Faculty Spotlight: Emily Buck

Dr. Emily Buck is a professor and academic advisor for the agricultural communication program in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL). 

Buck received her B.S. in Agricultural Communication from The Ohio State University in 2002 and went on to complete her M.S. and (2004) Ph.D. (2006) in Agricultural Communication from University of Florida. 

Dr. Buck has conducted research in multiple areas including visual communication, new communication tools, and communicating agriculture to consumers. 

As a Buckeye, Dr. Buck has taught a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in our department. A few of her courses include visual media in agricultural and natural resources (AGRCOMM 2130), agricultural feature writing (AGRCOMM 5135), and exploring agricultural communication, education, and leadership (COMLDR 1100). 

In addition to her involvement as a professor, Dr. Buck is also a co-director of the OSU Leadership Center and is actively involved in the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) here on campus. We are so glad to have engaged faculty like Dr. Buck in our department! 

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Mary Rodriguez

Dr. Mary Rodriguez is an assistant professor and academic advisor for the community leadership program in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL).

Rodriguez received her B.S. in Agricultural Education in 2008 from Texas A&M University, he rM.S. in Agricultural Education in 2010 from University of Florida and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Agricultural Extension at UF in 2015.

Dr. Rodriguezhas conducted research in multiple areas including women and community development, building resilient communities, developing community food security, and community leadership.

As a Buckeye, Dr. Rodriguez has taught a variety of classes in our department including research methods, extension education in developing countries, foundations of personal and professional leadership, and methods of teaching in nonformal learning environments.

In addition to her involvement in ACEL, she also holds memberships in several organizations including Association of Leadership Educators (ALE), American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE), and the Association for International Agriculture and Extension Education (AIEE).

We are so glad to have supportive faculty like Dr. Rodriguez in our department!

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Annie Specht


Dr. Annie Specht is an assistant professor and the undergraduate coordinator in the agricultural communication program in the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL).

Specht received her B.S. in 2008 and M.S. in 2010 in agricultural communication from Ohio State University and received her Ph.D. in agricultural communications and journalism from Texas A&M University in 2013.

She has conducted research in multiple areas including media portrayals of agriculture, visual communication, social media, and public perceptions of food, agricultural and environmental sciences.

Before coming home to Ohio State, Specht taught undergraduate courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in public relations, media production and professional development.

As an assistant professor at Ohio State, Dr. Specht teaches several courses in multimedia production, publication design, news and feature writing and editing, as well as data visualization. In addition to her various roles in ACEL, she also serves on the Ohio State University Senate.

We are very grateful to have an involved and passionate professor like Dr. Specht in our department!

Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Jera Niewoehner-Green

 

Dr. Jera Niewoehner-Green joined the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL) in August 2017 as an assistant professor of community leadership.

Niewoehner-Green teaches courses for ACEL about foundations of personal and professional leadership, youth organizations and program management, the leadership capstone project and critical perspectives in leadership development.

Prior to becoming a Buckeye, Dr. “N-G”, as the students call her, spent more than nine years as a public school educator for Metro Nashville Public Schools teaching Spanish and leadership development courses, as well as working outside the classroom as a Career and Technical Education academy coach for the Academies of Nashville, before returning to graduate school to obtain a doctorate in leadership development at the University of Florida in 2017. Her research at UF focused on women’s empowerment participation in leadership roles in rural Honduras.

She earned a B.A. in Spanish from Sweet Briar College and a post-baccalaureate teaching certification from St. Edward’s University, where she studied abroad in Spain at the University of Seville. She also completed her student teaching in Monterrey, Mexico through instructing pre-service primary teachers at the Escuela Normal Migeul F. Martínez. During her tenure at MNPS she completed her M.Ed. in community development and action at Vanderbilt University with research focused on high school service-learning to address community issues.

We are so thankful to have Dr. N-G as a member of our ACEL family!

ACEL Faculty Spotlight: Tom Stewart

 

Tom Stewart joined the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership as a lecturer in 2005. One of is long term goals was to teach and over the past 15 years has taught the Department’s courses is public speaking, public relations and senior transition from college. He has been awarded the Price Teaching Award, the NACTA Teaching Award and in 2019 was recognized by the University with the Distinguished Lecturer Award.

Before joining ACEL, Stewart worked in the broadcasting industry for more than 25 years as an account executive, general sales manager, general manager of WBNS Radio and eventually general manager and vice president of WBNS-TV. During his tenure at WBNS Television, Tom returned the station to dominance in community presence, gross advertising revenues and audience programming ratings. Tom retired from WBNS-TV in 2001.

In addition to his work in communication and education, Stewart has also been involved in the Columbus and Central Ohio community having served on the boards of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, The Community Shelter Board, The Grange Mutual Insurance Company and many more.

He is a graduate of Upper Arlington High School and The Ohio State University, where he obtained a degree in communication and education in 1972.

We are thankful for Tom’s dedication to our students and outstanding teaching abilities!