By Laura Gorham
In addition to a new job, a long-time graduate assistant also has a new name.
Joy Rumble, formerly Joy Goodwin, will continue taking down communication barriers in agriculture and natural resources through research and working with students, stakeholders and PIE Center team members in her new faculty position.
Just days before starting her new job as an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, she married fellow Ohio native Nate Rumble.
The pair met while working together at the cafeteria at Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute but didn’t start dating until years later. Joy credits Nate for pushing her to get her doctorate.
Joy has been part of the agricultural industry since she was a child, participating in FFA, 4-H and raising livestock. Her involvement with the industry led her to pursue a career in agriculture.
“I didn’t always know what my career in the industry would look like, but I am very happy where my career has landed,” she said. “Nothing is better than researching, communicating and educating about the industry I have a passion for.”
Joy is no stranger to communication in agriculture or the PIE Center.
In February, she successfully defended her dissertation, “Taking down the walls of agriculture: Effect of transparent communication and personal relevance on attitude and trust within the Elaboration Likelihood Model,” in which she analyzed the effect of transparent communication on the attitudes and trust that college students have toward agriculture.
Joy will continue to use her dissertation research to explore the use of transparent communications in agriculture.
“We are excited to have Joy working with us in the PIE Center as a faculty member in AEC,” said Tracy Irani, PIE Center director. “While still a graduate student, Joy was a researcher on several key projects for us focusing on public opinion and agriculture, and her work in this area is advancing our knowledge and understanding as to the effect of influences on consumer attitudes and decision making with respect to agricultural practices.”
In addition to her dissertation research, Joy has worked with the PIE Center as an AEC graduate student for the last three years. She worked on the three-part messaging research for the Agriculture Institute of Florida, as well as focus groups for a variety of state organizations, including the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association, Florida Extension Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises, Florida Forestry Association, Florida Forest Service and Southern Group of State Foresters.
“My favorite project while working with the PIE Center was working on the Ag Institute message-testing focus groups,” she said. “Not only did I connect with this research on a personal level, but it jumpstarted my research and my passion for enhancing communications.”
In addition to her Ph.D. in agricultural education and communication, Joy holds three degrees from the Ohio State University: a master’s in agricultural communication, a bachelor’s in animal science with a minor in agricultural business and an associate’s in livestock science with a specialization in swine science.
Joy and Nate recently married in her hometown of Mount Gilead, Ohio, and held the reception at the 3,000-acre corn, soybean and wheat farm her father manages. The Rumbles are in the processes of buying a house outside of Newberry, Fla., on five acres. She is looking forward to getting a pig.
