Oregon State Dept. of Agricultural Education & Agricultural Sciences

Can't dull these ladies' shine! 😎😎 Huge congratulations to these three for taking home awards at the CAS Celebrating Excellence event! Check out the awards below:

Distinguished New Professor of the Year-Whitney Stone, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resource Communications

Distinguished Club Advisor of the Year-Melissa Millhollin, Advisor, Collegiate Farm Oregon Collegiate Farm Bureau at OSU and Steer-a-Oregon State University Steer-A-Year, fun fact this is Melissa's SECOND time winning this award!!

Savery Outstanding Master’s Student-Michelle Borges, Department of Agricultural Education and Sciences, specializing in Agricultural Communications

Congratulations on Dr. Velez, our Department Head, who recently completed serving as the AAAE President!

So proud of Adie Rang, one of our outstanding students, who won the prestigious Consular Corps Scholarship! Read more below:

Congrats to Adeline Rang, one of just 2 selected from OSU for a competitive full study abroad scholarship—the Consular Corps Scholarship. 🥳 👏 🎉

More about the scholarship: https://orconsularcorps.org/scholars

Oregon State Honey Bee Lab Oregon State Dept. of Agricultural Education & Agricultural Sciences

Fatima Flores, one of our undergraduate students majoring in Agricultural Sciences, received the Continuing Researcher Support Program funding sponsored by the Agricultural Research Foundation for her proposal, “Mental Health in Migrant Worker Family Communities: A Two-Phase Research Project”. Flores will work with Dr. Whitney Stone over the next year to study the crucial issue of mental health within migrant worker family communities, exploring both the challenges they face and potential solutions to improve their well-being. Flores is passionate about her research topic, which aims to bring attention to this often-overlooked area and foster positive change.
Congratulations, Fatima!

Our Agricultural Sciences undergraduate students, Seth Arendell, Elia Rybolt, and Lauren Papke presented their research at the OSU Spring Poster Symposium. The event is an annual showcase for OSU undergraduates to present their research, scholarship, and creative projects to the broader university and community. They were able to synthesize their findings and represent the College of Agricultural Sciences. We are so proud of them and their research excellence! 🌱🔍

Here are the titles of their poster presentations:
- Seth Arendell - “An Analysis on How Mental Health is Portrayed in Photographic Imagery on Mental Health Resource Websites” and “Mason Bee Cocoon Imaging and the Spread of the European Orchard Bee”
- Lauren Papke - “Exploring Phosphite for Verticillium Wilt Management in Peppermint”
- Elia Rybolt - “Communicating Agriculture: Development of Effective Educational Resources for the Oregon Communities”

We had a blast during the OSU Ag and Natural Resources Day this week in the MU Quad! Along with our Department booth, we also had our affiliated clubs, Collegiate Farm Bureau (CFB), Agricultural Education, and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) all represented during the event!

Our student club leaders resonated with sharing more about their club’s mission and meeting activities with other OSU students and the community. During the event, we also had fun with OSU and Agriculture trivia and giving out stickers! Thank you to the College of Agricultural Sciences Club Leadership Team for hosting this event and others who made this event possible!

Dr. Whitney Stone and Lauren Chase presented research about the Agriculture in the U.K. study abroad program. The research study, “Exploring Cultural Competency and Personal Growth in a Short-Term Study Abroad Program” focused on the benefits it brought for students. Farm, Fork, & Fiber: Agriculture in the U.K. is a faculty-led study abroad program, an opportunity for students to study special topics such as agriculture.

The research was presented at the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) 2024 conference in Orlando, FL. We are excited to share the impact of global opportunities for our students!

Congratulations to Michelle Borges, one of our graduate students, for receiving the Ward Sinclair Student Award this year at the North American Agricultural Journalists annual conference in Washington D.C. and attending as a student.

Michelle shares about her experience, “I met some incredible people from across the nation and gained valuable exposure to the journalism industry. In addition, I learned a tremendous amount about current agriculture policies through the keynote speaker, Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, various guest speakers, and panel discussions.”. Michelle also mentioned that her one of her favorite parts was a tasting of European Union food and drink specialties at the Embassy of the European Union.

We are so proud of our students’ accomplishments! We value preparing our students to be leaders and helping them succeed in a professional career in agriculture!

