Francis P.F. Reay-Jones Dara Park

DATE: 11/13/2006

CONTACT: Dr. Francis Reay-Jones, 843-662-3526, ext. 208; freayjo@clemson.edu

Dr. Dara Park, 843-662-3526, ext. 206; darap@clemson.edu

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

Clemson adds two faculty members At Pee Dee REC

FLORENCE – Clemson University has added an entomologist and a horticulturist to the faculty at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center at Florence.

Entomologist Francis P.F. Reay-Jones has Extension Service duties and research responsibilities for row crops, including tobacco and soybeans. Horticulturist Dara Park will have Extension and research duties in the area of soil and water interactions with turfgrass systems, with an emphasis on efficient use of water and nutrients.

“Dr. Reay-Jones brings us expertise in row crop entomology that will allow Clemson to provide our agriculture industry with management information to minimize the impacts of insects on our food and fiber crops,” said George Askew, resident director for the Pee Dee REC.

“Dr. Park is an expert on water issues that impact the sod industry and the many uses of turfgrass,” he said. “She is part of a team of experts that Clemson has assembled to address water use and water quality in South Carolina.

“They are excellent additions to our faculty and will greatly enhance our ability to serve the citizens of South Carolina,” said Askew.

Reay-Jones is a native of Oxford, England, but spent several years in the Bordeaux region of France, where he lived on a wine producing estate. He earned a B.S. in biology in 1999 and a graduate level degree in population and ecosystem biology in 2000, both from the Université Bordeaux. He received an M.S. in plant technology from the Université d’Angers/ Institut National d’Horticulture in 2001.

In 2002 he enrolled in an entomology Ph.D. program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, earning his degree in 2005 with a major in entomology and a minor in applied statistics. He held post-doctoral research positions at both LSU and Texas A&M University prior to coming to Clemson.

A native of Marietta, Ga., Park grew up in South Florida. She received a B.S. in biological sciences in 1997 and an M.S. in environmental sciences in 2001, both from Florida Atlantic University. From 2002 to 2006 she attended the University of Florida, earning a Ph.D. in soil and water science.

From 2001 until coming to Clemson she was a turfgrass/water management biologist at the University of Florida’s Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center. She has been married to Scott Park for five years. While a research assistant at Florida Atlantic she participated in a project funded by the Smithsonian Intitute to study the effects of gold and diamond mining on tributary ecology in the Amazon.

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