AgriLife Research associate Roberson retires after 35 years

• Writer: Adam Russell, 903-834-6191, [email protected]
• Contact: Will Roberson, 903-834-6191, [email protected]

OVERTON – Sleeping in on a weekday is the only post-retirement plan Will Roberson, 58, has considered so far.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Research associate at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Overton, will retire effective Jan. 31 after 35 years at the center.

“I am looking forward to sleeping until 7:30 a.m. on a weekday,” he said.

Roberson was 16 years old when he first worked at the Overton center as a high schooler. He did janitorial and upkeep work like mowing the grass and cleaning toilets. While attending Texas A&M University in College Station, Roberson worked for a peanut breeder and became familiar with small-plot work.

The job market was slim when he graduated in 1982 with a degree in agricultural education. But there was an opening in a support role for an incoming scientist, Dr. Brent Pemberton, AgriLife Research horticulturist in Overton, who specializes in ornamental plants.

“The job paid as much as a rookie teacher so I took it,” he said. “It came along at just the right time and turned out to be a great decision.”

Roberson said the job provided him freedom and flexibility in his personal life. He was able to coach his son’s Little League teams and help with FFA activities. It also allowed his wife to be flexible in her insurance career.

He also has served five years as an alderman in New London and 14 years as a trustee at Kilgore College.

“If I hadn’t taken this job in Overton, I don’t think those opportunities would have happened,” he said.

Work at the Overton center provided Roberson with a wide variety of horticultural knowledge.

Roses were the focus of his work when he started at the center. He supported Pemberton’s trials to test their physiological and cultural characteristics, such as plant fertility, resistance to disease and pests, and reaction to water stress.

Roberson worked on the bedding trials, greenhouse crops and poinsettia trials with Pemberton.

“I never got locked into one thing,” he said.

Pemberton said Roberson is familiar with all types of field techniques related to row crops and nursery and greenhouse production. He also installed and maintained the irrigation systems for plot work, the center’s demonstration garden and greenhouses.

Roberson also analyzed statistical data and produced summaries for various treatments during those plant trials, Pemberton said. He also made sure student workers were on task with their assignments.

“Without him the work we do as researchers wouldn’t get done,” Pemberton said. “It’s impossible without tech support, and Will has always been good at anticipating things that need to be done, whether in the greenhouse or the field. We really won’t realize everything he did around here until he’s gone.”

Dr. Charles Long, resident director for AgriLife Research at the Overton center, said Roberson has been a mainstay of the horticulture department over the decades.

“Will has been a major factor in the success of the nationally and internationally recognized bedding plant trials conducted by Dr. Brent Pemberton,” he said. “Aside from all the tech work he’s provided the center, its researchers and staff, he’s a really great Aggie.”

Roberson said he’s enjoyed the work his career provided and takes pride in being a behind-the-scenes part of feeding, clothing and providing beautiful plants to Texas and the nation.

“We know what we are doing is important even though it can be overlooked at the grocery store or nursery because the general public just expects food and flowers to be there,” he said.

But it’s the people, his co-workers, student workers and AgriLife researchers, present and past, that he will miss most, he said.

“There are so many,” he said. “They’re just good people who make a positive impact on the people around them.”