Volume 27, Number 1 - Winter/Spring 2025

OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture Volume 27 Number 1 • Winter/Spring 2025

Jami Longacre

Ed Moydell

Mary and Rob Shuey

Carl Thoma

Ronald Elliott

Harvey Schroeder

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2024 HONOREES! DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI

CHAMPIONS

Jami Longacre, 1993 Ed Moydell, 2003 Mary and Rob Shuey, 1981 Carl Thoma, 1971

Ronald Elliott Harvey Schroeder

Learn more about the honorees: agriculture.okstate.edu/about/honors/

COWBOY JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2025 | Vol. 27 No. 1 EDITORS LINDI BROOKING TAYLOR DOWELL AINSLEY TREESH MANAGING EDITOR SHELLY PEPER LEGG, PH.D. ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS DWAYNE CARTMELL, PH.D. AUDREY KING, PH.D. ANGEL RIGGS, PH.D. KENNA SANDBERG, M.S. QUISTO SETTLE, PH.D. KAYLEE TRAVIS, M.S. HANNAH WILCOCKS ASSISTANT EDITORS KARSTYN CANTRELL HALEY DINTERMAN SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR TAYLOR MCGILL PHOTO COORDINATOR QUINCY THUENER

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR REESE GONSALVES GRAPHIC COORDINATORS KAIT GODWIN ABBY HELBACH STAFF OLIVIA BELLAH SAMANTHA BENNETT PHALEN CARY EMILY CHAVERS REAGAN CONRAD MAKAYLA CRAIG DELIA CRAWFORD AMANDA HURST LEAH KELLY KATELYN MOORE JORDAN MURPHY MADDY NISSEN HALEY ROCHA HALLIE THOMPSON SYDNEY VAN PELT ALEXIS VICKREY BAILEY WHITE KAYLI VAVRICEK KENNEDY WILLINGHAM

Oklahoma State University as an equal opportunity employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. Oklahoma State University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all individuals and does not discriminate based on race, religion, age, sex, color, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, or veteran status with regard to employment, educational programs and activities, and/or admissions. For more information, visit eeo.okstate.edu. This publication is printed and issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the vice president for agricultural programs and has been prepared and distributed at no cost to the taxpayers of Oklahoma.

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORS We are honored and humbled to contribute to the creation of the first Cowboy Journal produced in the new Agricultural Hall. As you flip through these pages, we hope you feel a sense of excitement for this new era and the pride that comes with being a member of the Cowboy family.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to our 29-member staff, Mitchell Alcala, Braeden Coon, Sophia Fahleson, Mandy Gross, Alyssa Hardaway, Ben Hedges, Christy Henley, Coleman Hickman, Jack Hoyle, Kristin Knight, Keona Mason, Jami Mattox, Kristy Meyer, Macy Shoulders, Sydney Trainor and Hannah Wilcocks.

A special thanks goes to Dwayne Cartmell, Audrey King, Shelly Legg, Angel Riggs, Kenna Sandberg, Quisto Settle and Kaylee Travis for their commitment to the agricultural communications program. Without their hard work and dedication, none of this would be possible.

While buildings have changed, our passion and pride for sharing the stories of the Ferguson Family remains the same.

Forever Loyal and True,

OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture Volume 27 Number 1 • Winter/Spring 2025

ON THE COVER Agricultural Hall opens the doors to the future of teaching, research and OSU Extension. Photo by Haley Dinterman.

Your Seed Source Since 1950 registered and certified seed wheat pioneer brand seed dealer hobart, oklahoma 580-726-3220

COWBOY JOURNAL 3

Construction of the new state-ofthe-art facility is now complete, and students, faculty and staff are enjoying the new home for OSU Agriculture.

The new Agricultural Hall further advances our teaching, research and Extension efforts to innovate solutions to nourish the world!

To learn more about the success of the New Frontiers campaign visit: agriculture.okstate.edu/about/new-frontiers

OPENING THE DOORS

INSIDE

We are excited to dedicate the first section of Cowboy Journal to the new Agricultural Hall!

As students, we are proud to share how this innovative space is already shaping our academic journeys and future careers.

New Building. Same Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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Symbol of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Building Friendship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Directing the Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Serving the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 It’s Got to Be Custard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Roots of Opportunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Hidden Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Preserving the Seeds of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Destined for Distinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Redefining Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Teaching the Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Where Success Grows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Ensuring Accessibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Investing in the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Career Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Fall Semester Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Innovative Visions. Timeless Traditions. . . . . . . . . . . 52

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DEDICATED TO

PROMOTING AND PROTECTING OKLAHOMA’S AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY

ag.ok.gov | 405-521-3864 6 WINTER/SPRING 2025

INSIDE

ACROSS OSU AG

What’s Hopping in Oklahoma? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Where Innovation Meets Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . 58

68

Exploring Education Through Extension . . . . . . . 60 Planting New Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Research Results in Resilience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 A Journey of Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Blazing Her Own Trail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Becoming a Global Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 A Man of the Soil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Black Bears in the Wild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Finding Early Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Assisting When Disaster Hits Home . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 A Symbiotic Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Wildlife Meets Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Rooted in Viticulture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

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Alumni Society News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

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COWBOY JOURNAL 7

NEW BUILDING. SAME MISSION. CELEBRATING THE NEW HOME OF OSU AGRICULTURE

8 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Ferguson College of Agriculture students Baylee Bowen (third from left), Hailey Spray and Easton Fraser help open Agricultural Hall with Jimmy Harrel (left), chair of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents; Kayse Shrum, OSU president; and Jayson Lusk, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture. Photo by Kristin Knight.

COWBOY JOURNAL 9

SYMBOL OF SERVICE

CELEBRATING THE LAND-GRANT MISSION TO FEED THE WORLD

S

unshine lit the atrium decorated in bright orange as more than 100 faculty, staff and donors hurried to their seats. Students quickly filed in, stopping to admire the expansive brick building that boasts the words “Agricultural Hall.”

Beyond the new paint and modern classrooms, one thing remains: pride, community and a sense of passion for the land-grant mission.

As the 2024-2025 school year began, the new Agricultural Hall opened.

Faculty in the college were committed to celebrating the opening of the building in a meaningful way, said Jayson Lusk, Oklahoma State University Agriculture vice president and dean.

10 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“The building isn’t ours,” Lusk said.

“It’s the university’s, the students’, the donors’. Because of that, we want them to feel like they’re a part of it and this is their house, too.

“That’s part of the motivation for the celebration — to say thank you and celebrate the fact this doesn’t happen every day,” Lusk added.

When moving out of his old office, Lusk was shown a photograph from 1969 of deans and university officials breaking a loaf of bread above a model of the former Agricultural Hall, now known as Legacy Hall, to celebrate the grand opening.

Lusk wanted to recreate the moment for the new building as a nod to

the legacy and future of the Ferguson College of Agriculture, he said.

On Sept. 12, the bread-breaking ceremony was hosted in the atrium of the new Agricultural Hall.

“Today, we will continue a tradition that began in 1969 with Legacy Hall,” Lusk said. “Our mission is the same as it was then — feeding the world.”

A group of three joined Lusk to recreate the bread-breaking ceremony using a 5-foot loaf of bread: Cynda Clary, Ferguson College of Agriculture associate dean; Kayse Shrum, president of OSU; and Jimmy Harrel, chair of the OSU/A&M Board of Regents.

“To witness the bread-breaking in the new Agricultural Hall really was

Cynda Clary (left), Jayson Lusk, Kayse Shrum and Jimmy Harrel celebrate the opening of Agricultural Hall. Photo by Mitchell Alcala.

a cool experience,” said Cade Harris, animal science junior. “It is a foundational theme for our mission statement of feeding the world. Despite moving buildings, I know our mission will always be the same.”

The ceremony took place during Land-Grant Week, an initiative to celebrate and promote the land-grant mission of feeding the world through research, teaching, and extension.

“The opening of this facility is a transformational milestone for OSU Agriculture,” Shrum said. “It further cements OSU’s position as a leader in innovation and will help us continue to recruit promising students and worldclass faculty.

“The work students and faculty will undertake at Agricultural Hall truly embodies our land-grant mission to address society’s most pressing challenges and will elevate teaching, research, and extension efforts critical to the state’s economy, citizens’ safety, and quality of life,” she added.

The creation of the bread was a nod to the land-grant mission, involving various departments, faculty and local businesses, Lusk said.

“We were debating, ‘Where do we find this big loaf of bread, and who can help us out?’” he said.

“And then all of a sudden we thought, ‘Well, if we can’t do it here in the Oklahoma State University

Ferguson College of Agriculture, who else can?’” Lusk said.

Reneé Albers-Nelson, milling and baking specialist for the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center, led the collaborative effort to bake the oversized loaves of bread.

“A team developed the dough,” Albers-Nelson said. “It really was a group effort.

“We just kept looking at the old picture trying to figure out how we would remake it,” she added.

Lusk asked Albers-Nelson to bake the bread, but she was unsure where to start until a friend connected her with Cindy Cooper, owner of Cindy’s Pizza, who had a 5-foot wide oven.

COWBOY JOURNAL 11

The New Frontiers campaign project is a testimony of what’s possible when people come together.

JAYSON LUSK “Cindy was awesome,” AlbersNelson said. “She said, ‘I have a mixer.

I have flour here.’ It took both of us to make the dough, and it was heavy — about 36 pounds.”

Albers-Nelson and Cooper recruited Nick “Shorty” Semtner, OSU biosystems engineering technician, to build a large enough pan.

“Reneé said she needed a pan and didn’t know what she was going to do,” Semtner said. “All I needed to know was what size, how deep and what material. She goes, ‘That’s all?’ To us, it’s not that big of a deal, but we were Superman to her.”

Semtner and fellow technician Michael “Si” Fleming made the pan in three hours from scrap stainless steel, Semtner said.

The pair was deeply honored to be a part of a historic ceremony, but the special construction felt like just another day for their department, he added with a laugh.

Preparing and baking the dough took more than three hours, and the staling process took one week to reach the most effective texture, AlbersNelson said. The team baked five loaves to ensure they were prepared for the ceremony.

“Hearing my name at the ceremony, knowing I was a part of something so big, gave me chills,” Cooper said. “I’m

just a small-business owner, but that recognition meant everything.”

Cooper values being a business owner in the Stillwater community and the access to opportunity it provides, she said.

“The resources at Oklahoma State are just phenomenal,” Cooper said, when sharing her experience working with the FAPC. “I don’t think enough people know about it.

“FAPC could help any business at any time,” she added. “They’re always there whenever I have a question and want to get me further in my business.”

Land-grant institutions combine teaching, research, and extension and are exceptionally important for the agricultural industry and general public, said Blayne Arthur, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture. Oklahomans often do not realize the benefits landgrants schools provide, she added.

“OSU Extension has a presence in all 77 counties,” Arthur said. “There’s this very local piece of, ‘How can we solve the challenges citizens have?’

“The new Agricultural Hall really builds on that community theme,” she added, “letting people know, ‘We want you to be here, we’re glad you’re here, and how can we be helpful?’”

On Oct. 4, 2024, a formal dedication recognized the donors who contributed to the new building fund.

“The New Frontiers campaign project is a testimony of what’s possible when people come together,” Lusk said. “We had the fastest academic building campaign in the history of OSU. Because of the donors, we will be the preeminent land-grant university.”

More than 180 donors attended the event to receive student-led tours of the building and connect with other donors, said Laura Wuebker, agricultural communications and agribusiness junior.

“It took every single one of you in this room,” said Kayleen Ferguson, New Frontiers cornerstone donor. “We are appreciative that you joined us in the dream to build this building and improve the direction of the program of agriculture here at Oklahoma State.”

The mission of feeding the world remains unchanged, said Larry Ferguson, New Frontiers cornerstone donor. Food insecurity is prevalent in the world, he added, and donors, students, and faculty who support the mission can make a great impact.

“Agricultural Hall is going to be wherever the people are,” Harris said.

“It’s more than just the building. We carry our mission wherever we go — we live out the land-grant mission, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

REESE GONSALVES MODESTO, CALIFORNIA

WHAT IS A LAND-GRANT? Established under the Morrill Act in 1862, land-grant institutions enhance agriculture and serve the public.

Three components compose a land-grant university: teaching, research and extension. Oklahoma State University aims to be the premier land-grant institution, equipping students to be servant-leaders who meet the needs of their community in their endeavors.

12 WINTER/SPRING 2025

The Ferguson College of Agriculture offers 50 academic programs to educate undergraduate and graduate students. OSU Extension serves Oklahomans in all 77 counties, addressing needs related to agriculture, water quality, technology innovation, nutrition and food insecurity. OSU research seeks ways to serve the state and the world in solving its greatest challenges.

Source: OSU Agriculture

1

NEW BUILDING

Celebrations

1. As part of Land-Grant Week, the state’s three landgrant officials celebrate the opening of Agricultural Hall: Chris Azbell, College of the Muscogee Nation Extension coordinator; Jayson Lusk, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture; and Wesley Whittaker, Langston University School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences dean. 2. Taylor Epperson (left), Riley Gilreath and Coleman Hickman visit with Bree Taylor during the Ferguson Family Tailgate.

3. Christina Moitozo draws from a raffle. 4. Xin Mei Teng enjoys the tailgate. 5. Karleigh Erramouspe (left), Braden Fuentes and Bryce Bain get ready to cheer on the Cowboys.

Photos by Samantha Bennett, Alyssa Hardaway and Kristin Knight.

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3 4

5

COWBOY JOURNAL 13

BUILDING

FRIENDSHIP

Randy Raper (left) and Raymond Huhnke celebrate Agricultural Hall after four years of working together on the project. Photo by Taylor McGill.

14 WINTER/SPRING 2025

W

hen presented with a job opportunity to move his family from Booneville, Arkansas, to Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 2012, Randy Raper called lifelong friend, Raymond Huhnke, for some advice on the new position. Little did he know a decade later the phone calls between these friends would be more than just friendly advice.

In 2021, Raper called Huhnke for help planning and overseeing construction activities related to the building of the new Agricultural Hall.

“Ray and I have worked together on a number of things over the years,” Raper said. “When Ray was starting to talk about retirement I went to him and asked ‘Would you be willing to work with me on this process on a part-time basis?’ and he agreed.”

Even though Huhnke retired in January 2021, he continued making contributions to the Ferguson College of Agriculture as an engineer for Agricultural Hall, assisting in any way he could to help with the fine details related to design, layout and construction of the new facility, he said “I worked with Randy in addressing what has been and what needs to be done to make the great facility we have now,” Huhnke said.

The pair worked together to create a space for students, faculty and staff to call home while serving as the coined duo in each meeting and stage of development for the new Agricultural Hall.

“Ray has been a tremendous help in terms of being a second set of eyes and ears in the room, going back and forth making sure we heard the same things,” Raper said.

COWBOY JOURNAL 15

DIRECTING

I

Randy Raper began his years of service to OSU Agriculture in 2012. Photo by Taylor McGill.

16 WINTER/SPRING 2025

n the ninth grade, Randy Raper was asked by a teacher to write an essay on what he wanted to be when he grew up. Little did he know the answer to the question would change his life.

“I wrote the story on being an agriculture engineer,” said Raper, assistant vice president of facilities for Oklahoma State University Agriculture. “I turned it in, and the teacher said it was a great story.

However, she said, ‘You will never be an agriculture engineer. You will be an agricultural engineer.’”

As a native of northern Alabama, Raper said he had waited his whole life to attend Auburn University and make his ninth-grade dream a reality.

However, when persuaded by a buddy to tour Mississippi State University, his plan was altered overnight, he said.

“We went there and visited with the department head,” Raper said. “Before we left that day, he had convinced both of us to go to Mississippi State and go into agricultural engineering.”

As a new student of MSU, Raper was determined to work hard and find a way to pay for school while gaining experience in his hopeful career path, he said.

“In my first semester, I got a call from my dad who said I had a letter at home and I needed to check into it,” Raper said. “The letter said John Deere was interviewing on campus the next day and they were looking for agricultural engineers.”

Raper interviewed with John Deere and received a position in a cooperative program to alternate one semester at school and one semester at John Deere. He spent more than two years in their collegiate program with hopes of continuing in a path to full-time employment with the company, he said.

THE VISION “Near the end of the program when I would have been offered the job in the early 1980s is when jobs were really difficult to find,” Raper said. “John Deere eliminated the program. No one got a job, so I decided to look at graduate school.”

Raper’s journey to higher education led him to Iowa State University where he earned both master’s and doctoral degrees. His career path led him back to northern Alabama then to Booneville, Arkansas, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture before a call came to interview at OSU. Raper joined OSU Agriculture in 2012 as an engineer to evaluate property, buildings and research areas for enhancement or maintenance to ensure all spaces maximized the learning experience, he said.

In 2017, Raper entered the conversation about what it would take to build a new Agricultural Hall.

As a professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering with experience in agricultural research, he said his goal was to find solutions and implement a space for generations of students to enjoy.

“My background is in research,” Raper said. “I knew I could do that with my eyes closed, but this was a new challenge, working in construction.”

In the early stages of development, Raper sought a variety of perspectives to ensure the new Agricultural Hall was built on the needs of its inhabitants, he said.

“He played a role in bringing faculty to the table and getting staff involved,”

ENGINEER LIVES HIS DREAM THROUGH SERVICE TO OSU AGRICULTURE

said Thomas Coon, retired vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture.

Raper had observed a trend of faculty members outlasting the department leadership in terms of years in their respective roles, so he created a committee of professors and staff to suggest features necessary for a new space with productivity and practicality, he said.

“I really thought if we were going to do something like this that would be beneficial,” Raper said. “I felt it ought to be faculty-driven.”

Raper played a vital role in facilitating meetings with the appropriate professors and staff with the team of architects, said George Winters, principal architect behind the development of the new Agricultural Hall.

This allowed for the necessary insight on the requirements to create a functional space for students, faculty, and staff, Winters added.

“Dr. Raper cares a lot about people,” Coon said. “What students like about the new building is what he created for them. He wanted to make this building for students.”

With the former Agricultural Hall, now named Legacy Hall, housing few shared spaces, students would come for their scheduled class time and depart soon after.

This observation led Raper to think like a student and imagine an environment to enhance the academic experience, he said.

“He’s behind the scenes from a student perspective, but everything he did was student-focused,” Coon said.

Raper wanted spaces for student organizations and faculty gatherings as well as places to cultivate conversations and welcoming spaces to lounge, catch up or focus on the next task at hand, he said.

“All of the sudden, I’m seeing something tremendously rewarding, the way students are using the spaces,” Raper said.

The biggest difference between the new Agricultural Hall and the previous building is the designated areas for students to flourish, a credit to the design and contributing conversations from those who occupy it, Raper said.

“It all goes back to his character and his mission,” Winters said. “He is committed to the university, to its students, to its faculty and to the success of this building.”

For Raper, success is ensuring the space designed for students and faculty continue to be well used, he said.

As he lives out his ninth-grade dream of being an agricultural engineer, Raper said he will continue to apply the guiding principle of being people-focused for each upcoming project and development.

KARSTYN CANTRELL

COLLINSVILLE, OKLAHOMA

Dr. Raper cares a lot about people. He wanted to make this building about students.

THOMAS COON COWBOY JOURNAL 17

SERVING THE FUTURE

W

hen many reminisce on their time in 4-H, they catapult to a memory. They may not have realized it then, but they were learning irreplaceable teamwork and leadership skills.

For Raymond Huhnke, 4-H is where he developed these skills that became vital to his career, he said.

“My passion to help others goes back to my youth,” Huhnke said. “4-H provided me with my thought process.

It allowed me to work with a variety of different members, even the younger 4-H members, to give them insights as to how they could put their best work into their projects. It has always been a team effort to make things better.”

With a goal to make the agricultural industry better, Huhnke started his education at Purdue University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering.

Huhnke then went on to gain a master’s degree from the University of Illinois and a doctoral degree from Iowa State University, both in agricultural engineering.

In 1980, Huhnke started his journey at Oklahoma State University as an assistant professor and agricultural extension engineer. Huhnke spent the first 35 years of his career focusing on OSU Extension services.

“I have probably known Ray longer than anyone on this campus,” said Ron Elliott, retired agricultural engineer and emeritus head of the OSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. “He is knowledgeable in a wide variety of areas and is a solid engineer.”

Huhnke and Elliott met at the University of Illinois through the agricultural engineering master’s program.

They reconnected when Elliott joined the OSU faculty in 1981.

18 WINTER/SPRING 2025

At the beginning of his time at OSU, Huhnke worked on the development of farm structures.

He has had many successes in this area and is widely known for his work in corral and beef working facilities, Huhnke said. Huhnke helped develop facilities to keep animals and handlers safe while still being efficient, he said.

Huhnke recorded a series of videos to inform children about animal handling and farm safety as well as led demonstrations of his work to help farmers to make informed decisions.

Huhnke was the driving force for round-bale storage research, Elliott said. Huhnke saw the financial impact these structures and processes could have on rural farmers, which led him to pursue these projects, he added.

