About Tim
Tim grew up in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Liberia. His academic training is in horticulture, pursued with a desire to serve small-scale farmers in resource-constrained settings internationally. To that end, he spent two years as an agriculturalist in Ethiopia prior to joining ECHO in 2003. ECHO is an organization that seeks to reduce hunger by equipping people with agricultural resources and skills. Tim leads a department focused on distilling and sharing information gleaned from farmers or those working with farmers, research trials, and scientific literature. Tim’s team also responds to inquiries from ECHO’s global network and maintains a library of materials pertaining to tropical agriculture.
Tim is married with two boys. His yard features fruit trees and other plants grown at ECHO. He enjoys keeping fresh and saltwater aquariums, with a particular interest in growing coral.
Curriculum Vitae
Professional Experience
2003-present: ECHO staff member, Fort Myers Florida
- Directed a Small Farm Resource and Development Project in Haiti (2004-2006).
- Managed ECHO’s seed bank (2007-2008).
- Led a five-year (2010-2015) research project in South Africa
- Current roles: Agriculture Technical and Research Director and DIU Adjunct Faculty
2002-2003: Post-doctoral research associate, Bradenton, Florida
- Research focus aimed at controlling soil-borne pests of bell pepper, tomato, and strawberry.
1998-2002: Graduate research assistant, Gainesville, Florida
- In conjunction with PhD research on aspects of weed management in bell pepper.
1996-1998: Agriculturalist, Ethiopia
Managed tree nurseries and vegetable demonstration sites in the northern highlands.
Publications
ECHO publications
Motis, T.N. and D.R. Berkelaar. 2012. Agricultural Options for Small-Scale Farmers: A Handbook for Those Who Serve Them. [393 page book in English, Spanish and French].
ECHO Development Notes: Tim co-edits and writes articles for this quarterly technical bulletin containing agricultural information relevant to small-scale agriculture.
Other ECHO publications: various Technical Notes and Best Practices Notes
Journal publications
Motis, T.N. and J.P. Gilreath. 2002. Stimulation of nutsedge emergence with chloropicrin. Proc. Annu. Intl. Res. Conf. on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reduction. p.7.
Motis, T.N., J.M. Kemble, J.M. Dangler, and J.E. Brown. 1998. Tomato fruit yield response to nitrogen source and percentage of drip-or band-applied nitrogen associated with leaf potassium concentration. J. Plant Nutr. 21(6):1103- 1112.
Motis, T.N., S.J. Locascio, and J.P. Gilreath. 2004. Critical yellow nutsedge- free period for polyethylene-mulched bell pepper. HortScience 39:1045-1049.
Motis, T.N., S.J. Locascio, and J.P. Gilreath. 2001. Yellow nutsedge interference effects on fruit weight of polyethylene-mulched bell pepper. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Sci. 114:268-271.
Motis, T.N., S.J. Locascio, J.P. Gilreath, and W.M. Stall. 2003. Season-Long Interference of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) with polyethylene- mulched bell pepper (Capsicum annuum). Weed Technol. 17 (3): 543-549.
Motis, T.N., J.M. Longfellow, A.D. Jani, B.J. Lingbeek. C.J. D’Aiuto and J.C.J. Bergen. 2017. Productivity of Moringa oleifera augmented with intercropped tropical legumes. Acta Horticulturae 1158:85-95.
Motis, T.N. and S.M. Reader. 2019. Moringa oleifera Leaf production with NPK fertilizer and compost. Acta Horticulturae 1253:405-412