New Acting Director for NIFA

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture announced on July 10, 2020, that Dr. Parag Chitnis will serve as the next Acting Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) - U.S. Department of Agriculture’s primary extramural research funding agency. “Dr. Chitnis brings more than 31 years of scientific research and experience to the Director’s office. He has been instrumental in providing steady leadership and support to NIFA during its transition to Kansas City last fall, in addition to playing a lead role on NIFA’s Project CAFÉ (Collaboratively Achieving Functional Excellence) initiative which aims to help NIFA maximize business operations to better serve its customers,” said Secretary of Agriculture Perdue. Dr. Chitnis replaces former NIFA Director Dr. Scott Angle, who accepted a position as Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Chitnis has been serving as Associate Director for Programs where he has led the implementation of NIFA’s research programs. He previously served as Deputy Director for NIFA’s Institute of Food Production and Sustainability, which supports research and extension activities in plant, animal, and agricultural systems. Dr. Chitnis has also served as a research administrator at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. Dr. Chitnis has a B.S. in botany/plant breeding from the Konkan Agricultu...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news