Sheri McGrew

My number one job is managing the greenhouse space for our research unit. I grow peas, lentils and chickpeas in two different greenhouses with a total maximum capacity of about 6,500 plants. This entails planting, watering, fertilizing, controlling pests, trellising, harvesting, and processing harvested seed. I also often take notes for researchers on specified plant characteristics such as flowering date, flower color and disease susceptibility. I am responsible for controlling the greenhouse environments and for ensuring they are properly maintained.

Our greenhouse use is limited in the summer, as most of our resources are directed to the field during this time. While I still have greenhouse duties, most of my time during the summer months is spent in the field where I score disease in our Ascochyta Blight chickpea nursery and maintain a small nursery of perennial chickpeas.

I am also the Collateral Duty Safety Officer for our research unit, which means I am responsible for giving safety orientations to new employees, seeing that our unit complies with all Federal and State safety regulations, conducting inspections, maintaining chemical inventories and MSDS's, and attending safety meetings. Thankfully, I am greatly assisted by Tony Chen, who handles most of these duties and many others for our laboratory.