“CABLE has elevated my confidence in my leadership abilities, helping to portray how these principles exist outside of my own wheelhouse of agricultural communications.”
Q: What university are you attending and what are you studying?
Maggie: I am currently at Texas Tech University completing a masters degree in agricultural communications.
And yes, while I’m the delegate representing Texas, to be perfectly honest, I’m still getting used to the lone star state! I was raised in Washington and moved to Texas in August after completing my undergraduate degree in Idaho. So yes, I rather miss trees, hills, and a general sense of “green” outside.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy exploring the great outdoors! I’m always up for adventures to state or national parks.
I’ve also inherited a fascination with artisan breadmaking from my grandmother. I have a quietly fermenting jar of sourdough starter in my fridge which is derived from a culture which was carried across the west from my family’s pioneering days.
My summer jobs in high school were working in vineyards, and now I actually find training a vineyard (pruning and directing shoots on a trellis) to be incredibly relaxing.
What attracted you to CABLE and what do you hope to gain from your experience?
At heart, I’m a science communicator. I enjoy the challenge of translating scientific principles and concepts to public audiences, finding novel ways to tell stories and shed insight on the progress being made by professionals. The bioeconomy is a vast and rich field of promise. It’s exciting to watch the industry grow and mature, and to feel like you have a seat at the table in its development.
What are your career aspirations?
I’m chasing this crazy idea of integrating social science research to better understand consumer desires out of the food system- and to ultimately connect producers with consumers. My career aspirations are still rather abstract, as I want to help strengthen the agricultural industries of the pacific northwest with communications research. To me, the bioeconomy and agriculture are intrinsically linked, and I am confident both industries can work together to create economic opportunities for rural communities.
How do you think CABLE can help you in achieving your professional goals?
Something that I didn’t expect out of the CABLE program that it has granted me is a sense of community. Coming to graduate school I was plunked down in a foreign world without knowing another soul in the area. But I was a CABLE delegate from the start, afforded with a team of mentors and thought-provoking discussions which challenged me to dig in and take full advantage of my new environment.
CABLE has elevated my confidence in my leadership abilities, helping to portray how these principles exist outside of my own wheelhouse of agricultural communications. It’s easy to be swept up in the worlds of our own professions, and operate in relative isolation from other disciplines. CABLE has opened my eyes to the universal aspects of leadership, how they transcend beyond state allegiances and fields of study.