UMN Agricultural Education, Communication and Marketing

09/03/2026

AECM students are doing so many cool things at the Minnesota State Fair this year! Check out the Gopher Dairy Bar Takeover (hi, Kaitlin!), and earlier this week, the All-You-Can-Drink Milk Stand Takeover on CFANS channels. See you on campus next week, Gophers, and have fun at the fair!

🍦Gopher Dairy Bar Takeover🍦

My name is Kaitlin from the Gopher Dairy Club, and I am currently one of the managers of our dairy bar during the Minnesota State Fair.

I am a junior studying Animal Science and Agricultural Education, and a fun fact about me is my favorite dairy product is cheese!!

09/01/2026

Fall semester is almost here! If you are a current AECM student, be sure to stop by the Welcome Back Breakfast on the first day of classes next week.

You can RSVP via the link in your email - and we look forward to welcoming you back to campus!

08/27/2026

Dr. Troy McKay and Greta Tank partnered with Minnesota 4-H to host 18 youth from across the state for a Video Production Camp in mid-August! Youth attended virtual workshops before coming together for a three-day, in-person camp at the 4-H Building and St. Paul Campus. Teams brainstormed, storyboarded, wrote, filmed and edited their own short films, which will premiere on stage at the 4-H Building during the Minnesota State Fair on August 29.

08/25/2026

Twelve new and beginning Minnesota Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource (AFNR) teachers spent August 10–11 learning, collaborating, and adding new tools to their teaching toolbox through CASE AgX BriefCASE training at the University of Minnesota!

A big thank you to veteran AFNR teachers Jamie Gray (Owatonna) and Lisa Hoefs (Tri-City United) for facilitating two full days of hands-on professional learning. Through the Minnesota AFNR Teacher Induction Program (TIP), participants received CASE AgXplore, a ready-to-teach middle school/introductory agriculture curriculum valued at more than $800, along with training to help them put it to use right away.

Thanks to funding provided through the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council (MAELC), TIP could offer the curriculum and training at no cost to beginning teachers. This helps remove barriers to high-quality professional development, fosters collaboration among AFNR educators, and puts practical resources directly into the hands of teachers as they begin their careers.

We’re grateful for the investment in Minnesota’s newest AFNR educators, and excited to see how they bring AgXplore to life for their students this year!

08/19/2026

On July 28-29, Dr. Amy Smith, Associate Professor and Program Leader in Agricultural Education, participated in the College of Education and Human Development's LEAD: A Conference for Education Leaders. Alongside Lavyne Rada (Lakes Country Service Cooperative), Dr. Smith co-presented a session highlighting Minnesota's innovative approaches to strengthening the Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher pipeline.

The session explored Grow Your Own initiatives, flexible licensure pathways, and teacher induction programs that support educator recruitment, preparation, and retention. Attendees also learned how the Minnesota Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) Teacher Induction Program has served as a model for broader CTE and Special Education teacher induction efforts across the state.

We're proud to see our faculty engaged in work that supports the future of education across Minnesota!

08/17/2026

Our next AECM Alumni & Supporters Coffee Chat is TOMORROW! Sign up to hear updates regarding St. Paul campus commitments and engaging in dialogue with attendees about how UMN can better serve future St. Paul campus students. Register at https://umn.zoom.us/meeting/register/bYGbsUPWTJKhx5S2pzBR6g #/registration

08/13/2026

Minnesota Team Ag Ed truly is something special. We often talk about the "Ag Ed family," and this video (https://youtu.be/lSAtNzduhto) beautifully captures what that means—a network of people and organizations ready to support agriculture, food, and natural resource (AFNR) teachers and programs across Minnesota, and beyond our borders!

The footage was captured during the 2026 MAAE Conference Teacher Induction Program gathering for new teachers, and thanks to Courtney Spence's creativity behind the camera, we now have a wonderful way to showcase some of the people, partnerships, and support available through Team Ag Ed.

Whether you're a new teacher or have been in the classroom for years, we hope this serves as a reminder that you're never in this work alone. Enjoy the video, and thank you to everyone who helps make Minnesota Team Ag Ed such an incredible community! https://youtu.be/lSAtNzduhto

08/11/2026

We are pleased to announce the AECM students who have been named to the Dean’s List for the Spring 2026 semester. Congratulations to these students for their academic achievements! We are so proud of you!

08/06/2026

Registration is open for AECM 5252: Principles of Communication, Public Outreach, & Social Change for Ag, Environmental, & Life Sciences! The curriculum in this graduate course is designed to improve your ability to engage in public communication and outreach efforts. We will discuss both the science of science communication, as well as apply high-level concepts to the practice of science comm. Review case studies, current research, and programs to better understand connections between science communication, information acquisition, and behavior change! AECM 5252 is one of the core class options for both the Master of Science in Agricultural Education & Communication (Advanced Studies & Research track) and the new Science Communication & Outreach graduate minor program).

https://ag-ed.cfans.umn.edu/graduate/master-science/prof-studies
https://ag-ed.cfans.umn.edu/graduate/minor

08/03/2026

Join us via Zoom on Tuesday, August 18 from 9-10 AM (CST) for the next AECM Alumni & Supporters Coffee Chat! We'll engage in a conversation with alumni and supporters and hear updates about AECM happenings from faculty and staff. We are pleased to welcome Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, Ryan Schmeising, and Senior Advisor, Scott Lanyon, to the chat who will be sharing updates regarding St. Paul campus commitments and engaging in dialogue with attendees about how UMN can better serve future St. Paul campus students! Sign up at https://umn.zoom.us/meeting/register/bYGbsUPWTJKhx5S2pzBR6g #/registration