Dr. Susan Ballabina has been named executive associate director for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Kay Ledbetter has been named Science Communicator of the Year by the Texas A&M University chapter of Sigma Xi, and Dr. Stephen Searcy has been selected president-elect of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Ballabina named AgriLife Extension’s executive associate director  

Dr. Susan Ballabina was named executive associate director for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

“Dr. Ballabina’s devotion to the AgriLife Extension mission of improving the lives of people in our state makes her a natural for this new role of helping guide the overall course of the agency,” said Dr. Doug Steele, AgriLife Extension director. “She has demonstrated excellence in every effort from the regional level to the state program level, and I look forward to her leadership at this level.”

Kay Ledbetter named Sigma Xi Science Communicator of the Year for Texas A&M

Kay Ledbetter of Amarillo has been named Science Communicator of the Year by the Texas A&M University chapter of Sigma Xi, according to Dr. Bill Klemm, senior professor of neuroscience and Sigma Xi chairman of the award selection committee.

Ledbetter has been writing news stories about science for Texas A&M AgriLife Research since 2005. As a media relations specialist, she serves the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension centers at Amarillo and Vernon, as well as 46 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county offices in the Panhandle and Rolling Plains and several academic departments at Texas A&M University in College Station. Her news articles appear in AgriLife Today, the news outlet for Texas A&M AgriLife, as well as in local, state, national and international publications.

Searcy selected incoming president-elect of the American Society of Ag and Biological Engineers

Dr. Stephen Searcy, head of the biological and engineering department at Texas A&M University, College Station, has been selected as the president-elect of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Searcy will begin a three-year term at the close of the 2016 international meeting July 17-20 in Orlando, Florida. He will serve one year each as president-elect, president and past president. He previously served on the board of trustees and as treasurer for the association.