was appointed as an Associate Director in 2002 and became a Director representing Rappahannock County in February 2003. She earned  degrees in medicine and surgery at the Alexandria University Medical School, and received her training in pathology in the U.S. After a career in the field of diagnostic pathology, she started a cow/calf operation on her farm, which now consists of 100 brood cows, and 28 heifers coming up. Dr. Rifaat  has completed a CREP project protecting about half of the streams on the farm with stream fencing and the planting of hardwood buffers. The Culpeper SWCD recognized the conservation practices on Manor Farm in 1992 by presenting Dr. Rifaat with the Clean Water Farm Award. She is a member of the American Angus Association and  the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association. Dr. Rifaat has three grown children and six grandchildren. She enjoys the outdoors, particularly walking with her dogs throughout the farm. Dr. Rifaat serves as Chair of the CSWCD Board and Legislative Committee as well as Chair of Area II of the VASWCD.

was elected Director representing Greene County in 2001. He was born on, and still farms, the Greene County farm that has been in his family for over 200 years. He graduated from James Madison University with a BS in Social Studies Education and was a teacher for 31 years. Mr. Runkle was on the committee which prepared the original Greene County Comprehensive Plan in 1977 and was Chairman of the Planning Commission from 1989 to 1991. He has been on the Board of Zoning Appeals since 1993, and has been a member of the Greene County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for three years. He won a conservation award from the CSWCD in the 1970's and has employed numerous conservation practices on his grazing land over the years. Mr. Runkle and his wife Janet have two daughters. His hobbies include travel and reading. Mr. Runkle serves as Chair of the Personnel Committee.

is an appointed Director At-Large. Mr. Boldridge received his BA degree from Bridgewater College in 1950 with a major in Chemistry and Biology. He taught school from 1950 until he started full time farming in 1960.He was first elected as a Director in 1980. He served as District Chairman for many years, Chairman of Area II of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and VASWCD State President for two years. Mr. Boldridge served on the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors from 1962 to 1980. In 1974 he received a District award for the outstanding conservation farm. In 1996 he received the Culpeper County Chamber of Commerce Farm Family Award.  He is a Sunday school teacher and deacon and trustee at Gourdvine Baptist Church. He has been married nearly 60 years, has six children and 11 grandchildren. He has lived and farmed in Culpeper County all his life.

was elected a Director representing Orange County in 1996 after serving as an Associate Director for three years.  He lives in Orange County with his wife Virginia and his daughter Stella. He owns and operates a beef cattle operation and has been a building contractor specializing in renovations. He is very supportive of BMPs and water quality and has an active roof water collection system on his farm. Mr. Bradford's activity as Director includes Technical Committee Chair.

J. Robert Brame III 

was elected as a Director representing Greene County in 2007. Bob Brame grew up on a working farm in western Kentucky, where his father was an early supporter of soil conservation and developer of wildlife habitat.  Following his graduation from Yale Law School, he moved to Virginia.  After practicing law in Richmond for approximately 20 years, he moved to Greene County in 1994.  From 1997 – 2000, he served on the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, but maintained his home in Greene.  He divides his time between practicing law, furthering his father’s soil conservation initiatives on the family farm, and fighting the blight and insects on his fruit trees in Greene County.  Bob and his wife, Jane, have five children and two grandchildren.

has been a Director representing Madison County since 1994. He is retired from the USDA Forest Service, having worked in all 33 eastern states and Puerto Rico. Mr. Byrne spent five years as a Soil Scientist, five years as Watershed Manager, four years as an Ecologist, eight years in Forest Resource Planning, and eight years as Air Resources Manager. He served as District Chairman for three years. He owns and operates a cow-calf beef operation in Madison County. He is active with watershed issues on the Rappahannock River Basin Commission and served as Chairman of the Rappahannock Conservation Council. He is currently the Past President of the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and is a member of the Madison County Task Force for Sustainable Development. Mr. Byrne received the 1998 Watershed Connections Award from the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts for his outstanding commitments to watershed management issues in the Rappahannock River Basin.

has been an elected Director since 1990. She operates Croftburn Angus LLC, a beef cattle and sheep operation in Culpeper County, with her daughters Meg and Desy. Ms. Campbell received a BA from Smith College and an MLS from Villanova University.  She received the Northern District Outstanding Forage Producer Award in Culpeper County in 1998. In 2006, Mrs. Campbell was recognized by the Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts with the Watershed Connections Award.

was elected as a Director representing Rappahannock County in November 2007. He was raised on Desert Ranch, a large commercial beef cattle operation in central Florida. Mr. Genho received a B.S. in Animal Science in 2002 from Brigham Young University. After graduation, he worked for King Ranch in Kingsville, TX. In 2005, he graduated from Cornell University with a Master’s of Science in Animal Breeding and Genetics. He is father of two young children.

