DATE: 6/13/2006

CONTACT: Dr. Pawel Wiatrak, 803-284-3343, ext. 261; pwiatra@clemson.edu

Dr. Steve Meadows, 803-284-3343, ext. 270; smdws@clemson.edu

WRITER: Tom Lollis, 803-284-3343, ext. 241; tlollis@clemson.edu

Clemson adds agronomist to faculty at Edisto REC

BLACKVILLE – Clemson University has added an agronomist to the faculty at Edisto Research and Education at Blackville.

Pawel Wiatrak will have Extension and research responsibilities for agronomic efforts in corn and soybeans.

“We are excited to have Pawel join our faculty,” said Steve Meadows, resident director at Edisto REC. “He will be an excellent addition to our cropping systems team.”

Wiatrak, born in Krotoszyn, Poland and raised on a small farm near there, began work at Edisto in late May after spending 13 years at the University of Florida’s North Florida Research and Education Center (NFREC) at Quincy.

Born in 1966, he earned an M.S. degree in agronomy from Agricultural University in Poznan, Poland in 1992. He earned a Ph. D. in 1999 from Agricultural University in cooperation with the University of Florida. He also has an associate degree in computer programming and applications from the Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Fla.

Wiatrak and his wife, Megumi, a native of Japan, live in Aiken with their two children – Sara, 6, and Simone, 2.