Carbon and Cow$
Meet the Team
Nina Gibson
Nina is our host of the podcast, and is a second year graduate student in the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University in Pullman, earning her M.S. in Applied Economics. Nina has a B.S. in Environmental Chemistry and minors in mathematics, chemistry, and energy studies. She interned with AgriBeef during the final year of her undergraduate studies, operating their wastewater treatment and biogas control system at their Washington Beef facility in Toppenish. Just after earning her B.S. in 2017, she started working for Washington State Department of Agriculture, and became the Eastern Regional Inspector for the Dairy Nutrient Management Program in 2018 where she still currently works, except has taken on a policy role with the program while earning her Masters. Nina is passionate about the economics of waste to energy and how to optimize opportunities for dairy and livestock producers and developing economically and environmentally sustainable solutions for the dairy and beef industries. Nina lives on a small cattle farm just outside the city of Moscow and enjoys spending time outdoors in whatever free time she has.
Marcos Marcondes
After completing his Bachelor’s in Animal Science at the Federal University of Viçosa, he earned his Master’s (2007) and Doctorate (2010) at the same institution. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Florida from 2018-2019. From 2010-2021, he served as a Dairy Cattle Management and Nutrition professor at the Federal University of Viçosa. In 2021, he joined the Washington State University faculty as a Dairy Cattle Nutrition professor. At MarcondesLab, he focuses on researching feed evaluation, nutrient requirements, and the economics of dairy operations. Dr. Marcondes also researches additives for mitigating methane production in cattle and the impact of nutrition on the performance and mammary gland development of calves and heifers. He takes a collaborative approach, integrating research on dairy cattle nutrition, reproduction, and behavior.
Georgine Yorgey
Georgine Yorgey is the Associate Director of WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, where she has worked since 2009. She leads the Center’s efforts around recovery of organic wastes through the Waste to Fuels program, co-leads efforts relating to climate change and agriculture, and contributes to Center-wide efforts relating to the BIOAg and food systems programs. She publishes in academic and extension publications, with recent efforts that include the Farmer-to-Farmer Case Studies: Enhancing Resilience of Farming in the Pacific Northwest (13 case studies, 2016-current), and co-editing and co-authoring chapters in Advances in Dryland Farming in the Inland Pacific Northwest (2017). Georgine grew up in Oregon, where early exposure to vegetable and fruit breeding and food processing convinced her that she wanted to work on issues related to agriculture and sustainability. She earned a Bachelor of Arts with High Honors from Swarthmore College in 1999 (with a major in Biology and a minor in Sociology & Anthropology), and a Master of Public Administration degree from University of Washington in 2008.
Hernan Tejeda
Hernan Tejeda is an Associate Professor, Extension Specialist of Dairy and Livestock Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at the University of Idaho. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial/Mechanical Engineering from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile, an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Economics, focused on Agricultural Commodities from North Carolina State University. Dr. Tejeda has conducted research in price transmission, risk analysis, risk management, derivative markets, and crop insurance covering dairy, livestock and also crops markets. He likewise conducts economic analysis in collaborative interdisciplinary projects examining matters of nutrition, health, productivity, waste management, and economic and environmental sustainability among others for dairy and cattle operations. He has spearheaded, prepared and delivered numerous educational outreach workshops for dairy, cattle and crop producers – addressing matters of marketing, risk management and crop insurance at the University of Idaho and previously at Utah State University.
Funding Acknowledgement
This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2021-70027-34713, and by Biomass Research Funds through the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center.
