Heather Weeks Carlisle, Pennsylvania Extension Educator – Dairy Profitability Penn State Extension
What education are you bringing with you to this position?
A bachelor's degree in dairy science from Virginia Tech in 2008 and a master’s degree in agricultural and applied economics, also from Virginia Tech in 2011. My graduate work focused on international trade and finance with a thesis entitled, “Assessing the Impacts of a Special Safeguard Mechanism for Agriculture in the Doha Development Agenda.”
Please describe your agricultural background.
Growing up in the 4-H program in New Hampshire, I showed Holstein and Ayrshire dairy cattle throughout the state and region. I also worked with Granite State Dairy Promotion to promote the New Hampshire dairy industry through open barn events, public workshops and media. When I was in Virginia Tech’s dairy science program, I worked in a dairy nutrition lab and was an officer in the college dairy club.
After graduate school, I served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador as a farm management/agribusiness volunteer, working with a small community of family farmers.
What territory will you cover?
I'll be based in the Cumberland County office and will serve neighboring counties including Perry and Dauphin, as well as Franklin, Adams and York – basically the Cumberland Valley and South Central Pennsylvania.
What are your new responsibilities?
- To serve producers and dairy industry professionals in the Cumberland Valley region by providing access to new information, research and practices relevant to producers’ goals with respect to their dairy management strategies.
- To collaborate with the Penn State Extension Dairy Team to conduct programs for the Pennsylvania dairy industry.
What previous positions have you held?
In Ecuador, I worked throughout the community where I lived, teaching small business practices and dairy product development to a cheese cooperative, as well as providing workshops on milking practices, mastitis control, family vegetable gardens and nutrition to community members.
I also worked at the elementary school teaching agriculture and natural resource education and organized an afterschool program to teach agriculture and natural resource education to youth.
Before joining the Peace Corps, I was a graduate research assistant in the agricultural economics department at Virginia Tech, and a research assistant as an undergraduate student in dairy nutrition.
How will you be of most help to producers in your region or area of expertise?
Because of my work in the Peace Corps, I think I bring a new perspective to the Pennsylvania dairy business, between working with small Spanish-speaking producers and adapting new theories to conventional methods.
My experience in economics provides the background for budgetary and financial analysis offering assistance to producers in management strategies and my dairy background affords a holistic approach to dairy farm management.
Why did you choose this organization?
Because of the wealth of opportunities to work in a vital sector of the dairy industry on the East Coast. Through Penn State University and the work of the Extension Dairy Team, the extension program in Pennsylvania is continually moving forward through new programming and outreach opportunities for the dairy industry.
I'm excited to be part of such a valuable arm of the Pennsylvania dairy industry and I look forward to contributing to the university’s efforts to promote and support agriculture.
What goals would you like to accomplish while in this position?
I hope to help strengthen dairy producers’ capacity to make sound financial decisions regarding their enterprises while working toward building and maintaining the dairy industry’s position of prominence in central Pennsylvania and across the state. PD
