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Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

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Faculty Spotlight: Jon Ulmer- Associate Professor, Agricultural Education, Undergraduate Teaching Coordinator

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Jessica Schaeffer, agricultural communications master’s student

Ulmer posing for headshot in a tan suit jacket and white button up with a purple tie.
Jon Ulmer

Jon Ulmer always knew that he wanted to work in agriculture. Unable to ranch or farm, Ulmer found a career that allowed him to work in agriculture in a diversified way. He earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in agricultural education from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Oklahoma State University and the University of Missouri, respectively.

Drawn to the opportunity of joining a long-standing program that is known for developing great teachers and leaders, Ulmer joined the department in the fall of 2016. He leads the agricultural education teaching license program at K-State along with senior seminar, leadership and professional development, principles and philosophy of career, and technical education courses. Soon, Ulmer will be launching the agricultural education option for the master of arts in teaching. Ulmer researches teachers’ needs and enjoys helping students find topics that interest them.

“The best part of teaching at K-State is the quality of the students. I also really like working with Gaea Hock and Brandie Disberger as we make a great team,” Ulmer says.

Along with his teaching responsibilities he also works on the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the reduction of Post-Harvest Loss. His role is to help African farmers adopt technologies to allow for better grain storage. Along with his research, Ulmer served on the National FFA Board of Directors from 2015-2019.

On a personal note, Ulmer enjoys working with simple mechanical and small construction projects. His wife, Ann, is employed by the agricultural grants office at K-State. They are also parents to Naveah and Zaden.

K-State Ag Ed attends AAAE Conference

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Brandie Disberger, agricultural education instructor

Faculty members Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer and Brandie Disberger, along with Jason Hughes, graduate student, and undergraduate students Trenton Smedley and Zachary Callaghan attended the National Learner Centered Teaching and the North Central Region of the American Association for Agricultural Education joint conferences hosted October 10-12 in East Lansing, Michigan.

Hock managed the social media during the conference for the American Association for Agricultural Educators and for K-State Agricultural Education. The research portion of the conference was coordinated by Kansas State University, led by Ulmer. Hock served as chair of the Program Improvement Committee; Ulmer and Disberger served on the Member Services Committee. Smedley and Callaghan presented research and participated in the student experience portion of the conference, which included a tour of the Michigan State campus and research farms.

Attendees from Kansas State University presented the following research during the conference:

Paper Presentations:

Prescribed pedagogical outcomes versus real-world challenges: A content analysis of Kansas AFNR course competency profiles

Zachary Callaghan & Gaea Hock, recognized as distinguished abstract

 

Agricultural education teachers knowledge and perceptions of service-learning

Trenton Smedley & Jon Ulmer

 

Kansas ag teachers’ perceptions of diversity & inclusion in agricultural education

Laura E. Miller, Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer & Jason Ellis

 

The contributions of George Washington Owens to the development of agricultural education opportunities for African Americans

Zachary Callaghan & Gaea Hock

 

Teacher perceptions of the impact and challenges of middle school agricultural education experiences in Kansas

Anna Williamson, Gaea Hock, Jon Ulmer & Lori Goodson

 

Poster Presentations:

Showcasing agricultural education programs with Book Creator.

Gaea Hock & Zachary Callaghan, recognized as distinguished innovative idea poster

 

Examining secondary talented and gifted and agricultural education experiences relative to college major and career choice.

Darcie Gallagher, Jonathan Ulmer, Gaea Hock & Jason Ellis, recognized as distinguished research poster

 

A districtwide look at agricultural educators perceptions of standards based grading.

Lauren Worley, Jonathan Ulmer, Katie Burke & Gaea Hock

l to r: back – Jason Hughes, Jon Ulmer, Trenton Smedley; front – Zachary Callaghan, Gaea Hock, Brandie Disberger
Jon Ulmer
Zachary Callaghan and Gaea Hock
Zachary Callaghan

Ulmer travels to Ethiopia

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Agricultural education professor Jon Ulmer traveled to Ethiopia to attend the All African Post Harvest Loss Congress and Expo in Addis Ababa. While in Ethiopia, Ulmer visited different regions and interviewed farmers for a grant project with USAID. Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-harvest Loss is a strategic, applied, research and education program aimed at improving global food security by reducing post-harvest losses in stored product crops, such as grains, oilseeds, legumes, root crops and seeds.

