DATE:     8/21/97
CONTACT:  Dan Ezell, (864) 656-3382
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-334

Clemson Extension Adds
Eight New Agents in 1997

     CLEMSON -- Clemson Extension has added eight new county
agents in recent months, including four for horticulture.
     "We now have 201 agents," said Dan Ezell, interim Extension
director. Several new positions were made possible by state
funding for commercial ornamental work and funds received through
individual counties.
     "Our numbers are remaining stable, but much reduced from
years ago," Ezell said. Clemson Extension's highest agent total
was 284 in 1983, including county directors.
     The newest county agents are: Karen Leggett, Bamberg County;
Sam Bass, Chesterfield County; David Keel, Marlboro County; Ellen
Strother, Beaufort and Colleton counties; Mark Arena, Berkeley
County; Kristy Thomason Ellenberg, Sumter County; Greg Henderson,
Edgefield County; and George Stabler, Clarendon County,
transferred from Chesterfield County.
     Leggett was named home economist for Bamberg County
effective July 10. A former Maryland resident, she most recently
worked as a freelance writer and consultant. She has also taught
high school and worked for the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
She earned a B.S. in home economics from Winthrop College in 1975, 
graduating Magna cum laude, and an M.S. in home economics
education in 1985 from the University of Southern Mississippi.
     Bass transferred July 1 from the 1890 Extension Service at
S.C. State University, where he served as state coordinator for
the Sustainable Agriculture and Small Farms Program. He was at
S.C. State for 22 years. He has also taught vocational
agriculture for two years in Chesterfield schools. In addition,
he manages a 300-acre family farm at Bennettsville.
     Bass received his B.S. degree in agronomy from Clemson
University in 1970 and a M.Ed. in agriculture education from
Clemson in 1995. He and his wife have a son and a daughter.
     Keel was appointed assistant agent for horticulture in
Marlboro County June 16. Prior to joining Clemson Extension he
was a teaching assistant at George Washington University. He
earned a B.S. degree in horticulture in 1996 from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.
     Strother was named associate agent for horticulture in
Beaufort and Colleton counties on June 2.  She has prior
Cooperative Extension experience -- with Cornell University in
Ulster County, N.Y. and with the University of Missouri Extension
in St. Louis, Mo. She has also worked as a lecturer, writer and
garden designer and owned an herb and perennial nursery in the
state of New York for eight years.
    She earned a B.A. in American culture at State University of 
New York at New Paltz in 1982 and an M.S. in agriculture with
emphasis in horticulture in 1993 from Northwest Missouri State
University.
     Arena was named associate agent for horticulture in
Berkeley County on May 27. For five years he ran his own
landscaping company in New Jersey. Prior to coming to Clemson he
was a graduate research assistant at the University of Tennessee,
where he earned an M.S. in ornamental horticulture in May of this
year. He also holds a B.S. in horticulture from Rutgers University, 
Cook College and an A.A.S. in forestry from Pennsylvania College of 
Technology.
     Ellenberg was named associate agent for horticulture in 
Sumter County on May 23. She received a law degree in May from
the USC School of Law and earned a B.S. in horticulture from
Clemson University in 1993. She is a native of Florence.
Ellenberg will work with commercial horticulture businesses in
Sumter County and work on economic development issues and
improving the landscape with city and county government and local
industries.
     Henderson joined the Clemson Extension office in Edgefield
County May 16. He will work in the areas of agronomy, forestry,
animal science, general agriculture and 4-H. The Greenwood County
native graduated from high school in Ninety Six, where he is
restoring the old family home built in the 1800s and farming part-time. 
He and his wife Carol have three sons. For many years he worked 
with the ASCS and the Consolidated Farm Service Agency. He received 
a B.S. in agricultural mechanics and business from Clemson University 
in 1977.
     Stabler joined Clemson Extension in September of 1996 in
Chesterfield and transferred to Clarendon County April 4. His
primary duties are crop agronomics, fruit and vegetable crops,
financial management and marketing, integrated pest management,
alternative crops, agriculture reporting mechanisms and 4-H. He
received a B.S. in agriculture mechanization and business in 1994
and an M.S. in agronomy with emphasis in weed science in 1996. 
For two years before joining the Clemson Extension staff he
ran a small row crop and hay farm at St. Matthews. 
                         END