RESUME
NAME: James C. North (J.C.)
E-MAIL: jcnorth@netins.net
BACKGROUND:
1977-1983:
Farming, Crawford County
Corn, Soybeans, Popcorn,
Hay & Cow-Calf
EMPLOYMENT:
1995-Present Research Associate ISU Agronomy Soil Fertility,
Primary Duties
Coordinate Research Activity
:Assist the Primary Investigator with acquisition, implementation and management of a diverse array of field and laboratory trials; field trials include traditional small plot experiments, as well as field scale trials using site-specific management techniques (precision farming); Acquire, train and coordinate personnel for field and lab experiments; Assist the Primary Investigator with budget and other management challenges.
Lab Supervisor:
Coordinate the diverse activities of research lab; Train personnel to perform chemical analysis plant tissue, grain and soil; Insure laboratory safety, accuracy and efficiency.
Data Management and Interpretation:
Manage data from all long-term experiments; Assist in the interpretation of data from all experiments.
Secondary Responsibilities:
Public Information:
Report the results of experiments and other activities at public field days, meetings, and poster presentations.
1987-1995 Research Coordinator/Data Manager MBS, Inc. (Mike Brayton Seeds, Inc.)
Job title changed to Research Coordinator to better reflect time spent in coordination of research activities and personnel.
Primary Duties
Coordinate Research Activity:
Assist with acquisition of field trials; Assist with acquisition of products for testing; Determine testing level of new products; Design field trials; Coordinate field research technicians for planting, maintenance and harvest of trials; Identify new products for testing; Identify tested products for advancement; Assist the Research Manager with budget and other management challenges.
Manage Research Information System:
Maintain a database for all yield trials and all crops for MBS and its subsidiaries; Manage a product database for product traits including physical and specialty traits; Educate and support technicians using automated data recorders and other specialty equipment; Edit new data; Data interpretation; Design and write reports.
Manage the Corn and Soybean Cooperative Research Program:
Recruit participants (cooperators) for the program; Acquire and ship products for testing; Design trials; Assist cooperators with special problems. Monitor trial progress from planting to harvest and data acquisition; Interpret data from various different reporting formats; Supervise data entry into the MBS research information system; Design and publish reports of the results to participating cooperators.
Trait Identification:
Identify physical traits in corn and soybeans (seed size, maturity, purity etc.); Assist technical manager with identification and quantification of specialty traits such as high protein corn and soybeans using NIR and other accepted techniques.
Secondary Responsibilities:
Quality control on breeder level seed increases; Weekly videotape progress report for foreign customers; Weather station; Contributing editor for an internal newsletter.
Primary DutiesASCS is an acronym for Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service and has since been consolidated with several related agencies into the Farm Service Administration or FSA.
Administer federal agriculture programs in the county:
Production Adjustment -CRP (Conservation Reserve Program), ARP, PIK etc.; Price Support-sealed commodities, farmer owned grain reserve, honey etc.; Conservation-distribution of federal cost-share funds for the construction of terraces, waterways etc.; Compliance-determine farmer compliance with programs and the administration of penalties for non-compliance with appropriate hearing and appeal procedures; Other programs included Dairy and Wool subsidies, Facility Loan and Disaster programs.
Supervise County Employees:
Hire train and supervise five permanent and up to 15 temporary employees; Administer payroll; Review and distribute workload; Review performance; Reward and discipline when needed.
Chair County Disaster Committee:
Included ASCS, Soil Conservation Service, County Extension Service, Farm and Home Administration; Determined physical and monetary extent of natural or man-made disaster such as flood, drought or riot.
Public Information:
Publish a monthly newsletter; Write and distribute press-releases; Make public presentations about new and current federal agriculture programs; Weekly local (LeMars) radio spots as well as radio programs on regional radio stations; 2-6 Television interviews per year (KTIV Sioux City).
Education:
In 1986 I was responsible for the initial computerization and installation of the first computer system in the Plymouth County ASCS office. In 1991 MBS, Inc. paid for one semester of computer science at Iowa State University. While working for MBS, Inc. I took several training seminars for MS Office. In 1997 I took the Iowa State University GIS short course for ArcView.
Data Base:
Informix (Unix OS), FoxPro, MS Access, ArcView (Geographic Information System)
Spreadsheet:
Lotus 123, Quattro Pro, Excel
Word Processing:
Word, WordPerfect
Other Programs:
Presentation-PowerPoint; CAD-Autosketch; Web authoring-FrontPage; Statistical analysis-M-stat
Peripherals:
Data recorders for field and harvest data; NIR for trait identification; Trimble differential GPS for geographic information.
EDUCATION:
1977:
B.S. Agronomy
Iowa
State University
1973: AR-WE-VA Community Schools
ORGANIZATIONS:
Willow Creek Estates Homeowners Assn. (President)
Vail United Presbyterian Church (Elder)
Diamond Lodge #422 AF & AM Vail, IA (Master)
Vail Community Club (Secretary)
INTERESTS:
Bicycling,
Golf,
American History,
Computers