Lynn Graves

has been a Director representing Madison County since 2005.  Mr. Graves graduated from Virginia Tech in 1995.  He has been a member of the Virginia Apple Growers Association Board and the Virginia State Apple Board since 2000. Mr. Graves and his family own and operate Graves Mountain Lodge and Farm, which is located on the Rose River. The Lodge and Farm operates a cannery that produces over 35 different jams and jellies, along with apple butter. The Lodge also operates a 100 cow-calf operation, 100 acres of apples and 8 acres of peaches. The Lodge does school tours for 7,000 school children annually to promote agriculture. For the past 3 years the Lodge has also run aquatic programs that teach children about watersheds, rivers and ponds. Mr. Graves is married to his wife, Tricia. The couple has 2 children, Amelia and Cole. The Graves family have been living in the Syria area for over 5 generations.

has been the Madison County Extension Agent, Agriculture and Natural Resources since 1988. He received a BS in Animal Science in 1986 and an MS in Extension Education in 1987, both from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the National and Virginia Association of County Extension Agents, Madison County Young Farmer's Association, and the Madison County Farm Bureau. Mr. Jarvis received the Madison 4-H Senior Community Service Award in 1995 and the National Achievement Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents in 1998. He began his appointment as At-Large Director in 1998. Mr. Jarvis serves as Chair of the Education Committee. He received the 2004 Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Extension Agents. In 2008, Mr. Jarvis was recognized by Virginia Cooperative Extension for 20 years of service.

was appointed an Associate Director representing Orange County in 2002. He grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch in Montana. He earned his degree in agricultural engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman, and spent his entire career in the field of resource conservation, holding NRCS positions in Montana, Washington State, Colorado and Hawaii. In 1993 Lee moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Director of the Conservation Operations Division. In the mid 90's he was appointed to head a team to develop wetlands policy. The Wetland team was later combined with the Watershed Division, which Lee directed for three years. When Congress passed the National Drought Policy Act, Lee traded his flood-fighting responsibilities to become the National Drought Policy Coordinator and the Director of the Resource Inventory Division. Lee retired in 2000 and lives with his wife Barbara in the Lake of the Woods community in Orange County. His two daughters also live on the east coast.

graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and received an MS in engineering from Purdue University. He was a Director of the CSWCD representing Rappahannock County for ten years, and completed 3 years  as Chairman of the Board in 2002. He was recently appointed to serve as an Associate Director. Before serving with the CSWCD, he was a major with the US Army Corps of Engineers for ten years and director of Planning and Zoning in Fauquier County for twenty years. The father of three daughters, he currently raises beef cattle and horses at his farm in Gid Brown Hollow,  where he lives with his wife, Jeanie. Mr. McNear has also taught Comprehensive Planning and Zoning at the University of Virginia, won a Fauquier County Citizen of the year award, served as a board member of the Rappahannock County Farmer's Association and the Piedmont Environmental Council, and been recognized by the Virginia General Assembly for outstanding contributions to planning in Virginia.

was a Director representing Orange County from 1990 through 2007. In January 2008, Mr. Neale was appointed to be an Associate Director. An Orange County native, he received his college education at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mr. Neale raised beef cattle in northern Wyoming for six years and owned a beef cow-calf operation for thirty years at Rocklands, his family farm in Orange County. He was a member of the Orange County Planning Commission for twelve years, serving as chairman for four years. He was a licensed charter boat captain and commercial fisherman for ten years at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Mr. Neale has two daughters and a son, all of whom farm in Virginia.

has served for 10 years as an Associate Director and as an elected Director with the district.  As an educator, she has been committed to the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District’s responsibilities to provide information to landowners and the public so that wise choices can be made for the common good.  Ms. Pierpont has her degrees in education from Radford University and the University of Virginia.  She is working towards further certifications in managing conflicts that could result in litigation as well as require compensations for losses.  Ms. Pierpont and her children have been involved in conservation and natural resources management and protection projects much of their lives. 

was elected as a Director representing Orange County in November 2007 She is District Manager of the five-locality Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District, which covers Albemarle, Fluvanna, Louisa, and Nelson Counties and the City of Charlottesville. Alyson received a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Rutgers University and a Master of Science in Natural Resource Economics from Virginia Tech.  She spent a year in the VISTA Program (Volunteers In Service To America) in New Mexico working in farm marketing for Pueblo Indian Reservations.  She has also worked for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and for Southern States Cooperative.  On a personal note, Alyson lives with her husband and two children on a small farm in the Barboursville area where they operate a saw mill and dry kiln.

Camera Shy

 was appointed as an Associate Director to represent Orange County in 2006. She spent 37 years working for the Federal Government as a cartographer. She moved to Orange County in 2003 after living in Fauquier County for 29 years. She has owned horses for 35 years. In her spare time, she volunteers with the adoption program through the Orange Humane Society. Ms. Shelton recently became a certified stream monitor through Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District. She was a flight attendant for 8 months and a private pilot for 13 years.