The Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development in the College of Fine and Applied Arts has named Todd Rudicill as resident assistant farm manager at the Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm at the Blackburn-Vannoy property. Rudicill will assist Farm Manager Brooke Kornegay, who is also a lecturer in the Sustainable Development Department, with day-to-day farm operations.
Rudicill brings a wealth of knowledge to the position, having served as farm manager for Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, North Carolina since 2012. As the resident assistant manager, he will live full-time at the farm and oversee the daily functions that are an integral part of facility management.
“The addition of this full-time position will increase the farm’s ability to function effectively,” said Kornegay. “We are extremely lucky to have Todd on our farm team.”
The Blackburn-Vannoy property spans more than 365 acres in neighboring Ashe County and the 157-acre tract housing the Sustainable Development Farm provides hands-on training for students and community members. Faculty use the farm to showcase sustainable agriculture techniques, including intercropping, permaculture design, crop rotation, sustainable livestock husbandry and more. Several sustainable development courses, such as applied farm operations and silviculture, meet regularly at the farm.
The department’s ultimate goal is to reintroduce the student resident assistant program, where students live rent-free at the farm in exchange for 10 hours or weekly work, when resources become available to ensure housing meets state code and conservation easement requirements.
About the Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development
The Goodnight Family Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University prepares students to thoughtfully analyze human development while focusing on the applied practice of pursuing transformative, community-driven development and social change. Students are encouraged to engage in understanding and advancing the social, economic and environmental transformations necessary to create thriving, equitable and sustainable communities within an ecologically healthy world.
The department offers a Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Development with concentrations in Agroecology & Sustainable Agriculture; Community, Regional & Global Development; and Environmental Studies, as well as a Bachelor of Arts and minor in sustainable development.
The Department of Sustainable Development is one of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. To learn more, visit sd.appstate.edu.
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