Dr. Douglas Tolleson named to AgriLife Research station post at Sonora
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Douglas Tolleson, 325-387-3168, Douglas.Tolleson@ag.tamu.edu
SONORA – After more than three decades, the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Station at Sonora is changing leadership.
Dr. Douglas Tolleson, who is no stranger to the Texas A&M University System or its AgriLife Research or Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agencies, picked up the reins to guide research at the 3,400-acre Sonora facility as associate professor effective July 15.
Dr. John Walker, AgriLife Research resident director at San Angelo who oversees the 100 year-old facility, said Tolleson assumes the day-to-day on-site leadership duties previously held for 32 years by Dr. Charles “Butch” Taylor, former superintendent at the station. Taylor retired on May 31 after 45 years with the agency, served almost exclusively at the station.
“I’m excited about this unique opportunity to become another in the long line of productive scientists to work at Sonora,” Tolleson said. “I am keenly aware of the station’s history and its long-standing support from a variety of stakeholders, and the many contributions to rangeland and animal science that have come from this facility over the last 100 years.”
Walker said Tolleson has a wide breadth of experience in rangeland and ranch management as well as experience working with a diverse public to develop collaborative resource management solutions for public lands.
“He will use these skills to develop practical solutions to problems related to the conservation and utilization of natural resources in the Edwards Plateau,” Walker said. “Dr. Tolleson is an expert in using near-infrared spectroscopy as a low-cost method for monitoring the nutrition and health of free-grazing herbivores and will continue this line of research in his new job.
“He will also continue the work on prescribed fire that was begun by Dr. Taylor. In fact on his second day on the job Dr. Tolleson participated in a prescribed fire at the Texas A&M center in San Angelo.”
In addition to earning a doctorate in rangeland ecology and management in 2007, Tolleson also earned a master’s in physiology of reproduction and a bachelor’s in animal science, all from Texas A&M University, College Station.
He has over 30 years of experience in science, management and education in a variety of ecosystems with multiple animal species on both public and private lands, Walker said.
Tolleson was previously a University of Arizona rangeland Extension specialist and research scientist on the 71,000-acre V Bar V Ranch Agricultural Experiment Station. His job entailed providing information on sustainable rangeland management to the ranching and natural resources management community in northern Arizona.
He also conducted research on rangeland management topics, primarily dealing with livestock grazing and nutrition, wildlife, wildfire and range monitoring techniques. His efforts there also included work to determine the long-term effects of juniper removal and prescribed fire on an 8,000-acre mid-elevation section of the ranch. The overall objective was to return the site to a grassland and improve pronghorn antelope habitat.
Prior to his Arizona appointment, he spent nine years as director of the Texas A&M department of rangeland ecology and management Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab. He has also worked as an AgriLife Research associate at Vernon and Uvalde, and as a research specialist for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at Booneville, Arkansas.
Tolleson has served as the vice president and president of the Arizona Section, Society for Range Management. He also holds memberships in the Society for Range Management, the Wildlife Society and the American Society of Animal Science.
He recently received the Western Section, American society of Animal Science, Extension Award for 2016 in Salt Lake City.
His other honors include the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Extension Faculty of the Year, the U.S. Forest Service National Rangeland Research and Development Award and the Texas Section Society for Range Management Special Publication Award.
For more information, contact Tolleson at 325-387-3168, Douglas.Tolleson@ag.tamu.edu .
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