Soil & Water - About the Commission

Barbara Bleiweis is the Chair of the Soil and Water Conservation Commission, the Chair of the Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and the President of the North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.  She has served on the Mecklenburg SWCD Board of Supervisors since 2017 and is in her second elected term.  She is active within the National Association of Conservation Districts advocating for national conservation policies and serves on the Public Lands and the Water and Climate committees.  She is a Board member of the North Carolina Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation.  She also serves on the Charlotte Water Advisory Committee since 2015.  Ms. Bleiweis has two adult children and lives in Charlotte with her three cats.

Ms. Bleiweis's term ends in January 2026.

In May 2023, Mr. Baker retired from a 30-year career as a conservation district employee, serving in both Pamlico and Craven Counties.  During his time as a district employee, Mr. Baker served the NC Conservation District Employees Association as the Area 6 Representative, Chair of the Employee Development Committee, and DEA Chaplin.  Mr. Baker has been a member of the Pamlico Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors since 2008, where he has served as both District Chair and Area 6 Chair.  In November 2023, Mr. Baker returned to the partnership, accepting a part- time position with the Division of Soil & Water Conservation for the purpose of assisting and providing training to the newer district employees in Carteret, Craven, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, and Pamlico Counties and to assist NRCS with managing their current workload.

Although not formally educated, Mr. Baker states that he “started at the bottom and slowly worked his way up, learning the processes, procedures, and standards of conservation.”  His agricultural experience started in the tobacco fields in Craven County and ended up in the fields of Beaufort and Pamlico Counties where he spent his summers, weekends, and after school hours working on a 3,000-acre corn, wheat, and soybean operation.  Mr. Baker and his wife, Angela, live in Grantsboro, and they have three sons, two daughters, and one granddaughter.  They are active members of the Edward Christian Church, where Mr. Baker serves in the church Jail Ministry at the Pitt County Detention Center in Greenville, North Carolina.

Mr. Baker’s term ends in January 2027.

Gail Hughes is a native of Orange County NC, where she grew up and still lives on her family’s Century Farm where her brothers actively farm.  She graduated from NC State University in 1982 with dual degrees in Soil Conservation and Agriculture Education.  Gail worked for the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District as a soil conservationist and education specialist for over 35 years before retiring in January of 2020.  Gail was elected as an Orange County Soil and Water Supervisor in the fall of 2020 and is currently serving in her second term.  She is the Chair of the Orange SWCD and was elected as first Vice President of the NCASWCD in January of 2025.  

Since retirement, Gail has worked part time for the NC Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation as a program manager.  She is also a part time employee with the NC Division for Soil and Water Conservation, assisting with the development and data entry of the employee training and JAA database.  

Gail and her husband, Fred, enjoy spending time with their two daughters' families, especially their five grandsons, and traveling.  

Mrs. Hughes’s term ends in January 2026.

Mr. William "Billy" Kilpatrick is currently serving as the Past President of the North Carolina Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts and as Vice Chairman of the Duplin Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors.  Mr. Kilpatrick has served on the Board of Supervisors in Duplin County for the past ten years.  He previously served as Chairman for the Area 6 Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

Mr. Kilpatrick is a life-long farmer from a North Carolina Century Farm Family.  Mr. Kilpatrick grows breeders with Johnson Farms, feeder to finish swine with Smithfield Foods, and grows beef cattle.

Mr. Kilpatrick resides in Kenansville with his wife, Regina.  They have three children and five grandchildren.

Mr. Kilpatrick's term ends in January 2026.

Mr. Lamb is a life-long farmer and currently works for Prestage Farms, Inc., in Clinton as an environmental specialist for the past 17 years.  Mr. Lamb has been a supervisor in Sampson County for 10 years.  Mr. Lamb graduated from North Carolina State University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Environmental Technology.  Mr. Lamb has served on the National Pork Board Environmental Committee and is currently on the National Pork Producers Council Environmental Committee.  Mr. Lamb was named 2016 North Carolina Outstanding Pork Producer and 2020 and 2021 North Carolina Swisher Sweets Sunbelt Expo Farmer of the Year.  Mr. Lamb and his wife, Felicia, have two daughters, Maegan and Kensley.

Mr. Lamb's term ends in January 2025.

Mr. Parker with his family, owns and operates a Century Family Farm, Parker Farms in North Wilkesboro.  The farm produces hay, timber, and a 450-500 head cow-calf operation that also backgrounds the calves.

Mr. Parker currently serves as the Chairman of the Wilkes Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors, the Wilkes County Farm Bureau Board, Wilkes Cattlemen's Board, member of the Broadway Fire Department, Wilkes Community College Agriculture/Construction Equipment Technology Advisory Committee, and he is also employed by Vulcan Materials Co., in North Wilkesboro, where he is the Plant Supervisor.

Mr. Parker is a graduate of North Carolina State University.  He and his wife, Kim, live in North Wilkesboro and are members of Wilkesboro Baptist Church.  They have three children and one grandson.

Mr. Parker's term ends in January 2026.

Porché L. Spence, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Dr. Spence has a Ph.D. in Soil Science from North Carolina State University. She received a Master of Science in Earth Science and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a concentration in Biology from North Carolina Central University. Dr. Spence is the Ecological Society of America (ESA) 2024 Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award Recipient. She completed her post-doctoral training as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) fellow at the US Environmental Protection Agency in the Gulf Ecology Division and subsequently as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) teaching fellow at North Carolina Central University in the Center for Science, Math, and Technology Education. She is a co-program director for a Forestry High School Summer Research Program and has co-designed, co-implemented, and co-published low-cost affordable Food, Energy, Water Learning Module (FEWLM) Workbooks to teach STEM to elementary and middle school aged youth. Dr. Spence serves on several national working groups and committees including NSF-RCN Undergraduate Network for Increasing Diversity of Ecologists Working Group, ESA Four-Dimensional Ecology Education Framework (4DEE) Assessment Working Group, ESA 4DEE Non-Majors Working Group, ESA TEE Steering Committee, ACE BIO network, and HBCU Geosciences Working Group. Her research focuses on water quality, soil quality, nutrient management, and ecosystem services in agricultural, suburban, and urban environments as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning in STEM. Dr. Spence’s research is published in the Journal of American Water Resource Association, Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, Journal of Forestry, Journal of STEM Outreach, Urban Ecosystems, and Journal of Environmental Management.

Dr. Spence was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. She and her husband, Lamar, live in Garner, NC with their daughter, Laylah. 

Dr. Spence's term ends in January 2027.