By Caroline Roper
Several PIE Center graduate students joined faculty and staff in Dallas for the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists earlier this week, some presenting research for the first time.
The PIE Center sent nine faculty, staff and graduate students to the three-day conference: faculty members Alexa Lamm and Joy Rumble, post-doctoral associate Angie Lindsey, research analyst Erica Odera, and graduate students Jessica Holt, Keegan Gay, Arthur Leal, Caroline Roper and Laura Gorham. For Leal and Roper, the conference was the first time they showcased their research to a large academic audience.
“Presenting is empowering,” Leal said. “It makes you feel like an expert because not everyone researches the same ideas, and people approach you with questions about what you are doing.”
Leal presented a research paper on Floridians’ perceptions on water quality and quantity, while Roper and Gay presented posters focusing on consumer definitions of local food.
“This conference was an incredible learning experience,” Roper said. “Although I was only there for a short amount of time, I have a new outlook on what it means to be a researcher and the agricultural communications field.”
The conference was attended by a wide variety of agricultural communicators, including communication practitioners, extension agents and faculty members and graduate students from other universities.
“Presenting takes graduate students off the sidelines and gives them ways to develop,” Leal said. “You’re fully contributing and participating in the research experience, which is invaluable to our education.”
