Sherry Bell Surrette has been named the new head of Mississippi State University’s Central Research and Extension Center in Raymond, Miss.

As director, she will oversee the daily operations of the regional facility, one of four located across the state to meet the information, research and programming needs of Mississippians. The center serves as a hub for research and outreach activities of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and MSU Extension Service. She also will serve as an associate Extension professor of environmental education in the School of Human Sciences.

“Dr. George Hopper and I are pleased with the selection of Dr. Sherry Surrette for this very important administrative position with the MSU Extension Service and MAFES,” said Gary Jackson, director of MSU’s Extension Service. “She will bring a wealth of ideas and energy to the Southwest region to support our research and Extension efforts.

“She has a strong agricultural background and environmental education track record. Her past experiences include developing strong partnerships and working with the public, government officials, rural and urban communities and stakeholder groups.”

Surrette earned her bachelor’s in agronomy from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a master’s at MSU with a major in agronomy and a minor in plant pathology. She holds a doctorate in biology from the University of Mississippi.

“We are pleased to have Dr. Surrette in this leadership position at the Central Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Raymond,” said George Hopper, director of MAFES.  “She is an accomplished leader in natural resources and agriculture, and I am confident in her abilities to build partnerships in central and southwest Mississippi.”

Surrette comes to MSU from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, where she serves as the conservation biology program coordinator at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson. Surrette also has served as the state plant materials specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service.