“I branched out and was involved in round-bale storage because hay is one of the top five agricultural commodities in the state, valued at about $600 million,” Huhnke said. “If we could save 10% of the hay being stored, that’s a significant amount of money that producers could save or invest.”

In 2002, Huhnke saw the need for a program called AgrAbility, which allows agricultural workers with disabilities to keep doing the things they are passionate about, he said.

“AgrAbility is a program that reaches out to and helps disabled farmers,” Elliott said. “Maybe somebody has great difficulty going up the steps into

It has always been a team effort to make things better.

RAYMOND HUHNKE

a tractor or operating equipment and they still want to farm. They have some issues to overcome, and some special adaptive devices can help with that.”

AgrAbility was just one of the many projects Huhnke was involved in to help farmers keep doing what they love, he said. Huhnke often worked to combine field demonstrations with applied research.

“I wanted to demonstrate things out in the field that would allow me to not only capture the attention of the ranchers and the farmers as to what opportunities there were but also to gain some research data that could be shared within the state and within the region,” Huhnke said.

Huhnke made major strides in the biobased energy industry, said Danielle Bellmer, Ferguson College of Agriculture assistant dean of academic programs. Huhnke and Bellmer worked together during the initial stages of the Biobased Products and Energy Center.

This center conducts research on bioenergy and biorefinery operations used to make these processes more sustainable, Bellmer said.

“We started a biofuels research group here at OSU,” Bellmer said.

“Huhnke and I worked on it a lot together, and then he became the director of the Biobased Products and Energy Center.”

During Huhnke’s time with the center, he saw the need for federal funding of these projects. He gathered a cohort of students, professors and researchers to help him write grants.

“He helped form a productive, collegial group of researchers that worked well together as a team,” Bellmer said.

“There were faculty from plant and soil sciences, agricultural economics, and biosystems engineering. We collaborated on grants and projects.

4-H LEADERSHIP TRAITS GUIDE HUHNKE THROUGHOUT CAREER He would organize and lead the group, saying, ‘Here’s a new grant opportunity. Who wants to participate?’”

The need for grants and the developing research led to researchers from South Dakota State University to reach out to Huhnke and his team.

This group wanted to compare regional research efforts in biobased energy, Bellmer said.

Together, SDSU and OSU created the Sun Grant Initiative, a collaborative effort between land-grant universities to research biobased energy. The SGI is federally funded through the U.S. Farm Bill. When the SGI first became federally funded, Huhnke served as the associate director of the Sun Grant Program at OSU. “We would have small to large proposals submitted to us, and then, we would have a team of experts come in to evaluate those proposals to provide funding through the selected projects within this region,” Huhnke said.

These projects have added an estimated $174 million to the regional domestic product as well as the nation.

In 2017, Huhnke’s contributions to OSU Agriculture led to his promotion to Regents professor, the highest rung on OSU’s academic ladder.

Even though Huhnke retired in January 2021, he still has a passion for making OSU the best it can be, he said, and credits the teamwork and leadership skills he learned from his youth for his career success.

TAYLOR MCGILL

TUTTLE, OKLAHOMA

Raymond Huhnke has served OSU for 41 years. Photo by Taylor McGill.

COWBOY JOURNAL 19

It’s Got to Be

The original Dairy Bar served cinnamon rolls as well as chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream in boxes such as these. Larry and Kay’s Dairy Bar serves cinnamon rolls made using the original recipe and vanilla custard.

University Dining Services supplies different toppings for enhancing each serving of custard. Photo by Leah Kelly.

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C

e

Custard F

LARRY AND KAY’S DAIRY BAR BRINGS BACK MEMORIES AND TRADITIONS

or Ferguson College of Agriculture alumni who were on campus prior to 2005, some of their fondest memories are from sitting around reading The O’Colly, eating a cinnamon roll and drinking a glass of milk, or playing card games between classes at the original Dairy Bar. “At the beginning of the planning process for the new Agricultural Hall, one of our building consultants asked if anyone would be upset leaving the old building or if there were any sentimental feelings about it,” said Thomas Coon, former vice president and dean of Oklahoma State University Agriculture. “I was the first to answer and said, ‘What they are sentimental about and what I have heard a lot about is the old Dairy Bar.’” Bringing back the original Dairy Bar would mean a lot to alumni and make a new tradition for current students that will be remembered when they are alumni, too, Coon said.

Larry Ferguson, 1975 animal science alumnus and New Frontiers cornerstone donor, worked in the OSU Dairy Building in the 1970s when the original Dairy Bar was open. He felt the Dairy Bar would be a great addition to the new building because of the feelings and memories behind it, he said.

“When I was in school, the Dairy Bar was an attraction on campus,” Ferguson said. “People from all parts of campus would come to it. So, when

we started talking about this project, I said, ‘Wouldn’t that be a nice attraction for Ag Hall, so everyone comes to a place, a central meeting place, to have ice cream?’”

Studio Architecture, which has designed multiple OSU buildings, proposed a building design with a two-story atrium and space for students and faculty to gather.

“Following the architects’ presentation of the design concept, I pointed to a location on the ground floor of the atrium and said, ‘I really want you to figure out how to put a Dairy Bar here,’” Coon said. “To have a Dairy Bar in the center of the building of a college that Larry’s family made a significant gift to would just make it that much better.”

When the request was made, Jim Hasenbeck, 1982 OSU architecture alumnus and founding principal of Studio Architecture, wanted to ensure Coon’s request was included in the floor plans, he said.

“When Dr. Coon and the Fergusons wanted to reintroduce the Dairy Bar concept to the university, I knew exactly what they meant because I knew what that feeling was and what the original Dairy Bar was used for,” Hasenbeck said.

Hasenbeck and his team knew the large atrium space at the end of the entry was the ideal place to locate the Dairy Bar, he said.

“The atrium space was designed for gatherings, studying, visiting, and, overall, to be a hangout space,” Hasenbeck said. “To have the Dairy Bar in the atrium was like peanut butter and jelly — it was just meant to be right there.

“When they wanted to reintroduce the Dairy Bar, it clicked perfectly with us and fell almost effortlessly as far as where it would be located and how it would function and work,” he added.

Vedda Hsu, University Dining Services director, and her team were asked in 2020 to help rebuild the Dairy Bar, Hsu said. Dining Services was honored to assist in bringing back memories to the college, she added.

“My team and I worked hard and put lots of thought into reimagining the Dairy Bar,” Hsu said, “from the design concept to the menu to the new, modern twist put into the operation.”

Hsu wanted the new Dairy Bar to be unique to itself and the new building, she said. As a result, the Dairy Bar is the only location on campus to serve custard and cinnamon rolls, which are made using the original Dairy Bar recipe, Hsu said. These signature items were designed based on space limitations and the uniqueness they wanted to bring to the college, she added.

Early on, when University Dining Services proposed the preliminary menu, Coon and Ferguson had some thoughts about the items, Coon said.

COWBOY JOURNAL 21

Kayleen (left) and Larry Ferguson enjoy seeing the completion of Larry and Kay’s Dairy Bar. Photo by Leah Kelly.

“Dining Services gave us a menu that had doughnuts on it,” Coon said.

“That was great, but the new Dairy Bar had to have cinnamon rolls. One of the things I heard so much about from alumni was how good those cinnamon rolls were.

“They also had frozen yogurt on the menu, and Larry said, ‘You can’t use frozen yogurt — that’s not dairy enough. It’s got to be custard,’” Coon added. “And that’s what it is now.”

Ferguson was not interested in most of the items, except for the ice cream, he said. It had to be good ice cream

that would draw people to the Dairy Bar, he added.

“I just wanted it to be a form of ice cream,” Ferguson said. “Soft serve is ice milk, so it’s not truly ice cream.

Custard is ice cream mixed with eggs.

“Eggs are a stabilizer and emulsifier to hold the fat in,” he added. “They give it a little more flavor — so I was fine with custard.”

Ferguson’s fondest memory from the original Dairy Bar was the traditional strawberry ice cream, as he ate it and made it every day in the processing room, he said. He and his

wife, Kayleen Ferguson, chuckled and agreed Larry Ferguson probably taste-tested the ice cream while he was making it, as well.

“One of my jobs was making the ice cream for the Dairy Bar,” Larry Ferguson said. “If you think about the Dairy Building, you walked in the front door, the Dairy Bar was on the right and down the hall was the processing plant where we made the ice cream.

“Other than eating the ice cream, making it was my favorite part because I ate it and I didn’t have to pay for it,” he added.

TIMELINE OF A CAMPUS ICON

1928

The Dairy Building opened Sept. 1. It housed the Dairy Bar in an office and OAMC’s milk processing plant.

22 WINTER/SPRING 2025

The Dairy Bar was moved across the hall to accomodate the growing number of customers.

1952

1963

The Dairy Bar sold nearly 300 cinnamon rolls and doughnuts per week.

OSU’s 160-cow dairy herd produced 5,400 pounds of milk a day to provide all the milk for campus, including the Dairy Bar.

A quart of milk sold for 55 cents, a half-gallon for 97 cents and a gallon for $1.90.

1979

b dou

Other than eating the ice cream, making it was my favorite part because I ate it and I didn’t have to pay for it.

LARRY FERGUSON Larry Ferguson was not the only student to have memories of the original Dairy Bar. Hasenbeck remembers the camaraderie with friends and classmates and chowing down on a cinnamon roll, he said, but he also remembers the number of students who came from other colleges.

“What was neat about the original Dairy Bar when I was in school was it wasn’t just kids from the college of agriculture,” Hasenbeck said. “All of these different colleges and students — engineering, business, home economics — were in there intermingling, like a mini Student Union in a way, which was fun.”

The main goal of adding the new Dairy Bar was to attract students from other colleges just as the original did before, Larry Ferguson said. With it being a new generation and thinking from that standpoint, he thinks it’s doing a wonderful job, he added.

“It’s attracting people from all over campus,” Larry Ferguson said. “They serve a product that everyone enjoys, and I enjoy it. It’s a very good product, and unfortunately, I could eat it all day.

So, yeah, I think it’s accomplishing just that — the goal of attracting people to come be involved in agriculture.”

Kayleen Ferguson agreed with her husband, as she has heard many stories from alumni outside the college of agriculture, she said.

“There is a donor who has mentioned his memories of being across campus and stopping at the Dairy Bar,” Kayleen Ferguson said, “which made him, in turn, make a donation for this new building.

“So, even though his major wasn’t in agriculture, the Dairy Bar connected him to agriculture, and he was willing to join us in this campaign to make this possible,” she added.

The new Dairy Bar — now called, Larry and Kay’s Dairy Bar — has a great space to the east of the bar where students and professors from every college come to sit, Hasenbeck said.

The area has that same feeling as the original Dairy Bar, where it’s not only for agriculture but also for the university, he added.

“The sitting area has old pictures of one of the original barns that was

on campus,” Hasenbeck said. “To have that there — with the Dairy Bar — and some of the nostalgia and history is kind of fun to see. It seems to tie the new Dairy Bar and the people back to its history.”

The university is also sharing history by displaying the original Dairy Building signs on the east side of the new building, Larry Ferguson said.

“The signs bring back some of the heritage of the Dairy Building,” he said.

“It’s a shame the building wasn’t saved, but the signs bring back some of the history. Oklahoma State is a land-grant university, and that history of our development of programs that supported land-grant activities is important.”

Although some alumni may not remember the original Dairy Bar, Hasenbeck said, the popularity and long lines with the new Dairy Bar are reminiscent of the old days.

The famous cinnamon rolls, the ice cream and the memories struck a chord with alumni, but now the new generation of OSU students can enjoy the same items, while making new memories and new traditions at Larry and Kay’s Dairy Bar.

Prices ranged from 5 cents for chocolate milk to $3.99 for lunch specials.

1995

The menu included items such as biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, hot dogs, and Frito chili pie.

2000

2005

The original Dairy Bar closed when the Dairy Building was torn down.

LEAH KELLY HENDRIX, OKLAHOMA

Larry & Kay’s Dairy Bar opened Aug. 19 in the new Agricultural Hall.

2024

COWBOY JOURNAL 23

Opportunity Roots of

W

ONE MAN’S LEGACY HELPS FUEL ADVANCEMENTS IN AGRONOMY AT OSU

hen Hartwill “Bill” Pass left the cotton fields of southcentral Oklahoma, he changed the destiny of his family.

Pass grew up in Springer, Oklahoma, and worked in a cotton field for most of his high school career, said Joyce Taylor, his daughter.

“We still haven’t really figured out how he got to Stillwater,” she said.

To honor her father and his role in crop research and genetics in the agronomy program at Oklahoma State University, Taylor became a donor for the genomics lab in the new Agricultural Hall.

Pass used to tell his daughter a story about his high school principal encouraging him to visit Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, she said.

He knew Stillwater and OAMC had better opportunities compared to where he had grown up, Taylor added.

Pass enrolled in Oklahoma A&M in 1937, majoring in agronomy because of his farming background of picking

cotton and raising other crops, his daughter said.

“He figured out how to work and live at one of the barns on the west side of campus,” Taylor said. “Somehow he made it, and somehow he stayed.”

Pass graduated in 1941 with a bachelor’s degree in agronomy, leaving Oklahoma for North Carolina to join the Soil Conservation Service.

However, in the midst of the Pearl Harbor aftermath, he moved to El Paso, Texas, joining the U.S. Army Air Corps as a meteorologist, defending the Biggs Army Airfield during the war, Taylor said.

“My father never ended up overseas, which really changed our family’s destiny,” she said.

When his military service ended, Pass wanted to further his education in agronomy at OSU, focusing on crop genetics, Taylor added.

While back at the university, Pass met Martha Warkentin, who worked at the bursar’s office and distributed the GI Bill checks.

We try to do things for the plant and soil sciences department and for agriculture because the family is indebted to it.

JOYCE TAYLOR 24 WINTER/SPRING 2025

The couple began dating and then married in May 1949, soon after Pass graduated with his master’s degree in agronomy.

They remained in Stillwater, where he worked for the university as a small grains researcher.

Pass worked with corn for a 10- to 15-year term before shifting to wheat.

By the end of his career, he also worked with oats, barley and triticale.

One of Pass’s many responsibilities was to execute plans the professors would create based on their current research projects, Taylor said.

“He worked with research stations all over the state, collecting produce from the fields and taking that data to Dr. Robert Morrison to run statistical analyses,” Taylor said.

The only time Pass would be away from home overnight was during planting and harvesting seasons.

He ensured everything was labeled correctly based on each project, identifying variables, varieties and locations of the crops in specific fields, she said.

“On Saturday mornings, my father would take me downstairs to the basement of the Math Sciences building where he and Dr. Morrison would go through these big printouts full of data and IBM cards,” Taylor said. “That’s how I wound up majoring in statistics in college.”

At home, Pass also experimented with crops in a small plot in the

Joyce Taylor, who serves as an ambassador at The Botanic Garden at OSU, donated to the genomics lab to honor her father, Bill Pass. Photo by Taylor Dowell.

COWBOY JOURNAL 25

Researchers use test tubes to separate wheat specimens in the new genomics lab. Photo

by Phalen Cary.

Hartwill “Bill” Pass works in a wheat field conducting research. Pass was named an OSU Master Agronomist in 1983. Photo courtesy of OSU Archives.

family’s backyard, often discussing his work about crop genetics and planting with his children, Taylor said.

After experiments were over, Pass brought home loaves of bread and other produce from the university to use for family meals, further instilling his passion for crop science into his children, she said.

The many agronomy-related experiences Taylor had while growing up with her father led to her financial contribution to the new genomics lab, she said.

She wanted to give back to the Ferguson College of Agriculture to help improve students’ learning opportunities, she added.

Taylor’s generous donation to the department will allow researchers to continue and expand the variety of research projects, said Chunliu Zhuo, plant and soil sciences research associate and genomics lab manager.

26 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“We try to do things for the plant and soil sciences department and for agriculture because the family is indebted to it,” Taylor said.

Juan Carlos, a first-year doctoral student in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, oversees four research projects related to molecular genetics and the overall genetic improvement of wheat. He is eager for the new research possibilities for wheat breeding programs with a new and larger space, he said.

“Overall, it is better because there are more safety precautions, improved planning, and better distribution of working spaces,” Carlos said.

The previous lab became a tight space for researchers, Carlos said. In the new lab, everyone has individual workspaces to allow researchers to discover more individually, he added.

“My top duty is to assist the productivity index and students here,” Zhuo

said. “This expansion makes it more convenient for us to have all of these things in one building.”

In addition to offering a larger space, the new genomics lab supports advanced crop science with temperature- and humidity-controlled growth chambers, a walk-in cooler, water purifiers, chemical hoods, and other instruments, Carlos said.

“My expectations as a doctoral student are to succeed on my projects, conduct better research, and have better publications,” Carlos said. “With us needing to discover and characterize genes in wheat-breeding programs, we now have a much better facility to help us perform, thanks to our donors.”

The new genomics lab offers students more chances to chase their ambitions and study to improve agriculture, Taylor said.

“My dad would want students to have the opportunity to be curious,” Taylor added.

PHALEN CARY

BIXBY, OKLAHOMA

HIDDEN

Gems LIVING PLANT WALL ADDS SPLASH OF COLOR TO NEW AGRICULTURAL HALL

Nick Ouellette (pointing) directs Angel Casco (left) and Tanner Lam on where to place plants. Photo by Taylor Dowell.

COWBOY JOURNAL 27

T

he sound of laughter rings through the crisp morning air as students meet to discuss a class project.

Vivid colors of orange, pink, yellow and red stand out against the overcast morning atmosphere. Bees buzz gently by on their way to inspect the growing plants and blooming flowers of the new living plant wall, outside the recently opened Agricultural Hall.

The 186-square-foot green space, tucked neatly away on the east side of the building, is truly a hidden gem for those who use the tranquil area, said Nick Ouellette, Oklahoma State University landscape design manager.

“We knew the Dairy Bar plaza was going to be a really special seating area,” Ouellette said. “We also knew it was missing something.”

The design team decided the living plant wall was exactly what the space needed, he added.

The wall is bursting with plant life and is a haven for insects on campus, Ouellette said.

Different grasses, flowers and plants hang from the trays built into the feature to create a living plant wall.

The area provides a splash of color and nature against an otherwise concrete background.

The living plant wall features a unique seasonal plant display that includes a seating area for students to work on homework or eat lunch with their friends.

Adjacent to the seating area are reclaimed building relics from the original Dairy Building built into the new architecture, adding a nostalgic feeling to the newly created space, Ouellette said.

“Our landscape team came up with the living plant wall to be an interactive piece that we want the college to be a part of and where students could

Above: Regan Shepard arranges a potted plant into a plant wall container. Photo by Phalen Cary. Center: Signs from the Dairy Building are being re-purposed at the living plant wall, including the original building marker. Photo by Taylor Dowell. Right: Chloe Meyer inserts a potted plant into a green container. Photo by Taylor Dowell.

28 WINTER/SPRING 2025

help design it, change out the plants and come up with new ideas for it,” Ouellette said. “It has a lot of opportunity for students to engage and is something that can be used for education. It inspires engagement.”

The plant wall was designed inhouse by OSU Landscape Services and landscape architecture interns, Ouellette added.

Nohelia Hernandez, landscape architecture junior, worked closely with Ouellette in the planning and design process, Ouellette said.

The plant wall was built on a rail system with two pillars and a metal frame, Hernandez said.

These rails also serve as a watering system to the green containers that hold smaller black containers with the potted plants.

“It was essential for students to be involved because they are the primary audience who will interact with

and experience the living wall daily,” Hernandez said. “Having student input ensures the design meets their needs and enhances their environment.”

Students also became involved in the project through the funding aspect.

The OSU Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Engineers Without Borders club donated to the project.

Their donations were used to purchase the soil and plants.

The clubs wanted to come together to help make campus a more comfortable place for everyone, said Sam Doerflinger, Engineers Without Borders networking chair.

This project was a great opportunity for the clubs to make a positive impact not only on student life but also the environment and sustainability aspect of campus, he added.

Chloe Meyer, president of the OSU Student Chapter of ASLA, said this

opportunity was exactly what the club members were looking for.

“Sometimes it’s hard to actually see what something is going to look like when you are just working on your computer,” Meyer said. “Seeing the design and then seeing what it looks like in real life is totally different.

“Volunteering was a fun way to get hands-on experience and for students to get exposure on projects like the ones they may be working on in the future,” she added.

Both clubs had volunteers who helped prepare and install the plants.

Meyer and Doerflinger said their club members plan to continue contributing to the care and maintenance of the living plant wall for the foreseeable future.

“One of the main reasons we decided to get involved with this project was because we were looking for opportunities to build on our social

networking,” Doerflinger said. “This project is something for us to do together as a club, but it also allows us to get in touch with others.”

Meyer uses the living plant wall as a place to come and de-stress, she said.

“Everyone needs a little Vitamin D and fresh air,” Meyer said. “When I have been working in the studio for hours looking at a computer, it’s nice to come here and get a change of scenery and connect with nature.”