Hock presents in Alaska

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Agricultural education professor Gaea Hock attended the 2019 American Association for Agricultural Education Western Region Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, September 17-19.  While in Anchorage, Hock took part in the Ag Literacy Multi-State meeting, a group of professors from across the nation working to research variables related to agricultural literacy.

Hock also presented an innovative poster titled: Connecting Research Stations to Area Agricultural Education Programs, co-authored by Dr. Jeremy Falk, University of Idaho & Dr. Marshall Baker, North Carolina State University.

Departmental research published in JAC

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Spring 2019 master’s graduate Anissa Zagonel recently had a paper published in the Journal of Applied Communications. The article is titled “Printing and Mailing for the Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study Seeking to Understand Internal Branding and Marketing Within University and Extension Communication Services Units.”

Zagonel’s research investigated whether the investment of employees in a brand can lead to greater public understanding and positive impressions of a brand by external stakeholders. Her study sought discover how well employees in a university and extension printing and mail entity understood the extension brand and their investment in the brand. Research questions included: 1) What perceptions and investment do communication services employees have in the extension brand? And 2) what are employees’ perceptions of the organization’s branding and marketing efforts?

Results of this study indicate these employees are not invested in the brand with the majority having little to no understanding of the mission of extension. This contradicts previous research with employees in other brand segments of extension. Implications of this work include a need for training on the extension mission for communication services employees, a shift in culture to encourage investment in the brand, and inclusion of all extension employees in the mission of extension.

For the full abstract and article, visit https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2236.

Agricultural communications and journalism alumni survey

Posted on by Deanna Reid

In January, an agricultural communications and journalism alumni survey was distributed through the alumni Facebook group to gather information about career paths our graduates follow, most valuable skills in agricultural communications and what upcoming graduates need in terms of scientific knowledge. The survey will guide curriculum changes and help faculty better communicate career possibilities with prospective students. Nearly 125 alumni have participated in the survey.

For those who have not yet seen the survey, we would love to hear from you. We plan to share findings from the survey in a future alumni newsletter.

 

Please use the link below to access the survey. It takes about 5 to 6 minutes and is voluntary and confidential, although we cannot guarantee anonymity due to the nature of some questions.

 

https://kstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IQWxDr1QBLWUnP

 

If you have questions, email Katie Burke ‘10, ‘15 at kjburke@ksu.edu.Thank you!

CREE hosts third annual conference, Insight Summit

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By: Mikhayla DeMott ’17, CREE audience engagement specialist

 

Participants listen at the annual CREE Insight Summit.
Dr. Lauri M. Baker presents about social media use and analysis.

The Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement hosted its third annual new-media marketing conference, the Insight Summit. The conference featured topics related to new-media marketing, including storytelling across platforms, basic and advanced analytics, social media strategy, visual content, e-newsletters, and selling online.

 

The 2019 Insight Summit differed from past events by hosting agricultural communicators and researchers from across the country to present recent research to participants. Academic researchers included: Courtney Meyers, faculty at Texas Tech University and 2003 K-State agricultural communications and journalism alumna; Angie Lindsey, faculty at the University of Florida; and Shuyang Qu, faculty at Iowa State University. Graduate student researchers included Deanna Reid, K-State; Levy Randolph, University of Florida; Brittany Bowman, Oklahoma State University; and Maggie Elliot, Texas Tech University.

 

Attendees of the 2019 Insight Summit.

The center is a unique resource for rural and agricultural businesses because of its interdisciplinary partnership of founders: Lauri M. Baker, agricultural communications and journalism; Cheryl R. Boyer, horticulture; and Hikaru H. Peterson, agricultural economics. CREE is an institutional collaboration between K-State and the University of Minnesota.

 

Additional team members include Allison Wakefield, intern and current ACJ student, and Mikhayla DeMott, audience engagement specialist and 2017 ACJ alumna.

 

The Insight Summit, previously known as the New-Media Marketing Boot Camp, was February 12 and 13 at the K-State Alumni Center.

