Speakers Bureau

 

 

Do you need an expert in vegetation management to speak at your next conference, seminar or meeting? Welcome to the Dow AgroSciences VM Expert Speakers Bureau, a resource for event planners to promote best management practices and environmental stewardship in the vegetation management industry. Dow AgroSciences offers its technical experts, research specialists, associates and talented sales representatives for your group’s next conference, tradeshow or industry panel.

As an industry leader in vegetation management, Dow AgroSciences is committed to providing the industry with innovative ideas, dedicated service, and the necessary tools and information it needs to be successful. Dow AgroSciences offers its technical experts and affiliates as a courtesy to your organization.

 

 

 

The Dow AgroSciences Expert Speakers Bureau provides vegetation management expertise on a range of important topics, including:

  • Environmental stewardship
  • Regulatory issues
  • The importance of maintaining quality IVM practices along rights-of-way
  • Finding funding for invasive species control
  • Efficient herbicide application programs
  • Managing public perception toward herbicide application
  • Worker safety
  • Weed & brush management: Effectively controlling unwanted vegetation
  • Herbicide mode of action: A look at the ways herbicides do their job
  • Forest management
  • Sustainability: The management of terrestrial ecosystems to meet the needs of people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
  • Ecological capability
  • Resistance management: Strategies for glyphosate-resistance weeds
  • Selective site weed management

Invite a Dow AgroSciences expert speaker to your next meeting.

If you would like to request a speaker or need more information, please complete the online form.

Introducing our lineup of expert speakers:

Northeast

   
   
Sam Quattrocchi is a vegetation manager and herbicide program trainer who has worked for Dow AgroSciences for more than 25 years. As a vegetation management specialist and business account manager living in the East, he experienced the 2003 blackout firsthand. Quattrocchi is an accomplished speaker, having given presentations at many industry events, including the Mountain Lake Vegetation Management Council (MLVMC), West Virginia Vegetation Management Association (WVVMA), International Society of Arboriculture, Utility Arborists Association, New York Power Authority, DOTs throughout the United States and many universities across the country.

Quattrocchi attended the University of Tennessee, where he received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and agribusiness. He has been published in numerous industry publications throughout the years. He also is a past president of the MLVMC and WVVMA.

 

 

East

   
   
Rob Brooks is a sales specialist for Dow AgroSciences located in the Gulf Coast region of the country, where he has been for over 10 years. He also has worked as a research and development specialist with DuPont’s agricultural products and as a research assistant for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. He has spoken at the Southern Weed Science Society and at training meetings for the Texas and Louisiana DOTs.

Brooks is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education with a teaching certificate. In 1997, he earned a master’s degree in agronomy from Texas A&M. He is a member of the Louisiana and Texas forestry associations, Texas Vegetation Management Association and the Louisiana Pesticide Applicators Association. He is also recognized as a certified professional and member of the Society of Range Management.

 

 

   
   
Jimmie Cobb is a senior sales specialist serving the states of Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. He has been with Dow AgroSciences for more than five years, but in the industry for more than 30 years, working in the field, in new product development and as a forest manager. Cobb has spoken to the Utility Arborist Association (UAA), Alabama Invasive Weed Council and International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), among others.

Cobb earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of the South and received a master’s degree in forest ecology from Oregon State University. He belongs to the UAA, ISA, and Florida and Tennessee exotic plant pest councils. Cobb is also on the Alabama Vegetation Association’s board of directors, and is a past member of the board of the Tennessee Vegetation Association.

 

 

 

   
   
Scott Ditmarsen, with more than 25 years of experience at Dow AgroSciences, has a strong background in herbicide research and development. Ditmarsen has been an active member and has given presentations at the Florida Vegetation Management Association, Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council and Florida Aquatic Plant Management Society.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry from the University of Minnesota, and has another master’s degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ditmarsen has presented numerous papers at the Weed Science Society of America and North Central Weed Society meetings. He is a member of the Florida Weed Science Society and is or has been on the board of directors for the Florida Vegetation Management Association and Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council.

 

 

   
   
Bill Kline is a product technology specialist for Dow AgroSciences with more than 30 years of experience in the IVM industry. Kline provides technical support to customers, cooperators and the sales field. He is responsible for working on new product development and has researched invasive plant control products for rights-of-way, range and pasture, and aquatics. Kline offers extensive knowledge about the Southeast region of the country.

Kline earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry from the University of Georgia. He is a member of the Southern Weed Science Society, Southeast and Florida exotic pest plant councils.

 

 

 

 

   
   
Travis Rogers has been with Dow AgroSciences for more than 10 years. He has worked in the pest management and stored product fumigation industries assisting customers with marketing, training and integrating new product technology into their businesses. Currently, Rogers is a forestry and vegetation management specialist in North and South Carolina. He has been conducting research with new products through demonstration plots and evaluating various brush and broadleaf weed control.

Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He is an active board member of the North Carolina and South Carolina vegetation management associations as well as the South Carolina Exotic Pest Plant Council.

 

 

Central

   
   
Rich Hendler has more than 28 years of industry experience and is a vegetation management specialist for Dow AgroSciences. Hendler has published several industry articles in the Northeastern and Southern Weed Science proceedings as a graduate assistant. He has given presentations to the National Roadside Vegetation Management Association (NRVMA), Texas Vegetation Management Association (TVMA), Louisiana Pesticide Applicators Association (LPAA) and the Oklahoma Vegetation Management Association (OKVMA), to name a few.

Hendler is a graduate of Tulane University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in biology. He earned a master’s degree in agronomy from Texas A&M University. He is a member of TVMA and currently chairs its legislative committee, LPAA, OKVMA, NRVMA and Utility Arborist Association.

 

 

 

Vernon Langston, Ph.D., is a product technical specialist for Dow AgroSciences with more than 20 years of industry experience. He continues to be involved with brush control research and has had many articles published in industry publications. Langston has spoken at many events, including the Southern and Northeast weed science societies, Texas Plant Protection Society and the Texas Vegetation Management Association.

Langston is a graduate of Mississippi State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and a master’s degree in weed science. He went on to attend Louisiana State University, where he earned a doctorate in weed science.

West

   
   

Beau Miller has been with Dow AgroSciences for almost 15 years as an integrated vegetation management specialist on the West Coast. Miller has spoken to many IVM associations in the California area.

Miller received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Minnesota. He is a member of the California Weed Science Society, California Invasive Weeds Awareness Coalition, California Invasive Plant Council, Pesticide Applicators Professional Association and California Association of Pest Control Advisors.

 

 

 

 

   
   
Rick Miller is a specialty products representative for Dow AgroSciences. Over the years, he has had several articles published regarding his research and has spoken at the California Association of Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA) conference, California Weed Science Society (CWSS), regional Ecological Society of America (ESA) meetings and many distributor customer meetings.

Miller is a graduate of Oregon State University, where he received a master’s degree in entomology, with an emphasis on resistance management. He received a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara in environmental biology and environmental studies. He is a member of CWSS, CAPCA and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

 

 

 

   
   
Vanelle Peterson is a product technical specialist in the Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain region. She has been with Dow AgroSciences for more than 20 years. Peterson has been involved in research projects and has had many articles published on vegetation management. Prior to Dow AgroSciences, she worked as a county Extension agent in Washington.

Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in plant protection from the University of Idaho and a master’s degree in entomology from Washington State University. She is a member of the Weed Science Society of America, Western Society of Weed Science, Oregon Vegetation Management Association and Washington Weed Association.