Camp Hand is an assistant professor and Extension cotton specialist at the University of Georgia in Tifton. His research and Extension programs focus on cotton agronomics in Georgia, and his goal is to work with the UGA county agents and growers to answer questions that will help Georgia growers remain sustainable and economical. Camp received his BS and MS degrees at Auburn University in horticulture while minoring in agronomy. His graduate work at Auburn was conducted under Dr. Wheeler Foshee. He then went on to pursue a PhD at the University of Georgia in Tifton in weed science under the direction of Dr. Stanley Culpepper.
Ken Lege is an Extension cotton specialist at Lubbock’s Texas A&M AgriLife Extension & Research Center. He has worked in the cotton industry for the last 37 years and considers himself cotton’s biggest advocate. While his career began as a cotton specialist at Clemson University, he’s spent much of his profession developing cotton varieties with companies such as, Monsanto, Delta and Pine Land Company, Sure-grow Seed and most recently, Corteva Agriscience.
Tyson Raper is the Pettigrew Cotton Specialist for the University of Tennessee, with a 75% Extension and 25% research appointment in the Department of Plant Sciences. Dr. Raper is stationed at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center and leads the cotton and small grains programs. His research and Extension program is focused on variety testing, fertility, and a variety of precision ag projects. Additionally, Dr. Raper manages the University of Tennessee Cotton MicroGin. Dr. Raper received his BS from Auburn University, his MS from Mississippi State University, and his PhD from the University of Arkansas.
Michael A. Jones is an Extension Cotton Specialist and Professor of Agronomy at Clemson University. Mike was raised on a small beef-cattle farm located in Nottoway, Virginia. He attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, receiving the BS degree in Agronomy in 1989. Upon graduation, he stayed in Raleigh, entered the Graduate School at North Carolina State University and received his MS degree in Soil Science in 1991 and his PhD degree in Crop Science in 1994. He joined the faculty of Mississippi State University in 1994 as an Assistant Agronomist and conducted research evaluating cotton management systems in the Mississippi Delta. Mike was located at the Delta Research & Extension Center in Stoneville, Mississippi for almost four years, where his research focused on developing sustainable, profitable cotton production systems for conventional and narrow-rows on the major soil types of the Mississippi Delta. The main objectives of his research program at Stoneville involved developing cropping systems to increase yields and net profits of growers while reducing tillage, production costs, and pollution to the environment by integrating all aspects of crop production (tillage systems, row spacing, planting dates, plant populations, rotations, cover crops, etc) into sound production systems, as well as by fully understanding the associations between cotton lint quantity/quality and growth factors characteristic of the region. Dr. Jones accepted a position with Clemson University in July of 1998 and currently serves as State Cotton Extension Specialist for South Carolina where his responsibilities include coordinating and conducting state-wide educational programs related to cotton production in South Carolina. His duties include organizing and conducting state and county educational meetings, organizing and conducting on-farm and research station trials and demonstrations, and establishing and advising state commodity associations. Dr. Jones also has a research appointment with Clemson University, where he has established an applied research program focusing on agronomic management issues in cotton production in South Carolina.
