Howdy, I'm Jess.

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I am a Texan, sister, explorer, researcher, creator, storyteller, a student of life–and a student at Virginia Tech. Currently, I am a doctoral student at the university, and work as a researcher, funded by VT's Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, while in the Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education. As the first social science researcher awarded this fellowship, I proudly center my area of study in the nexus of agriculture, development, gender, and storytelling. Practically, I utilize the power of stories and storytelling in research to better understand the lives of women farmers and work to discover ways to improve their lives, and livelihoods.

 

I work toward this goal because I believe everyone on this planet is unique, with their own story to tell–but we all have two things in common: we have to eat, and we have to share this earth with one another. I also have witnessed in my own life how women are the backbone of society, and in many spaces in this world, they are the backbone of the food and agricultural system–from producing their own food, to feeding their community and the next generation. Therefore, women in agriculture, who are working tirelessly to feed the planet, deserve more attention, assistance, and are the focus of my research. 

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Storytelling encompasses almost everything I do. From creating art with oil paint, to taking a photo that makes my heart sing, from constructing my own understanding of the world, to engaging others in order to understand their lives through research–storytelling has power; storytelling has purpose. Stories help people from different cultures connect, and they help us break down big statistics and research outputs to understand the human being behind the numbers. 

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Before I began at Virginia Tech, I received my undergraduate and master's degrees in agriculture communications and journalism, with a focus on international development in my research. This is where I gained my foundational love for storytelling, using story as a method in research, explored photography, and grew into the human I am now. After graduating, I served as the program coordinator for the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service's inaugural International Agriculture Education Fellowship Program, out of the Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture. In that role, I was charged with recruiting, selecting, training, and managing the first-ever class of fellows in the program. Together, we lived and worked in Ghana, partnered with 4H Ghana, to support Ghanaian science teachers who wanted to start youth agriculture education programs in their junior high schools. During that time, my love and appreciation for agricultural education as development grew, and my interest in serving women farmers remained steadfast. 

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That interest has informed my work now, as a Ph.D. student, and will continue to do so. Beyond graduation, I envision myself working and serving as a faculty member at an agriculturally-focused university. I am excited to continue researching and working on my current mission, and educating passionate agriculturalists and communicators. Continuing the interconnectedness of storytelling in what I teach and research will be my ultimate goal.