Meet Our Staff

Sue Blum, Data Management Specialist II

Sue Blum is the regional administrator for Southern SARE reports. She oversees grant management online reporting. Sue interacts daily with Southern SARE project investigator groups ranging from research faculty and graduate students to farmers and sustainable community organizations across the Southeast to provide one-on-one instructions for online reports. She has become our “resident expert” managing the Southern SARE grant reporting process, so contact her with any questions about report requirements. Prior to joining SARE nine years ago, Sue worked over seven years for the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Griffin campus assistant dean, and also had the opportunity to gain practical experience in a university research program as the accountant and secretary for Biological & Agricultural Engineering. She is an accounting and computer systems information graduate of Southern Crescent Technical College and a life-long resident of Griffin, Ga.

James Hill, 1890 Land-Grant Liaison

James Hill, located at Fort Valley State University, is Southern SARE’s 1890 land-grant liaison. He has been with the program since 2004, educating interested farmers, organizations and community groups about sustainable agriculture and the basics of grant writing. In addition, he connects small, minority and limited-resource farmers to the educational and grant opportunities that Southern SARE has to offer.

Jim Horne, PDP Project Director

Jim Horne serves as president and chief executive officer of the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma. He has guided the organization in developing a program of sustainable agriculture research and demonstrations. In addition to his responsibilities at the Kerr Center, Jim is the project director for the Southern SARE Professional Development Program and has served as chairman for the Southern SARE Administrative Council.

Jeff Jordan, S-SARE Program Director

Jeff Jordan is the director of Southern SARE and is also a professor in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus.  As the S-SARE director, Jeff oversees the entire program, but is especially involved in coordinating the Research and Education Grants, the Sustainable Community Innovation Grants and the Large Systems Grants. He develops the budgets for the overall program, represents the Southern region at the national level and coordinates the activities of the Administrative Council and the S-SARE staff. Since coming to the Griffin campus in 1982 after completion of his PhD at Michigan State University, Jeff has worked in the areas of agricultural marketing, water policy, sustainable agriculture, education and poverty. 

Rebecca Lanphier, PDP Program Assistant

Rebecca Lanphier joined the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture on March 1, 2011. She serves as an administrative assistant and is the Southern SARE Professional Development Program assistant. Rebecca grew up in Ventura, California where she was a lifeguard. She moved to Oklahoma in 1987 and now lives with her husband and seven cats on a one acre plot in Heavener, OK. Rebecca holds an Associate Degree in business administration.

John Mayne, S-SARE Assistant Director

John Mayne is the assistant director of the Southern SARE Program and has been with the program since 1996.  He has been involved with sustainable agriculture for 30 years and has conducted research in Central America, led month-long wildlands field courses in Latin America for the Smithsonian Institution and raised hogs near Tallahassee, Florida.  John holds a PhD in forest resources (tropical agroforestry) from the University of Florida and masters degrees in forest hydrology and soil science from the University of Georgia and the University of Florida.  He lives in North Carolina with his dog (pictured).

Lee Meyer, 1862 Land-Grant Liaison

Lee Meyer is the 1862 land-grant liaison for Southern SARE. Lee is an Extension professor with the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky. His research and Extension areas include agricultural and livestock marketing, sustainable agriculture, farm transitions and beginning farmer programs, direct marketing and grass-based beef production. Meyer received his B.S. at St. Joseph College, and his M.S. and PhD degrees at Purdue University.

Gail Patton, Associate Accountant

Gail P. Patton has worked with Southern SARE since 2007.  She provides accounting support for the management of the program with project investigators, accountants in the various universities, and the Kerr Center.  She is responsible for the daily accounting operations of the award management for the S-SARE Chapter I and Chapter III budgets.  Her duties include reconciliation of project budgets, checking and reviewing the contract budgets and allowable expenditures, assisting project investigators for new grants, budgets and invoicing, budget modifications, check requests for payments, and no cost extensions.  She prepares check requests for payments for 20 active Internal Accounts and 445 active subcontracts, including On-Farm, Producer, Research & Education, Professional Development Program, Graduate Student, and Sustainable Community Innovation grants; State Plans; Model State Assistants; and Model State Enhancements.  Her duties also include preparing hourly, salaried, and monthly payrolls, preparing employee personnel reports, budget amendments, journal vouchers, e-Tickets, hiring new employees, and the terminating employee paperwork. She is responsible for S-SARE's funds; five active Chapter I budgets and five active Chapter III budgets estimating a total of $20 million.

Paige Patton, Accounting Technician

Paige Patton has worked for Southern SARE for 10 years. Paige’s duties include: Assisting accountant by typing letters, reports, purchase requests, subcontract check requests, travel check request, honoraria forms, travel authorities, and travel expense statements, as well as other varied forms; Maintaining and updating mailing lists of various committees, newsletter recipients, and project leaders for the release of seven call for proposals, annual reports, and newsletters; assisting the Director with clerical needs such as design and production of certificates for AC members; answering telephone for SARE Program and assist callers with information; and working with James Hill, 1890 Land-Grant Liaison at Fort Valley State University, and David Redhage, Program Assistant at Kerr Center in Oklahoma, in processing scholarships for recipients to attend the Southern SAWG Conference, National SARE Conference, Federation of Southern Cooperatives Meeting and other meetings as requested by SARE Director.

Candace Pollock, Public Relations Coordinator

Candace Pollock joined Southern SARE in January 2011, after spending 10 years at Ohio State University as a technical editor and news writer for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. As public relations coordinator for Southern SARE, Candace maintains the website, develops publications, writes press releases, attends conferences on behalf of the organization, and works with Southern SARE administration and national SARE staff to promote the organization and sustainable agriculture, among other communications duties.

David Redhage, PDP Program Manager

David Redhage, the agricultural economist for the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma, is the program manager for Southern SARE Professional Development Program. He works closely with Kerr president Jim Horne, who is S-SARE PDP project director, and Rebecca Lanphier, who is the project assistant. Their responsibilities include coordinating the annual grant process (releasing the call for pre-proposals, setting up grant reviews), reviewing and approving final grant reports, and reporting twice a year to the Southern Region SARE Administrative Council.

Sandra Young, Administrative Associate II

Sandra Young provides a variety of administrative support functions, including but not limited to: Coordinating all accommodations for Administrative Council meetings and Technical Review Committee meetings; preparing and submitting annual Cooperative Agreements to the USDA for budgeting for approved projects; working on the SARE Professional Development Program; overseeing the on-line proposal system for six programs and answers inquiries from various applicants; and tracking each proposal, ensuring they follow UGA and USDA requirements from the time they are awarded until all budget requirements are met and the subcontract has been signed and received .