Francisco José Calderón has been named the new director for Oregon State University's Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center (CBARC), effective Dec. 31. Calderon replaces Clive Kaiser who had served as interim director for the past several months during the nationwide search for a permanent replacement for Mary Corp, who retired on September 30.
Calderón has more than 20 years of experience and extensive knowledge of soil science and its role in dryland farming. He comes to OSU after 16 years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service's Station’s Central Great Plains location in Akron, Colo. Most recently, he had been serving as the station's acting research leader.
Fluent in both English and Spanish, he has been recognized for his leadership in advancing diversity and equity by both the Northern Plains Area Diversity Task Force and the USDA Agricultural Research Station of the Northern Plains Area. An accomplished researcher, Calderón is also a member of the Soil Science Society of America and is currently technical editor for Soil Science Society of America Journal. He holds a doctorate in crop and soil science/microbial ecology from Michigan State Unversity.
“We are excited to add Dr. Calderón to the college’s leadership team,” said Dr. Alan Sams, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. “His experience as a well-regarded scientist and his proven commitment to cultivating a climate of diversity, equity and inclusion are important to the future of CBARC and the eastern Oregon agriculture community.”
