Office of the Director
Director of the Department of Agriculture
Paul E. Brierley, Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, was raised working on his family’s diversified farm. After earning a computer science degree, he returned to production agriculture in southeast Arizona.
He worked with producers across Arizona as Farm Bureau’s Director of Organization for 10 years. Then, in 2014 became the founding Executive Director of the University of Arizona’s Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, which he built into a highly effective agricultural research organization.
On June 26, 2023, Paul took over the reins as Director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture under the appointment of Governor Katie Hobbs. He is highly respected and represents the best of our agricultural industry in Arizona, and will no doubt succeed in leading the Department with diligence, respect, and a deep understanding of the work involved.
Deputy Director of Programs
Sheldon Robert Jones - “What can be done to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness of this entity to meet the needs of our customers?” “Who else cares or should be asked for their opinions about key issues that impact our organization, our food supply and our economy?” Seeking and finding the answers to these two questions has been a career long quest of Sheldon Jones whether on a family ranch in Arizona, state Departments of Agriculture in Arizona and Colorado, trade associations, non-profit organizations, Farm Foundation and the Soil Health Institute, or with his current employer recently returning to the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
Managing the operations of a family ranch led to his insights about the financial underpinnings of small business that served him well during a 14 year career in commercial banking focused on agriculture production and the agribusiness sector. In 1997, interested in the public policy implications of the agribusiness community, he accepted an appointment to become the Director of Arizona’s Department of Agriculture. This background was noticed by the Agri-Business Council of Arizona which in 2002 recruited him to be its executive director.
Two years later he accepted an invitation to step back into state government when the Colorado Department of Agriculture invited him to accept the position of Deputy Commissioner. There, his coalition building talents resulted in the successful passage and signing into law 100% agency sponsored, industry supported bills (19/19 bills). He also drove an internal realignment of agency programs and led the development of Colorado’s Livestock Security System.
The opportunity to help make an impact at a national level in agriculture/agribusiness led him to accept the offer to become Vice President of the Farm Foundation in 2008. Quickly realizing that the organization would provide better service by putting an organizational fire wall between its programs and projects, and the organization’s endowment, Sheldon led the planning, managed the relationships and facilitated the legal and administrative paperwork which brought that concept to actualization. In 2015/2016 he led a major 12-month project which made the case for a more judicious use of medically important antibiotic drugs in the food industry. Beginning in 2013, in partnership with the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation (Oklahoma) Sheldon was a key figure in the due diligence effort seeking to understand the current state of, and potential for, an independent advocate for making soil science the cornerstone of land management decisions. That effort culminated with the launch of the Soil Health Institute in June 2016. Sheldon served as the Chief Operating Officer for 7 years, 2016-2023, based in the Research Triangle Park area near Raleigh, NC.
In October 2024 Sheldon returned to the Arizona Department of Agriculture, serving as the Deputy Director for Programs for Director Paul Brierley.
Married and the proud father of 8 children with 6 grandchildren, Jones earned his Masters and Baccalaureate degrees at Arizona State University. Now residing in Casa Grande, he has stayed in touch with new approaches and developing science and technological trends through active participation in a variety of continuing education options including work at Harvard and Purdue Universities as well as regional and national workshops and conferences.
Deputy Director of Operations and Strategy
Heather Flowers has been with the Arizona Department of Agriculture since 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director for Organizational Strategy. In her role, she directs strategic planning and implementation, agency performance management, and operational improvement initiatives. She has been with the State of Arizona since 2016 and has held previous positions in the Government Transformation Office and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Prior to joining the State of Arizona, she worked as an environmental scientist in South Carolina. Heather holds a M.S. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a B.S. in Geology. Heather and her husband, Christopher, have been married since 1998 and they have four children and one grandson.
Divisions of the Department of Agriculture
Animal Services Division
Robert Smook – Assistant Director – Animal Services Division, Acting in the following positions: Legislative Liaison, Public Information Officer, Tribal Liaison, Ombudsman and Custodian of Records
Rob joined the Arizona Department of Agriculture in July of 2018 as the Legislative Liaison and Public Information Officer. During his time there he also took on the roles of Tribal Liaison, Agency Ombudsman and Custodian of Records. On October 16, 2023, Rob became the Acting Associate Director for the Animal Services Division. After serving 6 months in that role, Rob applied for and was selected as the Associate Director for the Animal Services Division.
