2025 Guest Speakers Bios
Dr. David Tarpy
David Tarpy is a Professor of Applied Ecology and the NC Extension Specialist in honey bees.
Among other extension initiatives, his program runs the Queen Disease Clinic and the Beekeeper Education Engagement System (or BEES).
His research interests focus on the biology and behavior of honey bee queens in order to better improve the overall health of queens and their colonies.
Paul Poling
In 1989 Paul was hired by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture as an Apiary Inspector. He was later promoted to Apiary Specialist and then to State Apiarist. He is a lifetime member of the West Virgina Beekeepers Association and an honorary member of the Eastern Panhandle
Beekeepers Association. He was a bee wrangler for an Ocean Spray Cranberry commercial. He taught disease and parasite classes for 22 years.
Dr. Tracy Farone
Dr. Tracy Farone, DVM is a Professor of Biology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. She has worked in various areas of private practice, academia, and/or research for over 25 years. Since late 2016, Dr. Farone has been researching beekeeping and bee medicine.
She has worked in the field with dozens of back yard, sideline, commercial beekeepers, and bee researchers, both in the US and abroad.
Shanda King
Shanda is the State Apiarist with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) and is responsible for managing the WVDA Apiary Program throughout the state. She works with beekeepers across West Virginia and is very involved in education through working with local beekeeping clubs, schools, and other organizations to increase awareness of the wonderful world of keeping honey bees. Shanda is a graduate of West Virginia University’s Biology Department and holds a master’s degree in biology from Missouri State University.
Jake “Beeman” Barker
Jake "Beeman" Barker is a Cornell and EAS Master Beekeeper, EAS Lifetime member, and chemist. As Chief Bee Wrangler at Golden Fox Farms, Jake manages around 125 hives in the greater Louisville area for honey, queen, and nuc production. Jake co-founded a bee research and rescue group which operates a swarm program covering 5,500 square miles, and continues to drive work to quantify the unique factors found in these unmanaged stocks.
He is a nationally sought speaker and writer, focusing on queens, genetics, and integrated management.
Kent Leonhardt
Mr. Leonhardt is a longtime farmer whose passion for agriculture began at a very young age and grew into a business operation while still serving in the United States Marine Corps. Early in his military career, Mr. Leonhardt bought a farm near Blacksville, West Virginia that had been abandoned for more than 40 years.
Kent and his wife Shirley raised sheep, cattle, and goats, and sold hay when a surplus was available.
After serving as West Virginia State Senate, in 2017, he was elected West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture, a position he currently holds, and is a member of the Monongalia County Farm Bureau.