Nelson Crone, a longtime Alaskan and University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate, has been named director of the UAF Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center in Palmer.

Crone will oversee the farm’s day-to-day operations, coordinate research with faculty, assist with programs for the Mat-Su/Copper River Cooperative Extension Service and champion public engagement for the farm. 

Crone worked on berry and vegetable farms as a youth in southeast Pennsylvania and has a master’s degree in geographic information services and remote sensing. He is also a UAF alumnus from the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, now called the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension.

IANRE oversees the Matanuska center’s operations. IANRE Director Jodie Anderson said she “is happy to be able to hire our graduates.”

Crone worked as an environmental consultant on cleanup projects around Alaska for the Department of Defense, oil and gas companies, Alaska Native tribes and private clients. The farm director position allows him to “get back into research-based work and work more within the community of the (Mat-Su) valley,” he said. 

“I’m very excited that he sees the importance of the farm to the community and the community to the farm,” Anderson said.  

Crone has lived in Palmer since 2018 and loves exploring the mountains, rivers and trails by any human-powered means, including bicycling, canoeing, pack rafting, skiing, skating and hiking.

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