Ag Communicators Program Graduates First Cohort

The Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences (AHS) publishes a monthly blog written by students, alumni, and faculty sharing important topics and helpful resources related to the fields of agricultural, extension, and human science. In the June blog post, Assistant Professor Katie Sanders and AEHS graduate student Madison Aloia provide details on the first graduating cohort for the Agricultural Communicators program.

This May, a group of undergraduate students completed their time in the new Agricultural Communicators Program (ACP). ACP is a scholars program working as a cross-college partnership between the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences (CALS) and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) Department of Communication. The program follows a two-year cohort model and accepted students participate in activities, networking, and communication skill development throughout their time with ACP. Some ACP student majors include Agricultural Business, Agricultural Science, Horticulture, Agricultural Education, Entomology, Animal Science, and Food Science, as well as Communication (from CHASS).

The program formally graduated its first cohort of four students this spring. Madison Aloia, Peyton Gardner, Madelyn Kenney, and Sydney Loflin were the first students to complete the two-year program, with ten new students joining us for the 2023-2025 cohort. During their time in ACP, they heard from industry professionals, gained agricultural communication skills, and put those skills into practice through internships.

The program has grown significantly since its initial start in the fall of 2022, with seventeen students being involved this past year. Some of the communications internships students have completed during their time in ACP include working with BASF, the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences, the National Soybean Grant – Science for Success Program, and N.C. Cooperative Extension.

Alongside these internships, students have had the opportunity to hear from a variety of industry professionals over the past year including individuals from the NC Farm Bureau, NC Pork Council, NC State Food Animal Initiative, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and CALS Communications, just to name a few.