Graduate Students win in Birmingham

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student

Kelsey Tully, Mariah Bausch, Dr. Lauri M. Baker, and Anissa Zagonel presented research at the 2019 NACS Conference.

 

Agricultural education and communication graduate students attended the 2019 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) in Birmingham, Alabama, February 3–4, 2019. Students Anissa Zagonel, Mariah Bausch, and Kelsey Tully along with faculty sponsor Lauri Baker presented papers and posters focused on current research and professional development. Bausch and Baker’s poster titled “Student perspectives of agricultural communications research” won second place in the poster competition. The paper by Rumble, Wu, Tully, Ruth, Ellis, and Lamm titled “A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science” placed second among academic paper presentations.

Papers presented included:

Beyond the post: Equine operators’ communication processes for conservation practices

Anissa Zagonel, Lauri Baker, Shelly Ingram, Jon Ulmer, and Joann Kouba, Kansas State University

Student perspectives of agricultural communications undergraduate research

Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

A mixed-methods comparison of self-reported and conversational trust in science

Joy Rumble, Yu Lun Wu, The Ohio State University; Kelsey Tully, Kansas State University; Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University; and Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia

How consumers contrast and assimilate information about agricultural biotechnology

Taylor Ruth, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Joy Rumble, The Ohio State University; Alexa Lamm, University of Georgia; Jason Ellis, Kansas State University

Coauthor network analysis of Journal of Applied Communications articles from 2008 to 2017

Audrey King ’13, ’16 and Quisto Settle, Kansas State University

 

Professional Development Session presentations included:

What are reviewers looking for?

Quisto Settle, Oklahoma State University; Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

Posters presented included:

Scholarship in action: Student perspectives of undergraduate research in agricultural communications

Mariah Bausch and Lauri Baker, Kansas State University

Communicating through chaos: A quantitative content analysis investigating the prepared responses of articles about zoonotic disease on the CDC and USDA websites

Topanga McBride, Lauri Baker, and Mariah Bausch, Kansas State University; Angela Lindsey, University of Florida

Dr. Lauri M. Baker and Mariah Bausch with their winning research poster.

 

Agricultural Education Student Named National FFA Star in Agriscience

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By Gaea Hock, ’03, ’08, associate professor of agricultural education

Eric Koehlmoos, senior in agricultural education, was named the 2018 National FFA Star in Agriscience.

As a high school student at South O’Brien in Paullina, Iowa, Koehlmoos used his home ATF-approved ethanol facility to research the processes used in a commercial ethanol plant. In high school, his research competed nationally and internationally. While at K-State, Koehlmoos has conducted research on teacher perceptions of the Kansas FFA Agriscience Fair.

https://www.ffa.org/the-feed/meet-eric-koehlmoos-2018-star-in-agriscience-finalist/

AgComm graduate students participate in Science Communication Week

Posted on by Deanna Reid

 

By Rachel Waggie, agricultural communications master’s student

Kansas State University hosted its second annual Science Communication Week Nov. 5–10, 2018. The Nov. 8 graduate student poster session focused on “Research and the State.” About 50 K-State graduate students, representing five academic colleges and 25 graduate programs, presented research posters. Approximately 17 presenters were from the College of Agriculture, two were from the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education. Mariah Bausch and Anissa Zagonel presented posters titled “Undergraduate Research Perceptions in Agricultural Communications” and “Printing and Mailing for the Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study Seeking to Understand Internal Branding and Marketing within University and Extension Communication Services Units,” respectively.

Anissa Zagonel’s research focused on “Printing and Mailing for the Brand: An Exploratory Qualitative Study Seeking to Understand Internal Branding and Marketing within University and Extension Communication Services Units.”

 

Experiences such as these are great chances for graduate students to present research in a more relaxed setting. “Opportunities like these are helpful for me to practice communicating my research, as well as learning from other disciplines,” says Zagonel, a second-year master’s student from Girard, Kansas. “Additionally, during this poster session, I enjoyed connecting with other graduate students from across campus.”

Both students presented their posters to a panel of judges, as well as other students and interested individuals, for the chance to earn a spot at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit hosted in Topeka this coming February.

Other events throughout the week included communications workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and other activities to engage graduate students across campus.

Mariah Bausch’s research focused on “Undergraduate Research Perceptions in Agricultural Communications.”