TAYLOR DOWELL

CANTON, OKLAHOMA

COWBOY JOURNAL 29

Seeds o

PRESERVING THE

COLLECTION MOVES TO NEW FACILITY TO PRESERVE AGRICULTURE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

R

epresenting a space where the past, present and future of agriculture converge, the Oklahoma State University seed and grain archive will continue to make an impact for years to come as it transitions to its new home in Agricultural Hall.

More than a storage facility, the archive serves as home to hundreds of different seeds and grains from all over the world. The samples can be traced back to the 1920s when they were used by the 1923 OSU Crops Judging Team.

“The first OSU Crops Judging Team that competed nationally was in 1923, and they were using some of these samples to prepare,” said Wade Thomason, plant and soil sciences department head and professor. “A hundred years later, and we are still working from those original samples.”

Jack Harlan, former OSU faculty member, significantly expanded the collection in the 1950s, Thomason said. Harlan traveled extensively and brought unique and diverse seed and grain samples back to the archive, Thomason added.

The samples must be kept at a specific temperature and humidity level so the germplasm remains viable and identifiable over time, said Beatrix

30 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Haggard, plant and soil sciences associate professor.

“For research groups, the big benefit of cold- and long-term storage is trying to preserve the integrity of the seed,” Haggard said. “With the new facility, the technology has a better control system to monitor the temperature and moisture at all times.”

Donors such as the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Oklahoma Genetics Inc., and the Oklahoma Wheat Research Foundation wanted to fund a place where researchers and producers could reap the benefits of the resources and research created by the archive, said Mike Schulte, OWC executive director.

“In any research education effort, you need to have the history and facilities to lead students in the right direction of the program,” said Mark Hodges, OGI executive director. “We felt we needed to strongly support what our producers provide their income toward in the best way possible.

The support goes to new infrastructure and better research to develop new varieties.”

The facilities within the university system have needed upgrades for several years, Hodges said. Improvements

were needed for production, testing, and equipment in the labs and classrooms and at the agronomy farm, he added.

“When you look at the new space now available in Agricultural Hall, the future looks nothing but bright,” Schulte said. “Having these premier facilities available will only allow us to make greater strides with our advancements toward variety development.”

The seed and grain archive provides support to the land-grant mission pillars, allowing for resource utilization in teaching, research and extension settings, Thomason said. Some of the main uses of the archive are plant breeding and plant identification processes, he added.

“A plant breeding program needs good germplasm to maintain archives,” said Yanqi Wu, plant and soil sciences Regents professor. “High-quality germplasm will lead to the future.”

More than 1,000 seed and grain samples are available through the archive, Haggard said. The origin of these samples include North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia.

“When you look at the industry of agriculture, it really benefits from

s of History

Various seeds and grains from the archive are used for teaching students. Photo by Jordan Murphy.

COWBOY JOURNAL 31

A professor presents seed and grain samples to agronomy students in Whitehurst Hall in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of Beatrix Haggard.

the efforts of our plant breeders,” Thomason said. “They work every day to make the next genetic improvement.

In most of these cases, it is a very slow incremental process.

“The archive represents the history of that process,” Thomason added.

“We can capitalize on the overall gain in function and yield by continuing to find plants and traits within plants, which allow them to be more adaptive, efficient, and productive.”

Students can get hands-on experience with the archive both in the lab and in the field.

“I was able to identify seeds quicker by being surrounded by them,” said Tori Booker, crop science doctoral student. “The archive gave me an advantage, and I was interested in learning more about the seeds.”

Seeds from the 1900s stay consistent and provide a baseline for 32 WINTER/SPRING 2025

research, Booker said. Even with new genetics, researchers can go back to the seed and see the characteristics from the parent seed, she explained.

“Most seed and grain archives are trying to get a snapshot of as much genetic material as they can accumulate to pull from,” Haggard said. “It’s having a giant library of seeds, and the ability to go in and find that material is very beneficial.”

Students and faculty members have the opportunity to use the archive to discover more about the seeds and grains, Thomason said.

“Essentially what happens with the teaching side of things is the seed and grain archive is just a giant resource of preserved seeds that we can access,” Haggard said. “The archive can open students’ eyes to just how many varieties exist for Oklahoma’s crops, forages or plants.”

OSU’s archive is unique, having seeds and grains other universities likely will not, Thomason said.

“It brings a sense of pride to OSU knowing the history of where our seed comes from and knowing the quality of grain hasn’t diminished since the archive was established,” Booker said.

“It is cool to see the history firsthand and see what OSU has done to preserve the land-grant mission.”

JORDAN MURPHY

SALINA, KANSAS

Destined Distinction for

OSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION HONORS RANCHER AND CONSERVATIONIST

G

rowing up on a ranch in the rough, desert country of Pecos County, Texas, N. Malone Mitchell Jr. was no stranger to the value of hard work.

He credits his parents for instilling strong values and work ethic in him during his childhood.

“Ranching is what I did as a youth, and it is what I always wanted to do,” Mitchell said. “I am still doing it — just ranching — taking care of the livestock and the land.”

At 4 years old, Mitchell began helping around his family’s ranch on horseback. The family raised Polled Hereford cattle, Rambouillet sheep, and Angora and Spanish goats.

The ranch is where his passion for agriculture and sheep began, he said.

When the time came to go to college, Mitchell was inspired to attend Oklahoma State University by two former animal science department heads and livestock judging coaches: Albert “Al” Darlow and Glen Bratcher.

“Dr. Darlow was an outstanding lamb judge,” Mitchell said. “His integrity, honesty and actions convinced me this was the place I needed to be.

“By the same token, Bratcher’s integrity and honesty and what was being taught at OSU and in animal

science are what I wanted when I came here,” he added.

Robert Totusek, another former animal science department head, also influenced Mitchell’s development at OSU, said Malone Mitchell III, oldest child of Mitchell Jr. “I could have gone anywhere I wanted to,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I looked at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, even as far away as Cornell.”

Mitchell Jr. enrolled in animal husbandry courses at OSU in 1957.

His freshman class was the first impacted by the official name change from Oklahoma A&M College to Oklahoma State University.

“Basically, I am an original Cowboy,” Mitchell Jr. said.

During his time in college, Mitchell Jr. took a broad range of courses, including agricultural engineering, business law, botany and swine science.

“I have got over 150 solid hours on my résumé,” he said. “I have 15 hours of chemistry. Why? I don’t know, but I’ve got it.”

All of the basic courses Mitchell Jr. took

N. Malone Mitchell Jr. was recognized as a 2024 OSU Distinguished Alumni recipient.

Photo courtesy of Genesee Photo Systems.

COWBOY JOURNAL 33

contributed to him setting state records for volume of dryland soybean bushels produced per acre and bermudagrass pounds per acre in Oklahoma.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry in 1963.

While at OSU, Mitchell Jr. was involved in Block and Bridle, a national organization promoting animal agriculture, and was vice president of the OSU Flying Aggies, the student organization for aviation.

Mitchell Jr. became interested in flying at 10 years old and obtained his pilot’s license in 1958.

His love for flying led him to meet Roberta “Bobbe” Ellison, his wife of 64 years, he said.

The pair met in the fall of 1959 when Mitchell Jr. was at the Stillwater Regional Airport.

“It was one of those dreary days like you have sometimes in the fall in Oklahoma,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I walked into the airport office, and there was a young lady sitting there doing math on the calculator.”

He looked at the problems upside down and was able to do the math quicker in his head than she could type into the calculator, Mitchell III said.

“That made an impression on her,” Mitchell III said. “I think if you asked him, he would probably say the greatest thing he got from Oklahoma State was my mother.”

The couple dated for nine months before getting married Aug. 25, 1960.

“Without Bobbe’s persistence and guidance, and frankly, doing the work, I would have never graduated college,” Mitchell Jr. said.

Together, the couple has traveled to all 50 states and to six continents.

They have three children: Malone III, Scott and Stacey. They have eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The Mitchell family has produced three generations of proud OSU alumni, Mitchell III said.

N. Malone Mitchell Jr. (right) and wife, Roberta, tour the new Agricultural Hall on Aug. 30.

Photo by Mitchell Alcala.

“We have been through thick and thin, hot and cold, wet and dry,” Mitchell Jr. said. “We have been together a long, long time.”

Mitchell Jr. resides with his wife in Sanderson, Texas, on one of two Mitchell Ranches.

The other ranch is in Durant, Oklahoma, which Mitchell Jr. began purchasing in 1965. The ranch includes eight agricultural operations, and Mitchell Jr. describes it as “the biggest agricultural producer south of I-40 and east of I-35.”

Mitchell Jr.’s interest has always been in tending to the land and trying

to produce a better outcome for all, Mitchell III said.

“Dad is always reading on ways to improve yield or the equipment you are using to increase productivity,” Mitchell III said. “He was always very involved in working animals in a humane and gentle way.”

In addition to being a rancher, Mitchell Jr. has a passion for conservation. He has served on the Rio Grande/Pecos River Soil Conservation Board for 60 years and as a chairman for 45 years. Mitchell Jr. recalled his “famous” personal quote that sums up his idea of agriculture: “Whether you

Whether you call it soil, dirt or whatever ... that’s the beginning of all agriculture.

N. MALONE MITCHELL JR. 34 WINTER/SPRING 2025

N. Malone Mitchell Jr. (left) talks with Brian Arnall, plant and soil sciences professor, while touring the N. Malone Mitchell Jr. Soils Lab in Agricultural Hall. Photo by Mitchell Alcala.

call it soil, dirt or whatever … that’s the beginning of all agriculture.”

His involvement with the board inspired him to donate to the New Frontiers campaign to fund a new soil research laboratory.

“If you haven’t been by there, or it is not in your field, I encourage you to stop by there,” Mitchell Jr. said.

The lab is not Mitchell Jr.’s first contribution to the Ferguson College of Agriculture.

In 2021, he established the N. Malone and Roberta Mitchell Jr. Family Endowed Scholarship for animal science students employed at the OSU Sheep and Goat Center who plan to return to a commercial operation after graduation.

“It’s the love of sheep and the respect for people who take care of them that enticed me to fund a scholarship

in the sheep and goat division,” Mitchell Jr. said.

Regan Smithwick, animal science junior, received the Mitchell’s scholarship for 2024-2025.

Smithwick met and bonded with Mitchell Jr. over their shared passion for agriculture and the sheep industry and growing up in small Texas towns, she said.

“He is an agriculturalist to the highest degree in the way that he cares for God’s creations, whether it be the land, livestock or people,” Smithwick said.

In the fall, Mitchell Jr. was honored as a 2024 Alumni of Distinction by the OSU Alumni Association.

He was looking at buying some steers when he received a telephone call from OSU President Kayse Shrum, he said. He shared the story during the award presentation Aug. 30, 2024.

“She told me I had been selected for this very prestigious award,” Mitchell Jr. said. “She told me I needed to be here tonight. And I said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ But, I’m here.”

Mitchell Jr. expressed deep gratitude for being selected as a 2024 distinguished alumnus.

“The only way I know how, from the bottom of my heart, is to say, ‘Thank you, and may God bless,’” he said.

AMANDA HURST

EL RENO, OKLAHOMA

COWBOY JOURNAL 35

Above: Klayton Dunn uses a study room whiteboard to prepare for a Poultry Science exam. Center: Keegan Carerra (left) and Cheyenne Fox discuss an upcoming exam. Right: Hunter Haxton (left) and Amanda Hurst complete assignments in the Agricultural Hall atrium. Photos by Haley Dinterman.

A

REDEFINING

s you walk through Agricultural Hall during the day, the buzz of students collaborating, studying, and hanging out with their friends floats from the new designated student areas.

When designing Agricultural Hall, the Studio Architecture team focused on creating functional spaces, said Cynda Clary, associate dean for the Ferguson College of Agriculture.

To achieve this goal, representatives visited the original Agricultural Hall, now named Legacy Hall, during high traffic times, such as class changes, and spoke with a variety of people to understand the building’s limitations, Clary said.

“The team of architects listened to how people used the space,” Clary said.

“Then, they presented some alternatives for how we could have the space people really needed, and that included the students.”

36 WINTER/SPRING 2025

One main concern in the previous building was the few spaces available for students to study, collaborate, or sit between classes, Clary said.

“There were some study spaces, and some of the departments had common spaces,” Clary said, “but as you walked through the building, particularly as students were waiting for class, there would be students sitting on the floor trying to study before they went into an exam.

“There just wasn’t a good space for studying,” she added.

Some students told the architects they did not have a place to go between classes, Clary said.

Many opted to go to other buildings on campus during their free time to study, sit between classes, or meet for group projects, Clary added.

“Before, I always went to the library,” said Lauren Coker, environmental science junior. “The main study

areas were just the Student Success Center and the empty classrooms.”

Learning and teaching have changed since Legacy Hall was built, Clary said.

“Most of the older buildings on campus weren’t designed for a lot of collaborative learning,” Clary said.

“Things were more individually focused with a lot of individual offices and individual classrooms. Things have changed a lot in terms of how we engage with students.”

Classes incorporate more group projects and collaborative learning, which is similar to what students will experience after they graduate and enter work settings, Clary said.

“We are a college that is very much built on relationships with our state, other land-grant institutions, constituent groups, commodity groups, our alums, and our students, faculty and staff,” Clary said. “Not having a structural environment that really helps

G SPACES support that building of relationships can really be a challenge.”

The new building offers multiple spaces available for students to use, including the first- and second-floor atrium, 19 huddle rooms, and 10 club and study rooms.

“There are different spaces in many different sizes that students can reserve,” Clary said. “The huddle rooms are open when the building is open.”

The larger club and study rooms are available for students and clubs to use throughout the building for bigger groups. Clubs also can reserve classrooms in the evenings, Clary said.

Some students take advantage of these spaces from early in the morning to well into the evening, Clary said.

“The space has been very beneficial,” said Tinley Sitton, agribusiness senior. “I am on the agricultural economics quiz bowl team, and one of the subsets of the quiz bowl is case

COLLABORATIVE SPACES ENHANCE LEARNING AND FOSTER CONNECTIONS

studies. Last year, we had a really hard time finding a good spot to sit down and work things out for the case studies. It was nice this semester that we were able to meet and practice in the new building.”

Sitton is a teaching assistant for the Farm and Agribusiness Management course and the Quantitative Methods in Agricultural Economics course. She uses club and study rooms to have her office hours. The spaces have been beneficial to be able to work with students who may need extra help outside of class, Sitton said.

Some students now find themselves in the new areas during the day, instead of walking across campus to other buildings, Coker said.

“I have multiple labs and classes in this building,” Coker said. “It’s convenient to be able to go to class, come to the atrium to study, and then my next class is just down the hall. I don’t have

to walk across campus just to turn around and come back.”

The new spaces are often full of students in all corners — studying, collaborating and hanging out in between classes as they use all the areas designed with them in mind.

“If you have a place where you can come in and eat your lunch, wait in between classes, have a chance to visit, meet somebody new, or talk to a faculty member, it feels a lot more like your home,” Clary said.

HALEY DINTERMAN

WOODSBORO, MARYLAND

COWBOY JOURNAL 37

TEACHING THE TEACHERS I n southwest Oklahoma on a dryland cotton farm near Mountain View, the Terry family’s legacy began. Brothers Bob, Jay and Phil Terry, grew up in production agriculture and joined FFA in high school.

“All three brothers served as chapter presidents of Mountain View FFA,” said Rob Terry, Rodger Howell Memorial Professor of Agricultural Education and son of Bob Terry. “My father decided very early he was going to be an agriculture teacher.”

Their agricultural roots helped draw all three to Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Being forever loyal and true, the brothers all attended Oklahoma State University, Rob Terry said.

Jay Terry earned an animal science bachelor’s degree in 1963, and Phil Terry completed a mechanical engineering bachelor’s degree in 1970. Bob Terry, the oldest brother, earned two degrees in agricultural education: a bachelor’s degree in 1959 and a master’s degree in 1962.

“The Terry family holds 16 OSU degrees,” Phil Terry said.

38 WINTER/SPRING 2025

After graduating from OSU in 1959, Bob Terry spent four years as a vocational agriculture teacher for the Perry and Sumner FFA programs in central Oklahoma.

“He spent half the day teaching in Perry and the other half of the day teaching in Sumner,” Phil Terry said.

“He then spent four years as the vocational agriculture teacher in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.”

After establishing success within these programs, Bob Terry accepted a graduate fellowship from John Deere at The Ohio State University in 1967.

He earned his doctoral degree in agricultural education in 1969 and joined the Oklahoma State University faculty as an assistant professor of agricultural education.

“From my earliest memories, Bob just wanted to teach,” Phil Terry said.

“In my evaluation of those around him and the results he produced, he was very good at it.”

Passionate and dedicated to teaching future agricultural educators, Bob Terry advanced to the professor

rank, serving as the head of the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership for 20 years before he retired in 2002, Phil Terry added.

“Bob was one of those people who could do just about anything,” Phil Terry said. “He could have done a number of things, like working for John Deere, with his agricultural mechanics knowledge and how he conceptualized projects, but he wanted to teach.”

Understanding the importance of agricultural education and dedicated to honoring the Terry family legacy, Phil Terry and his wife, Ruth, donated funds to the new Agricultural Hall.

“Bob meant so much to us and to our family,” Phil Terry said. “He was not only a big brother. He was a father-figure who was always there for me.”

The couple wanted to honor Bob Terry’s legacy at OSU in a way that would be a testament to his dedication to teaching, Phil Terry said.

Through their generosity, the couple helped fund the Bob Terry CASE Teaching Lab.

TWO GENERATIONS DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION “Bob was always quiet about his accomplishments and just did what needed to get done,” Phil Terry said.

“Ruth and I felt Bob needed to be honored, and we could think of nothing better than putting his name on the department’s CASE teaching lab.

“Bob not only impacted his students and future agricultural educators, but also he shared his love for teaching agricultural education with his son, Rob,” Phil Terry said.

Rob Terry’s fondest childhood memories were riding alongside his dad in the truck going on FFA project visits, he said. In high school, Rob Terry enrolled in vocational agriculture and joined the Stillwater FFA chapter. Rob Terry quickly learned he was going to follow in his father’s footsteps, he said.

“On the front cover of my FFA record book my freshman year of high school, I put ‘rancher’ as my career objective because that is what everyone else put,” Rob Terry said. “On my sophomore year record book, I wrote ‘vocational agriculture teacher’ as my

Left: Rob Terry (left) and Bob Terry (right) help recognize Hunter Starr as the family’s scholarship recipient in 2018. Photo by Todd Johnson. Right: During the Agricultural Hall dedication, Phil Terry (center) visits with OSU President Kayse Shrum (left) and Heidi Williams, senior associate vice president of principal gifts for the OSU Foundation. Photo by Mitchell Alcala. Bottom: Both Rob and Bob Terry served as agricultural education department heads.

Photo by Maddy Nissen.

COWBOY JOURNAL 39

ENHANCING EDUCATION

Chris Eck (center) assists students Katelyn Kuykendall (left) and Quetta Woodall in AGED 4113: Inquiry-based Instruction in Agricultural Education in the Bob Terry CASE Teaching Lab. Photo

by Maddy Nissen.

career objective and decided from that point on I wanted to teach agriculture.”

Rob Terry continued the family legacy by attending OSU, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural education in 1984.

He began his teaching career at Owasso High School while also pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural education from OSU. After earning a master’s degree in 1988, Rob Terry continued his personal educational journey by attending Texas A&M University, completing his doctorate in 1990.

During the past 40 years, Rob Terry has taught at California Polytechnic State University, Texas Tech University, TAMU, the University of Missouri and OSU. “Opportunities and the fact we love OSU are what brought my wife, Anne, and I back to Stillwater,” Rob Terry said. “My wife is also an OSU alumnus.

Stillwater has just become home to us.

This is where we are supposed to be.”

Rob Terry returned to the OSU Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership in 2010 to serve as department head like his father.

40 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“Agricultural education is our family business,” Rob Terry said. “My sister, Valeri, spent much of her career as an OSU Extension educator. My dad was on faculty during the time of the bread-breaking in the old Agricultural Hall, now known as Legacy Hall, and I am on faculty during the bread-breaking of the new Agricultural Hall.”

After serving as the department head for 14 years, Rob Terry returned to faculty in June 2024.

“I got into education because I love teaching,” Rob Terry said. “I have a true passion for teaching, and this gives me a chance to do that and work more closely with students.”

Rob Terry’s position is 75% teaching and 25% research. His research is focused on improving the preparation of future agricultural educators.

“Dr. Rob Terry is passionate about his subject matter, and you can really tell how much he cares about his students,” said Handley Everman, agricultural education senior. “He was the professor who made me want to continue to teach and inspired me to be an educator.”

Rob Terry teaches four classes in the department.

Agricultural education students take classes in the Bob Terry CASE Teaching Lab to develop their knowledge and skills in the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education, or CASE, program.

CASE focuses on four core values: purposeful curriculum, student-centered learning, fostering connection and growth, and teacher training.

The lab is equipped with supplies and materials for an ideal classroom environment, said Chris Eck, assistant professor of agricultural education.

