By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Mark Reed, food manufacturing section supervisor, Kentucky Food Safety Branch of the Kentucky Public Health Department, who is also an adjunct professor for Eastern Kentucky University's Environmental Health Science Program, will be speaking from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. at Campbellsville University Thursday, March 12, as part of CU's Environmental Studies (CUES) Speaker Series.

The session is open to the public. It will be in the Banquet Hall downstairs in the Student Union Building.

Reed will be speaking on “Veggie tales: An Overview of Microbial Pathogens, On-farm Practices and Processes and Associated with Food born Illnesses Linked to the Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables” and on “The U.S. Food Systems Continuum - An example of vulnerabilities, security risks and food defense concerns along our farm-to-table food supply chain.”

Dr. Richie Kessler, environmental program studies coordinator and associate professor of biology, invites the public to the session. He said CUES attempts to attract speakers from a diversity of environmental fields including, but not limited to, environmental science, wildlife biology, natural history, ecology, and wildlife management.

Reed has some 19 years of experience in public health, having worked in a public service capacity for all three tiers of government - federal, state and local.

In 1998, he accepted a position with the Kentucky Department for Public Health—Food Safety Branch as a health inspection program evaluator. In this capacity, Reed routinely participated in the training and standardization of both new and seasoned food safety inspectors across the commonwealth.

In October of 2002, Reed accepted his position with the Food Safety Branch as supervisor of the food manufacturing section. In October 2004, he was

honored with the Department for Public Health Commissioner's Award for Excellence in Leadership.

In April 2003, he received a Certificate of Public Health Leadership from the

University of Kentucky School of Public Health after completing a year-long course of study through the Kentucky Public Health Leadership Institute.

Throughout his public health career, he has organized and conducted scores of food safety training classes for the food-service industry, general public, local health department sanitarians, and professional associations.

Reed has also appeared on radio and television shows to promote food safety. He was honored for his educational commitment and talent as a trainer in February 2003 with the Kentucky Registered Sanitarian Educational Training Award.

Reed is a native of Liberty, Ky. He attended Liberty Elementary School and

Liberty Middle School. Following graduation from Casey County High School, he attended Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Ky., where he graduated summa cum laude with an associate in arts degree in 1987.

While at Lindsey Wilson College, he became the anaugural, 1st place winner of the institution's annual Robert & Lucille Boyd Speech Contest.

Reed graduated summa cum laude from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., in 1990 with a bachelor of science degree in community health.

Reed received his master of public administration (MPA) degree from Eastern Kentucky University in 2001. In May 2004, he completed a Certificate of Management

Fundamentals (CMF) program through the Governmental Services Center at Kentucky State University.

Reed also received a master of public health (MPH) degree from Eastern Kentucky University in April 2006.

While an undergraduate, Reed spent the summers of 1988 and 1989 working for the federal government as a Park Ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Green River Lake. After graduation, he served for eight years as a local health department sanitarian at the Boyle County Health Department in Danville, Ky.

Reed is a registered sanitarian and an active member of the Kentucky Association of Milk, Food and Environmental Sanitarians (KAMFES). He served as editor-in-chief of the KAMFES Journal from 1995 to 1997 and winter 2003, and served a three-year elected term as the organization's treasurer from 2004 to 2007.

Reed realized a lifelong goal in the fall of 2007 when he was hired as an adjunct professor for Eastern Kentucky University's Environmental Health Science Program. He hopes to one day draw from his extensive practical and academic public and environmental health experience and serve full-time as an instructor at either the university or community college level.

Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S.News & World Report's 2009 “America's Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S.News & World Report. The university has also been named to America's Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.