challenges makes me really excited to get to work.”

Mary Fales, The Nature Conservancy’s program director for Saginaw Bay, adds, “Soil health is the key to the future of sustainable and productive farming in Michigan. The Nature Conservancy is proud to play a role in this partnership, designed to bring more soil health research to Michigan.”

In her role at CMPM, Poley will manage the research portfolio and grant program, as well as help organize the annual Great Lakes Crop Summit. Poley will work with SHP lead scientist Maria Bowman and will be the liaison for the SHP expansion into Michigan, augmenting the existing site and supporting analysis of data already being collected throughout the multistate network. 

SHP currently does not have any participating research farms in Michigan, and it is critical to locate partnering farms in the state to generate soil health data that is meaningful for local farmers.

Poley attained her bachelor’s degree in fishery and wildlife biology and a master’s degree in entomology from Michigan State University. She resides in St. Johns, Mich., with her husband, Nathan, on a few acres raising chickens, geese and ducks.

Source: Corn Marketing Program of Michigan, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.