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Our Leadership Team
Our leadership team brings passion and experience to building partnerships, developing actionable science, and developing the future scientific workforce for climate-smart practices.
DIRECTOR
Kent Messer
Kent Messer is the S. Hallock du Pont Professor of Applied Economics and the director of the Center for Experimental & Applied Economics at the University of Delaware. He also co-directs the Center for Behavioral and Experimental Agri-Environmental Research (CBEAR), a USDA Center of Excellence. Messer received a BA from Grinnell College, a MS from the University of Michigan, and a PhD from Cornell University. Messer’s research interests include the behavioral response to food risks and the interface between agriculture and the environment. He had published over 110 publications, served as editor of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review and an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Messer has been an investigator of interdisciplinary proposals worth over $72 million from numerous sources including NSF, EPA, NOAA, and USDA. His recent book is The Science of Strategic Conservation: Protecting More with Less published by Cambridge University Press.
DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH
Mark Masters
Mark Masters currently serves as Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center at Albany State University and is a leading expert in agricultural water use and policy in the Southeastern U.S. Throughout his career, Mark has led numerous research and outreach projects related to water resources in Georgia and has positioned the Center as a trusted technical resource for the State and its water planning efforts. Mark is active on a number of local, state and national advisory boards including the American Farm Bureau Water Advisory Committee, Governor’s Soil and Water Advisory Committee, the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership Board of Directors.