COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: CDA Announces Director for New Laboratory Services Division

Colorado Department of Agriculture issued the following announcement on Jan. 7.

Commissioner of Agriculture Don Brown announces Eric Petty as the Division Director for the newly formed Division of Laboratory Services at the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA). Petty, a chemist and former CDA employee, will be taking on his new duties on January 14, 2019.

Petty is currently the Chemistry Program Manager at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Prior to that, he worked at CDA from 1997 to 2015. As CDA’s Chemical Sciences and Pesticides Work Unit Leader, he developed and maintained methods for the analysis of pesticide residues on environmental, food, and more recently, marijuana matrices in addition to implementing methods for the testing of THC levels in hemp. Petty has also worked at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) - National Wildlife Research Center and the State of Washington Department of Agriculture.

“The majority of my 30-year career has been with governmental laboratory services programs related to agriculture. I am honored to have this opportunity to re-join the ranks at the Colorado Department of Agriculture and continue to serve the Citizens of Colorado. The data generated by this Division is used to make informed decisions, which have a direct impact on industries and the public. The safety of the laboratory staff is my first priority followed by the production of high quality data,” said Eric Petty, CDA’s Director of the Division of Laboratory Services

In October 2018, Commissioner Don Brown announced that CDA’s Biochemistry Lab, Metrology Lab, and Animal Health Laboratory (formerly called Rocky Mountain Regional Animal Health Lab) would be combined into one division called the Division of Laboratory Services. The Division will be moving locations from Denver to a new state-of-the-art facility in Broomfield, located adjacent to CDA’s main office, in early 2019.

The goal of the Division of Laboratory Services is to perform timely and legally defensible chemical, microbiological and instrumental analysis of samples related to animal food, animal health, pesticides, soil, fertilizer, ground and surface water, industrial hemp and marijuana. In addition, the division serves as the primary source of measurement standards for the department and provides volume and mass calibrations.

The Division Director primary duties include:

Create the division strategic plan by developing program performance standards and reporting on how program activities, grants and outcomes measure up to these standards.

Provide management and oversight for various laboratory work units designed to regulate and protect the agricultural industry and consumers.

Provide leadership and serve as the official state government cooperator and liaison at meetings involving federal, state, and local government.

Promote the laboratory, Division, and Department through outreach efforts with the community, other state agencies, other states, federal programs, and national and international professional associations.

For more on the Colorado Department of Agriculture, visit www.colorado.gov/ag.

Original source can be found here.