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Area Director's Welcome
Welcome to the Plains Area Director's Office. The Plains Area (PA) is one of 5 administrative areas of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the in-house research arm for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS researchers, including those in the PA, are charged with conducting research on agricultural problems of high national priority to:
- Ensure high-quality safe food and other agricultural products
- Assess the nutritional needs of Americans
- Sustain a competitive agricultural economy
- Enhance the natural resource base and the environment
- Provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.
PA scientists at our 21 research locations in 9 states are addressing all of these goals through the 85 to 100 agricultural and nutritional research programs typically underway in the PA at any one time. The Area Director's Office supports these many vital research efforts by providing administrative, technical, and budgetary assistance to our locations. Our goal is to provide superior service to all our customers and employees to further the ARS research mission and the multi-disciplinary research efforts underway in the PA. We sum it up this way:
Research Excellence: Meeting Customer Expectations!
To lead the PA in achieving research excellence and exceeding customer expectations through continuous improvement driven by integrity and teamwork.
We will:
- Provide excellent service, support, encouragement, and guidance to PA employees and customers/stakeholders.
- Exceed external customer and internal staff expectations.
- Serve as facilitators to achieve Department, Agency, and location strategic objectives.
- Foster positive communication designed to provide accurate information, improve processes and morale, and foster employee and Management Unit success.
- Actively promote ARS research.
- Operate as a cohesive team.
- Embrace diversity and diverse approaches to solving problems.
- Work smart and efficiently.
- Serve as a model office for PA and ARS.
- Achieve fulfillment in our jobs.
Dr. Laurence (Larry) Chandler - Area Director
Dr. Chandler received his Ph.D. in entomology from Texas A&M University. He joined the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in 1982 and has served in several positions including Research Entomologist in Weslaco, TX (1982-1989), Research Entomologist in Tifton, GA (1989-1994), Research Leader of the Northern Grain Insects Research Laboratory in Brookings, SD (1994-1999), Director of the Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center in Fargo, ND (1999-2004), Associate Director of the Northern Plains Area in Fort Collins, CO (2004-2008), and Director of the Midwest Area in Peoria, IL (2008-2012). He transferred back to Fort Collins, CO in 2012 to serve as Director of the Northern Plains Area and currently serves as the Director for the newly formed Plains Area. During his active research career he conducted research on IPM of horticultural and field crop insect pests. He has previously served as the ARS Technical Coordinator for the Corn Rootworm Areawide Pest Management Program, the ARS Coordinator for the National Sclerotinia Initiative, and the chair/co-chair of the ARS Information Technology Steering Committee. He received an ARS Technology Transfer Award in 1999 and the USDA Secretary's Award for Individual/Team Superior Service in 2002, 2012 and 2014.
Dr. Kimberly Lohmeyer - (Acting) Associate Area Director
Dr. Lohmeyer joined the Knipling Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory (KBUSLIRL) in Kerrville, TX, as a Research Entomologist in 2003 after receiving a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Georgia in 2002. Her research has focused on developing and evaluating novel control techniques for controlling biting flies and ticks on cattle and wildlife. In 2023 she became Center Director for the KBUSLIRL, providing leadership for the Laboratory’s three locations in Kerrville, Edinburg, and Pacora, Panama. She is an active member of the Entomological Society of America and has served on editorial boards for Thomas Say Publications in Entomology and American Entomologist and is currently serving as a medical and veterinary entomology subject editor and on the editorial board for the Journal of Economic Entomology. Kim has received numerous extramural collaborative grants, conducted pivotal studies with leading animal health industry partners, chaired the KBUSLIRL IACUC Committee, and currently serves on the U.S. Binational Tick Working Group and the Government Agency Longhorned Tick Working Group.
Dr. Caird Rexroad - (Acting) Associate Area Director 
Dr. Rexroad’s 31-year agricultural research career includes research towards genome-enabled genetic improvement strategies, management of laboratory fiscal, physical and human resources, and science leadership to support science-based, sustainable use of our natural resources to meet the nutritional demands of a growing global population. After completing his PhD in Genetics at Texas A&M University in 1998, he joined ARS as a Research Associate working under Timothy Smith at US Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center, NE, and then became an SY at the National Center for Cool and Cold-Water Aquaculture in Leetown, WV where he eventual served as Research Leader and Center Director. In 2015 he transitioned to the Office of National Programs to serve as the National Program Leader for Aquaculture, including multiple long-term assignments as Acting National Program Leader for Food Animal Production and Acting Deputy Administrator for Animal Production and Protection.
Dr. Laurence (Larry) Chandler - Area Director
Phone: (970) 492-7057
E-mail: Larry.Chandler@usda.gov
Dr. Kimberly Lohmeyer - (Acting) Associate Area Director
Phone: (830) 223-2777
E-mail: Kim.Lohmeyer@usda.gov
Dr. Caird Rexroad - (Acting) Associate Area Director
Phone: (304) 620 - 5234
E-mail: Caird.Rexroadiii@usda.gov
Jaime Gerdes - Management Analyst
Phone: (785) 712-3230
E-Mail: Jaime.Gerdes@usda.gov
Alison Rehfus - Information Management Specialist
Phone: (970) 492-7058
E-Mail: Alison.Rehfus@usda.gov
Laura (Michelle) Applebaum - Agreements Assistant
Phone: (970) 492-7059
E-Mail: Laura.Applebaum@usda.gov
Laura Schrage - Program Analyst
Phone: (970) 492-7053
E-Mail: Laura.Schrage@usda.gov
Jeff Thruston – Scientific Technology Transfer Coordinator
Phone: (970) 492-7055
E-Mail: Jeffrey.Thruston@usda.gov