ARS Specialist in Texas Wins Agency Award

By Jan Suszkiw
February 9, 2005

National news release

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — Martha Snodgrass of College Station, Texas, was honored today by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) with a “Bronze Award for Excellence in Administrative and Financial Management Support.” Snodgrass is an extramural agreements specialist with ARS, the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Snodgrass was one of 19 ARS employees to receive an award in this category for 2004.

“New scientific knowledge is produced by the researchers, but their job is made easier because of the support of dedicated professionals at the administrative level,” said ARS Administrator Edward B. Knipling, who presented the awards during a ceremony at USDA headquarters here.

Snodgrass works in the ARS Southern Plains Area Office in College Station. Her primary responsibility is to negotiate, review, award, monitor and administer agreements with external organizations to support research activities and operations at ARS laboratories in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Panama.

In one particular case, after reviewing agreement records, Snodgrass took action to establish a new agreement that resulted in a savings of $15,000 in research funds for the ARS location at El Reno, Okla. In 2003 alone, she had a hand in the processing of 83 new agreements and 179 agreement amendments. Over the past several years, Snodgrass has played a key role in helping the USDA Hispanic Serving Institutions develop and monitor agreements to grant funds, such as to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

Snodgrass also travels across the Southern Plains Area to provide personal training on the extramural process to scientists, secretaries and administrative staff. In addition, she participated on a team that developed the “Complete Agreements Process,” a computer-based training module that was made available to ARS locations in May 2004.

Snodgrass, a native Texan, joined ARS in 1977. She and her husband, Jim, live in College Station.