Rob’s governmental and public affairs career spans nearly 33 years, having begun his career at the Arizona House of Representatives in December of 1990. Rob spent about 8 years at the House before joining the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry in 1998 where he was the Manager of Public Affairs for the Chamber. Other public affairs stops included the Arizona Department of Administration, Arizona State Retirement System as well as his current employer, the Arizona Department of Agriculture. Rob’s governmental stops included being the agency rule writer and the state fleet administrator for the Arizona Department of Administration. In addition to state fleet, Rob was assigned oversight to other government programs that needed fixing and improvement.
Rob was born and raised in Arizona. A life-long Sun Devil, Rob graduated from Arizona State University in 1997. Rob has always had an admiration for agriculture as many of his family in the Midwest still ranch, run working farms or are involved in some form of agricultural business.
Citrus Fruit & Vegetable Standarization / Federal State Inspection Service
Ed Foster was born and raised in Casa Grande, Arizona. He was a regular hand on the farm as soon as he could swing a hoe. The Foster Farm grew various crops, mainly cotton, alfalfa, grain, safflower, but also some watermelons and then later lettuce for Bud Antle. He graduated from Casa Grande Union High School and then attended Mesa Community College. After college, Ed began work for the Federal State Inspection Service (FSIS) based in Phoenix. He worked for FSIS for five years before joining the Arizona Citrus, Fruit and Vegetable Standardization in 1979. Ed started as an inspector and later became the Assistant Supervisor for CFV. After 18 years of work, Ed departed CFV. In 1997, he worked for Empire Fruit Company in Queen Creek, Arizona for five years. Although he enjoyed working in the Citrus Industry, housing development had replaced all of the citrus groves in the Chandler Heights area and led him to his next opportunity. In 2002, Weyerhaeuser started developing business in the West in order to build a new bulk packaging plant in Exeter, California. Ed then became Weyerhaeuser’s Sales Engineer for the bulk packaging for the Southwest region. He won several sales awards and excelled in bringing new business to the company. After seven great years, the Weyerhaeuser Corporation decided to sell their whole packaging division to International Paper. Soon after the acquisition Ed returned to the AZDA as the Assistant Director of Citrus, Fruit and Vegetable Standardization. Ed now lives in the Casa Grande - Eloy area with his wife of eleven years, Suzette. Ed has one child, his son Randall.
Environmental & Plant Services Division
Jack Peterson grew up working on a family farm in Minnesota, received a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from North Dakota State University and then spent 10 years working in North Dakota, as an engineer, an educator and a regulator. In 1994 former Director Kelly hired Jack as the Assistant Director of the Environmental Services Division.
In 2021 former Director Killian combined the Environmental Services Division and the Plant Services Division. We help protect consumers as it relates to product quality for pesticide, feed, seed, and fertilizer.
We help ensure proper agricultural pesticide use ensuring both users and bystanders are protected as required by law.
We deal with plant quarantine and pest exclusion which helps keep green industry commerce flowing while at the same time by working with industry, it provides protections to consumers from unwanted pests. Finally we work with the USDA and the industry to have an acceptable state program which helps the grower community with this emerging crop.
Pest Management Division
Vince Craig is a native to the great state of Arizona. He has worked in State-government for over 33 years. He has worked for the Pest Management Division (PMD) for the past 32 years (formerly, Office of Pest Management and prior to that, the Structural Pest Control Commission). He has served as a Compliance Inspector, Continuing Education Coordinator, Investigations Supervisor, Deputy Director, Compliance Manager and now serves as the Assistant Director of the Division.
Prior to working for the PMD, he worked 2 years on the administrative side for a pest control firm. He has been married to the love of his life since 1990-- which almost coincides with the length of time he has served in State-government. In his spare time, he enjoys community outreach and photography.
Weights and Measures Service Division
Mike Brooks began with the Arizona Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures Services Division in June 2016 as an Investigator serving Northern Arizona. Mike was promoted to Compliance Officer in December 2018, Compliance Manager (managing commercial device and retail programs) in February 2022, and Assistant Director in August 2023. Mike has also had leadership positions with the Western Weights and Measures Association and the National Conference on Weights and Measures.
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Food Access
Finding Healthy Food in ArizonaConnecting people, food, and resources through partnerships with producers, non-profits, for-profits and government.
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