Meet the Team

Tom Dean

Title: Co-Director

Office Phone: 575-646-5819

Cell: 575-835-8033

Bio: Tom Dean is currently the Southwest District Director/Department Head for Cooperative Extension Service covering nine counties and Co-Director of the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center. He has been an active agent in New Mexico as well as Texas. He was county director of Socorro County for 11 years and then spent time as the State 4-H Ag/Natural Resource Specialist. Tom has a master's and bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University in Range Science.

Marshal Wilson

Title: Co-Director

Office Phone: 575-646-7243

Email: mwilson@nmda.nmsu.edu

Bio: Marshal Wilson is Co-Director of the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center (Center) and provides leadership from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture partner. In addition, Marshal Assistant Division Director for Agricultural Production Services and serves as the Emergency Support Function #11 coordinator for New Mexico. He has a passion for production agriculture and is an active partner on a cattle ranch in Lincoln County.

Janet Witte

Title: Project Coordinator

Office Phone: 575-646-5949

Email: jswitte@nmsu.edu

Bio: Janet Witte is a Project Coordinator with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center, a cooperative venture with New Mexico State University College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Cooperative Extension Service and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Witte has been with the Center since 2008 where she assists the team by coordinating Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness trainings throughout the State utilizing the Cooperative Extension Service Agents and Specialists in those trainings as well as National trainers. She maintains liaison with industry, state and federal agencies and others in the state involved in agriculture, food production, and processing for training and exercises. She assists the Center team with grant funding management and budgeting submission. Witte earned her Master's of Science Degree in agriculture, has lived in and around Agriculture her entire life and is a participant in planning and execution of many trainings and exercises.

Robert Silver

Title: Program Specialist

Office Phone: 575-646-2816

Email: rsilver@nmsu.edu

Bio: Bob has been with New Mexico State University (NMSU) since 1992. He is currently a Program Specialist at the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center. The Center provides instruction to producers of fresh fruit and produce about the risk of microbial contamination during the production, harvest, and handling of these commodities. This instruction is a requirement under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule for farms that grow, pack, process, or sell fresh fruit and produce that are covered by regulations of the Act. Bob is a Lead Instructor with the Produce Safety Alliance that has developed a standardized curriculum to satisfy the training requirements outlined within the Produce Safety Rule. He and the Center plan, organize, and hold in-person and remote training so that producers can certify meeting the training requirements of the Rule.

Iliana Rubio

Title: Agriculture Specialist

Office Phone: 575-339-5040

Email: irubio@nmda.nmsu.edu

Bio: Iliana Rubio is an Agricultural Specialist with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center, where she has supported agricultural emergency preparedness, biosecurity, outreach, and producer engagement efforts since September 2025. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from New Mexico State University with minors in Agricultural Business Management and Chemistry and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics. Passionate about serving the agricultural community, Iliana works closely with producers and industry stakeholders to strengthen preparedness and resilience across the region. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and participating in team roping events.

Natalia Molinar

Title: Agriculture Specialist

Email: nmolinar@nmda.nmsu.edu

Bio: Natalia Molinar is Agricultural Specialist with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center. She holds a master's degree in Agricultural and Extension Education focusing on Agricultural Strategic Communications. Her work focuses on using digital media to effectively communicate with and support the agricultural community, with expertise in video production, social media management, and strategic content creation. In her spare time, Natalia enjoys spending time with loved ones and doing abuelita hobbies.

Alexander Brock

Title: Student Aide

Office Phone: 575-646-4402

Email: axander@nmsu.edu

Bio: Alexander Brock has been working with the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center since February of 2025 creating and collaborating to make course material for trainings, workshops and tabletop presentations. He has a passion for helping producers and consumers alike in understanding biosecurity principles and practices that are beneficial on farms as well as in a household. His focus is on educating children and young adults in hopes of equipping the youth with the right knowledge to benefit our agriculture as well as our health. He is currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Agricultural Business and Economics here at NMSU.

Taylor Ramirez

Title: Staff Intern and Administrative Assistant

Bio: Taylor Ramirez serves as an affiliated staff intern and administrative assistant for the Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center. This is her second summer with the Center, where she supports the team through communications, documentation, logistics, and program coordination. Her work helps advance community outreach initiatives, producer relations, and biosecurity awareness and training efforts. Taylor recently earned her Associate of Science degree from Fort Scott Community College, where she was also a member of the FSCC Livestock Judging Team. This fall, she will continue her education at Texas A&M University, pursuing a degree in agricultural economics while furthering her livestock judging career as part of the Texas A&M University Livestock Judging Team.