Southern SARE welcomes questions or inquiries related to grants, publications, this website, and when seeking general information about sustainable agriculture in the Southern region. Reach out to regional staff for inquiries on the SARE program, our grants and/or educational publications.
Southern SARE staff, located at the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University, and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, oversees the day-to-day functions of the SARE program in the Southern region.
Jeff Jordan, Regional Program Director
Jeff Jordan is the director of Southern SARE and is also professor emeritus in the Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus. As the SSARE director, Jeff oversees the entire program, but is especially involved in coordinating the Research and Education Grants and any special grant Calls, such as the Large Systems Grants. He develops the budgets for the overall program, represents the Southern region at the national level and coordinates the activities of the Administrative Council and the SSARE staff.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 221, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 412-4787
Sandra Blackwell, Grants Coordinator
Sandra Blackwell provides a variety of administrative support functions, including but not limited to: Preparing and submitting annual Cooperative Agreements to the USDA for budgeting for approved projects; working on the SARE Professional Development Program; answering inquiries from various applicants; and tracking each proposal, ensuring they follow UGA and USDA requirements from the time they are awarded until all budget requirements are met and the subcontract has been signed and received.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 205, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 229-3212
Keileah Fears, Administrative Associate
Keileah Fears provides a variety of administrative support functions, including but not limited to: Coordinating all accommodations for Administrative Council meetings and Technical Review Committee meetings; scheduling and attending monthly zoom meetings/conference calls of the AC Executive Committee; providing support for the governing body (Administrative Council) for the Southern SARE region; providing assistance in maintaining the Southern region website; and maintaining grant files and storage. She supports SSARE staff as needed.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 211, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 412-4787
Kayla Martin, Administrative Associate
As Administrative Associate, Kayla Martin reviews and process event sponsorship requests, and process processes farmer education sponsorships and Professional Development Program travel scholarships. She also processes staff, state ag coordinator and Administrative Council travel expense reimbursements. She maintains equipment inventory, makes copies, and files and distributes mail. She supports SSARE staff as needed.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 203, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 229-3212
Candace Pollock-Moore, Assistant Director
Candace Pollock-Moore manages the Producer, On-Farm Research and Graduate Student Grant programs. She prepares the Calls for Proposals and provides guidance to applicants through the grant process. In addition, she maintains the projects database, approves annual and final reports of grant projects, tracks trends in grant funding across all the grant programs, and works with grantees on the progress of their grant project. She maintains the Calls for Proposals for all of the region's grant programs, provides some communications supports, and assists the program director and regional staff where appropriate.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 207, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 412-4787
David Redhage, PDP Manager
David Redhage, President/CEO for the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Oklahoma, is the program Manager for Southern SARE's Professional Development Program. The Professional Development Program provides sustainable agriculture education and outreach strategies for Cooperative Extension System and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff and other agricultural educators who work directly with farmers and ranchers. David's responsibilities include coordinating the annual grant process, reviewing and approving final grant reports, and reporting twice a year to the Southern Region SARE Administrative Council. David also oversees the state ag coordinators and their model state programs in the implementation of sustainable agriculture efforts within each Southern SARE state.
Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
24456 Kerr Road
Poteau, OK 74953
Phone: (918) 647-9123
Denise Quick, Associate Accountant
Denise Quick provides accounting support for the management of the program with project investigators, accountants in the various universities, and the Kerr Center. She is responsible for the daily accounting operations of the award management for the SSARE budgets. Her duties include reconciliation of project budgets, checking and reviewing the contract budgets and allowable expenditures, assisting project investigators for new grants, budgets and invoicing, and budget modifications. She prepares check requests for payments for active Internal Accounts and active subcontracts, including On-Farm, Producer, Research & Education, Education, Professional Development Program, and Graduate Student; State Model Plans; Model State Assistants; and Model State Enhancements.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 208, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 412-4787
Brennan Washington, Outreach Coordinator
Brennan Washington, with Fort Valley State University, travels extensively across the region working with farmers/ranchers and organizations, including NGOs, community groups, and cooperatives, as well as land-grant institutions, in promoting SSARE grants programs, providing sustainable ag educational resources, enhancing quality grant recipients, networking with regional partners, and building new relationships. Brennan attends events, workshops, field days, and other programming to promote SSARE grants and sustainable agriculture educational resources. Additionally, Brennan provides support for event sponsorship requests and is part of the SARE Outreach Team which supports ag professionals across the region in sustainable ag efforts.
Fort Valley State University
P.O. Box 406, 11005 State University Drive
Fort Valley, GA 31030
Phone: (478) 825-6263
Tydaisha White, Grants Assistant
Tydaisha White provides a variety of administrative support functions, including but not limited to: Reviewing the Graduate Student, On-Farm Research, Producer, and Model State Program Grants to make sure all elements are included; reviewing grant budgets and budget justifications for accuracy and to make sure they are following USDA-NIFA and UGA regulations; processing No-Cost Extension Requests, Budget Revision Requests and PI change requests; the point of contact between newly awarded SARE grants and SPA to check the status of the sub-award contracts; manage UGA internal sub-awards; and communicate with UGA CAES Contracts and Grant's office to submit grant proposals for processing.
111 Stuckey Drive, Room 209, Stuckey Building
University of Georgia, Griffin Campus
Griffin, GA 30223-1731
Phone: (770) 467-6083
Communications Specialist, Vacant
The Communications Specialist position is current vacant. For specific communications needs or inquiries, reach out to Candace Pollock-Moore.