Steven E. Newman, Ph.D., A.A.F.

Greenhouse Crops Extension Specialist
and Associate Professor of Floriculture

Personal Records and Links

Personal Program Directions and Effort

My current position in the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department of Colorado State University is that of Extension Specialist and Associate Professor of Horticulture. I have held this position since September 1994. Prior to that date, I served as Associate Professor of Horticulture at Mississippi State University from August 1985 through August 1994.

At Colorado State I have program responsibilities for commercial greenhouse production. By partnering with county staff with similar responsibilities, I maintain a series of educational programs targeting commercial greenhouse growers based on an established needs assessment plan. Those efforts have developed in more recent years into a series of programs co-sponsored by cooperative extension and commodity groups. These collaborative programs are formulated with industry input and utilize recognized speakers, in and out-of-state, to provide the best educational opportunities in the Rocky Mountain west for green industry professionals. Delivery mechanisms for these programs have included traditional classroom seating as well as online courses, compressed video, multi-site presentations.

In addition, I serve the commercial greenhouse industry as a traditional extension specialist through site visits, telephone consultations, and educational material development. I also have represented the Colorado greenhouse industry on a more national scale by participating in efforts sponsored by the Society of American Florists directed towards the health of the industry as well as federally supported research funding devoted to the floriculture and ornamental horticulture industry.

Currently, I am team leader for the Natural Resources and the Environment Core Competency Area for Cooperative Extension. Under this CCA exist other Work Teams including Water Resources, Small Acreage Management and Promoting Local Agriculture, Environmental Horticulture, Pest Management, and

Other extension activities have included the development of a greenhouse professional certification and training program, which was implementated in 2001. This program is a collaborative effort between Cooperative Extension and the Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association. It is unique in that it targets entry level workers as well as college educated greenhouse staff. Our program has received some national attention and regional requests for collaboration. I have also served as the Education Director for the Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association Board and represent the Green Industries of Colorado on the Colorado Water Quality Forum. I have also had the opportunity to perform some outreach to the flower growers of Colombia.

My initial appointment at Colorado State also included a small Experiment Station appointment. Along with some very targeted projects supported directly by the Colorado Floriculture Foundation, I developed the opportunity to work with a small pesticide technology firm in the development of a novel plant protection compound. During this time, we acquired additional federal support through IR-4, developed an application package for submission to the Environmental Protection Agency, and have assisted in developing marketing partnerships. Other research efforts have centered around projects with a dual extension and research mission in traditional greenhouse crops, including greenhouse vegetables.

More recently, I have also been assigned teaching responsibility through a small Resident Instruction appointment, and teach a junior level course in greenhouse management. This annual course typically has an enrollment of 45 or more and is required by several concentrations within our department’s majors. As an extension professional with a passion for outreach, I also offer this course through the Division of Educational Outreach as one of the College of Agricultural Sciences web-based course.

In the Department, my service responsibilities include the Resident Instruction Committee. For the university, I represent the College of Agricultural Sciences on Faculty Council and on the Committee on Responsibilties and Standing of Academic Faculty.

Throughout my career I have maintained an active professional role on a national level. This includes:

  • Serving the American Society for Horticulture Science as the chairman of the Continuing Strategic Planning Committee. This committee has the mission to strengthen the Society through innovative programming and timely products that support its membership;
  • Chairing the Floriculture Working Group, which encompasses the majority of all floriculture research, teaching and extension faculty in the United States; and
  • Working with staff from the Society of American Florists with programs and initiatives directed towards national legislation to support research funding for floriculture and ornamental research.

Prior to my moving to Colorado, I was a member of the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at Mississippi State University. My position there was primarily with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station with a small academic and extension appointment. At Mississippi State I had the opportunity to work with several international graduate students. This opportunity, as well as a short term teaching assignment in Costa Rica, gave me an insight to the needs and demands of lesser developed regions of the world.

My research activities at Mississippi State also included a successful graduate student program. This helped me maintain a viable research program in collaboration with branch station scientists, and I actively participated in regional extension and research programs, including those sponsored by the Louisiana Association of Nurserymen.

 

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Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Deborah Young, Director of Extension, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. Cooperative Extension programs are available to all without discrimination. No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.

 

Last update: November 28, 2005