U of I College of Ag and Life Sciences fills two administrative team positions

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) recently filled two key positions on its administrative team.

Rachael Bickerton started Sept. 3 as CALS director of government and external relations, replacing Brent Olmstead, who retired last November.

Matt Powell, a professor in the Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences and associate director of the U of I Aquaculture Research Institute (ARI), Hagerman Fish Culture Experiment Station since 2002, was chosen as interim associate dean for research and director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. The position was formerly held by Mark McGuire, a university distinguished professor in the Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences.

Bickerton has extensive experience in the realms of higher education, sustainability and government relations and describes the skillset she’s developed as a Swiss Army knife.

Bickerton earned a law degree in the United Kingdom and worked in the music industry early in her career. In 2008, she moved to Idaho and joined the Boise State University staff, working for a decade as director of trademark licensing and enforcement. She accepted a job with The Coca-Cola Company in 2018, where she started in the College and Universities account team and then shifted focus to government relations and sustainability issues.

“I had a lot of experience with some very challenging conversations with legislators and customers, especially relating to packaging and recycling and working with stakeholders to minimize waste to landfill by increasing recycling and lowering the company’s carbon footprint,” Bickerton said.

In her new role, Bickerton is excited to return to higher education and to put her background in law, relationship building and government relations to work.

“It’s a lot about just understanding what’s important to the college and our stakeholders, what’s important to policymakers and finding a win-win situation where we all benefit. That’s one of the things that interests me and excites me about this job,” Bickerton said.

Bickerton will work with government agencies, policymakers and industry groups to help them better understand the value of the university’s land grant mission and the college’s responsibilities in teaching, conducting critical applied research and delivering that information for the benefit of all Idahoans.

“What I am excited about is how well-respected CALS is for the work that we do and the support we give to our partners throughout the state,” Bickerton said.

Growing up in Mountain Home, Powell did odd jobs during high school at neighboring farms. During undergraduate and graduate school, he fed sheep at the Palouse Research, Extension and Education Center in Moscow and worked at a Texas cattle ranch.

Powell earned a bachelor’s in zoology and biology from U of I in 1985, plus a master’s in zoology from U of I in 1990. He earned a doctorate in zoology from Texas Tech University in 1995. Powell’s previous experience also includes being a cadet at West Point, a short tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force and working on the human genome project while he was a graduate student at Texas Tech.

He’s worked for U of I for 29 years, including 27 years based at the ARI’s Hagerman facility, where he helped launch the fish genetics program. In his interim role, he’ll divide his time evenly between research in Hagerman and overseeing university research stations and affiliate research stations.

The interim appointment will span no more than two years. Powell appreciates the opportunity to promote the Land Grant mission of the state and U of I and intends to strengthen stakeholder and university relationships across the state.

“We’re an ag-centric state and we need to make sure our economic engine is running, but more importantly for the people of Idaho and the University of Idaho, we need to make sure that our research enterprise is always innovative and looking forward,” Powell said.

Powell has assumed the position at an exciting time, given that buildings are completed at the college’s forthcoming Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) in Rupert, which will include the nation’s largest research dairy. Furthermore, ground has been broken on a state-of-the-art abattoir at the Moscow campus, which will be called the Meat Science and Innovation Center Honoring Ron Richard.

In his personal research, Powell has been involved in efforts to breed trout that can thrive on a plant-based diet. He was also involved in research that showed selenium contamination from eastern Idaho phosphate mines wasn’t adversely affecting native cutthroat trout. Furthermore, he helped confirm that pure strains of native cutthroat trout without rainbow trout genetics can still be found in the state’s fisheries.

Nonetheless, Powell considers his greatest accomplishments to be the successes of his former students.