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Area Director's Welcome
Welcome to the Northern Plains Area Director’s Office. The Northern Plains Area (NPA) is one of 8 administrative areas of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the in-house research arm for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS researchers, including those in the NPA, are charged with conducting research on agricultural problems of high national priority to:
- Ensure high-quality safe food and other agricultural products
- Assess the nutritional needs of Americans
- Sustain a competitive agricultural economy
- Enhance the natural resource base and the environment
- Provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.
NPA scientists at our 14 research locations in 8 states are addressing all of these goals through the 85 to 100 agricultural and nutritional research programs typically underway in the NPA at any one time. The Area Director’s Office supports these many vital research efforts by providing administrative, technical and budgetary assistance to our locations. Our goal is to provide superior service to all our customers and employees to further the ARS research mission and the multi-disciplinary research efforts underway in the NPA. We sum it up this way:
Research Excellence: Meeting Customer Expectations!
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Meet the Directors
Dr. Will Blackburn - Area Director
 Dr. Will Blackburn received his Ph.D. in hydrology from the University of Nevada in Reno in 1973. Will’s field of expertise is hydrology and erosion of range and forest lands. He pioneered and established information on how livestock grazing affects watersheds. He joined ARS in 1987 as Research Leader at the ARS Watershed Research Center in Boise, Idaho where he was instrumental in focusing research on high priority national and regional problems. Will transferred to Fort Collins, Colorado in 1992 as the Associate Area Director for the NPA and assumed the Area Director position in 1995. He has received numerous awards including Outstanding Achievement Award presented by the Society of Range Management in 1987, Outstanding Teacher, College of Agriculture, University of Nevada, Reno in 1973, and the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2004. He served on several National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences committees; Advisory Panel, Office of Technology Assessment, and Congress of the United States. He is a member of the Society of Range Management and has served as Director of this professional society.
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Vacant - Associate Area Director
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Dr. Michael (Mickey) McGuire - Assistant Area Director
 Dr. McGuire received his B.A. degree in Biology from Kansas Wesleyan, Salina and went on to the University of Illinois where he received a M.S. degree from the Department of Ecology, Ethology and Evolution in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Entomology in 1985. He was then selected into the first class of ARS “Kinney” post docs and was stationed in Bozeman, Montana to work on pathogens of grasshoppers. In 1988, Dr. McGuire accepted a Research Entomologist position in Peoria, Illinois where he developed formulations of environmentally sensitive biological pesticides. Dr. McGuire became Research Leader of the Bioactive Agents Research Unit in 1995 where he resided until 2000 when he accepted a position as Research Leader and Location Coordinator for the ARS efforts in Shafter, California. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in insect pathogens with an emphasis in discovery and formulation. Among Dr. McGuire’s awards are two ARS awards for transfer of novel technology related to control of insect pests. Dr. McGuire serves on two patent committees and as an RPES panel chair. He has served in various officer roles for the Society for Invertebrate Pathology and the Entomological Society of America.
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Mike Wiggett - Deputy Area Director
 Mike is the Deputy Area Director (Business Management) for the Northern Plains Area (NPA). He has 16 years of service with ARS. He started his career in ARS back in 1979 as a Stay-in-School Student in the Area Office in Fort Collins, Colorado. He entered the training program for Administrative Officers in 1989 and was trained in the Midwest Area Office in Peoria, Illinois. After completing the program, he took his first LAO position in Yakima, Washington. In 1993, Mike was selected as the Location Administrative Officer in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1999, Mike was detailed to the Administrator's Office to help establish the Office of Scientific Quality Review. Mike has a degree in Business Management from Bob Jones University.
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Staff - Contact Information
- Dr. Will Blackburn - Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7057
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-mail: will.blackburn@ars.usda.gov
- Vacant - Associate Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7058
Fax: (970) 492-7065
- Dr. Michael (Mickey) McGuire - Assistant Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7058
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-mail: michael.mcguire@ars.usda.gov
- Mike Wiggett - Deputy Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7048
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-mail: michael.wiggett@ars.usda.gov
- Dr. Mark West - Statistician
Phone: (970) 492-7027
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-mail: mark.west@ars.usda.gov
- Reagan Heese - Program Analyst
Phone: (970) 492-7006
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-Mail: reagan.heese@ars.usda.gov
- Barbara King - EEO Specialist
Phone: (970) 492-7053
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-Mail: barbara.king@ars.usda.gov
- Olga Lee - Executive Assistant
Phone: (970) 492-7057
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-Mail: olga.lee@ars.usda.gov
- Louise Dalton - Secretary to the Associate Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7058
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-Mail: louise.dalton@ars.usda.gov
- Garnet Francesca - Secretary to the Deputy Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7048
Fax: (970) 492-7065
E-Mail: garnet.francesca@ars.usda.gov
- Sylvia Buggle - Office Automation Assistant
Phone: (970) 492-7054
E-Mail: sylvia.buggle@ars.usda.gov
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