Meet . . .

Jude Jardine, Soil Conservationist Point Pleasant FO

Although my name is Judith, I’d rather you call me Jude.

I started working for NRCS in April 2004 as a Soil Conservation Technician in Hamburg, Arkansas. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect when I accepted the position, but I did know I would be doing conservation and that’s what I wanted. I studied biology and plant ecology in college, and had become involved in ecological research that taught me a lot, but left me feeling that I wasn’t doing much to address the problems I was learning about. The hands-on work with NRCS is more satisfying because it is more direct. I guess I’m an action person.

I earned a B.S. and M.S. from what used to be called the Botany Department at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. During my tenure as a student, I accepted numerous part-time and temporary positions that provided field and lab experience in ecology and conservation. I conducted crop and soil research in Costa Rica, worked on a riparian corridor project in Missouri, worked on stream bank and mine reclamation projects in Ohio, and various forest ecology projects in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Later I accepted a Research Assistantship at the University of Georgia, and decided to work on a Ph.D. while there. I found out that I am not suited to the academic life and left for a position as Science Advisor to a watershed planning group in New York. While at UGA I conducted ecophysiology research in Tennessee, Georgia, and Puerto Rico. Since then my encounters with academia have been short term.

My parents were both raised on farms, but my farm experience as a child was limited to weekend and summer work as a farm hand for a variety of chores on family farms in central Ohio. I was a Small Animal and Garden Extensionist in the Peace Corp, and started my own small diversified farm in southern Ohio when I returned from the Dominican Republic. My other farm experience includes a stint as Program Assistant with the Ohio State University Extension Service in Athens County, Ohio; farm hand on sheep and dairy farms; and research with a precision farming group at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota.

Tammy Egerstrom Supervisory Contract Specialist State Office, Morgantown, WV

My name is Tammy Egerstrom, and I’ve only been an Egerstrom since July 25, 2005, when I married my husband Sean at the Chapel of Love in the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul) area. Our “big” secret is that we were legally married a few weeks before the wedding with only a few people knowing since I couldn’t keep a secret. Sean’s dad is a pastor and has done many weddings, so we photocopied our Marriage Certificate before it was signed and we were going to sign the fake blank one at the ceremony. With all the craziness of the wedding ---I don’t think anyone knew so we didn’t have to do the fake signing. We have two children that we support: Alex from the Ukraine and Jennifer from the Philippines. When God decides it is time for us to have our own child/children, we will be excited.

Sean has two brothers and his one sister is expected to graduate from high school next year. His two brothers also got married in 2005, and his brother Steve’s wife delivered their first child Abigail Faith in November 2006. My husband’s family is in Minnesota and he has always been around his family so this move to WV was very sacrificial for him. Sean is a huge Minnesota Twins fan, so we’ll see when/if loyalty changes. I’m sure you’ll see our baseball jerseys come baseball season! Unlike Sean who grew up around his family, I have never really lived close to my family, so I’m excited to now be close to both sides of my family. Most of my mother’s and father’s side of the family are in Beauty, KY. I have an aunt and uncle, and cousins in Zanesville, Ohio and surrounding area. My sister Tina, her husband and three bulldogs live in Topeka, KS. Currently, my father and half brother and sisters are in Mt. Home, Idaho. My mother is retired and lives in KY. My father is retired Air Force, so yes….I’m a brat.

From my senior year of High School in 1986 until September 2001, I lived in Portland, Oregon. I was working for the Corps of Engineers, Contracting Office for several years when I accepted a promotion in 2001 and moved to St. Paul, MN. In June 2005, I accepted a position as a Contract Specialist with NRCS, in St. Paul, MN as a lateral because I was more interested in gaining different experience. I’m very happy to be here in Morgantown, WV and have zero desire to go to Washington, DC for a promotion…in other words…I plan to be here a while.

Jackie (Stewart) Byars Great Kanawha RC&D Coordinator Cross Lanes, WV

My name is Jackie (Stewart) Byars and many of you remember me from working in WV previously. But for those that don’t or want an update, here is the scoop. I was born and raised in Walton, Roane County, WV on a 200 acre farm. We had a cow –calf herd of 20 and I raised truck crops during the summer for my FFA project. I attended WVU and earned a degree in Resource Management, with a major in Ag Education and minors in Agronomy and Animal Science.

I was recruited to the agency by Sam Sheets and Valerie Hannon. In FFA I was on a national land judging team. Sam saw my picture in the paper and called my family out of the blue to encourage me to look at SCS as a career. Thanks to Valerie I was able to get a WAE position in Huntington, and thus it began. I worked in Huntington for 2 summers. Following that, I worked for Steve Carpenter in the State Office Soils section for almost 2 years. NRCS then had a hiring freeze and I went to work for the WV Department of Agriculture in Charleston as a Marketing Specialist for Livestock for 2 years. When I did return to NRCS as a full-time employee, I worked in Martinsburg, Moorefield, and spent several months in Franklin as a soil conservationist. When I left WV, I went to work in VA as a DC and have spent the last 7 years there.

I married the month before I started in VA (that is why most of you remember me as Stewart), to a wonderful man named Scott. He was the Kanawha County Extension Agent here in WV and worked in VA in the same capacity. He will be working for WV State University at Institute as an administrator for their revived Agriculture Extension Program. We have two children. Lily is 6 and Jack is 1 year.

We are very excited about being back in WV to be near family and friends. I look forward to getting reacquainted with all of you and working on projects for the Great Kanawha RC&D.

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