“The CASE Teaching Lab offers a more hands-on learning experience in science, technology, engineering and math to help shape the next generation of agricultural educators,” Eck said.

“I really love the creative process of teaching and the opportunity to find a way to make it interesting,” Rob Terry said. “I really enjoy being a teacher of teachers and getting to work with people who are going to commit their lives to teaching about agriculture.”

Rob Terry hopes students leave OSU with a passion for making a difference, he said.

“The cool thing about agricultural education is you can combine the love of agriculture and working with people,” Rob Terry said. “You have the opportunity to change lives and engage with agricultural and natural resource systems.”

MADDY NISSEN

WILLOWS, CALIFORNIA

Each day, Ferguson College of Agriculture students visit the Lynn & Jeff Hilst Center for Student Success. Photo by Bailey White.

Where Success Grows

F

HILST FAMILY DONATES TO CENTER FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

erguson College of Agriculture students now have an ideal space in Agricultural Hall tailored to their needs.

Thanks to the financial support of Lynn and Jeff Hilst, students have a designated space to connect, study, seek assistance, and engage in a variety of activities, said Chesley Comstock, prospective student coordinator for the Ferguson College of Agriculture.

The Lynn and Jeff Hilst Center for Student Success includes several features designed to support students throughout their college experience.

The new space features an open, expansive design, creating a warm and welcoming environment for students, Comstock added.

“Students walk by the glass walls of this space and can see themselves here,” Comstock said.

Inside the center, students can access new Mac or PC computers for homework or printing and more than 50 comfortable chairs and tables designed for study and collaboration, Comstock said.

“It has been such a joy watching students mingle and fill this space,” Comstock said.

Since the center’s opening, students have embraced the space, bringing it to life, Comstock added.

“The increase of space in the area is a great benefit for all students,” said Bruce Trammell, agricultural leadership senior. “I enjoy going in and sitting down while completing assignments and being able to visit with students from all across the college.”

Among the various groups using the center, the Career Liaisons have particularly benefited from the space,

said Emmery Sides, Career Liaison vice president and animal science and agribusiness senior.

With its open design and accessible resources, these student leaders have found the center to be an ideal environment for hosting meetings and fostering professional development opportunities, Sides said.

“With the new center, we get a lot more traffic because people want to come in and see what is available,” Sides added.

For student organizations, the center offers a flexible space to host small gatherings and meetings.

The center houses eight full-time employees and six graduate students who support the college’s student career development efforts, alumni and employer relations, study abroad, Freshmen in Transition Living COWBOY JOURNAL 41

Lynn Hilst (second from left) and Jeff Hilst (second from right) join Tom Coon (left), emeritus OSU Agriculture vice president and dean, and Jayson Lusk, OSU Agriculture vice president and dean, to open the new Hilst Center for Student Success. Photo by Mia Reinert.

Learning Program, prospective student services, and the Oklahoma State University rodeo program.

The center also serves as a valuable resource for the Ferguson College of Agriculture Ambassadors, who use the space for recruitment efforts, Comstock said.

“We really focus on recruiting prospective students to the college,” said Kennedy Seals, biochemistry and molecular biology junior and Ferguson College of Agriculture Ambassador.

“Each week, prospective students come into the student success center conference room to meet with us.”

Another program that has benefited from the space is Study and Snacks, which provides students with snacks and a comfortable study space Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The atmosphere and expanded resources have made the center a go-to location for students to recharge and focus, said Danielle Bellmer, assistant dean of academic programs for the Ferguson College of Agriculture.

42 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“Thanks to the new space, Study and Snacks is an on-going program that can now expand,” Bellmer said.

“There is so much more room for students to spread out and get help on their various classes.”

Since its opening in August, the Hilst Center for Student Success has become a popular hub for students, Bellmer said.

During Study and Snacks, multiple students can receive help on the same subject at the same time, she added.

This strong turnout is a great example of the center’s immediate impact in fostering academic support and student engagement, Bellmer said.

The Hilsts’ donation played a significant role in developing the center into its current form, Bellmer said.

Their support has provided college’s students with a versatile space designed to meet their needs for years to come, Bellmer added.

“We have always wanted to support OSU,” Lynn Hilst said. “The center is full all of the time, so it’s great that people are utilizing it.”

The Hilst family’s contribution has supported the foundation for growth within the Ferguson College of Agriculture, Bellmer said.

“This is exactly what the Ferguson Family is all about — making sure students have what they need,” Comstock said. “We as a college are working to provide that for them.”

Looking ahead, the Lynn and Jeff Hilst Center for Student Success is expected to continue supporting students and contributing to their college experience, providing resources for those pursuing careers in the agricultural industry, Comstock added.

BAILEY WHITE

CHICKASHA, OKLAHOMA

ENSURING ACCESSIBILITY O klahoma State University’s new Agricultural Hall is not just meeting accessibility standards — it’s exceeding them.

The building, which became operational in Fall 2024, includes wide corridors, gentle access ramps and spacious classrooms.

These features offer a thoughtfully crafted space to support a wide range of needs, from physical mobility to mental well-being, said Jana Phillips, university architect.

University officials and other skilled individuals designed Agricultural Hall “beyond the minimum” in anticipation of future Americans with Disabilities Act standards, Phillips said.

The building includes expanded pathways and larger turning areas to

accommodate a variety of mobility devices, such as motorized wheelchairs and scooters.

Other features include two elevators on each end of the building, accessible huddle spaces and ergonomic furniture suited for varied body types and needs, she said.

In addition to these physical inclusions, OSU’s approach to accessibility also has incorporated spaces to support mental well-being, said Cynda Clary, Ferguson College of Agriculture associate dean of academic programs.

Quiet study areas and acoustic paneling are designed to minimize noise and support concentration, Phillips said. OSU has embraced accessibility as a university mission, impacting both renovations and new buildings, Phillips added.

Agricultural Hall is intended as a model for other buildings and institutions, Clary said. The building’s role is to demonstrate how proactive, inclusive design can create ADA-compliant spaces as well as benefit all students, staff and faculty, she added.

“With this comprehensive approach, Agricultural Hall shows how accessible education starts with accessible spaces,” Clary said.

KAIT GODWIN

KIEFER, OKLAHOMA

OTHER FEATURES • Accessible Service Counters Multi-height counters permit access for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility.

• Recessed Monitors Wall-mounted monitors feature specialty-built boxes to reduce walkway obstructions.

• Gentle Ramps Subtle, slope-adjusted ramps allow smooth navigation.

• Adjustable Faculty Stations Height-adjustable lecterns and stools provide comfort.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OSU Student Accessibility Services provides assistive technology and tools to students, regardless of ability. They partner with Oklahoma ABLE Tech to provide information and resources to the campus and across Oklahoma.

For additional information regarding accommodations, accessible technology, and support for diverse learning and mobility needs at OSU, visit accessibility.okstate.edu.

To learn more about the New Frontiers campaign and read about other features of Agricultural Hall, visit OSU Agriculture’s New Frontiers page at agdivision.okstate.edu/new-frontiers/.

19%

OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HAVE ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS. COWBOY JOURNAL 43

Beth (left) and Doug Jackson visit the Major Conference Room in Agricultural Hall they funded to honor her father and her uncle. Photo by Kathryn Coleman.

44 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Investing in the I

FUTURE

JACKSON FAMILY DONATES TOWARD STUDENT AND STAFF SUCCESS

n a world where generosity often speaks louder than words, Doug and Beth Jackson have made a lasting impact with their donation for the new Agricultural Hall.

Growing up on a wheat, cotton, alfalfa and cattle farm in southwest Oklahoma made Oklahoma State University an easy choice, Doug Jackson said.

“Both my father and sister attended the university,” said Doug Jackson, 1973 OSU agricultural economics graduate and attorney for Gungoll, Jackson, Box & Devoll P.C. “OSU was the natural choice, and for me, it was the only choice.”

His decision was rooted not only in family traditions but also in the deep connection to the values of the university, Doug Jackson said. He began his college journey without a car and without any money but was determined to succeed, he added.

“I received a Regents’ and President’s Distinguished Scholarship as well as two additional academic scholarships throughout my time at OSU,” Doug Jackson said. “Beth and I have been blessed financially, and we felt like we needed to share with the place we love.”

The couple began their journey together in 1987, sparked by a

bachelor auction organized by the Enid Chamber of Commerce.

“People asked if I bought him in the auction, but I could not afford him at the time,” Beth Jackson said.

The Jacksons married in March 1988 and have five children, four of whom attended OSU. “The love for the university has a lot to do with the Jackson family,” Beth Jackson said. “There are so many connections that our family has had through the university.”

The Jacksons have consistently demonstrated their commitment to OSU through various donations, including two scholarships focused on providing financial support based on need, Doug Jackson said.

Beth and I have been blessed financially, and we felt like we needed to share with the place we love.

DOUG JACKSON

“Our Leonard Hunter Scholarship and Alpha Gamma Rho Scholarship are based on need,” Beth Jackson said.

The Jackson’s decision to give back stems from a deep appreciation for the opportunities OSU has afforded them and their family, said Heidi Williams, senior associate vice president of principal gifts for the OSU Foundation.

When the opportunity arose to contribute again, they seized the moment, eager to make a difference and support the next generation of students in the form of a conference room within the new Agricultural Hall, Williams added.

“They definitely bleed orange,” Williams said. “They are very passionate about OSU, and it shows.”

For the Jacksons, OSU was a place they wanted to send their children, Williams added.

They have treated OSU like a member of their family with how much they are involved within the university, Williams said.

“They give so much nurture and care to OSU,” Williams said. “They have such a desire to see the university be successful, and they have such a heart to give back to something that means a lot to them.”

The Jacksons’ character can be seen through every interaction, Williams said, who worked closely with Doug COWBOY JOURNAL 45

Doug (left) and Beth Jackson share a love for OSU and passed that love on to their children. Photo by Emily Chavers.

and Beth Jackson through their giving to OSU. With interest in the building campaign, Doug Jackson was sold on the idea of the conference room being near the agricultural economics department and a room everyone could use and enjoy, Williams said.

“The Major Conference Room is named after Beth’s father, Dr. Phillip Major, and her uncle, Dr. Larry Major,” Doug Jackson said. “Both men

graduated from the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine program, and we wanted to do something that would honor them.”

Situated near the agricultural economics department, the conference room is strategically located in the northeast corner of the second floor of Agricultural Hall. This versatile space with an amazing view of Boone Pickens Stadium is designed to

accommodate a wide range of group meetings and collaborative activities, welcoming individuals from all disciplines, Williams said.

The Jacksons hope this conference room serves as a place for engagement, encouraging diverse groups to convene and make the most of their time at the university, both within the academic environment and beyond, Doug Jackson said.

They have such a desire to see the university be successful, and they have such a heart to give back.

HEIDI WILLIAMS 46 WINTER/SPRING 2025

EMILY CHAVERS FAIRFIELD, TEXAS

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48 WINTER/SPRING 2025

CAREER

LIAISONS GUIDE STUDENTS THROUGH THEIR CAREER JOURNEYS

CONNECTIONS P

A résumé and padfolio are recommended items to bring to interviews and career fairs.

Photo by Abby Helbach.

olishing a résumé and cover letter to land that dream job can be a daunting task for students.

However, inside the Lynn and Jeff Hilst Center for Student Success, also known as “the Fishbowl,” students can find a Career Liaison ready to help them tackle their application materials and achieve their career goals.

The Ferguson College of Agriculture Career Liaisons are a select team of 24 students trained to help their peers with anything career-related. They are part of a bigger leadership team called the Student Success Leaders and are based in the academic programs office.

“A Student Success Leader is someone who volunteers his or her time,” said Herb Lengel, employer and alumni relations coordinator for the Ferguson College of Agriculture and co-adviser for the Career Liaisons. “They have the heart for giving back to other students and to uplift the Ferguson Family.”

Four teams make up the Ferguson College of Agriculture Student Success Leaders: Ambassadors, Multicultural Program Leaders, Freshmen in Transition Student Academic Mentors and Career Liaisons.

“Being part of the Student Success Leaders team is an honor,” said Lily Gisclair, graduate teaching assistant for academic programs in the Ferguson College of Agriculture and former Career Liaison.

What sets the Career Liaisons apart is they directly serve current students every day in the Student Success Center and help ensure they are career-ready, she said.

“Career Liaisons are trained to help review résumés, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles,” Lengel said. “They also conduct mock interviews.”

Every weekday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Career Liaisons have office hours for any Ferguson College students who may need career-related advice or document reviews. During these hours, Career Liaisons also check any documents that come in electronically, Lengel said.

In addition, the Career Liaisons’ responsibilities include assisting at Career Services events throughout the year, Gisclair said.

Career Services hosts multiple targeted events to encourage networking and help students prepare for the career fair, Gisclair added.

Career Liaisons volunteer for at least three of these events, said Chelsea Arnold, director of student development for the Ferguson College of Agriculture and co-adviser for the Career Liaisons.

“One of our big events is the Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Career Fair, and Career Liaisons have a big role in that event,” Gisclair said. “They help students COWBOY JOURNAL 49

Jared Stone (left), Career Liaison, reviews a résumé for Allison McCray during office hours. Photo by Abby Helbach.

check in, escort industry partners to their booths, and ensure students are equipped with the resources needed to go into the career fair.”

Being a Career Liaison requires ongoing, specialized training, she said.

When classes start in the fall, all Student Success Leaders complete a two-day training, Lengel said.

“The first day consists of leadership training and how to work as a team,” Gisclair said. “On the second day, Career Liaisons spend about three hours on résumé training.”

Throughout the semester, the team meets once a week and learns a new topic related to professional preparedness, Arnold added.

Being a Career Liaison requires special skills and a unique personality, Arnold said.

The ideal Career Liaison is personable, detail-oriented and has a love for career preparation, Arnold said.

In addition, Career Liaisons should be willing to learn and be able to think critically, Gisclair said.

50 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“We want to offer a friendly place for students,” Gisclair said. “We need students who can offer kind feedback and help people of all personalities.”

The Career Liaisons also play a role in helping fellow students develop the attributes of an Oklahoma State University “Ideal Graduate.”

“The Ideal Graduate is an initiative developed through the university’s ‘We Are Land-Grant’ strategy that includes four developmental competencies,” said Taylor Harbuck, assistant director of student experience for OSU Career Services.

Those four competencies include professional preparedness, personal responsibility, ethical leadership and engaged citizenship, Harbuck said.

Students need these essential skills to go into the workforce and be ready to step into their careers, he said.

“One of the best ways to teach students about the importance of developing these competencies is through one-on-one conversations and examples,” Harbuck said.

Career Liaisons provide support to students through peer-to-peer mentoring about professional development and career readiness topics, he said. Through these conversations, the Career Liaisons are guiding students through the four competencies, Harbuck added.

“The Career Liaisons bring a helpful resource to the Ferguson College of Agriculture,” Arnold said. “They also bring a constant presence of service for students.

“They’re always there to help,” she said. “It helps create that sense of family in the Lynn and Jeff Hilst Center for Student Success.”

ABBY HELBACH

AMHERST, WISCONSIN

2024 OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

FALL SEMESTER AWARDS

OSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SENIORS OF SIGNIFICANCE Audrey Bishop Van Alstyne, Texas

Taylor McGill Tuttle, Oklahoma

Karstyn Cantrell Collinsville, Oklahoma

Blake Robbins Pauls Valley, Oklahoma

Carson Capps Ada, Oklahoma

Paige Roberts Garner, Iowa

Katie Dillon Louisburg, Kansas

Brianna Stockwell Dowagiac, Michigan

Payton Irick Seminole, Oklahoma

Elizabeth Struble Owasso, Oklahoma

James Lee Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

OSU Top 20 Freshmen Men and Women

*Alec Anderson — Ringwood, Oklahoma *Reese Bassano — Pattonville, Texas Jacey Bordwine — Dibble, Oklahoma *Weston Brooks — Nome, Texas *Stinson Burns — Fort Worth, Texas Maddie Dollarhide — The Dalles, Oregon *Morley Griffith — Shawnee, Oklahoma *Hunter Haslem — Durham, California Addyson Hoffman — Weatherford, Oklahoma *Zach Mefford — Hollis, Oklahoma *Peter Nguyen — Coalgate, Oklahoma Jack Pipkin — Spearman, Texas *Luke Sanders — College Station, Texas *Jake Schreiner — Frederick, Oklahoma Konner Shebester — Alex, Oklahoma *Jacie Wolfinger — Lexington, Nebraska Emma Youngblood — Walters, Oklahoma Lexie Zuniga — Fairview, Oklahoma *Top 10 Freshmen Men and Women

FERGUSON COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AWARDS Charles & Magda Browning Outstanding Freshman Award Luke Sanders

Freshman Excellence Award Winners Bailey Boyd, Gabby Clark, Sydnee Sisneros, Makenna Garrett, Robert Sierra

Fall 2024 Orange Gown Recipient Karstyn Cantrell

Outstanding Transfer Student Ryan Patton

Transfer Excellence Award Winners Ashlyn O’Brien, Brianna Stockwell

Oklahoma’s largest monthly subscription-based publication.

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story here.

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COWBOY JOURNAL 51

INNOVATIVE VISIONS. T

1

5 52 WINTER/SPRING 2025

6

TIMELESS TRADITIONS. 2024 HOMECOMING WEEK CELEBRATIONS

2 3

4

8

7

1. Kennedy Weedon (left), Will Trachte, Justin Stark, Kaden Slater, Brayden Smith, Shae Greidanus, Cooper Gommel, Carrington Coker and Hailey Brunner dye the Edmon Low fountain orange. 2. Reese Whitaker (left) and Jordan Bilger participate in Hester Street Painting. 3. Bekah Harmon (left), Sam Buie and Kylar King assembled the Beekeeping Club sign. 4. Grace Adams (left), Amanda Hurst, Kaci Bedford and Lily Argumaniz smile as they serve at the Homecoming Chili Cookoff. 5. Jacie Wolfinger (left), Reese Bassano and Riley Gilreath host an interactive game at Harvest Carnival. 6. Quirt Carroll chases down a calf during the Cowboy Stampede. 7. Clancey Krahn (left) assists her sorority sisters in pomping. 8. Gunnar Aune (left) and Lexie Evers are crowned 2024 Homecoming King and Queen.

Photos by Delia Crawford, Taylor Dowell, Leah Kelly, Ellie Piper of OSU Brand Management, Quincy Thuener, Ainsley Treesh and Sydney Van Pelt.

COWBOY JOURNAL 53

What’s Hopping

Seven varieties of hops were harvested in 2024 from the Cimarron Valley Research Station in Perkins, Oklahoma. Photo by MaKayla Craig.

54 WINTER/SPRING 2025

in Oklahoma ?

DOCTORAL STUDENT COMBINES PASSION FOR CRAFT BEVERAGES WITH HOPS RESEARCH

W

ith little knowledge of the agricultural industry, Katie Stenmark moved from a small town in North Carolina to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Now, she is opening doors by researching hops as an emerging crop.

“It was my senior year of high school when I saw a plant diagram for the first time,” said Stenmark, thirdyear crop science doctoral student.

Stenmark pursued an undergraduate degree at Oklahoma State University in horticulture with a minor in pest management. Working with wine grapes at the Cimarron Valley Research Station in Perkins, Oklahoma, during her undergraduate studies gave her a glimpse into the world of trellised crops and sparked her interest in research, she said.

“During my master’s degree at OSU, we were working with eastern red cedar, and that’s when I moved into the lab area and learned how to work around the lab and to use different types of equipment,” Stenmark said.

Although hops are not typically grown in Oklahoma, these experiences

laid the groundwork for conducting research about growing hops in Oklahoma, Stenmark said. Stenmark combined a passion for lab work and the agricultural side of craft brewing when she decided to pursue a doctorate, she said.

“Katie has an interest in craft beer and hops, which is a great tie-in for her,” said Niels Maness, horticulture and landscape architecture professor.

“It’s not often you get a project the person has that natural connection to.”

Humulus lupulus, or hops, are part of the Cannabaceae family. They grow differently than many other crops, Maness said. Using a trellis system, the plants create a canopy on the top of the structure, he added.

“About 98% of commercial production of hops is in Washington, Idaho and Oregon,” said Charles Fontanier, associate professor of horticulture and landscape architecture. “Growing hops in Oklahoma would not be a logical first choice.”

To further understand what types of hops Oklahoma brewers prefer, surveys were conducted before hops

were planted. This gives researchers a better understanding of the quantity of hops they use and if they would be interested in purchasing locally sourced hops, Stenmark said.

Based on the survey answers, nine hop varieties stood out for what Oklahoma brewers would prefer. Each of the varieties has a unique flavor profile, said Fontanier, who is Stenmark’s academic adviser. When one variety died, the researchers replaced it with a different variety.

“The local initiative has gotten intertwined into any kind of agricultural product,” Stenmark said. “We got some answers from local brewers that helped us decide on what kind of plants we should purchase because we were starting from ground zero here — from no plants into having a hop yard.”

The hop yard is located at the Cimarron Valley Research Station.

