About the Staff


Chris Pannkuk, Director of International Research and Development
pannkuk@wsu.edu: Christopher Pannkuk is the director for Washington State University’s International Programs Research and Development, with lead on projects in Afghanistan, Philippines and a world wide project on Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management. He has over 20 years experience in agricultural extension and research and international development projects. Dr. Pannkuk has designed and implemented projects to monitor and alleviate water use and soil degradation, and researched soil and water conservation practices.; Resume - Dr. Pannkuk


Trent Bunderson, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa
tbunderson@wsu.edu: Dr. Bunderson, Associate Professor with International Programs/Research and Development at Washington State Univ., is currently based in Malawi as Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. He has over 30 years of professional development experience in Africa where he has worked and published extensively in the diverse areas of: 1) adaptive research and development of agroforestry, soil conservation and crop-livestock production systems; 2) indigenous and exotic legumes to increase and stabilize crop yields; 3) food and forage legumes; 4) policy assessments concerning land tenure/land use issues for extensive and sedentary crop-livestock and wildlife systems; 5) ecology relating to multi-purpose land use; and 6) community-based natural resource management.; Resume - Dr. Bunderson


Tom Byers, Associate Director, Asia and North Africa
btom@wsu.edu: Dr. Byers is an agricultural economist with extensive development experience. He has worked in both the public and private sectors in activities that include business and project management, training, financial and economic analyses. He has conducted development projects and programs in Morocco, Russia, Malawi, and Sudan. Responsibilities included human resource and institutional development, agricultural research planning, monitoring and evaluation, planning and conduct of applied socioeconomic research, and economic policy.; Resume - Dr. Byers


Ralph Coolman, Associate Director of Community Collaborations: Dr. Ralph Coolman is associate director for Community Collaborations at Washington State University’s International Programs/Research and Development. Dr. Coolman has over 25 years experience in community-based development in both domestic and international settings. Dr. Coolman has worked with diverse communities to design and implement projects on indigenous agricultural practices, urban agriculture, food systems, organic farming, sustainable agriculture and grass roots community development. He has completed projects in Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, and the United States. Dr. Coolman works on community collaborations in all stages of project development, design, and implementation.; Resume - Dr. Coolman


Oumarou Badini, Associate Director, West and Central Africa
badini@mail.wsu.edu: Dr. Badini’s research and development interests focus on soil and agricultural systems evaluation/monitoring and the use of climatic forecasting, modeling and GIS tools to provide information to decision makers in order to increase food security and economic productivity in concert with conserving and improving the natural resource base. His expertise includes Field trials of Soil Fertility and Water Management, Rural Development, Agroclimatic Assessment, Drought Analysis & Management, Bioclimatology, Soil Water and Cropping Systems Modeling as well as GIS and Environmental Information System Management.; Resume - Dr. Badini


Peter Griessmann, Associate Director, Latin America
pgriessm@wsu.edu: Mr. Griessmann provides leadership for Central and South American programs. He has broad experience in forestry ranging from research on die-back, developing and presenting educational materials on forest production on public and private lands, the use of controlled fire and herbicides. He has experience in collection and analysis of field data related to growth biomass. His programs emphasize private forest landowners, forest operators, and forestry consultants. He provides leadership and inter-agency coordination for forest-based practices and supplies practical information for sustainable forestry.; Resume - Peter Griessmann


Maria Beebe, Chief of Party, Afghan eQuality Alliances
mbeebe@wsu.edu: Dr. Beebe is engaged in global sustainable development; balancing social and environmental considerations with economic development. In her current role, she is the Principal Investigator and senior WSU administrative officer on the Afghan eQuality Alliance initiative, with responsibility for the conduct of project activities to meet project goals according to the donor agency, WSU, and the state of Washington rules and regulations; Resume - Maria Beebe


David Bedoshvili, Director, Kazakhstan Sustainable Agriculture Project
d.bedoshvili@cgiar.org: Dr. Bedoshvili is director of Washington State University’s Kazakhstan Sustainable Agriculture Project. He has over 15 years experience in agricultural research and development projects. Prior to his WSU assignment, Dr. Bedoshvili carried out agricultural development activities in the countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan where he implemented projects on promotion of improved wheat varieties, resource-saving crop production practices, agriculture policy advice and organic agriculture. He has completed assignments for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Ares (ICARDA), ACDI/VOCA, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Dr. Bedoshvili has published several articles on his research. As project director, he provides overall leadership for managing the programmatic, administrative, financial, and logistical aspects of the WSU project in Kazakhstan.; Resume - David Bedoshvili


Colleen Taugher, Project Associate
colleent@wsu.edu: Ms. Taugher is an Information Designer providing leadership in the area of information communication technology for development (ICT4D). She has directed numerous initiatives applying technology solutions to development challenges throughout Africa. Ms. Taugher is responsible for launching a rural telecenter project in Rwanda that is helping coffee farmers communicate with one another and with their international buyers. Her efforts in ICT workforce development in Rwanda have resulted in the establishment of a new workforce coordinating board through the Ministry of Labor. Ms. Taugher’s involvement in USAID’s Last Mile Initiative is helping rural communities in Guinea-Bissau develop new entrepreneurial ventures through strategic use of new connectivity. WSU students have had exciting opportunities for involvement in a number of these programs.; Resume - Colleen Taugher


Mary Weitz, Secretary Supervisor
mweitz@wsu.edu: Ms. Weitz provides comprehensive administrative and secretarial support on behalf of the Director of International Programs/Research & Development, serving as primary point of operational and administrative contact. She provides and oversees a full range of administrative, secretarial and staff support in grant/contract planning, proposal preparation, and maintenance.; Resume - Ms. Weitz


Lisa Blumenshein, Fiscal Specialist I
lisa_b@wsu.edu: Ms. Blumenshein is responsible for ensuring that project financing for International Programs/Research and Development is timely and in compliance with WSU, federal, and state regulations and requirements. She is also responsible for monitoring and analyzing project expenditures and assisting with proposal development and operational budget development.; Resume - Ms. Blumenshein