The Louisiana Forest Products Development Center, School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University AgCenter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is pleased to announce that Dr. Kevin W. Ragon was added to its staff as Postdoctoral Research Scientist.

Ragon has 10 years of experience, both industrial and academic, in the forest products industries where he has multiple publications and patent applications.  He holds degrees in Forestry, Environmental Science, and Forest Products.  Ragon completed his Ph.D. in Wood Science from Mississippi State University in 2007 where his research was focused on the Formosan subterranean termite. During his doctoral program he was selected as the Ph.D. student of the year in 2007 for his body of work during his tenure.  He also received the Ron Cockcroft award from the International Research Group on Wood Protection, an outstanding service award for recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina, and received the inaugural Thad Cochran Entrepreneurial Award for entrepreneurial work with his intellectual property. 

Also during his doctoral work Ragon assisted with laboratory testing for wood product durability using International Accreditation Service (IAS) testing lab requirements, operated a pilot wood treatment plant, performed wood deterioration field tests and data analysis for all wood destroying organisms in accordance with numerous standardized and non-standardized test protocol.  Kevin also has previous industrial experience servicing wood treating facilities, softwood and hardwood sawmills, and technical sales of remedial wood treatments to private companies and associated public utilities.

In his current position, Ragon will be directing laboratory and field testing for the LSU AgCenter’s Wood Durability Lab (WDL) which functions as IAS Testing Lab #350.  According to Dr. Todd Shupe who is the Director of the WDL, “Kevin‘s educational and employment background makes him uniquely qualified to help expand our testing capabilities and improve our service to our clients.” Companies are urged to contact Ragon at kragon@agcenter.lsu.edu or (225) 578-4476 to see what testing services we can provide for your company.

The Wood Durability Lab at the LSU AgCenter became an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Testing Laboratory through the International Accreditation Services (IAS) accreditation system on March 1, 2008.  Additional test standards were added by IAS to the WDL approved scope of services on July 24, 2008.  The lab essentially has been operating under ISO 17025 Guidelines for over five years. 

The test standards cover a broad range of important wood durability areas such as testing for termite, mold, and fungi resistance to strength and even corrosion of fasteners in contacted with preservative-treated wood.

The Wood Durability Lab is now accredited by the International Accreditation Services to perform testing for ASTM D143, D1037, D1413, D1758, and D3345.  The approved American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) tests include E1, E7, E10, E11, E12, E16, E22, E23, E24.  The WDL is also certified to perform TM-1 and TM-2 of the Window and Door Manufacturers Association.