Distinguished Women of Past and Present

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Amegda J. Overman

Amegda J. Overman is Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. She received her B.S. degree in 1942 from the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida, U.S.A. and an M.S. degree in 1951 from the University of Florida in Gainesville. In 1945, she joined the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Bradenton, Florida, where she spent the rest of her professional career. She advanced through the ranks and was appointed Professor of Nematology in 1973.

Overman did research on diseases of vegetables, ornamentals and agronomic crops caused by nematode worms. Her work on the long-term management of soil-borne plant pests facilitated the practice of sustainable agriculture in areas where land needs to be reused. She helped develop the plastic mulch plus fumigation system which is used for vegetable and ornamental crop production. Overman's work also contributed to the development of the multicrop system for the economic production of corn and sorghum silage in Florida and in the Tropics. In addition, she led the early work on the development of the trickle irrigation system combined with concommitant pesticide application.

Amegda J. Overman retired from the University of Florida in 1989, but she remains active in many professional and community projects. She was named one of 47 Alumnae of Outstanding Achievement by the University of Florida and she became an honorary life member of the Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida in 1997.

Contributed by Danuta Bois, 1998.

Bibliography:
1. Amegda J. Overman biography on file at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A., 1997