2019 ASHS Annual Conference

I am equally proud of my teaching, my grant writing, and research program at Murray State University. My scholarly output is aligned to my passion for undergraduate student research. I strongly support undergraduate students in their efforts to become better scholars. I model enthusiastic research methods in my classroom and my teaching is in turn enriched by my experience with my students. These are the two important principles that guide my practice, undergraduate student research and teaching excellence.

During my tenure I have sought to establish an active interdisciplinary research program. I have partnered with faculty both in and outside of my discipline on quantitative research projects. My objective as a researcher is to serve my students, academic peers, practitioners, policymakers, and members of the general public, by conducting relevant and rigorous research.

During the last four years I have been the recipient or co-recipient of approximately $42,000 in research/scholarly funding from a number of entities, including the State of Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety, private corporate sponsorship, and the Murray State University office of Academic Affairs. Findings from these funded studies have been disseminated via paper presentations at professional meetings and symposia, research reports to sponsoring agencies, and poster presentation sessions. Thus far the majority of my academic output has been related to two areas: (1) soil characteristics and tillage practices and (2) their effects on plant growth.

My future research/scholarly agenda will build upon my past and present projects. This summer I am investigating how biochar-based soil amendments can improve hops yield, the effect biochar has on field corn yields when used as a soil amendment, and physical risk factors of dark fired tobacco harvesting. In the near future I want to look at how science is contextualized in secondary horticulture programs and how public and community gardens can be used to teach science in secondary agriculture programs.

My research objectives interact with my teaching objectives in the area of undergraduate student research. My practice is guided by the intent to develop research capacity in my young horticulturalists. I believe I have been successful as my students are presenting their research posters at local, national, and international conferences.

Teaching is the majority component of my appointment. I teach between 12 and 15 semester hours each semester. When I started at Murray State University (MSU) in 2015 I entered a faculty line that had been vacant for two years. Successfully transitioning and redeveloping the horticulture course offerings, often from scratch, has been an invigorating challenge.

I serve the horticultural profession locally, regionally, and nationally. Locally I teach classes for University of Kentucky extension master gardeners and give talks to local civic and private organizations. Last summer I was contracted by the Kentucky Department of Education, Division of College and Career Readiness, Office of Career and Technical Education, to develop and instruct a two-day greenhouse operations workshop for Kentucky secondary educators. Topics covered included greenhouse and crop scheduling, lab management, and lesson and curriculum development. Teachers also received hands-on training in plant propagation methods and irrigation installation.

Regionally, I help to host FFA career development events, including our MSU Field Day. These events are wonderful recruiting opportunities and are a source of pride for our regional campus. Nationally, I was the organizer and facilitator of the horticulture component of the 2019 NACTA Judging Contest, hosted at Murray State University. I also served the horticultural industry as the ASHS Southern Region ACB adviser for the last three years.

I believe that my university teaching experience, my record of professional service, my research background and technical expertise in horticulture, and my commitment to curriculum development and student success, make me a strong candidate for the early career award outlined in your notice. I thank you for your consideration and look forward to your reply.