MSU AgBioResearch hires new compliance and operations manager
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EmailNobach assists research centers in complying with environmental and worker safety standards
EAST LANSING, Mich. — MSU AgBioResearch has hired Gordon Nobach to be its first compliance and operations manager.
Nobach, a MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources alum, will provide oversight in collaboration with MSU Environmental Health and Safety of environmental and occupational safety compliance for the MSU AgBioResearch centers.
To ensure adherence to worker safety standards, Nobach will implement communication, notification, recordkeeping, storage and training protocols regarding the use of chemicals. He will also serve as a point of contact for regulatory agencies.
His first priorities are to establish a rapport with the farm managers and apply effective, pragmatic and simple solutions to following worker safety standards, which he said can sometimes be difficult to understand.
“Once you start delving into the Worker Protection Standard, you get in a mental pretzel quickly,” Nobach said. “In my previous role as a pesticide inspector, that was one of the things I helped farms comply with. That will be one of the central aspects of this position — ensuring that we’re complying with the standard across all the research centers.”
George Smith, director of MSU AgBioResearch, said Nobach’s experience will help streamline meaningful compliance systems.
“We are pleased to welcome Gordon to our team,” Smith said. “He is a key asset in making sure our research centers function at full capacity. His efforts will help contribute to continuing our cutting-edge research.”
Nobach, who holds a bachelor’s degree from MSU in crop and soil sciences, started his position with MSU AgBioResearch July 24. He most recently worked as a pesticide inspector with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).
He will provide research center operations oversight by collecting and updating information about priorities, land use, plot assignments, faculty users, staffing needs and budgets.
MSU AgBioResearch centers throughout the state and on-campus are critical components in providing current agricultural, environmental and health information to industry professionals and stakeholders.
Nobach said he’s excited to share his knowledge and expertise to assist the centers in sustaining compliance with environmental and worker safety standards.
In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency revised the Worker Protection Standard to decrease pesticide exposure incidents among farmers.
In his MDARD role as a pesticide inspector, Nobach worked with different businesses — like farms, insect-control companies and golf courses — to ensure they followed regulatory standards, and reported those out of compliance.
Before being a pesticide inspector, he was a technician for the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program in the Lenawee Conservation District where he educated farmers about conservation practices to help mitigate fertilizer runoff and prevent algal blooms in the western Lake Erie Basin.
