September 2024 FloridAgriculture eNewsletter

By Rob Gilbert and Scott Angle
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[email protected]

 

You may not have noticed there’s a change of leaders at UF/IFAS. Nor should you have to.

We know that for you, UF/IFAS is the county agent who delivers you the science you need to stay profitable today. It’s the researcher running a field trial in your community to answer questions to help you profit in the next five years. It’s the professor who equips your children and future employees with knowledge and skills to keep your operation profitable a generation from now.

None of that changes when the UF senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources changes. For the past 14 months, Rob has led UF/IFAS as interim senior vice president while Scott served as UF’s provost. But Scott has returned from that assignment and resumed his role as leader of UF/IFAS on Sept. 6.

Our job is to work day and night to support the ag agents, researchers and teachers who meet you face to face.

Because we share a common priority to serve stakeholders such as Farm Bureau members, we expect you won’t notice any difference in service – unless you currently aren’t being served. Then we do intend to see what UF/IFAS can do to meet your needs.

It’s a commitment we’ve shared since Scott’s arrival in July 2020. Rob’s record of leadership of UF/IFAS over the past 14 months has demonstrated that this commitment from the senior vice president persists even as the incumbent changes.

Neither of us are corner-office administrators. We both like to get out to industry gatherings, and we want to meet as many of you as we can. We’ve both put thousands of miles on the road to meet producers from the Alabama border to south of Miami. Another big part of our job is to listen.

Scott plans to resume the barnstorming that brought him to all 67 counties in his first three years in Florida. Rob will remain in senior UF/IFAS leadership and continue to support our statewide programs, hear your suggestions, and thank you for feeding Florida, the nation and the world.

We work for you. We’ll both do all we can to keep the county agent, the researcher and the teacher working for you, too.

Rob Gilbert served as interim senior vice president of agriculture and natural resources until Sept. 6. Scott Angle returned to lead UF/IFAS on Sept. 6 after 14 months away.