Charles Benjamin Coffman Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS0456

Staff Only

Content Description

The Charles Benjamin Coffman Papers primarily consist of technical data concerned with the herbicidal properties of weed management chemicals. Most of this data is contained in reports from the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) for the American National Standards Committee on Common Names for Pest Control Chemicals of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The files are arranged alphabetically by chemical name. The collection also includes correspondence, field notes and data, publications, trademark search reference materials, negatives, and films.

Dates

Creation: 1959-1998
Creation: Majority of material found within 1970-1980

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Special Collections for access.

Biographical Sketch

C. Benjamin (Charles Benjamin) Coffman (1941-) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He received a B.S. degree in agronomy, an M.S. degree in soil fertility with a minor in plant physiology, and his Ph.D. (1972) in soil mineralogy with minor in geology and chemistry, all from the University of Maryland-College Park. He began his career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1965 as a student technician at the Beltsville (Maryland) Agricultural Research Center (BARC) of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). He became an agronomist with ARS, and conducted research on control of narcotic plants and weed management in field crops. He also contributed to experimental planning and field operations in three projects studying weed biocontrol, farming systems, and cover crops. Coffman authored numerous articles and also taught courses in the Geology Department at the University of Maryland. He retired from USDA in 2013.