Colorado Seed Growers Staff

Linda Munk, Seed Certification Manager, Colorado Seed Growers Association

Linda Munk is the Certification Manager of the Colorado Seed Growers Association. She has been with the Seed Growers and Colorado State University since May of 2000.

Linda is an alumnus of the University of Wyoming and holds a M.S. in Rangeland Ecology and a B.S. in Animal Science. She is a Colorado native and grew up along the Front Range. After finishing her degree in 1999, she returned to Fort Collins with her husband, Steve. They have a son, Hayden.

Laura Pickett Pottorff, Director of Colorado Seed Programs

Laura Pickett Pottorff is the new Director of Colorado Seed Programs and will provide leadership and oversight of the Managers of Seed Certification, Agronomy Foundation Seed, and the Colorado Seed Lab.

Laura comes to the position from the Colorado Department of Agriculture where she oversaw the Plant Health and Certification Section, Plant Industry Division. She has experience with program management and leadership of industrial hemp, export, organic, nursery and seed programs, including inspection, pest and disease-free certification of agricultural and horticultural crops, and implementation of quarantines to protect Colorado agriculture and landscapes.  With a background in integrated pest management and plant disease diagnostics she has also worked in the State University Extension system in Colorado and Oklahoma.  Laura was raised in Denver and received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Botany and Plant Pathology from Colorado State University.

Dr. Behroze Rostami, Field Manager, Colorado Seed Growers Association

Behroze Rostami has served in different agricultural positions in governmental and international organizations. He started working as General Manager of Agricultural Services with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) in Afghanistan. He then worked as Head of Seed and Planting Materials Certification Department at MAIL where he gained a wide range of experience in the seed certification system. Also, he worked as Chief of Technical Sector at the Office of Chief Advisor to the President of Afghanistan. Behroze worked as Technical Advisor and as Research Management Advisor with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Agriculture Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA). He also worked as Research Consultant at Tsukuba International Center-JICA, in Tsukuba, Japan.

Behroze earned his Ph.D. at Mie University, Crop Science Department, Japan. He earned his MSc in Agronomy from CSA University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, India. He has a BSc. in Agronomy from Herat University, Afghanistan. He can speak Dari, Persian, Pashto, and a little bit Japanese.

Inspectors

• Danielle Wollert – Southeastern Colorado
• Steve Perry – Eastern Colorado
• Dora Gregory – Phillips & Sedgwick counties
• Ken Namuth – Sterling area
• Melanie Lingo – Central/Eastern Colorado
• Robyne Cote – Southwestern Colorado
• Melissa Franklin – Western Colorado
• Sam Smart – San Luis Valley
• Rick Martinez – Pueblo
• Terry Musgrave Northeastern Colorado
• Steve Starkebaum – Haxtun area
• Gerry Miyoshi – Weld & Morgan Counties
• Christy Kesselring – San Luis Valley
• Ashley Robb – San Luis Valley