Blaine Schatz has been named assistant director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, effective Sept. 1. He replaces Tim Faller, who has held the position for 15 years.

“Blaine brings a wealth of experience to the position,” said Greg Lardy, NDSU vice president of Agricultural Affairs; dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources; and director of the NDAES and NDSU Extension. “For the past 25 years, he has served as director of the Carrington Research Extension Center, where he focused on serving the needs of stakeholders and clientele for a wide range of programs. He has focused on improving infrastructure that supports the research mission, and he’s been actively involved in continuing to seek resources needed to improve the station’s ability to provide relevant research and Extension programming.”

As assistant director, Schatz will coordinate activities among the NDSU Research Extension Centers, manage the existing NDAES equipment leases and seek additional partnerships, serve as the liaison between NDSU Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, North Dakota, and represent NDSU Agriculture in western North Dakota.

“I am looking forward to this position as it will allow me to continue contributing to the NDSU Agriculture Experiment Station in a meaningful way by fostering additional research collaborations, supporting the Research Extension Centers and being a representative for NDSU Agriculture,” Schatz said.