With any crop being planted, researchers look at all the essential things: how the crop will grow in Oklahoma, what is the expected yield, and what quality can be produced, Stenmark said.

COWBOY JOURNAL 55

Katie Stenmark analyzes hop-quality data in the plant and soil sciences lab. Photo by MaKayla Craig.

Katie Stenmark holds a cross section of a freshly harvested hop. Photo by Katie Stenmark.

56 WINTER/SPRING 2025

As the hops are harvested, the quality is tested, and at this point, the brewing industry and research become intertwined, Stenmark said.

The acids and oils in hops give brewed beverages their unique flavor and aroma, she added.

“We are looking for what makes a beverage bitter, or the alpha and beta acids,” Maness said. “We measure this by HPLC. An HPLC analysis is high-performance liquid chromatography, which is separating and identifying liquid samples.”

Researchers are testing the quality of the hops, Stenmark said. As part of her dissertation, Stenmark plans to work with the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center to conduct sensory analysis on Oklahoma hops, she added.

A sensory analysis is a way to understand how the different hops taste and smell as well as to understand how the hops can be used in brewing, Stenmark said.

Another step is developing a hop flavor wheel, which will help brewers

understand if Oklahoma-grown hops have a unique taste and aroma, which could be from varying environmental factors, she added.

“We can grow the same types of hops another region grows, and it is going to produce different sensory attributes,” Stenmark said.

Conducting trials in Oklahoma has the potential to help not only Oklahoma agriculture but also hop producers throughout the country, Fontanier said.

“As we look at areas like the Pacific Northwest, they’re being impacted by climate change and population growth,” Fontanier said. “They’re also getting hit with temperatures and droughts they historically didn’t have.

“However, we are trying to improve the genetics of these plants in the future,” he added.

Having the ability to have drought-tolerant crops is important in Oklahoma, Stenmark said, which is true for hops, as well. Researchers look at the yield potential because

sufficient yields will help justify having hops and promoting the crop to interested Oklahoma-based producers, she added.

The disease resistance aspect of this research also is important, Stenmark said.

Oklahoma’s heat and humidity create a suitable environment for more pests and diseases compared to traditional hop-growing areas in higher altitudes, Stenmark said. Researchers must understand the potential interaction of pests and diseases with these plants, she added.

This project brings the potential for more specialty brews to be made in the state, Maness said. The most notable is wet hopping, he added.

“Wet hopping uses fresh hops added to the beer,” Maness said. “After the boiling process is complete, the wet hops add flavor and a little bit of bittering potential.”

Oklahoma hops are more achievable as wet hops. However, dry hops become more of a commodity with

their life and exporting potential being extended, Fontanier said.

Dried hops can be used for various products: beers, non-alcoholic beers, tea, personal care products and hop water, he added.

“We’re looking at hops as a new crop for Oklahoma,” Maness said, “not just a hobby, but something producers can raise to make a living or subsidize a living with.”

Oklahoma has three of the four ingredients to make craft beer: water, grain and yeast. Hops are the only missing piece of the equation, Stenmark said.

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WHERE

INNOVATION MEETS

OPPORTUNITY OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE FUNDS FAPC PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT UPGRADES

I

n 1997, the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center at Oklahoma State University opened its doors as a first-of-its-kind economic development model.

The 96,000-square-foot facility provides a home to a variety of manufacturing processes, such as food processing, animal harvesting, grain milling, and sensory profiling as well as food demonstration, application, and education laboratories.

During the FAPC’s 27-year history, the mission of cultivating value-added products in Oklahoma has always stayed the same, said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director.

The FAPC’s budget has been tight in the last decade, which has negatively affected equipment, Escoubas added.

Despite challenges in 2020, the FAPC contributed more than $50 million in economic growth and product innovation to the state while operating with dated equipment.

“Some of the equipment on the second floor is old,” Escoubas said.

“Much of it was relocated from the old meat laboratory, and industry gave us parts and pieces. All kinds of things

58 WINTER/SPRING 2025

were placed here, most of which was used, and they’ve been kept in working condition all these years.”

The FAPC’s industry advisory committee recognized the need for new equipment, Escoubas said. The committee, selected by the Oklahoma governor, president pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate, speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and vice president of OSU Agriculture, was created to ensure the FAPC has the means to fulfill its mission and goals, Escoubas added.

The committee members expressed to state legislators the need for new equipment and how without financial support the FAPC is going to be “less effective,” Escoubas said.

“The committee took care of the entire legislative process,” Escoubas added. “I didn’t touch anything. They invited me to go to the Oklahoma Capitol with them, so we spent the day with legislators talking about the needs of the center and what it’s accomplished in the last 25 years.”

On July 1, 2024, the Oklahoma Legislature allocated $6 million for FAPC equipment upgrades and

improvements and $1 million toward its personnel.

“It’s the industry people who made this happen,” said Rodney Holcomb, FAPC assistant director and McLaughlin Family Endowed Chair.

“The ones who serve on our industry advisory committee, the ones who send their employees here for food safety trainings, and those who come here for research and development work are the ones who see the value in this place and see what could be achieved with refurbished facilities.”

Leading the charge for the allocation was the industry advisory committee chairman, Mark Vaughan.

To address the emergence of new markets and opportunities, the FAPC needs new technologies and equipment, said Vaughan, managing partner at Fresh Avenue Partners. From a maintenance and upkeep standpoint, operating and continuing production with 30- to 40-year-old equipment does not meet the needs of the future, he added.

“We’re going to have to improve how we source food in this country,” Vaughan said. “Oklahoma doesn’t have

The FAPC supports more than 1,000 clients and 3,000 projects surrounding food and agricultural businesses. Photo by Mitchell Alcala.

a tremendous amount of infrastructure for some of this production. That’s a key deliverable out of the FAPC — working with other government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and individual farmers and producers about how they can grow and market fresh products produced

We want to give our entrepreneurs and students entering the workforce valid and relevant technology to work with, so they’ll be more impactful.

MARK VAUGHAN

here in Oklahoma. That’s why I’m passionate about the FAPC.” Almost all upgrades are going to be made on the FAPC’s second floor, which includes most of the food processing operations, Escoubas said.

“In the 2020s, you want something that’s modern,” Holcomb said. “What you’re going to see upstairs is what you’re going to see in industry.”

Modernizing technology will do two things — improve production and enhance the teaching and student experience in the FAPC, Vaughan said.

“We want our faculty and students to have up-to-date technology,” Vaughan said. “It’s incumbent upon us to give them the best shot — the most modern technology — so they can optimize production.

“We want to give our entrepreneurs and students entering the workforce valid and relevant technology to work with, so they’ll be more impactful whether they’re selling or marketing a product or working for a company that does so,” Vaughan added. “That’s the reason the FAPC is important, and that’s why this investment needed to be made at this crucial time.”

As equipment is renewed, skills and capabilities improve, which has a direct effect on progression and innovation of the industry, said Bart Conley, senior administrative services manager for the FAPC. The second floor of the FAPC is home to processes for meats, milling, baking, fruits, vegetables and more, Holcomb said. However, his favorite part is the smokehouse, he added.

“I love going up there when the smokehouse is going,” Holcomb said, “and these updates are going to give us a bigger and better smokehouse.

“When we’re smoking meats, smoke comes out of the top of the building, and you can just smell it,” Holcomb added. “That’s how I know it’s going to be a good day.”

LINDI BROOKING

ALTUS, OKLAHOMA

COWBOY JOURNAL 59

Education Extension

Exploring Through

FACULTY MEMBER TRANSFORMS BIOCHEMISTRY INTO FUN AND ACCESSIBLE LESSONS

W

hen Ashley Mattison thought about her future, she knew she wanted to wear orange.

A third-generation Clemson University graduate, the symbolic color brought her from the valleys of Tennessee and South Carolina to the plains of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Now an assistant professor in the Oklahoma State University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mattison has a dual role in teaching and as an OSU Extension specialist.

“My goal for our OSU Extension programming in the biochemistry and molecular biology department is to make science more accessible,” Mattison said.

Mattison’s role allows her to focus on K-12 STEM education and making advanced concepts understandable, she said.

“You can’t learn biochemistry until you know biology and chemistry,” Mattison said. “My hypothesis is we can actually teach our kids that. We just have to find the right words.”

Extension education is a new direction for Mattison, she said, having spent a significant time as an undergraduate researcher.

The summer before her freshman year, Mattison was accepted into Clemson University’s Experiences in 60 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Undergraduate Research Exploration and Knowledge Advancement program, or EUREKA!, a five-week program for honors students.

“They bring incoming freshmen onto campus early, and they get to do research with a faculty member,” Mattison said. “That inspired me to start pursuing the research side of things as opposed to the medical, forward-facing doctors’ side.”

During EUREKA!, Mattison met Kerry Smith, a professor in Clemson’s Department of Genetics and Biochemistry. Mattison asked if she could continue conducting research in his laboratory.

“She just asked, and from there she never left the lab,” Smith said. “She really enjoyed what she was doing.”

In the lab, Mattison collaborated with Smith and his wife, Cheryl Ingram-Smith, who was also one of Mattison’s mentors. The team worked on cloning genes, encoding enzymes, sequencing DNA, and researching pathogenic fungi.

“She’s a very positive person,” said Ingram-Smith, now an associate professor of genetics and biochemistry at Clemson. “She just makes you happy when you’re around her.”

Dedicated to her research, Mattison sought advice from Smith about how to interpret results and the next steps to take, Ingram-Smith said.

Close to 100 students have worked in Smith’s lab, but even 13 years after her graduation, Mattison still stands out among them, Smith said.

After graduating from Clemson in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in genetics, Mattison moved to College Station, Texas, to pursue a doctoral degree in genetics at Texas A&M University.

During the first year of her doctoral degree program, Mattison served as a teaching assistant, which she enjoyed, she said.

“I am very extroverted,” Mattison said. “I get motivation and excitement from interacting with other people.”

After her first year at TAMU, however, Mattison spent the rest of her time in a laboratory.

“It’s a blessing because it means that my principal investigator was very well funded, so he was able to fund me on a research assistantship,” Mattison said. “But with my passion and enjoyment of teaching, it was something I missed those last couple years of graduate school.”

Once Mattison obtained her doctoral degree in 2017, she joined her husband, Scott Mattison, in Oklahoma and began her orange teaching career at OSU-Oklahoma City.

After spending most of her undergraduate and doctoral studies in a lab, teaching was a different path for a researcher like her, Mattison said.

Ashley Mattison works as an assistant professor in the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Photo by Reagan Conrad.

COWBOY JOURNAL 61

Ashley Mattison (left) assists biochemistry and molecular biology senior Leslie Sanchez in the laboratory and helps her interpret the data. Photo by Reagan Conrad.

“It was really a great change getting to go back into the people-focused side of science,” Mattison said.

While at OSU-OKC, Mattison taught the Introduction to Biology course and oversaw curriculum and the hiring of faculty.

“I loved being able to focus on and deliver a quality Introduction to Biology class,” Mattison said, “but, doing the same thing over and over can be very repetitive.”

After three years at OSU-OKC, Mattison transitioned to teaching at the University of Central Oklahoma, where she diversified her subjects.

“I got to teach genetics courses and microbiology courses,” Mattison said.

“Having a diversity of courses was just

really nice to focus on engaging all the different parts of my brain.”

The more Mattison taught, the more she thought about making science accessible and understandable, she said. Math and science are logical to Mattison, she added, but she knows that is not the case for everyone.

Ensuring the information and terminology she uses is easily understandable is important to Mattison because she understands people come from varied backgrounds, she said.

“There are all different backgrounds coming into an intro biology class, some of whom want to do science, but most students are taking the course to complete the general education requirement,” Mattison said.

After a year at UCO, Mattison felt her orange roots pulling her back to OSU, she said, but this time the pull was coming from Stillwater.

Mattison began her role as assistant professor in August 2023.

“For the teaching component, I’m teaching a lot of our biochemistry courses for our majors as well as our Survey of Biochemistry for non-majors,” Mattison said. “With the OSU Extension portion, I’m working with 4-H and OSU Extension offices.”

One of Mattison’s favorite aspects of working for OSU Extension is how seamlessly the curriculum translates to her current work, she said.

“Instead of teaching undergraduates and focusing on that level of education, we’re focusing more on making the information accessible,” Mattison said.

Despite being new to her position, Mattison wasted no time helping develop Enzyme Explorers, a curriculum for 4-H educators to teach to Cloverbuds, children ages 5 to 8.

“Enzyme Explorers came out of a conversation I was having with fellow OSU Extension specialist Kelly Wardlaw,” Mattison said. “I was talking to her about where to start as a biochemistry-specific specialist in extension. There wasn’t a predecessor to model something after, so it was ‘OK, that door is wide open.’”

She knew exactly where she wanted to begin with her curriculum, she said.

“My kiddos are actually 8, 4 and 4,” Mattison said. “It’s an age group I’m familiar with, so I figured why not start there.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the world shut down, so Mattison had to find ways to entertain her children, she said, and used science to help conquer the task.

“I just did tons of science experiments with them, and they loved it,” Mattison said.

Not many people take up the challenge of trying to teach enzymes to kindergartners or first graders, but Ashley did.

KELLY WARDLAW 62 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Ashley Mattison discusses the different STEM kits offered by OSU. The kits are designed for elementary students of various ages and can be checked out to schools, allowing teachers to borrow them for classroom use. Photo by Reagan Conrad.

Mattison’s children played a crucial role in helping develop the Enzyme Explorers curriculum, she added.

“It’s really great because I get to test their understanding of concepts,” she said. “If my 8-year-old does not understand what I’m saying, then I know it may be difficult to understand.”

Since Cloverbuds are too young to be official 4-H members, their activity options are often limited, Mattison said, but she’s looking to change this.

“The Cloverbuds group doesn’t have much science, technology, engineering and math exposure because STEM education is dependent on having some level of previous exposure,” Mattison said. “They get left out because they don’t have the background knowledge.”

With this in mind, Mattison approached Wardlaw, who is an assistant OSU Extension specialist for 4-H Youth Development, to bring her idea to life.

Teaching a complex subject like biochemistry to young students can be challenging, but Mattison’s experience with her own young children makes it more manageable, Wardlaw said. As students grow, availability of educational resources increases, she added.

“Not many people take up the challenge of trying to teach enzymes to kindergarteners or first graders, but Ashley did,” Wardlaw said.

Over the summer, Wardlaw had a group of interns travel to various counties and teach STEM workshops, including Enzyme Explorers, she said.

“They got really great feedback and positive comments,” Wardlaw said.

“Even the volunteers, educators and other adults said they learned something, too, which is really cool.”

Mattison and Wardlaw are working on grant applications to help fund the expansion of Enzyme Explorers and future curriculum.

“The goal is to have some other modalities through which students can be exposed to these topics, as well,” Mattison said.

Mattison hopes to keep developing curriculum that helps to destigmatize science as an overly complex subject, she said.

“When you hear that first piece of jargon, it causes a thought of, ‘Oh, maybe I can’t do this,’” Mattison said. “You can, and it’s our job to find ways to make science more approachable.”

REAGAN CONRAD

SAND SPRINGS, OKLAHOMA

COWBOY JOURNAL 63

Planting N E W R O OT S

FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES CONTINUE TO SUPPORT OSU AGRONOMY DISCOVERY CENTER

Renovation plans include 12 new greenhouses and a new headhouse at the Agronomy Discovery Center. Photo by Delia Crawford.

64 WINTER/SPRING 2025

M

ore than half of the wheat varieties planted in Oklahoma come from genetics that can be directly traced to research done at the Oklahoma State University Agronomy Research Station.

“Food security starts with the seed, and OSU’s wheat genetics are being used in a lot of food to feed a lot of people,” said Brett Carver, OSU Wheat Improvement Team leader.

As part of The Innovation Foundation at OSU, the Agronomy Research Station is located northwest of the intersection of Highway 51 and

Western Road in Stillwater, just southwest of OSU’s campus.

Behind the station’s doors, the OSU Wheat Improvement Team houses the innovative research behind 34 commercialized wheat varieties and nearly 300 multidisciplinary agronomy research projects.

“We are a world-class team of researchers operating successfully in spite of substandard greenhouses,” said Wade Thomason, OSU plant and soil sciences department head.

The greenhouses at the Agronomy Research Station were built more than

COWBOY JOURNAL 65

As shown in this artist’s rendering, the proposed Agronomy Discovery Center will include multiple greenhouses and other wheat research facilities. Graphic courtesy of Dewberry of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

60 years ago, he added, but the life expectancy of a standard greenhouse is just 15 to 20 years.

However, the OSU Board of Regents’ stamp of approval granted access to begin a draft of construction plans for 12 new greenhouses and updated facilities, Carver said.

To help launch fundraising efforts for renovations, Oklahoma Genetics Inc. and the Oklahoma Wheat Commission pledged donations of $5 million and $1 million respectively.

“Our research has the ability to be doing so much more,” Thomason said.

The vision for Phase 1 is to replace the current wheat breeding greenhouses and headhouse at the Agronomy Research Station, which will be renamed the Agronomy Discovery Center when the project is complete.

From there, a multi-phased renovation plan will help researchers continue down a path of success to help feed the world, Thomason said.

Having access to facilities to showcase the impact of research is a critical component in the research’s continuation and survival, he added, and this project will provide this support.

“Students need to be able to tour one of the country’s best wheat

breeding programs,” said Everett Daugherty, OSU plant breeding and genetics master’s student.

Daugherty began working at the station as a student research assistant during his freshman year while he was earning his bachelor’s degree in plant and soil sciences at OSU. “I am the only master’s student working on the wheat improvement team,” Daugherty said, “which is hard when we’re preparing samples at the farm, but we have to drive to mill them and test them on campus.”

Undergraduate research assistants provide additional support, he added, but updated structures will increase productivity by eliminating the need to leave the farm and go to campus.

“The importance of this project only increases with passing time,” Carver said. “The improvement of our wheat genetics is critical to maintaining a steady food supply.

“We have to be able to get better every year,” Carver added. “If we don’t have the best genetics going into seeds, or if we don’t have seeds going into the ground, that’s a big risk we’re taking.

People’s diets depend on wheat.”

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry

estimates Oklahoma will produce more than 110 million bushels of wheat in 2024, making it the most-produced crop in the state and Oklahoma fifth in the nation for wheat production.

While Phase 1 of the project focuses on greenhouse renovation, Phase 2 includes building structures for purposes such as meeting rooms, offices, classrooms and research labs, Thomason said.

“At the Agronomy Research Station, currently we have no proper classrooms, only a lot of field-based labs,” Thomason said.

“In the event of inclement weather, instructors have to try to reserve study rooms on campus,” he added, “or likely just cancel class.”

The addition of classrooms would expand the development and teaching of skills learned hands-on in the field, Thomason said.

The long-term effects of these renovations travel far past the borders of OSU’s campus, Carver said. Research feeds the future of wheat genetics, which plays a significant role in the food supply for the public, he added.

“Professionals, producers, consumers and even the people doing the research rely on the research happening at OSU,” Carver said, “no matter the industry.”

With fundraising initiatives active, the Agronomy Discovery Center is one step closer to helping OSU research feed the world, Carver added.

DELIA CRAWFORD

FREDERICK, OKLAHOMA

Professionals, producers, consumers and even the people doing the research rely on the research happening at OSU — no matter the industry.

BRETT CARVER 66 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Research Results in Resilience WHEAT IMPROVEMENT TEAM HELPS PRODUCERS FOCUS ON DISEASE RESISTANCE

Shirley Farms is a registered and certified seed wheat producer located in Alva, Oklahoma. Photo by Olivia Bellah.

68 WINTER/SPRING 2025

E

ach year, Oklahoma wheat producers plant their crop, hoping for a bountiful harvest.

At Oklahoma State University, the wheat improvement team dedicates its efforts to providing the best genetic resources for these agriculturalists.

The 11 faculty members on the wheat improvement team bring expertise in plant breeding, pathology, entomology, genetics, genomics, agronomy, soil fertility, weed science and computational modeling.

Meriem Aoun, small grains pathologist and assistant professor in the OSU Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, is a member of the team.

“My role is to help the OSU Wheat Improvement Team

release disease-resistant varieties,” Aoun said. “Wheat is affected by multiple diseases, and in Oklahoma, we are breeding for resistance to about 13 diseases.”

Aoun’s lab evaluates OSU winter wheat breeding lines to multiple fungal diseases and viruses in the greenhouse and in the field.

This provides information for Brett Carver, Regents professor of plant and soil sciences and the wheat breeder for the team, to select and advance specific breeding lines to release disease-resistant varieties.

“Disease-resistant varieties are less affected by diseases and thus have higher yield,” Aoun said. “Growing resistant varieties reduces the need for fungicide applications, reduces the cost of production, and can help sustain the farm economy. Reducing

fungicide use is safer for the environment and consumers.”

In the OSU wheat breeding program, the breeder makes different crosses. The progenies are tested for disease resistance for multiple years.

Resistant breeding lines also are tested for other agronomic and quality traits, such as their yield, height, grazing tolerance, and milling and baking quality. The superior lines are released as varieties after many years of testing, Aoun said.

