Director

Dr. Tara McHugh

Dr. McHugh received her B.S. from Cornell University and her Ph.D. from U.C. Davis, both in Food Science.  She is an internationally recognized expert in innovative food processing, edible films and nanoscience and a leader in high impact technology transfer. Her and her team’s cuttin​​g-edge science have positively impacted the food industry and rural economies, adding value to specialty crops and co-products, while creating jobs and improving human health and food safety. She authored 215 peer-reviewed publications and patents, many of which have been licensed, and led over 50 extramurally funded research projects.  She received a multitude of awards, including ARS’ Senior Scientist Award, two USDA Secretary Honors Awards, Arthur S. Flemming Award, three Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards and is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. Her research has an h-index of 57 and her manuscripts have received over 12,500 citations. Dr. McHugh has worked for ARS for over 30 years.

Associate Director

Dr. Frederick (Fred) Pierson

Dr. Pierson received his B.S. from Humboldt State University and both his M.S. in Range Ecology and Ph.D. in Soil Physics from Washington State University. Dr. Pierson is known for his research on landscape-scale ecohydrological impacts of changing plant communities associated with expansion of juniper woodlands, wild and prescribed fire, and implementation of rangeland conservation practices. His work pioneered fundamental predictive understanding of the impacts of fire on Rangeland surface runoff and soil erosion processes. He has been a leader in developing the ARS Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM), the first and only erosion model developed specifically for rangeland applications. RHEM is now in widespread use across the US and in many foreign countries. Dr. Pierson has worked as a scientist in ARS for over 38 years, including 17 years as Research Leader of the ARS Northwest Watershed Research Center. He has published over 200 scientific publications in support of public and private land managers and livestock producers with a research h-index of 52 and over 7,500 citations.

Associate Director (Acting)

Dr. Colin Brent

Dr. Brent received his B.A. in Biology from the University of Chicago in 1990, and his Ph.D. in Biology from Boston University in 2001. His graduate work focused on the development and behavior of termites. Between 2001 and 2005, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at North Carolina State University, studying endocrine and pheromonal factors modulating colony dynamics in ants and termites. In 2005, he became an Assistant Research Professor at Arizona State University, extending his studies of exogenous and endogenous developmental regulators to include honey bees. Dr. Brent joined the USDA-ARS as a Research Entomologist in 2007, at the Pest Management and Biocontrol Research Unit in Maricopa, Arizona. During his tenure there, his research has focused on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms guiding development, metabolism and reproduction in a variety of insects, with a special focus on pests of cotton. Dr. Brent served as the Unit’s Acting Research Leader (RL) from 2016 to the end of 2021, at which point he became the permanent RL. From 2022 to 2024, he concurrently served as the acting Director of the Arid Land Agricultural Research Center. In addition to his normal responsibilities, Dr. Brent is an editor for multiple journals, serves on the executive board of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America, is part of an advisory board assisting the National Invasive Species Council in developing a strategic framework for biological control, and is a member of the ARS Research Leader Advisory Council.