Gary “Pa Mac” McWilliams

Gary “Pa Mac” McWilliams is a homesteader and publisher of the FarmHandsCompanion.com website. After establishing his first homestead in Tennessee, McWilliams sold his place and returned to his native Arkansas to start a new venture outside Glenwood. This time he is documenting his progress through his website and affiliated YouTube channel. Most of his videos are “how-to” features regarding everything from planting fruit trees to building outbuildings. Since launching his online efforts about two years ago, some of his videos have exceeded 500,000 views.

Lori Bird

Lori Bird of the Randall community in Cleveland County owns and operates Birds &  Bee Honey with her husband, Trent. After dabbling in beekeeping for a few years, Lori decided to take the plunge into honey production about three years ago, and she and Trent now have one of the largest natural, chemical-free honey operations in South Arkansas. Lori began her business by selling her raw honey at the local farmers market. She has since expanded to include a variety of retail outlets in and around southern and central Arkansas.

Clay Wingfield

Clay Wingfield is a Program Technician at the University of Arkansas Division of Agricutlure Southwest Research and Extension Center at Hope. A graduate of Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia, Wingfield is an Arkansas Certified Nurseryman. For the past seven years, Wingfield has has worked with blackberries under the supervision of Dr. John Clark, professor of horticulture at the University of Arkansas and one the premier breeders of blackberries in the United States.

Dr. David Fernandez

Dr. David Fernandez is the Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Programs and the Extension Livestock Specialist at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. He works with students and faculty to improve academic outcomes for students, and with small, new and beginning and socially disadvantaged livestock producers to improve their farms’ incomes and productivity. Prior to his arrival in Pine Bluff he served as a science writer, creating online curricula and textbooks for biological and biomedical science courses. He has been a professor of Animal Science in California and Texas, Associate Director of Science Education at Rice University in Houston, TX, and Program Director for Student Success Initiatives in Texas. He graduated with his PhD in Physiology (Reproduction) from the University of Kentucky in 1997. He has traveled to Bangladesh, Kenya, and China to help livestock producers better their lives through improved production practices. He has a flock of 30 Katahdin sheep, serves in his community as a Cub Scout leader and Rotary member, and as an AWANA leader in his church.

Valerie J. Frey

Valerie J. Frey of Athens, Georgia, is a writer and archivist. Valerie earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Art Education from the University of Georgia, and she also pursued a master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she concentrated on historical research and archives. After graduate school, she served as a Junior Fellow in the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress and then became Manuscripts Archivist at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah and Archivist of the Savannah Jewish Archives.  In 2003, Valerie became Education Coordinator of the Georgia Archives where she spent her time developing public service programs as well as creating resources for educators and their students.  She won a grant from the Georgia Humanities Council to create Down Home Days, an annual event to help kids develop a love of history. Her latest book project with the University of Georgia Press, Preserving Family Recipes:  How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions was released November 1, 2015. Her blog can be found at valerie-frey.squarespace.com

Les Walz

Les Walz is the staff chair for the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension Office at Rison. He has two degrees in agriculture, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Monticello and a master’s degree from Louisiana State University. Walz was instrumental in the establishment of the Rison Community Garden, a series of 27 raised garden beds at the Pioneer Village in Rison. The purpose of the garden is two-fold: provide a place where local residents can grown their own vegetables at no charge, and provide a place to teach others how to use raised beds to grow their own food at home. In addition to the raised beds, the garden also has a do-it-yourself high tunnel/hoop house to demonstrate how gardeners can extend their growing season, and a compost corral. Walz also regularly attends the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Conference (SSAWG) to learn more about the latest practices in sustainable agricultural that can be implemented by backyard gardeners and small scale farmers.

John Gavin

John Gavin is the staff chair for the Bradley County Cooperative Extension Office at Warren.  After earning a bachelor’s degree in plant soil science from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Gavin received his master’s degree in horticulture food science from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is considered one of the leading experts on tomato production within the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service system. Gavin works directly with several commercial tomato growers in the Warren area on improving production and battling diseases.

Robin Bridges

Robin Bridges is the staff chair for the Union County Cooperative Extension Office at El Dorado. He received his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana Tech University and his master’s degree from Louisiana State University. Bridges has been involved with the Cooperative Extension Servic for more than 32 years, serving  in the Louisiana State University system for 25 years before spending the last 7 years working in the University of Arkansas system. He works closely with the Union County Master Gardeners Club as well as overseeing environmental, water conservation and animal science programs.