“As pathogen populations mutate or change and as new wheat pathogens appear, these resistant varieties may not keep their resistance,” Aoun said.

Plant pathology doctoral student Rajat Sharma said he is working to improve stripe rust and leaf rust resistance in hard red winter wheat varieties, the two most destructive diseases in the southern Great Plains.

Stripe rust has evolved to be more aggressive in the warmer climate, Sharma said.

In 2024, stripe rust was a big problem but provided an opportunity to collect data and accurate readings to help selection of superior lines in the breeding program, Sharma added.

“My work involves field evaluations for both leaf rust and stripe rust,” Sharma said. “My first project includes 450 lines of wheat and testing those in the greenhouse and in the field for stripe rust.”

“I’m trying to identify which lines are resistant,” he added. “If we can

COWBOY JOURNAL 69

figure out which lines are resistant, we can use those in the breeding program as a variety or as parents.”

Stripe rust in a wheat field appears in yellow powder-like stripes, hence the name “stripe rust.” Stripe rust can occur earlier in the growing season because it thrives in a cooler climate, Sharma said.

Leaf rust will have brown spots and appear later in the growing season.

Both pathogens can occur in the same season but appear with different weather conditions.

“Stripe rust isn’t as frequent, and we won’t have it every year,” Sharma said.

“We usually see it one of every three years in Oklahoma. It’s good to show producers what the disease looks like, so they can identify it in their fields.”

Each year, OSU Extension and OSU Ag Research host the OSU Wheat Variety Testing Plot Tours for Oklahoma wheat producers to learn about available wheat varieties and their performance against diseases. Growers can learn about other agronomic characteristics of wheat varieties and the differences between dual-purpose and grain-only wheat as well as the differences between intensive and standard management.

“Wheat is the largest cash crop in Oklahoma, and we plant about 4.5

OGI is in business to serve OSU. MARK HODGES million acres across the state,” Aoun said. “About 70% of acres are planted with wheat varieties created by the OSU Wheat Improvement Team.”

The top seven wheat varieties planted in Oklahoma in 2024 were developed at OSU, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Oklahoma Genetics Inc. is a nonprofit corporation composed of Oklahoma pedigreed seed producers and processors.

The goals of OGI are to promote, publicize, and market the genetics and benefits of quality seed while promoting education and research.

For marketing purposes, OGI has the licenses to the last 40-plus wheat releases from OSU. The royalties are collected through the seed sales of OSU varieties.

Every dollar OGI generates through royalties goes back to the university one way or another, whether as cash or as equipment needed by the wheat research team.

OGI covers a large area of the plains, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and New Mexico.

“Within the last two years, we bought two plot combines, one for Oklahoma Foundation Seed Stocks and one for the OSU Wheat Improvement Team,” said Mark Hodges, OGI executive director. “Those were about $320,000 each. OGI is in business to serve OSU.” OSU wheat varieties with excellent disease resistance available to the public are Doublestop CL Plus, Stard CL Plus, Breakthrough, Green Hammer, Uncharted and Big Country.

“Information on wheat variety characteristics can be found online and can help growers select which variety to grow,” Aoun said. “Several fact sheets and reports can be found on the OSU Extension website to educate producers about disease management.”

Wheat variety testing takes place in the Noble Research Center Greenhouse Facility. Photo by Olivia Bellah.

70 WINTER/SPRING 2025

OLIVIA BELLAH

MCLOUD, OKLAHOMA

BUILDING LEADERS OKLAHOMA FFA ASSOCIATION

Contribute to the legacy of

OKLAHOMA FFA ALUMNI LEADERSHIP CAMP Learn more at okffaimpact.com

Amara Jackson studies agricultural communications in the OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture. Photo by Samantha Bennett.

72 WINTER/SPRING 2025

A Journey of C

andidates held their breath as the presidential position was the last to be announced at the 2023 National FFA Convention.

The crowd quieted as the announcer approached the microphone.

Amara Jackson began her term as the 2023-2024 National FFA President with excitement and tears as she rushed to the stage, even losing her shoes as she joined her new national officer teammates.

Jackson grew up in Corunna, Michigan, where she was involved in horseback riding, dancing, and playing the French horn in band.

FFA was not on Jackson’s radar during the beginning of her high school career, she said. Avianna, Jackson’s older sister, served on the Michigan FFA officer team while Jackson was in high school.

“I had other interests,” Jackson said. “I also did not want to just be known as ‘Avianna’s little sister’ in the FFA world. I knew I wanted to create my own path.”

As the chapter’s junior vice president, Jackson was convinced by her adviser to attend the Michigan FFA Convention in March of her sophomore year. During her time at state convention, Jackson was in awe of her peers and how motivated they were, she said.

“I watched Amara’s eyes light up as she attended the first session at convention,” said Casie Stiles, one of Amara’s past FFA advisers and current career technology education facilitator for the Shiawassee Regional

Growth

AGCM JUNIOR SERVES AS NATIONAL FFA PRESIDENT

Educational Service District. “I knew she had something special. She just gave off the aura of a leader and someone who was going to do big things.”

After Jackson returned from convention her sophomore year, she was ready to be a part of everything FFA and wanted to make up for lost time, Stiles said.

Jackson ran for Corunna FFA chapter office at the end of her sophomore year and was elected as the reporter.

She served in this role during her junior year and as president her senior year, Stiles said.

Jackson also competed in career and leadership development events, including prepared public speaking and parliamentary procedure.

The FFA prepared public speaking contest gave Jackson confidence, she said, and parliamentary procedure taught her how to be a part of a team and something bigger than herself.

“Amara was involved in every contest and event she could be,” Stiles said. “She showed up early and stayed late. Amara paved her own way and brought other students with her.”

Amara paved her own way and brought other students with her.

CASIE STILES

Then, Jackson’s senior year was disrupted by COVID-19, Stiles said.

“Nothing was normal during this time, but Amara made the best of the entire situation and mentored students through the process,” Stiles said.

During her senior year, Jackson was also a Michigan FFA regional officer.

She decided to run for a state FFA officer position.

Corunna FFA members helped her prepare by hosting mock interviews and meetings and assisting with networking throughout the state.

“I was elected to be the 2021-2022 Michigan FFA President,” Jackson said. “Even in this hard time of a Zoom meeting convention, I got to celebrate with some of the people who helped me achieve this title.”

After being elected to serve the Michigan FFA Association, she began her freshman year of college in Fall 2021 at Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan.

As Jackson was beginning her time as a state FFA officer, she sought ways to better the program and the industry, Stiles said.

“Throughout her year as state FFA president, Jackson took a leap of faith, not knowing what it would look like, said Tiffany Rogers-Randolph, Michigan FFA state executive secretary. “She constantly looked for ways to serve and make people feel valued.”

After serving Michigan FFA, Jackson decided her time in the organization was not over, she said. In 2022, she pursued being the national officer candidate for Michigan FFA. COWBOY JOURNAL 73

Michigan FFA hosts a day of rigorous interviews, judges’ panels and networking to decide who will represent the state as the national candidate. However, in 2022, Jackson was not selected as the state’s candidate.

After one more semester at LCC, Jackson transferred to Oklahoma State University as an agricultural communications student.

“Kaia Cooper, one of my Michigan FFA officer teammates, sat me down,” Jackson said. “This is a conversation I will never forget. She said if something is on my heart and I want to do something about it, I need to go and do it.”

This conversation gave Jackson confidence to seek the Michigan national officer candidate slot again, Jackson added.

“Amara was chosen to be the candidate because of her knowledge of what it means to serve, commitment to growth and her intentionality,” Rogers-Randolph said. “She is so genuine and wants to see everyone around her succeed, and I believe the committee saw that when selecting her.”

After being selected, Jackson was focused on representing Michigan, 74 WINTER/SPRING 2025

she said, and the multiple people who helped her prepare for the national officer selection process.

“We held countless rounds of practice and so many conversations with executives just so she could become more diverse in the industry,” Rogers-Randolph said. “Michigan FFA experienced an outpouring of support by people sending cards and gifts to let Amara know Michigan was behind her as she embarked on the national election process.”

Jackson received a multitude of calls, texts and letters of support and encouragement as she left for a week of intense interviews and meetings during the 2023 National FFA convention, she said.

“I know Amara had a lot of people supporting her back in Michigan, and she also had her OSU family supporting her as she prepared for the interview process,” said Dwayne Cartmell, OSU agricultural communications professor and Jackson’s academic adviser. “Many folks were supporting her in any way possible, which included positive text messages and encouraging conversations.”

Although her nerves were high going into convention, a specific conversation grounded her, Jackson said.

“I was sitting in the agricultural building at OSU, and my mentor Ryan Best, an agricultural education doctoral student, sat down with me and asked if I believed in myself,” Jackson said.

“He wanted to know when everyone else was going to see it. He told me I was prepared for this at the perfect time and place.”

This conversation with Best, a former National FFA officer, helped remind Jackson of something so simple as believing in herself, she said, and she carried this advice with her throughout the election process.

Jackson’s defining moment came Nov. 4, 2023.

“We were sitting in the stands at convention, hoping to hear her name,” Stiles said. “I knew in my gut she had something special and had the potential to be the president, but waiting felt like a lifetime.”

When Jackson was announced as the new National FFA President, everyone cried, Stiles said. It was such a surreal moment, she added.

Left: Amara Jackson waits to receive her national officer jacket from Andrew Seibel, 2022-2023 National FFA President. Photo courtesy of National FFA. Middle: Amara Jackson (right) speaks with Ella Burrier from Maryland at the 2024 State Officer Summit. Photo courtesy of Amara Jackson. Right: Amara Jackson delivers her retiring address at the 2023-2024 National FFA Convention. Photo courtesy of National FFA.

“It is so incredible to see someone from Corunna FFA get elected,” said Brian Kiesling, the Corunna FFA adviser. “She is the first person from Corunna FFA to be on the national officer team, and being a part of this experience is unbelievable.”

Jackson is the ninth person from Michigan to earn a spot on the National FFA officer team and the second as president, Kiesling added.

Once you are elected, the year of service starts as soon as you put on the national jacket, Jackson said.

“I took a year off of school, traveling and serving FFA members across the nation,” Jackson said. “I visited 26 states and even spent time in Japan.”

The National FFA officer team visited Japan for 13 days in January 2024.

They started in Tokyo, where they met with agricultural high schools and Future Farmers of Japan members.

They visited Kyoto where they met with more members and then traveled to Hiroshima.

The team saw a lot of traditional agriculture in Kagoshima, like a tea leaf factory and machinery. They met with the Japanese tea division of the

Agriculture Cooperative Union and networked with other agriculturalists, Jackson said. The team also saw a Wagyu beef operation of more than 1,000 cows.

“After a long 14-hour flight, I was so excited to experience what agriculture looks like on the other side of the world,” Jackson said.

During her year of service, she devoted all her time to advocating for agriculture and helping younger members grow during their FFA journey, Jackson said.

“I loved seeing FFA members throughout the year, and it was eye-opening to see their passions through agriculture,” Jackson said.

Throughout her year of service, Jackson focused on taking every opportunity to learn and talk with members, she said, and was always impressed to see the commonalities from FFA members throughout the country.

This just shows a reflection of the FFA organization and culture of the students, Jackson said.

“No matter where you are in the United States, students in FFA share a couple different similarities,” Jackson

said. “They are passionate about agriculture, working hard and caring for their communities.”

As her term ended, Jackson was sad to see her year of service to the National FFA Organization come to an end, she said, but is ready to get back to OSU and finish her degree.

Following graduation, Jackson wants a career in agricultural estate law, where she can help farms be passed down from generation to generation in the most efficient manner possible, she said.

“The FFA has opened so many doors, and my time within FFA will forever be cherished,” Jackson said.

“I cannot thank the people who stood behind me enough.”

SAMANTHA BENNETT

FREMONT, MICHIGAN

COWBOY JOURNAL 75

76 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Blazing Her Own

TR AIL R

FERGUSON ALUMNA UPHOLDS FAMILY TRADITION

aised in southwestern Oklahoma, one of the driest regions of the state, Sherry Hunt is expanding on a family legacy with passion, purpose and determination.

“I grew up on Sugar Creek Watershed Dam Site 8,” said Hunt, supervisory civil engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. “I knew the impact the USDA had on my family in protecting the agricultural land from flooding by the construction of these dams.

“Being a research civil engineer connected me to home in how much I could impact the people of my community and my family,” Hunt said.

Her title of research leader at the Agroclimate and Hydraulics Engineering Research Unit of the USDA can be associated with many responsibilities, successes and achievements, Hunt added.

“It’s pretty meaningful when you have successful female engineers,” said Mari Chinn, professor and head of the Oklahoma State University Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

“Engineering is not necessarily a discipline that’s flooded with women, and Hunt carries that torch well.”

When Hunt was pursuing her degree and as she started her professional career, few female role models were in her area of expertise, said Paul Weckler, professional engineer and

emeritus professor for the OSU BAE department. But, she got involved and would show up to help where she could, he added.

“She doesn’t mind getting dirt on her boots or getting her hands dirty,” Weckler said.

During her 25 years of working for the USDA, Hunt was recognized for her expertise and dedication through various awards and nominations, Chinn said.

“Hunt is an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers fellow, one of the highest honors of a professional society,” Chinn said.

“She also is the president-elect of our ASABE professional society.”

ASABE is a global leader in promoting sustainable technology and practices that meet humanity’s need for biorenewable products like food, fiber, timber, renewable energy sources, water, and natural resources in an ever-increasing world population, Chinn added.

Hunt has created a significant research and education presence and has served the profession, Chinn said.

Hunt’s peers trust her to enhance the ASABE’s direction as a professional society, which she is doing as president-elect and will do as the next ASABE president, Chinn added. Hunt is the sixth female president-elect of the 7,500-member organization.

“My dad actually passed away about one week before the international

Sherry Hunt (right) and Tyler Selvey use a U.S.-manufactured quadcopter with camera to gather erosion data from an embankment overtopping a research test facility. Photo by Kennedy Willingham.

COWBOY JOURNAL 77

Sherry Hunt and other researchers at the unit use a Mesonet center modeled after a meteorological station. Photo by Kennedy Willingham.

meeting where I was announced as president-elect,” Hunt said. “He said to me, ‘It’s important for me that you go.

You have to be there.’”

Hunt flew to Anaheim, California, with her two daughters the Saturday after her father’s funeral, she said.

“I did it for me, for him, and to show my daughters what Mom does,” Hunt said. “The society is over 100 years old, so it’s not every day that you get elected for something like that.”

Along with serving as a supervisory civil engineer for the USDA ARS, Hunt also serves as the research lead and location coordinator for the Agroclimate and Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit in Stillwater and El Reno.

Hunt maintains the Lake Carl Blackwell facility as a national and international resource, Weckler said.

Few places in this country or even the world are capable of the type and scale of research done there, he added.

“She’s been able to keep the facility at the forefront of research,” Weckler said. “She is very involved in the whole area of watershed dam safety and the issues involved.”

78 WINTER/SPRING 2025

As an OSU alumna, Hunt serves as an adjunct faculty member in the BAE department and is involved with the Oklahoma Water Resources Center.

“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure I was coming to OSU,” Hunt said. “I decided to come to OSU and was going to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering with an aerospace option.

“We had somewhat of a local hero near my hometown, Gen. Thomas Stafford,” Hunt added. “He went on to fly NASA missions. I was fascinated by the space program, and I wanted to be an astronaut.”

Hunt later changed her major to biosystems engineering, the same degree program as her two older brothers, she said.

“I did not want to cross paths with them,” Hunt said. “I wanted to blaze my own trail.”

Hunt and her two brothers, Terry and Berry Britton, are the first and only set of three siblings to have come through the BAE department, Hunt said. She now has a nephew enrolled as a freshman in the same department, she added.

“The next generation is coming along,” Hunt said. “I guess you could say engineering is in our blood.”

Hunt has always given back to the department, Chinn said. She invites students, faculty and visitors to engage with the unit at Lake Carl Blackwell.

“Sherry has always reached out and shared with me what she can do and helped the department succeed,” Chinn said.

“She doesn’t just provide this support because she’s an alum to our department,” Chinn said. “Her influence extends beyond OSU. We’re just down the street and get the most benefit from her generosity.”

KENNEDY WILLINGHAM STRATFORD, OKLAHOMA

TO MAKE BETTER MEN.

Pi Chapter

Alpha Gamma Rho President Kelton O’Neil | 580-430-1560 | osuagrs.com

Becoming a Global Citizen OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TAKE THEIR EDUCATION TO ANOTHER COUNTRY

A

s Newlin Humphrey completed her master’s degree, she did so as a teacher in the Czech Republic, thanks to the Oklahoma State University Master of International Agriculture Program.

Most graduate programs have a preset roadmap with core classes a student must take. However, about one-third of the classes in MIAP are required. The remaining classes are

80 WINTER/SPRING 2025

flexible, including a capstone, an international experience and electives.

“It is an interdisciplinary graduate program,” said Karl Rich, MIAP director. “This brings in students from all over the world with an interest in trying to solve global food and environmental problems.”

In December 2023, Humphrey and Taylor Shackelford, master of international agriculture student, spent 10 weeks teaching at VOŠ a SZeŠ in Benešov, an agricultural high school in the Czech Republic, assisting students as they studied English curriculum.

“Working at the school and working with the faculty was just incredible,” said Humphrey, who earned a Master of Science in agricultural education and leadership in May 2024. “I was nervous at first, and adjusting to the

big cultural shift was interesting. I fell in love with it. Our role there was to help students with the Maturita exam.”

The exam is a written and oral version of the SAT for Czech students who plan to attend college. For part of the exam, students can choose between mathematics or English. Humphrey helped students practice for the exam, including conversational English.

The school offers multiple agricultural pathways from which students can choose classes like horticulture, small and large animal veterinary science, agricultural mechanics, and landscape management.

“I enjoyed getting to work with all these students,” Humphrey said.

“I worked with students in all of the different pathways and facilitated different types of workshops.”

Humphrey and Shackelford were the first students in this OSU exchange program in the Czech Republic.

The program is great for those who want to teach internationally and is available to undergraduate and graduate students, Rich said.

Other MIAP international exchange programs offer the opposite experience: studying rather than teaching.

Rich worked with Shannon Lucock, a faculty member at Lincoln University in New Zealand, to establish a six-month educational graduate exchange program between the universities in early 2024.

“MIAP students spend a semester in New Zealand, and Lincoln students spend a semester at OSU,” Rich said.

“They can earn graduate credit for the classes taken at the other university.”

In February 2024, Dalton Nichols became the first OSU MIAP student to study at Lincoln.

Originally from northern California, Nichols left the U.S. for the first time when he traveled to New Zealand.

In addition to taking graduate classes in the agribusiness department at Lincoln University, Nichols worked part time for Livestock Visibility Solutions, an agricultural technology startup company, where he gained experience with different technologies, he said.

Nichols worked alongside Rich’s former student Richard Appleby, CEO of Livestock Visibility Solutions in New Zealand.

“Richard is an entrepreneur who works with technology in the dairy industry in New Zealand,” Nichols said.

Left: Snow-capped mountains tower above the agricultural plains below in Te Wahipounamu National Park in New Zealand. Photo by Dwayne Cartmell. Center: The countryside of Prague, Czech Republic, overlooks the skyline of the city. Photo by Shelly Legg. Above: The Sydney Opera House in Australia stands as a testament to creativity and culture. Photo by Bree Taylor.

COWBOY JOURNAL 81

Left: Taylor Shackelford (left) and Newlin Humphrey visit an agricultural high school in the Czech Republic. Photo courtesy of Newlin Humphrey. Above: Dalton Nichols (middle) visits a dairy in the Canterbury region of New Zealand with Richard Appleby (left) and Jason Hurst of Livestock Visibility Solutions. Photo courtesy of Dalton Nichols.

“I learned a lot about New Zealand dairy operations.”

Nichols enjoyed his time in New Zealand working with Appleby, he said, especially learning about how dairies are operated compared to the U.S. “We did a demonstration day with some of the technology, and that was great to see,” Nichols said. “I got to experience exactly what Richard was working on.

“It was great to learn about some of the dairies in New Zealand and to find out how businesses operate,” he added.

“That could be a huge takeaway from the experience.”

Back on campus, the Lincoln University students showed Nichols their culture and different parts of the country, he said.

He also traveled to Sydney, Australia, with friends from Lincoln.

82 WINTER/SPRING 2025

“I spent time doing a lot of outdoor activities, seeing a lot of the country, and going on a lot of great hikes,” Nichols said. “Having New Zealand students show me around and immersing myself in their culture was an amazing experience.”

Nichols plans to finish the remainder of his master’s degree online and graduate in May 2025.

He is grateful to Rich as well as Pam Bay, graduate coordinator for MIAP, for the connections and assistance they provided during this experience, he said.

“I would recommend MIAP to anyone who is looking for a flexible master’s degree with a lot of opportunities in other parts of the world,” Nichols said. “There was no way I would have gone to New Zealand without being in the MIAP program.”

