(Posted March 17, 2022)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
There’s a new face at Madison County’s Ohio State University Extension Office.
Amanda Douridas became the county’s new agriculture and natural resources Extension educator on March 1. She replaces Mary Griffith who had served in the position since the fall of 2015.
Originally from southern Union County, Amanda grew up on an old farmstead and raised dairy feeders for 4-H. Her parents weren’t farmers, but she was surrounded by a strong agricultural community.
“FFA is what really got me interested in agriculture,” said Amanda who was active in FFA while a student at Fairbanks High School.
She started working for a crop consulting company while in high school and continued to work for them while she pursued higher education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and a master’s degree in agriculture economics, both from The Ohio State University.
Amanda took her first step into Extension work in 2008 as a title program coordinator for environmental management in the Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department on OSU’s main campus. She worked with farmers and manure applicators on research and best practices for manure application. For the last several years, she served as the agriculture and natural resources educator for Champaign County’s Extension office.
Amanda and her husband, Nate Douridas, have lived in Madison County since 2012. Nate is the farm manager at the Molly Caren Ag Center, home of the Farm Science Review.
“When the Madison County position opened up, I wanted to apply so I could get to know the community we live in better, and I really enjoy the job. It was a good opportunity,” Amanda said.
Even before her official start date, Amanda was making the rounds, getting to know people. She attended a recent pesticide recertification meeting and is meeting with the Madison County Master Gardeners, a group affiliated with OSU Extension. She plans to get involved with various organizations around the county.
Diving into her new job, Amanda is actively seeking farmer participants for on-farm research protocol studies. With funding to help farmers, Extension is promoting a nitrogen rate trial. The office also is working on pollinator habitat and soybean studies, along with studies on seeding rates for corn and soybeans.
“If there’s something specific you’re interested in studying on your farm, I would be happy to help with that, too,” she said.
Amanda can be reached at the Madison County OSU Extension office, 217 Elm St., London, (740) 852-0975. To sign up for the monthly agriculture and natural resources newsletter or for information on other topics, go to http://go.osu.edu/AgEmails.
