Associate Professor and Extension Specialist empowers future leaders in agriculture through innovative STEM education and outdoor learning experiences

Where are you from and how did your career lead you to UTIA?

I grew up bouncing around the south (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina) and moved to Ohio as a teenager, where I graduated from high school and college. I taught 7th and 8th grade language arts and social studies for five years. While I completed my PhD in education with an emphasis on research, curricula, and evaluation at UT, I worked with the Department of Food Science to create an interdisciplinary food safety curriculum for middle school classrooms. I have been in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications since 2015 and work closely with Tennessee 4-H.

What is your role, and can you describe what you do on a typical day?

Why did you choose to focus on STEM and agricultural education? Why is it important?

During my last two years as a classroom teacher, I worked as a team of teachers to provide hands-on learning opportunities where students used skills from language arts, social studies, and STEM to solve real-world problems. After my students completed a project focused on pumpkins, I realized that agriculture offers meaningful topics that capture students’ interest and emphasize the essential role of STEM in understanding and improving our world. STEM learning experiences connected to agriculture prepare students to tackle key issues while developing problem-solving skills and real-world applications.

What excites you about your field?

I am excited by how the field of agriculture and natural resources is becoming more inclusive and affirming for people from diverse backgrounds. It is my hope that students who learn about agriculture and natural resources through STEM education can discover career opportunities that they may have not known about before.

What is the most fulfilling aspect of your work?

I love getting to know the students in my courses and mentoring them as they make decisions about their lives and careers. It is wonderful to see my former students becoming leaders through their work as Extension agents, classroom teachers, and more. Through ChLOE, I get to work with agriculture and Extension educators from across the country who are engaged in non-formal STEM teaching in outdoor settings. ChLOE provides a community of practice for those educators which puts me in a position to help them identify funding resources and provide professional development to as they continue to grow their sites and programming. Watching the ChLOE community support and uplift one another while raising the bar in non-formal STEM education is such a gift!

How have the courses you teach evolved over time?

Since 2020, I have used Nearpod to make my online courses more interactive and engaging. Students would previously watch my lecture videos and take notes, but they can now respond to questions so I can check for understanding, draw pictures to show their learning, and participate in class-wide discussion during the lessons. This semester I am using a platform called Packback where students ask questions about the weekly readings instead of just answering them. It can be challenging to generate a sense of community in asynchronous courses, but these new tools have made it easier to facilitate peer-to-peer interaction.  

What is one thing that you emphasize to all your students?

Curriculum development and solid instructional design should make your life easier as an educator. Lessons don’t have to be overly formal or complicated to make a big impact for learners.   

What has been your proudest moment while working in the UT Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications?

We hosted a ChLOE Site Visit for our Site Educators to attend professional development trainings and tour the Desert Research and Extension Center in California. Our Board of Directors also met that weekend, and the entire group of educators and board members had dinner together at the San Diego Zoo. It was incredible to see how our group had grown from an idea started by a few people to a room of 30 people from 7 states who are passionate about non-formal outdoor STEM education. 

Congratulations on recently being named Tennessee Science Teachers Association’s Science Educator of the Year (High Education)! What does this accomplishment mean to you?

It is an incredible honor and truly meaningful to me. This recognition reinforces my commitment to expanding accessible, hands-on STEM opportunities that inspire curiosity and foster a deep connection to agriculture and natural resources among diverse students everywhere. It’s a testament to the impact we’re making together, encouraging even more collaborative efforts to enrich K-12 STEM education.

What is a project you are currently working on that you are excited about?

Our ChLOE sites provide outdoor STEM education programs that both support the learning objectives of K-12 educators and address key challenges in agriculture. We partner with educators to connect concepts taught in the classroom to real life, hands-on experiences in agriculture and natural resources. As our network grows, I am excited to see how we can support educators and get more students out of the classroom and into the outdoors for learning experiences.

What do you like to do outside of work and/or what is a fun fact about yourself that your colleagues and students wouldn’t know?

I usually have a coloring book and markers in my bag! It’s a great way to calm my mind and relax after a busy day! I also really enjoy traveling to concerts of artists with my kiddos. This past year I’ve been to see NF in Greeneville, SC and Royal & the Serpent with Avril Lavigne in Las Vegas.