The exchange programs in the Czech Republic and New Zealand offer students practical, affordable and safe international experiences, Rich said.

“Being a global citizen matters,” Rich said. “MIAP helps with one’s professional development. Once you go overseas for the first time, you change and change for the better. MIAP equips students with skills to thrive in multicultural environments and just to help make the world a better place.”

HALEY ROCHA

LOS BANOS, CALIFORNIA

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A Man

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Sergio Abit teaches multiple courses each semester in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Photo by Katelyn Moore.

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aised on the sprawling campus of Visayas State University on the island of Leyte in the central Philippines, Sergio Abit grew up visiting his father’s university office and an occasional lecture hall, always surrounded by intellectual curiosity.

Now a faculty member in the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture, Abit is known among his students for his entertaining teaching style, which developed from his early life influences of being surrounded by outstanding educators, he said.

“I grew up in a household of teachers,” said Abit, professor in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.

“My father was a professor of agronomy and taught for 36 years. My mother was an elementary school teacher, and she later became the librarian of the university.

“I essentially grew up in a school,” he added. “The first 20 years of my life were inside a university.”

In addition to familial influences, impactful teachers at the agricultural sciences high school he attended played an instrumental role in inspiring his path to become an educator, Abit said.

“I had a high school physics teacher who perfected ‘edutainment’ — education and entertainment — when it was not a thing yet,” Abit said. “He was an ‘edutainer.’ How else do you sell physics to a 14-year-old?”

of the Soil While attending VSU later on, Abit found his way to soil science after discovering a soil physics course, he said.

This course combined his interests of physics with agriculture and natural resources, he added.

“The thing that cemented my decision to pursue soil physics was learning back then there was only one soil physicist for 98 million Filipinos,” Abit said. “I thought there was really a need for someone to do this.”

After earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, Abit found an opening for a soil science faculty position at OSU, a position he said does not come available often.

“When I interviewed at OSU, I just clicked with the faculty members,” Abit said. “It’s a small enough program that everyone needs to collaborate. It’s just part of the culture here. It may be cliché, but that feeling that we’re all in this together appeals to me.”

Now in his 13th year as a faculty member at OSU, Abit has developed four new courses for the plant and soil sciences program.

“Environmental soil sciences had not been taught for about eight years when I got here, so I thought, ‘Why not revive that?’” Abit said. “That’s also why I developed a soils and society course. At some point in your career, you want to be challenged again.”

Abit constantly challenges himself to evolve his courses and teach beyond what is traditionally expected, he said.

OSU SOIL SCIENCE PROFESSOR RECEIVES NATIONAL HONOR FOR HIS DEDICATION TO TEACHING

Abit cites former NFL Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis — “They pay me Monday through Saturday, but Sundays are free” — to describe the feeling of helping students develop, harness, and apply their interests in and out of the classroom.

For his work in the classroom, Abit received a Regional U.S. Department of Agriculture Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences Award.

Recipients are not selected based on teaching longevity, but rather on recognizing “the quality of recent achievements involving teaching philosophy, methodology and self-assessment aimed at improvement,” according to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

“When I’m in the classroom teaching, Dr. Pepper in hand of course, it doesn’t feel like a job,” Abit said.

“That’s really the fun part.

Sergio Abit instructs a Fundamentals of Soil Science lab session on the OSU campus. Photo by Alyssa Hardaway.

COWBOY JOURNAL 85

Sergio Abit (center) accepts a 2024 Excellence in College and University Teaching Award from Manjit Misra (left), director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Cynda Clary, associate dean for the Ferguson College of Agriculture. Photo courtesy of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

“It’s the interaction with students and being able to impart what you’ve learned to others,” he added. “I get a thrill out of that.”

After 24 semesters of teaching at OSU, many of Abit’s former students have become leaders or educators of soil science in their own right.

“I took Dr. Abit’s Fundamentals of Soil Science class to see if plant and soil sciences could be something I

He is the reason I’m a soil scientist.

Dr. Abit’s enthusiasm transferred throughout my entire career.

LAUREN SELPH 86 WINTER/SPRING 2025

enjoyed,” said Lauren Selph, who is now a plant and soil sciences instructor at West Texas A&M University.

“That semester I changed my major to plant and soil sciences.”

After graduating in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree, Selph continued her education, earning a master’s degree from Tarleton State University and a doctoral degree from Texas Tech University. She draws inspiration from her time in Abit’s classroom, she said.

Known for his infectious enthusiasm and often unconventional teaching methods, Abit has a passion for soil science that is understandable by any student who sits in his classroom, Selph said.

“Dr. Abit’s teaching style is very unique,” said Tyler Steichen, plant and soil science master’s student. “I love listening to him teach. He always keeps me engaged and motivated.

“Dr. Abit puts the students first,” Steichen added. “He’s not there to make you struggle. He’s there to make you understand and have fun while you do it.”

Students remember more than Abit’s extensive knowledge of plant and soil science. They recall his passion, quirks and the way he makes learning an adventure, Steichen said.

After graduation, students remember Abit as the professor who made their passion for soil science grow in ways they never expected, Selph said.

“He taught me that you can be excited and be quirky and still learn science,” Selph said. “Those are things I try to incorporate into the soil science classes I now teach.

“He is the reason I’m a soil scientist,” Selph added. “Dr. Abit’s enthusiasm has transferred throughout my entire career.”

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Black bears have a variety of different fur colors, including black, cinnamon, blonde and brown.

While different in fur color, all are genetically “black bears.” Photos courtesy of Bailey Kleeberg.

88 WINTER/SPRING 2025

BLACK BEARS

in the Wild

NREM CONDUCTS BLACK BEAR RESEARCH IN OKLAHOMA’S PANHANDLE

R

eports of black bear sightings started to increase in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, during the 2000s and 2010s.

Was the black bear population increasing in the state’s Panhandle?

Biologists received reports of black bear sightings from community members, and private landowners reported bears destroying crops, said Kurt Kuklinski, wildlife diversity and research supervisor at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

“That was the precursor to the ODWC deciding to dedicate funding for a research project to address it,” Kuklinski said.

Every year, the ODWC chooses problems they need to research, creates a request for proposals announcement, and sends the announcement to research experts.

In 2020, Robert Lonsinger, Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit assistant unit leader, and Sue Fairbanks,

natural resource ecology and management associate professor, submitted a black bear research proposal.

“Lonsinger and Fairbanks laid out a pretty solid project concept that we felt would answer some of our questions,” Kuklinski said.

The ODWC funded the OSU proposal. The total grant cost was more than $250,000 and was split between the ODWC and OSU. The ODWC provided 75% of the cost from federal grant funds. OSU provided 25% of the cost.

The research took place from January 2022 through June 2024.

The field work occurred from May to August in 2022 and in 2023.

“The study started with camera traps because we did not know if we would even see any bears, but we started to see them immediately,” Fairbanks said. “When a bear was detected on camera, we set up hair snares in that area.”

Hair snares are a barbed wire fence around a scent station that collects

hair samples of bears to provide genetic material. The scent stations varied with four types of scents, including blueberry extract, skunk, beaver castor and anise oil, Fairbanks said.

“My advisers — Dr. Lonsinger and Dr. Fairbanks — initially proposed the camera trapping and hair snare work because it is non-invasive,” said Bailey Kleeberg, who led this research project and earned her master’s degree in natural resource ecology and management in 2024.

“Every single day, we were going out, meeting with landowners, putting out cameras, and checking cameras,” Kleeberg said. “The way my study was set up, if we saw a bear on a camera, we would put up a hair snare.”

The team would install up to five hair snares immediately following a black bear detection on a camera, Kleeberg added.

The number of hair snares was dependent on landowner permission, she added.

We did not know if we would even see any bears, but we started to see them immediately.

SUE FAIRBANKS COWBOY JOURNAL 89

Top left: Ella Carroll (left) and Bailey Kleeberg install hair snares to gather genetic material from black bears. Top right: OSU researchers often find black bear footprints in Oklahoma’s Panhandle. Bottom left: Black bears can be found in the trees for reasons such as food and safety. Photos courtesy of Bailey Kleeberg.

90 WINTER/SPRING 2025

The DNA from the hair sample provided enough genetic material to verify the black bears in Oklahoma are genetically similar to black bears in northeast New Mexico and southeast Colorado, Kuklinski said.

This information confirmed ODWC’s suspicions Oklahoma bears likely immigrated from New Mexico or Colorado, Kuklinski added.

The genetic material also allowed Kleeberg to create a population estimate of 26 bears, she said.

“The team got pictures of two different females with two cubs each,” Kleeberg said.

The camera traps also indicated bears were staying in lower elevation, riparian areas of the Black Mesa area, away from people, Fairbanks said.

“Our next step internally is monitoring the bear population out there,” Kuklinski said. “We need to see if that population is stable or if it is continuing to grow.

“One of the first things we have to do is to educate the public, the landowners, and the people who live out there and would frequently encounter these bears,” Kuklinski said. “The states with bear populations often utilize Bear Wise training to educate the public.”

The public should be aware bears are in Oklahoma, but the ODWC needs to educate people that they can co-exist with the bears and how to navigate that, Kuklinski added.

KAYLI VAVRICEK

SCHUYLER, NEBRASKA

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FINDING EARLY F

Success

rom the kelly green corduroy jacket to suits and bow ties comes a career of service that has spanned decades.

Jered Davidson, a recipient of the 2024 Ferguson College of Agriculture Early Career Achievement Award, grew up in Fort Cobb, Oklahoma, and became involved with his local 4-H club at age 9.

During his time in 4-H, Davidson received numerous opportunities and experiences that would last him a lifetime, he said.

“Without 4-H, I definitely would not be where I am today,” Davidson said. “It is a weird coincidence of things that just happened.”

Davidson started his 4-H career with a livestock project. This soon

turned into conservation of natural resources projects before morphing into public speaking and leadership, Davidson said.

Davidson became a state 4-H ambassador and the Oklahoma 4-H state secretary his senior year of high school, leading him to become the state president his freshman year at Oklahoma State University in 2005.

“On the leadership team as state president, he definitely was one who could help motivate his peers and keep them organized,” said Karla Knoepfli, OSU senior extension specialist and Davidson’s 4-H officer adviser.

“He was one of those young people you could depend on to follow through with his responsibilities,” she added.

“Those skills are what you want when

You’re always striving to provide great customer service and great legal advice as well as trying to help clients reach their goals.

JERED DAVIDSON 92 WINTER/SPRING 2025

you have somebody who is the state 4-H president.”

Being a 4-H member helped Davidson decide OSU was where he wanted to attend college, he said.

“Just being involved with the program and around it, you go to Stillwater so many times you almost get indoctrinated,” Davidson said.

“The people on campus were always welcoming, inviting, and encouraging.”

Davidson found his place at OSU, he said, even if the initial culture shock from small town life to being in classes larger than the population of his hometown was a bit overwhelming.

“I had a very good relationship with a lot of the faculty and staff,” Davidson said. “It sounds cliché, but the Ferguson College of Agriculture really is a family.”

Davidson pursued a degree in agricultural economics during his time at OSU. He credits this as another reason he has found success at such a young age, he said.

“What the agricultural economics department taught me the most was to be flexible, adaptable, take everything in, analyze the information that

s

DAVIDSON RECEIVES EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD has been given to you, and try to find a solution,” Davidson said.

After completing his presidential term, Davidson joined FarmHouse fraternity his sophomore year at OSU. Davidson quickly found himself in leadership positions within the fraternity, serving as the community service chair, the recruitment chair, and the president, he said.

In addition to his involvement with FarmHouse, Davidson served on the Student Alumni Board through the OSU Alumni Association. While on the board, he was tasked with restarting the President’s Posse, a student group associated with the OSU President’s Office, that helped host alumni, donors and university guests.

“We welcomed them and showcased the amazing things the university was doing, explaining how their impact was felt on a day-to-day basis,” Davidson said.

During his undergraduate studies, Davidson wavered between graduate studies in agricultural economics and law school, he said.

“Bailey Norwood, my adviser, pushed me more toward law school,”

Jered Davidson spends a majority of his time in his law office in Oklahoma City. Photo by Taylor McGill.

COWBOY JOURNAL 93

Davidson said. “Based on my background, my analytical skills and the skillset I had developed, he thought I should really pursue law school.”

Davidson attended the University of Oklahoma School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 2012.

After graduation, Davidson found himself impacted by his time in 4-H again when representatives of The Public Finance Law Group, where Davidson is now a partner, discovered his 4-H-related background, he said.

“They listened to a radio interview that I gave as part of the Centennial Celebration,” Davidson said. “One of the senior partners was also a 4-H’er, and we had that immediate connection. He knew 4-H had given me all the skills I needed to succeed.”

In his professional role, Davidson serves as a bond counsel for multiple entities, including the City of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority.

“You’re always striving to provide great customer service and great legal

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advice as well as trying to help clients reach their goals,” Davidson said.

In several situations, Davidson has appeared before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, a rarity in the bond validation legal arena.

“The Oklahoma Supreme Court usually does not take oral arguments in bond validation cases,” said Eric Lair, Oklahoma attorney and outside general counsel to the OTA. “Jered’s presentation to the Supreme Court justices, his ability to address their questions in a comprehensive yet succinct manner and be persuasive, was impressive to me,” he added.

Outside of work, Davidson has served as an Oklahoma 4-H Foundation board member for 20 years, including a term as board president from 2019 to 2021.

“When Jered sets his mind to be a part of something, it is never just, ‘Can I sit on the sidelines and watch?’” said Steve Beck, OSU Extension assistant director and state 4-H program leader.

“He’s going to ensure he is productive and contributes.”

Davidson and his wife, Lindsey Long Davidson, who he met in 4-H, contribute to OSU Agriculture, most recently through a gift to the New Frontiers Campaign. The Davidson donations went toward an office in the new 4-H suite in Agricultural Hall.

“Without the opportunities that Ferguson and 4-H provided us,” Davidson said, “we would not be where we are. If we can help alleviate some of that burden from future generations, then we are willing to do that.”

SYDNEY VAN PELT

ARDMORE, OKLAHOMA

FA R M H O U S E BUILDER OF MEN

okstatefh.com

Multiple wildfires burned in Ellis County, Oklahoma, on March 6, 2024. Photo by Mitchell Alcala.

96 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Assisting When

Disaster Hits Home OSU EXTENSION’S DART TRANSFORMS CRISIS INTO RECOVERY

C

alves bawl while a young cowboy works quickly to move them from the burning land.

A mom stands in line for donations after a tornado destroys her home. She is usually the one donating and does not know where to begin.

Hundreds of Oklahomans have experienced these gut-wrenching situations because of the state’s everchanging weather conditions.

However, a group of Oklahoma State University Extension educators and specialists have spent the last few years developing resources for residents in situations like these.

Looking back a couple of years, wildfires in western Oklahoma burned a lot of acreage and did a lot of damage to the ranching industry, said Claude Bess, southeastern district director for OSU Extension.

“County educators in that area were overwhelmed with calls of people wanting to donate hay, feed and fencing supplies,” Bess said.

The area’s OSU Extension educators were swamped with calls while trying to organize resources for ranchers,

Bess said, and they could not conduct their regular responsibilities.

“People wanted to donate money to help those affected,” said Damona Doye, associate vice president of OSU Extension. “We couldn’t take money, and I didn’t know what our options were for other kinds of coordination.

“I was contacted by an OSU Extension educator wanting to know what we could do,” said Doye, a professor in the OSU Department of Agricultural Economics at the time.

Doye discovered gaps in resources when she contacted the Extension Disaster Education Network, she said, which was concerning because Oklahoma has more than its fair share of disasters.

As a system, OSU Extension needed to be better prepared for supporting its staff, Doye said. She wanted to ensure they responded to communities in an effective way, she added.

As a result, OSU Extension formed the Disaster Assistance Response Team. DART is a group of individuals with disaster training, said Donna Patterson, DART state commander.

“We just want to help people,” Patterson said.

DART was formed in response to wildfires in western Oklahoma around 2019, Doye said.

“The intent of DART is to reach out to OSU Extension educators,” said Jason Warren, assistant director and state program leader for agriculture, natural resources and community economic development for OSU Extension. “We help determine the magnitude of the disaster and figure out what resources can be sent.

“Whether it’s information about animal health or fencing costs, anything you can imagine related to agriculture, we can send it,” Warren added.

DART also helps with the recovery phases, Warren said. The team helps county educators understand how to quantify and report damages to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.

Additionally, DART works with OSU Extension at the county level to determine what residents might need.

This includes organizing non-financial donations and providing resources

COWBOY JOURNAL 97

for residents, such as how to navigate water and fire damage, Warren said.

“The response is actually the smaller end of what we do,” said Amy Hagerman, associate professor of agricultural economics and DART state program leader.

Response is critical, but so is preparedness training, Hagerman said. The team undergoes training to understand first responder language and to be ready to work alongside first responders after disasters, she said.

Additionally, the team works to educate first responders. The team has conducted training events for U.S. Army civil battalion, police and animal control workers, Hagerman added.

“In disaster situations, you want to think three steps ahead,” Patterson said. “We have done some animal handling trainings for first responders.

“These trainings are for hazard mitigation and preparedness, how to handle cattle on the road or if there is a disease,” Patterson said. “Training prepares them for when disaster strikes.”

When the team meets after a disaster, Patterson acts as a voice for county educators. After assessing the on-site situation, she communicates the county’s needs to the rest of DART, Patterson said.

Patterson is an OSU Extension educator in Rogers County, so she has a personal relationship with many educators in the state, she said.

Patterson stays in constant contact with fellow OSU Extension educators to determine the needs of the county and how to help them through the process, she added.

“I know how the information needs to be packaged for us to utilize it most efficiently,” Patterson said.

Patterson helps gather relevant fact sheets and coordinate information.

“Patterson is the individual you need talking to someone who is in the middle of a crisis,” Hagerman said.

DART comes alongside people experiencing emotion and trauma and just need someone else to be there for them, Hagerman said.

One role Patterson has is checking in with the OSU Extension educators.

“It’s not just, ‘Do you need anything?’” Hagerman said. “It’s, ‘How are you doing?’ ‘Do you want to talk about anything?’ Often, they do want to talk, to vent because it’s hard.

“My role is more of coordination and making sure all the parts are talking to each other,” Hagerman said.

In such an event, many individuals and groups need information to

provide resources, she explained.

Many times, OSU Extension educators in the county get bogged down with trying to communicate their needs.

“I am the one in the middle who takes updates from Patterson about what is happening in the field,” Hagerman said.

Hagerman then synthesizes the information and distributes it to the correct people, she said.

“We are continuing to help build our capacity to respond and to update resources that might be needed at the county level,” Doye said.

The team has continued to grow and fill positions, Doye added.

“It takes a certain kind of individual to be working alongside first responders in a very high-stress environment,” Hagerman said.

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Flood waters recede east of Muskogee, Oklahoma, when the Arkansas River flooded June 4, 2019. Photo by Dustin Mielke of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.

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COWBOY JOURNAL 99

In her 30 years as a faculty member, Gail Wilson has contributed to groundbreaking research on mycorrhiza. Photo by Quincy Thuener.

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A Symbiotic

Story

OSU REGENTS PROFESSOR SHARES HER GRASSLAND RESEARCH

G

ail Wilson grew up with an innate curiosity for science.

Studying the charismatic animals of the world sparked her science interest, she said, but she found her passion in the unseen and dimly perceived sector of grassland fungi.

Wilson, emeritus OSU Regents professor, began her post-secondary education in 1975 as a biology student at Mercyhurst University, which led her to a master’s in biology from Slippery Rock University, both located in Pennsylvania.

Wilson’s research contributions began during her master’s program when she explored mining site restoration and was introduced to mycorrhizal fungi and its symbiotic relationship with plants.

At the start of her career, limited insight and exploration of mycorrhizal fungi was available, Wilson said.

“If we knew anything about mycorrhizal fungi, it was mostly in trees or row crop agriculture,” Wilson said.

Her knowledge of mycorrhizal fungi earned her a role as a doctoral student at Kansas State University.

Within her doctoral program, she worked in partnership with grassland research sites and became one of the first researchers to work with mycorrhizal fungi in grasslands.

Wilson’s research emphasized mycorrhiza — the symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants — in grassland ecology, fire ecology, nutrient dynamics and grassland restoration.

Throughout her research, she expanded upon her prior studies, researching the benefits, shifts and uses of mycorrhiza in various sectors of the discipline, Wilson said.

“Gail is a pioneer in the field of mycorrhizal fungi,” said Nancy Johnson,

WHAT IS MYCORRHIZA? Mycorrhiza (mīkōˈ rīzə), meaning “fungus-root,” is defined as a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a plant. The relationship is a natural infection of a plant root system: The fungi supply the plant with phosphorus, and the plant supplies the fungus with carbon.

The mycorrhiza relationship has existed since the first plants on Earth. Today, several thousand mycorrhizal fungi variations exist. Gail Wilson, emeritus OSU Regents professor, explored the ancient symbiosis between fungi and grass, discovering valuable insight into the uncharted exchange powering grasslands globally.

