(Left to right) Phillip Stokes, Ricky Telg, Cheng-Xian Yang, Caitlynne Youmans, Ashley McLeod-Morin, Sydeny Honeycutt, Rachel Stormant, Karlibeth Leitheiser, Angie Linsdey, Lauri Baker and Sandra Anderson proudly display their research awards at the 2024 ACE Conference in Salt Lake City Utah, June 2024.
Faculty and staff from the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (PIE Center) were recognized at a national conference for achieving excellence in communications research and practice.
The Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) provides opportunities for networking and professional development to communicators in the fields of agriculture, natural resources and human sciences. ACE members convened for the annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah from June 23 to 25, 2024.
At the ACE conference, representatives from the PIE Center presented research, facilitated workshops and fulfilled leadership positions within the association.
Excellence in Communications Research
Each year, the ACE Academic and Research learning community acknowledges accomplishments in communications research. PIE Center research received multiple awards this year for academic papers, research proposals and journal articles.
Learn more about the award-winning research projects below.
ACE President Tobie Blanchard (l) presents the Outstanding Research Paper Award to Ashley McLeod-Morin (c) and Lauri Baker (r).
ACE President Tobie Blanchard presents the Outstanding Research Poster Award to (l-r) Caitlynne Youmans, Rachel Stormant and Lauri Baker.
ACE President Tobie Blanchard presents the Runner-Up Outstanding Research Paper Award to (l-r) Cheng-Xian Yang, Lauri Baker and Ricky Telg.
ACE President Tobie Blanchard presents the Outstanding Innovative Poster Award to (l-r) Caitlynne Youmans, Karlibeth Leitheiser and Lauri Baker.
Outstanding Research Paper
Title: Show Us Your Skills: Exploring the Science Communication Landscape in Graduate Education
Authors: Ashley McLeod-Morin, Hikaru H. Peterson, Lauri M. Baker, Garrett Steede, Sadie Hundemer, Rebecca Swenson, Troy McKay
Runner-up Outstanding Research Paper
Title: Bytes and Bites: Consumer Response to Foodborne Illness Risks and the Palatable Power of Artificial Intelligence for Risk Mitigation through Traceable Food
Authors: Cheng-Xian Yang, Lauri M. Baker, Ricky Telg, James J.C. Bunch, and Jonathan Adam Watson
Outstanding Research Poster
Title: Clicks and Credibility: Navigating the Cyber Fields of Available Online Resources for Certified Crop Advisors
Authors: Morgan Raper, Rachel Stormant, Lauri M. Baker, Caitlynne Youmans
Outstanding Innovative Poster
Title: Reimagining Impacts: Exploring Using AI to Understand Extension Impact Statements to Tell a Clearer Story
Author: Caitlynne Youmans, Karlibeth Leitheiser, Lauri M. Baker, Matt Benge
The PIE Center team poses with their C&A OPS awards during the ACE Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 2024.
Excellence in Communications Practice
In addition to research awards, the PIE Center was honored to receive recognition for producing high quality communication deliverables.
The PIE Center submitted several entries to the ACE Critique and Awards (C&A) program, which provides professional feedback on communication materials. The PIE Center and its partner programs received five gold awards, five silver awards and three bronze awards for a variety of multimedia projects.
Two of the PIE Center’s submissions that received gold awards were also recognized as the Outstanding Professional Skill (OPS) winners in their respective categories. As an OPS winner, these projects were highlighted during the awards ceremony at the ACE conference.
OPS Awards
Insight Summit
Lauri Baker, Cheryl Boyer, Hikaru Peterson, Aly Morrison, Michaela Kandzer, Phillip Stokes, Karlibeth Leitheiser, Audrey King
Watch the Award Video →
From Waves to Wallets: The Socioeconomic Impacts of Red Tide Events in Florida
Sydney Honeycutt, Angie Lindsey, Sandra Anderson, Ricky Telg, Christa Court, Alena Poulin
Watch the Award Video →
Gold Awards
Lauri Baker, Cheryl Boyer, Hikaru Peterson, Aly Morrison, Michaela Kandzer, Phillip Stokes, Karlibeth Leitheiser, Audrey King
From Waves to Wallets: The Socioeconomic Impacts of Red Tide Events in Florida
Sydney Honeycutt, Angie Lindsey, Sandra Anderson, Ricky Telg, Christa Court, Alena Poulin
Offshore Aquaculture in Florida Toolkit
Aly Morrison, Ricky Telg, Angie Lindsey
The Slice Cover Art (Spring 2023)
Sydney Honeycutt, Rachel Stormant
4 Ways to Leverage AI Marketing for Your Agribusiness Blogpost
Aly Morrison, Michaela Kandzer, Lauri Baker, Cheryl Boyer, Hikaru Peterson, Jean Bricket
Silver Awards
Florida EDEN Hurricane Idalia Communication
Sydney Honeycutt, Rachel Stormant, Michaela Kandzer, Kaelyn Nelson, Shelby Thomas, Ricky Telg, Aly Morrison
Science by the Slice Podcast
Phillip Stokes, Michaela Kandzer, Raychel Raybon, Sydney Honeycutt, Karlibeth Leitheiser, Ricky Telg, Valentina Castano
2023 ACE Conference Logo
Sydney Honeycutt, Ricky Telg, 2023 ACE Conference Planning Committee, Celtic Chicago
Reimagining Resilient Agri-food Supply Chains Course
Lauri Baker, Cheryl Boyer, Hikaru Peterson, Aly Morrison, Michaela Kandzer, Phillip Stokes, Karlibeth Leitheiser
Insight Summit Promotion
Aly Morrison, Michaela Kandzer, Lauri Baker, Cheryl Boyer, Hikaru Peterson, Phillip Stokes
Bronze Awards
Aly Morrison, Ricky Telg, Angie Lindsey
Telling the PIE Center’s Story in Florida Grower
Ashley McLeod-Morin, Sydney Honeycutt, Ricky Telg, Lauri Baker, Angela Lindsey, Michaela Kandzer, Cheng-Xian Yang, Aly Morrison
The Slice
Sydney Honeycutt, Rachel Stormant, Michaela Kandzer, Kaelyn Nelson, Shelby Thomas, Ricky Telg, Aly Morrison
