Growing up in Chicago, Ill., Lisette Perez said she didn’t have many opportunities to explore the outdoors during her formative years. When she chose the natural resource science and management degree program at the University of the Missouri, the outdoors suddenly became her classroom. “I definitely took a chance choosing a degree that I wasn’t completely familiar with, but I…
Service Learning ⋅ Page 1
Succeeding in a Team Setting
Team and Organizational Leadership course offers service learning opportunities
As part of the CAFNR Experience, undergraduate students in the College have the opportunity to gain real-world skills through hands-on learning. Those experiences are especially true in the Team and Organizational Leadership course (AG_ED_LD 2260) within the agricultural education degree program. Along with team-building exercises, students enrolled in the course participate in an important service learning component. Service learning is…
Agriculture Education on the Move
CAFNR partners with Agriculture on the Move, a program of Missouri Farmers Care, for student training
Agriculture Education on the Move (AEOTM), a program of Missouri Farmers Care, began in 2011 as a way to bring free, hands-on agriculture education to third and fourth grade students throughout the state. John Tummons, an assistant teaching professor of agricultural education and leadership in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) Division of Applied…
Q&A With Lydia Jefferson
Jefferson is a junior in environmental sciences
Why did you decide to come to the University of Missouri and major in environmental sciences? What do you enjoy about the program itself? The field of study? I’ve wanted to come to Mizzou since I was in eighth grade, back when I wanted to be a fiction writer. Even though my interests shifted to STEM during high school, my…
Q&A With Balaji Cherupalla
Cherupalla is a senior in biochemistry
Why did you decide to come to the University of Missouri and major in biochemistry? What do you enjoy about the program itself? The field of study? As someone who has grown up in Missouri and spent a considerable amount of time in Columbia, Mizzou was my clear choice for college. Coming into my first year at MU, I knew…
A Commitment to Social Responsibility and Public Service
Animal science course allows students to gain service learning experience
For the past five years, Rocío Melissa Rivera has helped students find ways to make a positive impact in the Columbia community through service learning. Rivera, an associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences, teaches Animal Science 2140: Companion Animals, a course dedicated to teaching students about companion animals such as cats, dogs and horses. The course is one…
Q&A With Sean Allen
Allen is a senior in agricultural systems technology
Why did you decide to come to the University of Missouri and major in agricultural systems technology? What do you enjoy about the program itself? The field of study? It was almost destiny for me to attend the University of Missouri. I’m a legacy student, and my mother works in Jesse Hall as a programmer analyst. However, I was not…
Q&A With Kaija Caldwell
Caldwell is a senior in animal sciences
Why did you decide to come to the University of Missouri and major in animal sciences? What do you enjoy about the program itself? The field of study? I decided to come to Mizzou because it was far enough from home that I could create a new, unique chapter of my life but close enough that I could get there…
Developing Student Leaders
Litton Leadership Scholars Program offers students a chance to grow as leaders
Nearly a decade ago, and just one year into his teaching career at the University of Missouri, Jon Simonsen traveled with a handful of MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) faculty and administrators to Chillicothe, Mo. The purpose of the trip was to meet with board members of the Jerry Litton Family Memorial Foundation, which was created…
After Hours: A Refreshing Project
Mizzou SAIFD creating gingerbread houses for Ronald McDonald House Charities
The University of Missouri Student American Institute of Floral Designers (SAIFD) puts their artistic flair into every project that they partake in. The club is also focused on giving back to the community. That artistic flair has been in overdrive during the club’s most recent project, a special one for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri. The annual Build…