LEARN MORE

COWBOY JOURNAL 101

Gail Wilson, pictured in 2000 (left) and 1997, began researching mycorrhiza in 1994.

Photo by Quincy Thuener.

Northern Arizona University Regents professor and Wilson’s colleague.

“Both of us started studying mycorrhizal fungi while getting our master’s degrees, when few scientists had begun researching this symbiosis.”

Johnson and Wilson worked together on a study and found fungi varied with locations, climates, soil types and plant evolution.

Wilson’s roots in mining site restoration led her to apply this study’s findings to disturbed grasslands, where she emphasized the vital role of placing native plants with native fungi for efficient restoration, Wilson said.

Wilson presented her findings of the mycorrhizal fungi’s restorative properties to plant breeders with the motive of breeding the natural process back into plants, she said.

“We can breed plants for food security and maintain that mycorrhizal symbiosis to act as a biofertilizer,” Wilson said. “It is more cost-efficient, doesn’t put chemicals in the waterways, and repairs damage.”

During her career, Willson contributed to 64 research grants and published 124 journal articles in relation to her grassland ecology, fire ecology, nutrient dynamics, and grassland restoration research findings.

Her research contributed to what is known about fungi for soil health, plant recovery time from grazing, insects and drought. It also showed how impactful the environment is on a plant’s evolution, she said.

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“Wilson has made significant progress in putting plants and fungi together, where they naturally belong,” Johnson said. “Throughout her career, she has done a lot for understanding mycorrhiza in grasslands but also for mentoring the next generation.”

In addition to her research, Wilson served as a professor in the OSU Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management from 2007 to 2024. She held OSU’s Sarkeys Distinguished Professorship in Rangeland Soil Ecology, was her department’s graduate research coordinator from 2010-2017, and became a Regents professor in 2020 for her contributions to research, teaching, and leadership.

She taught a variety of courses at OSU related to mycorrhizal fungi, including restoration ecology, evolution of symbiosis and nutrient cycling. She mentored graduate and undergraduate students through their research projects, assisting with a total of 397 student research presentations during her role as a professor.

“Dr. Wilson gave us free rein to work on our research projects,” said MaKayla Friend, 2023 OSU freshman research scholar and Wilson’s student. “She helped guide us but let us be independent enough that we felt she believed in us. She made us feel like no idea was a bad idea and guided us through failures.”

Friend recalls the unmatched passion Wilson displayed for her students

and research when they met for the first time, she said.

“I think our first conversation was three hours long,” Friend said. “We talked about mycorrhiza and all the things she was researching. She was so passionate about her job.”

Wilson loved working with students, especially curious undergrads who ventured into her lab, she said.

“When my undergrads got into research, they would ask ‘Did I do this right?’” Wilson said. “I would answer, ‘I don’t know. No one knows this answer. We are finding this out and publishing it so people will know!’”

Wilson is a generous and giving mentor who truly cares about her students, Johnson said.

Her research students experienced her guidance going out to the greenhouses, working with plants, and learning about chemistry in the lab.

Wilson’s students also learned about soil ecology and about making a difference with their research, Friend said.

“Wilson shows a lot of love for her undergrad students,” Friend said. “She had six last year that were all doing different things. She gave special attention to all of them, making sure no one felt less important.”

Wilson is embarking on her next stage of life after retiring in October 2024. She can still be found working on some projects and graduate student manuscripts at OSU, but her role is now quite different from her past 17 years on campus, she said.

Going forward, Wilson hopes to see continued growth of the NREM department, she said. As a retiree, she said she plans to return to her passion for charismatic fluffy organisms by adding a puppy to her family.

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COWBOY JOURNAL 103

WILDLIFE WELLNESS MEETS

STUDENTS EXPLORE ONE HEALTH APPROACH IN NAMIBIA

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A

s the sun falls over the Namibian sky, the horizon is painted with an array of colors.

Various animals meander around a small watering hole as 14 Ferguson College of Agriculture students observe from afar.

The college needed a study-abroad course to Africa, said Karl Rich, director of the Master of International Agriculture Program at Oklahoma State University.

“There hadn’t been a course to Africa offered since the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rich said. “There also was the need to bring back a One Healthrelated course, so we wanted to fill both gaps.”

Since 2001, Rich has traveled to Namibia for projects and trips, so he had several connections there, he said.

His colleague and co-leader of the course, Bruce Noden, a professor in the OSU Department of Entomology

Watering holes are a popular spot to view wildlife while they are active. Photo by Rhiannon Curley.

COWBOY JOURNAL 105

Janella Byrd (lower front left), Jessica Hope (kneeling right of flag), Miracle Nelson (back left), Duinne Owens, Stephanie Harvey, Rusty Cooper, Addie Potts, Karl Rich, Kiley Gerstner, Molly Sawatzky, Kaytie Cash, Bruce Noden, Karlee Favor, Rhiannon Curley, Kaley Kern, Tessa Tronzano and Katie Scott visit the Namib Desert. Photo courtesy of Rhiannon Curley.

and Plant Pathology, lived in Namibia for three years as a faculty member at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. Together, the two created a one-of-a-kind itinerary focused on One Health as applied in Namibia, Rich said.

One Health looks at the intersection of human, animal and environmental health with a focus on how the different areas interact with each other, Rich said.

The duo focused on creating a personable experience that allowed students to see and encounter as many new things as possible, Noden said.

“We focused on safety and experiences,” Noden said. “It is important for us to taste, smell, see, feel and touch new things. This was something we considered as we planned all the destinations for our course.”

During the 14-day trip to Africa, the group traveled across the country in 106 WINTER/SPRING 2025

two vans and a car. Namibia is a large country, and the cities are spread out, so driving is the best way to travel, Noden said.

“It was the ultimate sub-Saharan road trip,” Rich said. “We traveled over 1,500 miles across the country during our short time there.”

Namibia is a less-developed country, so many roads were unpaved and bumpy, said Rhiannon Curley, master of international agriculture student and graduate assistant for the course.

“Driving the van was a little terrifying at first,” Curley said. “I had to learn how to drive on the other side of the road and watch for animals crossing.

At one point, we almost got into an accident with a donkey!”

In northern Namibia, livestock freely roam, unlike the more enclosed environments typically found in the United States. This different method of raising livestock allowed students to

evaluate disease management and prevention between livestock and wildlife through the One Health approach, Rich said.

“It is interesting to think about how environmental, human, and animal health all interact and impact each other,” Curley said. “You can’t just isolate them.”

During the first few days of the course, the students spent time learning about One Health in Namibia.

After gaining a basic understanding, they visited parts of the country where they could experience the methods being put into action, Noden said.

“I love agriculture, but I was curious to see how agricultural practices consider factors like wildlife,” said Tessa Tronzano, animal science senior.

During the course, the group spent three days in Etosha National Park.

“One of the most memorable parts of the trip was during an afternoon at

a watering hole in the national park,” Tronzano said. “We had been watching the animals at the watering hole for a few hours, so we were about to get up and leave for the day.

“As we started to stand up, an elephant came, so we decided to stay a little longer,” Tronzano added.

“Five minutes later, a whole herd of elephants were gathered around the watering hole running and playing, including a baby and its mom.”

The national park is home to native wildlife, but this situation also raises concerns about disease management, Noden said.

Etosha National Park has a fence surrounding the 5.5-million-acre property that divides the country into two sections and keeps the wildlife separated from livestock. While the fence has fulfilled its mission of disease prevention, it creates vast differences in the health of animals and infrastructure, Rich said.

The northern part of Namibia and several neighboring countries suffer with foot-and-mouth disease in their livestock, he added.

Foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious virus, can be catastrophic to a herd, Noden said. Beef is critical to the Namibian economy, so if an outbreak were to occur, it would be disastrous, he added.

To ensure disease prevention efforts are implemented, the national park has controlled entrances and exits. All vehicles are stopped and inspected to guarantee no animals or meat products are brought from one side to the other, Tronzano said.

Despite the different practices used to raise livestock in Namibia, the goal of raising healthy animals remains the same, Tronzano said. Namibians have less advanced technology than the United States, but they still use accurate records to ensure all animals are healthy, Tronzano added.

Accurate records document annual vaccines and the purchasing and selling of animals.

“Namibians pride themselves in their ability to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease,” Tronzano said. “Namibia continues to remain

It is important for us to taste, smell, see, feel and touch new things.

BRUCE NODEN one of Africa’s largest beef exporters due to these efforts.”

Most students in the course knew about the importance of disease management and traceability but deepened their understanding as they evaluated situations from a more holistic, One Health approach, Rich said.

The group visited the University of Namibia School of Veterinary Medicine in Windhoek, Namibia.

The facility was not as technologically advanced as veterinary medicine schools found in the United States, yet students were still doing similar cutting-edge research, Tronzano said.

“The unique part of studying abroad is showing students the parallels between countries,” Rich said.

Namibia has managed the challenge of foot-and-mouth disease by using the One Health approach and thinking

critically about the way everything interacts with and impacts each other, Tronzano said.

“The main thing I learned on this course was how to adapt and think critically,” Tronzano said. “Comparing the similarities and differences between Namibia and the United States brought new insight into the way I think about things.”

Studying abroad allows students to gain a new perspective, Noden said.

Not only do the courses allow students to step outside of the classroom and gain hands-on experiences, but also the experience gives them the opportunity to learn and embrace other cultures, Noden added.

“Just because it isn’t what we are used to doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Curley said. “Reflecting back on the fact that our differences aren’t bad has changed the way I think about things.”

AINSLEY TREESH

EAGLE, IDAHO

A tour guide from Living Desert Tours (left), Kaytie Cash and Janella Byrd learn about wildlife that inhabit the sand dunes. Photo by Rhiannon Curley.

COWBOY JOURNAL 107

Rooted

Viticulture in

Aaron Essary spent countless hours among the vines at Weingut Alten in Mosel, Germany. Photo by Aaron Essary.

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A

LOVE FOR GRAPES AND WINE LED VITICULTURALIST TO GERMANY

deep-rooted passion for plants took Aaron Essary across the ocean to Germany.

Essary’s interest in horticulture began at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where an introductory botany class sparked his curiosity.

“I did not know anything about grapes or wine back then — I just knew I loved plants,” said Essary, Oklahoma State University Extension viticulture specialist. “After finishing my bachelor’s degree at Stephen F. Austin, I started working at a local plant nursery in Tyler, Texas.”

For eight months, he honed his skills at the nursery, Essary said. Then, he discovered a nearby vineyard that sparked a new interest: viticulture.

Essary purchased a camper and traveled around Texas, working for different wineries and farms, gaining hands-on experience, and deepening his connection to the industry, he said.

He completed a master’s degree in horticulture at Texas A&M University.

He worked in the industry for a year before joining the Ferguson College of Agriculture faculty in August 2022.

In 2023, Essary enrolled at OSU to work toward his doctoral degree in viticulture and enology.

“Starting my doctorate, I’m still focusing on grapes and winemaking,” said Essary. “My dissertation is focused on the interaction of grapevines and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.”

Using the Cimarron Valley Research Station in Perkins, Oklahoma, Essary and Blake Tittsworth work hands-on with grapes. The pair spend about 60% of their time in Perkins at the research facility and 40% in a lab in the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center on the OSU campus.

“We’re either conducting research and taking soil moisture measurements for Aaron’s dissertation, or doing normal vineyard work, such as setting up wires, irrigation, or planting,” said Blake Tittsworth, horticulture and Spanish junior.

As a state viticulturist, Essary offers educational information and resource materials statewide, specifically to those interested in winemaking, vineyards, or professionals within the industry.

“OSU Extension is about teaching the public,” Essary said. “I put on workshops, host webinars and also teach a class, but it’s not a formal classroom of students.”

Essary teaches an in-person class once a month from March to

September at the Cimarron Valley Research Station.

The class, centered around prospective growers, allows participants to look at the cyclic nature of a grapevine from bud to harvest, Essary said. He also hosts monthly webinars for industry professionals.

In his role, Essary assists 63 licensed wineries across Oklahoma, Essary said. He visits at an owner’s request and provides advice as needed, he added.

Essary has an 11-month contract, giving him July off.

“I realized I had the entire month off and decided I wanted to leave the country,” Essary said. “Rather than sit here and do nothing, I decided I’m going to Germany.”

The idea was supported by colleagues and by horticultural and landscape architecture department head Justin Quetone Moss, who told Essary this opportunity was one he should not pass up.

“When Aaron first mentioned this unique opportunity, I encouraged him to take advantage of it,” Moss said.

“It’s not often one gets the chance to learn about enology from one of the best regions in the world. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and

COWBOY JOURNAL 109

Aaron Essary captures a bird’s eye view of the Mosel Valley, Germany’s third-largest wine-producing region. Photo by Aaron Essary.

experience for Aaron, and he will now use this knowledge to benefit Oklahoma growers and winemakers.”

Beyond the industry experiences, Germany has a special meaning for Essary as a way to reconnect with his heritage, he said.

“First and foremost, my grandfather is German,” Essary said. “My grandfather was born and raised in eastern Germany. I wanted to see where my family hails from.”

Germany has been a destination Essary has always wanted to visit, he said, but stepping into his role as state viticulturist provided him with a path to get there.

“The connection I made in Germany was completely personal,” Essary said.

“It wasn’t your typical study-abroad course recognized by OSU.” Like the United States, Germany has wine regions, or geographical areas known for wine production because of the climate.

Essary started researching wine regions throughout Germany, specifically Mosel, he said.

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“I found a little family operation called Weingut Alten,” Essary said.

The Alten family, consisting of Klaus, Dorothee, and their two adult daughters, Julia and Daniela, own a 20-acre vineyard in Mosel.

“I read about their operation and sent them an email,” Essary said. “I told them who I was and what I did and explained I would work for free if they would house and feed me.

“They responded and said it sounded fun,” Essary said “We met over Zoom, and it just took one Zoom meeting. I said I’d love to come if you would have me, and they gratefully accepted.”

Once his arrangements were made, Essary booked a ticket to fly to Mosel, Germany. The rest of his story unfolds among the vines, as he immersed himself in the life of a small German vineyard and welcomed the culture of German winemaking.

On the first day, Essary began his work in the vineyards alongside the Alten family. The family maintains all aspects of the winery from the vineyards and the winemaking to the

packaging and selling of wine. The marketing for the vineyard is even taken care of in-house by the two daughters, Essary said.

“We worked six days a week and started every day at 7 a.m. in the vineyard,” Essary said. “The start of the day was a lot of canopy management, leaf pulling, and hedging. Then, we would typically break for lunch around 1 p.m., which typically consisted of bread.

“Then, we’d either go back to the field or go to the warehouse to label bottles, filter wine, or package and ship wine, and typically end our day around 7 p.m.,” he added.

Working alongside Klaus Alten, who only speaks German, often provided a challenge for Essary, he said.

“I learned a few German phrases, and he learned how to speak slow and simply,” Essary said. “I learned to say ‘ich verstehen,’ which is ‘I understand,’ and ‘ich verstehen nicht,’ which is ‘I don’t understand.’ So, he would ramble something in German, and I’d say I understand, or I don’t understand, and he’d try again.”

Aaron Essary (second from left) spends a relaxing moment with Julia Alten (left), Dorothee Alten, Daniela Alten and Klaus Alten. Photo courtesy of Aaron Essary.

Winemaking throughout Germany is essentially the same as it is in the U.S.; however, Essary noticed subtle differences, he said.

For example, Americans use T-posts and wire to grow vines horizontally, whereas Germans use a single pole and grow vines vertically, Essary said.

“Another thing the Germans do is wild fermentation,” Essary said. “They don’t add yeast when they pick grapes and smash them to make wine. The yeast they use occurs naturally.”

Germany has a thousand-year build up of naturally occurring winemaking yeast everywhere, eliminating the need to add yeast, Essary said.

Attempting wild fermentation in Oklahoma would be taking a great risk because of the unknown yeast in the air, resulting in poor taste and spoilage, he added.

Essary also observed the difference in the terrain on which Germans maintain their vineyards compared to Oklahoma, he said.

“All of the vineyards are on a slope,” Essary said. “So, half the time I was

working it felt like I was hiking. You couldn’t get a tractor up and down the vineyard, so you had to do everything by hand.”

Back in Oklahoma, Essary plans to complete his doctorate and hopes to begin teaching crop physiology and viticulture classes within the Ferguson College of Agriculture, he said.

“I don’t know where to begin to get it in the works, but if I had it my way, I and another professor would take 10 students and go live abroad while also working on a vineyard winery for weeks at a time,” Essary said.

Engaging with viticultural universities in Germany, Essary would like the program to partner with one of the universities to provide housing for students while exploring the vineyards, he said.

In the meantime, Essary plans to incorporate some of the differences in infrastructure at the facility in Perkins by adding the single pole practice this spring, he said.

Essary hopes to visit Germany during winter break to see the

vineyards in a dormant season and then return in summer 2025, he said.

“The fact the vineyard and wine connect us is why I want to keep going back,” Essary said.

Essary learned and experienced much about a culture that goes back hundreds of years, he said.

The experiences he gathered and memories he made are ones to appreciate for a lifetime, he added.

“The biggest impact was learning how to just appreciate life, appreciate wine, and understand it’s a product from the earth,” Essary said.

ALEXIS VICKREY TROY, MISSOURI

COWBOY JOURNAL 111

FERGUSON COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

ALUMNI SOCIETY NEWS

THE 2024 HOMECOMING C

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For OSU Homecoming 2024, Ferguson College of Agriculture alumni, faculty, staff and students gathered in the courtyard of the new Agricultural Hall. The celebration honored the college’s graduates reaching their 10-, 25- and 50year milestones.

The event provided alumni and guests with refreshments, giveaways, activities and more for guests of all ages to enjoy: 1. Tess Haddock (left) and Rob Haddock; 2. Don Treadway; 3. Scott Dvorak (left) and James Trentham; 4. Sumit Sharma (left) and Jason Warren; 5. Justin Anderson (left) and Jay Albright; 6. John Horschler (left) and Cheryl DeVuyst; 7. Rosemary Lusby (left) and Keith Lusby; 8. Gretchen Mafi (left) and Marshal Streeter; 9. Tim Smith (left), Mida Smith, Dick Shepherd and Mary Kay Shepherd. Photos by Sophia Fahleson, Alyssa Hardaway, Kristin Knight and Maddy Nissen.

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G CELEBRATION

FERGUSON COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE ALUMNI SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Justin Anderson

President Stillwater, Oklahoma At-Large Member

Becky Walker Chandler Vice President Stratford, Oklahoma Southeast District

Travis Jones

Secretary/Treasurer Roff, Oklahoma At-Large Member

4

Herb Lengel

Executive Secretary Stillwater, Oklahoma

Barry Bessinger

Stillwater, Oklahoma Northeast District

Will Chaney

Roff, Oklahoma Southeast District

Tucker Dotson

Enid, Oklahoma Northwest District

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HOW TO GET INVOLVED

You can stay connected with and show your support of the college by becoming a member of the OSU Alumni Association and the Ferguson College of Agriculture Alumni Society.

A portion of all OSU Alumni Association membership dues received are returned to the college to support alumni-sponsored events, scholarships and student programming.

Each year, the Ferguson College of Agriculture Alumni Society Board of

Directors coordinates and is involved with several events, including the Ferguson College Roundup, the annual Homecoming Celebration and Alumni Meeting, the Ferguson Week cookout, and more.

If you are interested in getting involved with these activities, consider becoming a board member. Visit agriculture.okstate.edu/alumni-friends to learn more.

Matt Gard

Fairview, Oklahoma Northwest District

Danielle Metz

Binger, Oklahoma Southwest District

Meg Stangl

Okarche, Oklahoma At-Large Member

Marcus Washington Oklahoma City Southwest District

COWBOY JOURNAL 113

2 024 DR. LEE DENNEY ’ 76 , ’ 78

N. MALONE MITCHELL JR. ’ 63

Your membership supports the recognition of our most distiguished alumni.

Join these Ferguson College of Agriculture graduates as active members of the OSU Alumni Association by visiting ORANGECONNECTION.org/ferguson.

Made for

COWBOYS BY COWBOYS COWBOY MEATS RETAIL STORE Cowboy Meats is student operated and offers a wide variety of locally processed meats.

The retail store is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays at Dock 4. For more information visit food. okstate.edu or call 405-744-MEAT. Scan the QR code to connect with Cowboy Meats.

114 WINTER/SPRING 2025

Our passion for agriculture

powers our world.

Oklahoma’s family farmers and ranchers have a dedicated commitment to producing food, fiber and fuel while taking care of the land and our natural resources. Oklahoma Farm Bureau is proud to advocate for Oklahoma’s agriculture community, ensuring farmers and ranchers can continue to build the sustainable future that has made our state vibrant for generations.

Together, Farm Bureau members support our state’s agriculture community so our fellow Oklahomans can pursue their passions.

www.okfarmbureau.org/join

We are rural Oklahoma.® Featured: Garrett Haskins, Kay County Farm Bureau member

Cowboy Journal Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership 215 Agricultural Hall Stillwater, OK 74078-6020