Contact Social Sciences Team

The members of the team are: 

The Social Sciences Team can be reached at:

USDA-NRCS-ENTSC

Social Sciences Team

200 E. Northwood, Suite 410

Greensboro NC  27401

Fax:  336-370-3377

Frank Clearfield, Team Leader

FRANK B. CLEARFIELD, the Leader of the Social Sciences Team for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, has spent the last 25 years providing help on socioeconomic issues to a diversity of agricultural and industrial groups, conducting research, developing and delivering training materials, and formulating and implementing Federal Policy.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he received a B.A. in Psychology and sociology from East Stroudsburg University (East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) and an M.A. in sociology from the University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida). He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Kentucky in 1985. While at the University of Kentucky, he worked on agricultural extension projects; such as farmer's use of telecommunications technologies and natural resource planning for water quality. He spent 5 years as a regional sociologist for the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS, now the Natural Resources Conservation Service), providing assistance to 25 states in the Southern and Western regions of the United States. He then served as NRCS's National Sociologist in Washington, D.C. for 8 years.

Beginning in August 1995, he became the Director of the Social Sciences Institute. The Institute's major tasks were to develop and transfer technology to NRCS employees and partners. In September 2004, he was appointed the Team Leader of the Social Sciences Team and has served in this position to the present.  He has written numerous articles and professional papers, and has developed procedures to increase participation of diverse groups in U.S. Department of Agriculture programs.

Kim M. Bradford, Sociologist

Kim M. Bradford is a sociologist on the Natural Resources Conservation Service's (NRCS) Social Sciences Team staff located in Greensboro, NC. She works to ensure the development, testing, transferring and use of valid and reliable social science technology in all agency programs and develops technical notes, reports, and training material on the human element of natural resources management.

Kim began her career with the Soil Conservation Service working as a stay-in-school student in 1983. She then became a writer-editor on the Office of Public Affairs staff at national headquarters and worked on the Soil and Water Conservation News magazine staff for 5 years. She also served as a liaison to 14 national constituency groups including: Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the Agricultural Research Directors for 1890 Institutions. Kim co-produced, wrote and appeared in a national video that highlighted the importance of working with constituency groups. Additionally, she has represented the agency on international, national, and local levels. In 1997, she led a team of USDA employees and university professors to South Africa to establish a coalition between the predominately black University of the North and the South African government. She conducted one of the largest research studies on the topic of environmental justice that included interviews with more than 700 people in 11 states.

Kim has received several awards for working in community outreach, participating in job fairs, and maintaining superior work performance. She is a charter member of the National Organization of Professional Black NRCS Employees. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from Howard University and a M. A. in Public Communications from The American University. She is a writer, researcher, trainer, and speaker on issues dealing with social science.