AHS Presents at the 2025 Southern Region-AAAE Conference

Faculty members and graduate students of the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences recently attended the Southern Region—American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) Annual Conference, held concurrently with the National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) in Irving, TX. AAAE is the premier national society for social science scholarship in food, agriculture, and natural resources. It supports professionals in agricultural education, communication, leadership, international development, and extension education at U.S. colleges and universities.

Several graduate students, including Kayla Paglia, Mikayla Daniels, Charity Stallings, Clay Beasley, Saifur Rahman, Mary Kate Lanier, Joseph Gakpo, Madison Aloia, and Bhavisha Gulabrai, presented their research papers and posters at the conference.

Faculty and staff members also shared their research at the conference. Attendees included Travis Park, Misty Lambert, Wendy Warner, and Katie Sanders. Lambert served as President of the Southern Region, while Morgan chaired the Program Improvement Committee and Lanier served as its secretary. Sanders also contributed to the event by serving as secretary for NACS.

In addition to research presentations, several faculty members were honored with awards which are listed below. Congratulations to all who participated and represented the department at the conference!

Awards Received:

Outstanding Teacher Award – Wendy Warner

Outstanding Researcher Award – Misty Lambert

Distinguished Agricultural Teacher Educator Award – Travis Park

Research Paper Presentations:

• Title: How are they? Assessing the Professional Quality of Life of North Carolina Agricultural Educators

Authors: Mary Kate Morgan Lanier, Misty Lambert, Jillian Ford, and Kayla Paglia

• Title: A Snapshot of SAE for All Implementation Across the United States

Authors: Jillian Ford, Misty Lambert, Travis Park, Joseph  Donaldson, Barbara Fair

• Title: Examining Alumni Perceptions: A Qualitative Evaluation of Coaches in an Alumni Career Coaching Program

Authors: Charity Stallings, Katie Sanders, Kim Allen, and Joy Morgan

• Title: Unearthing Agricultural Legacies: Fannie Lou Hamer – Planting Roots for Black Agricultural Success Through the Freedom Farm Cooperative

Authors: Mikayla Daniels, Joy Morgan, Wendy Warner, and Gary Moore

Poster Presentations (AAAE):

• Title: Thinking and Working Like a Scientist: Perceptions of Animal Science Undergraduates in a Research Program

Authors: Saifur Rahman, Joseph Donaldson, M. Merrill, C. Nestor, C. Pickworth, and Katie McKee

**Distinguished Innovative Poster Presentation

• Title: Preservice teacher retreat: Community, collaboration, and connections

Authors: Kayla Paglia, Clay Beasley, Travis Park, Misty Lambert, Mary Kate Lanier, Josh Bledsoe, S. Edwards, Joy Morgan, and Wendy Warner

• Title: Launching a college of agriculture student success career coaching program: Student insights from pilot year

Authors: Charity Stallings, Katie Sanders, Kim Allen, and Joy Morgan

Posters Presentation (NACS):

• Title: Consumers’ Processing of Information about CRISPR-edited Pork Products

Authors: Joseph Gakpo, J. Proudman, J. Parrella, and Katie Sanders

• Title: Exploring consumer perceptions of animal welfare in the laying hen industry

Authors: Bhavisha Gulabrai and Katie Sanders