Dr. David Suchoff
Program Lead
Assistant Professor and Alternative Crops and Organic Production Systems Extension Specialist
(919) 515-4792
dhsuchof@ncsu.edu
Dr. Suchoff grew up in Carrboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. in Music Performance at UNC Chapel Hill and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Horticultural Science at NC State. David served as a Peace Corps Crop Extension Specialist in Paraguay (2009-2011) and Costa Rica (2011-2012).
Shannon Koss
Research Technician
Shannon Henriquez Inoa grew up in Raleigh, NC. She received her undergraduate degree at NC State University in Crop and Soil Sciences. She continued at NC State for her Masters’ degree focusing on cover crop breeding and agronomic management of cover crops in row crop systems.
Richard Hendley
MSc. Student
Richard grew up in Marietta, Georgia and received a B.S. degree in Horticulture from the University of Georgia in 2011. He came to NC State in 2019 to pursue an M.S. degree in Crop Science after working on vegetable and plant nursery operations for several years. His Master’s research explores precision cover cropping with a focus on weed suppression and soil fertility.
Alyssa Woodard
MS Student
Alyssa is originally from Abington, Pennsylvania. She received a B.S. degree in biology from Temple University in 2018. Her interest in agriculture research brought her down to North Carolina in 2019, when she first joined the NCSU community working as a seasonal technician in a Crop Sciences lab. In Fall 2020, she began pursuing a M.S. program in horticulture. Alyssa’s research focuses on management practices for organic sweet potato production.
Allissa Halker
MS Student
Allissa Halker grew up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She studied environmental science at UNC Asheville before transferring to NC State and finding her love for plants. Allissa graduated from NC State with a B.S. in Horticulture in the Fall of 2020 and will be continuing her education with the Crop & Soil Science department. Her works focuses on variety and planting date trials related to fiber hemp production across the state. Additionally, she is investigating the use of Fall-planted leguminous cover crops as a nitrogen source for floral hemp.
Eric Linder
MS Student
Eric Linder is originally from Troy Michigan. He received his B.S degree in Agricultural
Operations and Management from the University of Florida in 2019. Prior to attending NCSU
Eric worked in sweet corn soybean breeding programs. Eric came to NCSU in the Spring of 2020
and is pursuing a M.S in Crop Science. His research is focused on optimizing hemp production
systems for North Carolina’s growing environment.
Marcela Chavez
MS Student
Marcela Chavez is originally from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She obtained a B.S degree in Agricultural Sciences and Production from Zamorano University. She came to NC State in 2019 to work for the Organic Cropping Systems Lab as a research scholar focusing on cover crop breeding and soil moisture monitoring. She began her M.S program in summer 2021. Her research focuses on evaluating sesame as an alternative crop for NC and if it can help reduce the impact of the root-knot nematode in sweetpotato.
Cordelia Machanoff
MS Student – completed 2021.
Cordelia grew up in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York and earned a B.A. in International Relations and Sustainable Development from Boston University. She worked as a vegetable farm manager and for Cornell Cooperative Extension before coming to NC State in 2019 to pursue an M.S. degree in Crop Science. Her research explores alternative production systems for organic flue-cured tobacco, aiming to provide growers with improved organic pest management while increasing overall sustainability by incorporating techniques from other crops including mulches, cover cropping and reduced tillage.