Our students and department faculty are bringing back the Agriculture Education club! Join us for the first meeting Monday, April 22, at 3pm in Strand Agriculture Hall 131.

The meeting is an opportunity to learn about the club’s mission, gather club activity ideas, and connect with other students interested in agricultural education! We welcome everyone from all majors to visit!

Also, at the first meeting, there will be applications and more information about becoming one of the club officers! Applications are due Monday, May 13 and are announced the following week, May 22 during the second meeting.

We look forward to seeing you there!

We attended the 96th Oregon FFA State Convention this year! We enjoyed spending time with future OSU Beavs and want to thank our students for helping us! Our booth featured Ag Jenga Trivia and had plenty of fun OSU Ag Ed and Ag stickers to choose from 🧡🖤

The College of Agricultural Sciences and the OSU Extension Service are partnering to host a QPR su***de prevention workshop for Ag Students on Monday, April 8 from 4-6pm in Strand Agriculture Hall 161.

The ag-industry is facing a mental health crisis. It is important to support one another– now more than ever. Join us in completing QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), an evidence-based su***de prevention program. Similar to CPR, QPR provides lifesaving knowledge and skills to help someone in crisis Participants will receive a certificate upon completion.

Register for the event by Friday, April 5, at 5pm PST. To register for the event and for more information about this event, contact Rachel Jones at [email protected].

Read about OSU's first time taking an Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources Communications graduate and undergraduate student to the National Agricultural Communicators Symposium! Dr. Stone and Senior Instructor Lauren Chase presented their research, along with graduate student Michelle Borges. Click the link below to learn more!

2024 National Agricultural Communicators Symposium 2024 National Agricultural Communicators Symposium In February, two College of Agricultural Sciences students and two faculty attended the National Agricultural Communicators Symposium (NACS) in Atlanta, Georgia. Michelle Borges and Elia Rybolt were able to attend the two-day conference, meeting oth...

Check out another star student of ours that was featured as CAS's Faces of AgSci, Deb Miller!

"It's very easy to only focus on classwork and not take advantage of any college-specific learning opportunities. Not only do these activities look great on your resume, they help to connect you with faculty in your college who can then connect you to other academic or professional opportunities," -Deb.

Check out all that Deb is involved in by clicking the link below

INVESTING IN IDENTITY Deborah Miller | Agricultural Sciences Major | Class of 2024 Pierson-Charlton Family Scholarship Recipient | Camarillo, CA CAS Club Leadership Team |Student in Educational Opportunities Program Staying Curious I would describe myself as someone who is forever curious. I love learning about new place...

Check out one of the College of Agricultural Sciences faces of AgSci, our very own Elia Rybolt! Elia is an Agricultural Sciences major with focuses in Agricultural Education and Agricultural Communications, with a minor in Horticulture.

"A defining moment in my life that made quite the impact happened at the end of January around the time I launched my online portfolio, ‘Communicating Agriculture: Elia Rybolt’, a dedicated space to share ongoing agricultural communications projects, showcase academic work done at Oregon State University, and be willing to share my story to all." -Elia

Click to learn more about Elia's story!

Live to be the Legacy Elia Rybolt | Agricultural Sciences Major | Class of 2024 Minor in Horticulture | Focuses in Agricultural Education and Agricultural Communications CAS & CoF Leadership Academy | Brownsville, Oregon Sigma Alpha | LinkedIn | Personal Portfolio Website Agricultural Advocate I am Elia Rybolt and I grew...

Check out this impactful research our Agricultural Communications staff, Dr. Whitney Stone and Lauren Chase conducted regarding mental health in agriculture!

Dr. Whitney Stone and Senior Instructor Lauren Chase received a $10,000 grant from the Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance Program to conduct research regarding rural mental health.

The study is titled “Let’s Talk Mental Health: A Discussion with Oregon’s Agricultural Stakeholders." Find out more about this important research here:
https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/ag-ed/article/lets-talk-mental-health-discussion-oregons-agriculural-stakeholders

“The participants shared their needs and challenges, and we are fortunate to be a part of OSU, where we can help be a part of the solution.”

Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program Oregon State Dept. of Agricultural Education & Agricultural Sciences

Please join us in welcoming our new graduate students!!! Click on the photos below to learn more about each graduate student.

We are excited to have:

Michelle Borges as the college's first agricultural communications master's student! Her education and experiences will help our agricultural communications program and research expand to new heights.

