CFAES Staff Award Winners

Lee Wilson

Lee was fortunate to have grown up in Columbus, not far from Woody Hayes’s home, and within earshot of the The Ohio State University marching band on game days. An alumni of Ohio State for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Lee has served the Department of Plant Pathology for over 40 years. During his career, Lee has worked in fruit disease epidemiology research – currently as a laboratory research operations senior analyst. For 21 years, Lee’s been on the CFAES weather station committee, 19 of those as coordinator. As the Selby Hall’s safety coordinator for the past 20 years and on the University Laboratory Safety Committee for 11 years, Lee has enjoyed working with all his colleagues, including faculty, staff, and graduate students. 

Carly Becker

Carly Becker has been the program coordinator for the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC) at Ohio State since November 2021, working under the director, Dr. Chieri Kubota. She manages communications, media, events, and stakeholder relations, fostering collaboration among consortium members, faculty, and industry leaders to advance controlled environment agriculture (CEA) together. 

Carly is one of the co-founders of We Grow Scientists alongside Bri Schneider and Jamie Gothard. As part of the COSI Science Festival, this free, hands-on STEAM community event introduces learners of all ages to the diverse fields within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. 

In addition to her primary role, Carly supports multi-state research and Extension collaborations, including SCRI-Grant groups OptimIA and ADVANCEA. A proud 2015 Ohio State graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Carly previously worked in the Fisher College of Business Department of Operations and Business Analytics. 

Carrie Elvey

Carrie grew up in Holmes County, coming home with her pockets full of snakes and bugs, playing in the creek, and exploring the woods. She never outgrew this. Today, as the community outreach specialist for the United Titanium Bug Zoo, she is most passionate about reconnecting adults to the amazing natural history stories happening in their own backyards. Carrie is looking forward to incorporating the knowledge and research findings of the CFAES staff, students, and faculty into outreach programming to help tell those  stories. 

Erika Lyon

Erika Lyon is an agriculture and natural resources educator for Ohio State University Extension in Jefferson and Harrison Counties. She began her career in 2012 with the Mahaska and Wapello County Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Iowa. Erika then pursued graduate studies in ecology and environmental sciences at the University of Maine, focusing on plant pathology. In 2016, she joined OSU Extension, where she and her colleagues in neighboring counties developed various programs tailored to local needs, covering diagnostics, specialty crops, farm management, energy production, and natural resources.

Erika also transitioned several curricula to online platforms, including Pastures for Profit, Forages for Horses, Woodland Health Practices for Service Providers, and the Master Gardener Volunteer Training. She’s also collaborated with fellow ANR educator, Greg Meyer, to develop an orientation program aimed at training new ANR educators on essential topics in the field. 

Eric Hamilton

Eric is a human resources consultant who supports a variety of departments and other units within the college. He began his HR professional career in June 2008 after graduating from Ohio State with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. His previous stops at the university include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Office of Academic Affairs, and the College of Education and Human Ecology, before joining CFAES in September 2017.  Eric approaches every interaction by offering excellent customer service through partnership with clients to provide thoughtful solutions to simple and complex scenarios through alignment of cross-discipline matters that meet business needs and inform strategic decisions. Eric prides himself on emphasizing the “human” in Human Resources by giving extra care and attention to employee needs in a way that lets them know that they matter and their needs are important.