From left to right: Shibu Jose; Bob Sharp; Mike Collins; Tim Reinbott; Shari Freyermuth; Sandy Rikoon; Azlin Mustapha.Professor and Curators Distinguished Teaching Professor, Rural Sociology
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
My expertise covers the causes, consequences and extent of food insecurity in Missouri and U.S. My interest was piqued by The Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri when they asked me to provide a regional profile of client households in their 31-county area. After a survey research project of more than 1,300 households, Peggy Kirkpatrick, The Food Bank’s director, asked a simple question: Could we identify “gaps” in their geographic and social coverage? It was then I realized there was no census of hunger or any systematic research on hunger on a local or county-level scale in Missouri or the nation. This started the work of the CAFNR’s Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
I have to point to two challenges: First, there is the challenge of bringing visibility to a widespread problem in the U.S. that for most people is invisible in their everyday lives and occurs somewhere else in the world. The second challenge is how to simply and effectively communicate the complexity of the situation and its causes and consequences. Food insecurity is a core metro and rural problem, it affects the young and old, it is temporary for some and a chronic condition for others. How do we choose which messages to communicate?
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
We’ve developed some public-oriented tools such as the Missouri Hunger Atlas for communities, policy-makers, agencies and so on. We would like to develop better electronic resources on the extent of food insecurity problems, as well as their relationship to health vulnerabilities for children and adults.
Professor, Division of Plant Sciences
Director, Interdisciplinary Plant Group
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
Physiology of plant responses to drought, with emphasis on the under-studied but critically important area of root growth. I studied biological sciences for my B.S., and became fascinated with plant environmental physiology. I then took the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. in roots and drought.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
Conveying the message that improving crop drought tolerance is not a “quick fix,” but requires a commitment of time and investment over the long haul.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
The MU drought group developed a video and media releases last year, taking advantage of the newly-operational rainout shelters, to focus attention on our interdisciplinary approach for understanding “Roots under drought—model systems to the field.”
Associate Professor, Food Science Program
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
My area of expertise is food microbiology. I’ve always been interested in microbiology as a basic science and studying microscopic living things. When I discovered food microbiology, I was immediately attracted to the applied nature of this discipline and being able to apply basic science to such a basic human need – food!
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
To be able to convey scientific findings and facts in an understandable and interesting way to both a scientific and a non-scientific audience.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
I have had a few opportunities to talk to the media about my research in food safety in the past and am continually learning and building on improving ways to better inform the public about the important work that we do in the Food Science Program at MU.
Assistant Dean for Academic Programs, CAFNR
Director of Undergraduate Advising, Biochemistry
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
My area of expertise is biotechnology. I’ve always been interested in DNA and cloning – since ninth grade when I tried to clone a frog for my high school science project. This was based on an article I read in Scientific American which I thought was totally cool! (I didn’t get very far, but I remained interested.) I teach biotechnology to non-science majors in CAFNR.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
I don’t think the material is very difficult, but getting students interested in learning about it can be a challenge. I try to make it relevant to their lives. Among other things, we talk about food produced from genetically modified crops, genetic testing, forensics – all topics that they hear or see in the news or on TV shows. It can be difficult for them to get interested in the basic science that they need to learn to understand these topics, but I try to make it clear and simple without leaving out important details.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
In the class, I’ve tried to incorporate more case studies about the topics. I also have them write a paper on their choice of a product of biotechnology. I have them relate it to their future career. I think many students are surprised at how widespread biotechnology is and how it affects so many facets of their lives.
Director, Division of Plant Sciences
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
My training is in forage agronomy and my faculty career involved research in improved methods that farmers can use to preserve the hay and silage that are important for feeding their livestock. I also taught a course in Forage Utilization and quality that students in agronomy and animal sciences took as part of their undergraduate training. I grew up on a small farm where we grew tobacco, had pastures and cattle, and logged during the winter months, so my childhood was full of the miracles of nature. I was always inquisitive, so seeing how plants responded in different situations caused me to want to know why things happen the way they do.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
As the leader of a large and very diverse Division in CAFNR, my biggest communication challenge is being able to capture the vastness and complexity of everything our faculty and students do in a way that the general public can understand and appreciate. So, I would say that my challenge is in communicating with nonscientists about science. Plant Sciences is working to meet the challenge of producing nearly twice as much food as we do now by 2050 when the world’s population is expected to exceed 9 billion people. We will need some major new breakthroughs if we have any chance of meeting this goal.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
We have just completed a recruiting video that Susan Hollingsworth’s group did that we hope will help us communicate about our undergraduate programs to high school students, guidance counselors, parents and others who influence the choice of majors at Mizzou. I definitely feel that participating in the CAFNR Communications Fellows program will help me become more effective in communicating.
H.E. Garrett Endowed Professor
Director, The Center for Agroforestry at MU
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
I am an applied ecologist; I quantify key ecological processes and interactions that define ecological sustainability in production systems such as agroforests, dedicated bioenergy plantations and natural forests. I grew up on a homegarden agroforest in India and later discovered my passion for research while working on my undergraduate degree in forestry.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
While there are many communication challenges in my area, I will point out one of them related to adoption of alternative cropping systems such as agroforests and bioenergy plantations. While “science” has shown that many of these alternative cropping systems can be ecologically and economically superior to traditional cropping systems on certain types of land and for certain landowners (small landowners in particular), we are yet to see large scale adoption in the U.S. I don’t believe this is unique to agroforestry, but we need to find ways to overcome this communication challenge so that wide-scale adoption becomes a reality.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
Yes, the Center for Agroforestry has a communication strategy that’s multi-pronged. In addition to using print (newsletters, news releases, magazine articles) and online (website, online programs, videos on You Tube) media to reach out, we conduct workshops, training programs and conferences to inform the public and the industry about agroforestry and its benefits.
Superintendent, Bradford Research Center
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
As the Superintendent of the MU Bradford Research Center, I have a broad interest within plant sciences and natural resources. I often fill the gaps where research and education are needed and integrate many of the disciplines together that are not normally on the same page. For example, we bring modern field crop production together with wildlife habitat.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
Getting the message down to the level of the average person. I’ve given many tours and am amazed about how little the general public knows or understands about agriculture and where their food comes from. Also, there is a lot of misinformation within the public sector that we must be able to correct in a positive way.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
Yes, we work closely with CAFNR Communications to make sure that they know what is going on at Bradford and depend upon them to develop relationships with media outlets. Once a media outlet knows that we will speak to them and can explain what we are doing in a professional and clear manner, they will come back again and again.
Equine Instruction & Extension
What is your expertise and what got you interested in it?
I teach the equine science courses through Animal Science and oversee the management of our MU Equine Teaching Facility at South Farm. I’m also the equine extension contact on campus, primarily assisting with youth contests. I grew up in northwest Arkansas with both cattle and horses, and shared an equine interest with my father. My specific equine area of interest is in reproductive physiology and management, but throughout graduate school I discovered that my passion for teaching was just as strong. Our current equine program at Mizzou offers a unique, hands-on approach to teaching that allows students to take ownership of our campus equine breeding program.
What is the most important communication challenge in your area?
From an education standpoint, the biggest challenge is teaching our students and community to look at the source of information and judge its credibility. There are many opinions out there, but the best information is based in science and research.
Are you developing any strategies to inform the public, media and industry?
Our program utilizes a Facebook page to actively engage those interested in our teaching program. This includes alumni, equine professionals, students and the general community (just search “MU Equine”). Besides providing a life-line to our educational program, this media allows us to share research-based information regarding equine care.