Elizabeth Mills Johnson as a PhD student! Her experience and research in students' pursuits of transformative opportunities abroad will be very helpful to the department.

Ehi-kowoicho Ogwiji as our first international PhD student! Ehi-kowoicho was raised in a farming family and holds a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development from the University of Ibadan. We are excited to have her education and experience as a high school teacher and her agricultural roots to help fuel our passion and research for agricultural education.

Congratulations to Dawn Moyer for receiving the 2023 Academic Advising Award!!! 🏆 🖤🧡

This week Melissa Millhollin was the 2023 College of Agricultural Sciences recipient for the F.E. Price/Agricultural Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Student Advising and Counseling. Dawn Moyer won the same award last year, making our awesome advisors back-to-back advising champions, way to go Dawn & Melissa!

OSU had a great week at the National AAAE conference! Faculty and graduate students presented research, reconnected with peers, and took home some awards, click through to check it out!

We are so proud of PhD student Kirby Schmidt for being awarded as one of the recipients of the 2023 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award. Out of nearly 100 graduate students, he was 1 of 9 awarded for demonstrating commitment to academic innovation in the areas of equity, community engagement, and teaching. Way to go Kirby!

Interested in agricultural education and what type of careers you can get into? Come visit us at the College of Ag Sciences Career fair in the MU Ballroom. We will be here until 2pm!

Oregon Agriculture Teacher Association - Fall Conference

• The Teaching Cohort did a great job presenting their teaching and classroom ideas!

•PhD candidate, Kirby Schmidt, presented a workshop about Post-COVID teaching

Last week was Homecoming week and we want to give a special shoutout to our own Ag Sciences major student, Adie Rang! Adie is a past Leadership Academy Fellow and current Collegiate Farm Bureau Vice President who represented OSU on this year’s Homecoming Court as a Homecoming Court Ambassador. Go Adie!!
Read more about Adie's accomplishments below:

https://fororegonstate.org/get-involved/welcome-to-oregon-state/homecoming-court-2022

Congratulations to PhD student Kirby Schmidt for being recognized as the top innovative research poster at the Cultivating Change Foundation Summit this past week in Washington D.C. 🎉

Additionally, we are proud to have some of our agricultural education alumni facilitating and organizing the event for the 100+ attendees!

For those unfamiliar with Cultiviating Change, the summit is for q***r & allied people, and focuses on valuing and elevating LGBTQ+ agriculturists through advocacy, education, and community. To learn more, head to https://www.cultivatingchangefoundation.org

Congratulations to PhD student Kirby Schmidt for being recognized as the top innovative research poster at the Cultivating Change Summit this past week in Washington D.C. 🎉

Additionally, we are proud to have some of our agricultural education alumni facilitating and organizing the event for the 100+ attendees!

For those unfamiliar with Cultiviating Change, the summit is for q***r & allied people, and focuses on valuing and elevating LGBTQ+ agriculturists through advocacy, education, and community. To learn more, head to https://www.cultivatingchangefoundation.org

"It’s a pivotal time and the challenges are many. Oregonians have our word that the university and the OSU programs we lead are committed to support collaboratively our state’s communities, ranchers, farmers and all Oregonians."

Commentary: Oregon State University's commitment to Oregonians Oregon’s landscape and rural communities are richly diverse and truly unique.

Have an interest in learning more about the Oregon agriculture industry? Come to our first Collegiate Farm Bureau club meeting this Thursday at 6pm in Strand Agriculture Hall room 131!

This club is open to ALL majors (not just CAS majors) and you do not need to have any prior agriculture experience to join, come grab a slice of pizza and learn more!🍕🌱

Congratulations to Dr. Stewart for taking home the 2022 Western Region Outstanding Early Career Member award!

Announcing the 2022 Western Region Outstanding Early Career Member, Josh Stewart. Congratulations!

We are so incredibly proud of our Department Head, Dr. Velez, for winning distinguished agricultural leadership educator for the western region!

The Western Region AAAE is proud to announce the 2022 Distinguished Agricultural Leadership Educator, Jonathan Velez.

Shoutout to Dr. Traini, instructor KJ Joseph, and Dr. Velez for winning the 2022 Western Region Innovative Idea People's Choice Award! 🥇 📝

And special shout-out to Dr. Velez for winning distinguished agricultural leadership educator of the year award!! Go Beavs!!