Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Summary of Minutes

S1095 Meeting Notes from NACS – Feb. 1, 2026

Meeting called to order by Taylor Ruth at 4:00

In attendance:

• Taylor Ruth – University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Quisto Settle – Oklahoma State University
• Lisa Lundy – University of Florida
• Garrett Steede – University of Minnesota
• Laura Fischer – Texas Tech University
• Cara Lawson – Ohio State University
• Jamie Greig - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Lex Lamm – University of Georgia
• Katie Sanders – North Carolina State University
• Blake Colclasure - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Jamie Louizzo - University of Florida
• Taylor Foerster – Oregon State University
• Sadie Hunderman - University of Florida
• Christopher Wirz – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Introductions & Workgroup Reports – Taylor Ruth

• National Chair – Taylor Ruth
• National Vice Chair – Lisa Lundy
• Secretary – Quisto Settle

Pedagogy Group – Quisto Settle

• Team is working on a collaborative project to collect data across their institutions for pedagogical research related to science communication

Public Comm Strategies and Message Development – Laura Fischer

• Group has met a few times
• Large group size has made it challenging to coordinate efforts

Tech Adoption Group – Jamie Greig

• Has been meeting regularly
• Special issue on JAC on emerging technologies in AFNR research has been approved and is accepting proposals during spring 2026
• Team is working toward an NSF submission

Media Literacy Group and Risk Communication Groups

• These groups have not been able to get going. This seems mostly due to small number of group participants and some changes in workgroup leaders over the past year as the groups were established

Workgroup Feedback and Refinement – Taylor Ruth

• The members were asked to provide feedback related to the workgroups and how they were currently structured. Feedback related to workgroup topics was also solicited.
• Effective workgroups needed to range between 4 and 6 (approximate) participants to make the most out of the group’s efforts. This may result in “subgroups” forming or having to merge groups.
  • For example, the “Public Comm Strategies” group may to break into two smaller groups focused on different aspects of this research area.
  • Additionally, media literacy group may need to merge as a sub-group with the Public Comm Group
• Workgroups were instructed after each annual meeting to determine their leader and communicate it back to the national leadership team
  • Workgroup leadership appointment to be determined by the group
    • Workgroup can decide - Rotation, election, term limits, no term limits, etc.
  • New workgroup leaders should email National Chair to confirm role after the national meeting

S1095 Objectives and Milestones Reviewed – Taylor Ruth

• Group is making good progress in support of objectives
• The 2024 Milestone of developing a priority document for science communication research was accomplished through the identification and formation of the project workgroups
• The 2025 milestone was to update the priority document based on ongoing research
  • It was noted there were no milestones for the last 2 years of the project, so this milestone was shifted to 2026
  • Quisto Settle will lead efforts toward the second milestone through a Delphi study

Delphi Study – Quisto Settle

• To help accomplish the second milestone, we are proposing a Delphi study to be conducted
  • Purpose: ID research priorities moving forward for S1095
  • Population: S1095 members
  • Timeline: Collect and analyze this spring
• Settle will lead a sub-committee with 2-3 people to accomplish this task

Proposed Annual National Survey – Taylor Ruth

• A national public survey is proposed to help support the working groups to pursue larger-scale projects (such as providing baseline or pilot data for grant submissions)
  • Would also allow easier addition of new members as the project grows
• Each working group would be able to include questions in the survey (only about 2 minutes’ worth of questions per group)
• Quota sampled through Qualtrics or other survey group
• Discussion focused on how to broadly structure and fund this type of survey
  • Group agreed to identify a set of questions to be asked each year.
  • Workgroups would rotate each year to add specific questions to a question block
    • Tech Adoption group recommended to go first based on current work toward developing an instrument
  • Funding ideas included:
    • Talking to research deans
    • Applying for external funds
    • Pooling Hatch funds
  • National Leadership team will meet with Scott Senseman (administrative advisor for S1095) in the coming weeks to discuss funding options

Discussion Regarding Future Meetings – Lisa Lundy

• Finding an optimal meeting time remains difficult due to conflicts with other major sessions (e.g., SAAS general business meeting).
• Suggestions included possibly moving the meeting a day earlier or later to avoid overlaps, but this presents logistical challenges for those traveling. Discussion about extending length of meeting was also included to provide more time for collaboration and workgroups.
• Members liked the idea of keeping the meeting associated with SAAS to help offset costs.
• Leadership team will continue to discuss over the next year how to maximize our time together
• Taylor also reminded members to make sure they are registered through NIMSS so they receive all communication and updates regarding the project

Final Announcements – Lisa Lundy

• Garrett Steede elected as the new National Secretary
• Quisto Settle moved into role of National Vice Chair
• Lisa Lundy moved into the role of National Chair

Short-term Outcomes

In its third year, strong evidence of multistate collaboration exists among S1095 members. The Technology Adoption Workgroup and the Science Communication Pedagogy workgroups have met consistently and have developed products demonstrating successful collaborations, including a special research issue in the Journal of Applied Communication, instrument development and data collection for planned manuscripts, and development of concept paper for an NSF grant submission. Additionally, members of the S1095 have successfully collaborated to publish research in peer-reviewed journals and present their work at regional, national, and international conferences. Sharing the findings from our research will help to improve the quality of science communication efforts and the quality of science communication instruction.

Outputs

• Data set generated related to the teaching of science communication
• Travel grant from American Association for Agricultural Education was awarded to Quisto Settle, Taylor Ruth, and Jean Parella to meet and work on the development of a research proposal. Settle and Parella also worked on analyzing data from an ongoing study supporting their workgroup’s efforts.
• Special topic issue (hosted by the Technology Acceptance and Adoptions Group) of the Journal of Applied Communication resulted from a partnership with the S1095 project.  oncept papers are due March 31, 2026. Anticipated full paper publication in the first JAC issue of 2027.

Activities

In the S1095's third year, three of the five established workgroups met consistently--two or more times--throughout the year to discuss and plan research efforts.  Those meeting consistently made progress. Activities and accomplishments for S1095 Workgroups in 2025 are listed here:

Science Communication Pedagogy

• Completed data collection and analysis regarding integration of anecdotes for science communication.
• Began initial discussions for next project continuing that line of inquiry

Public Communication Strategies and Messaging

• Met to brainstorm potential research efforts related to trust in science and message testing

Technology Adoption

• Working towards submitting to NSF Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact (SoS:DCI). Both a conference proposal and a full proposal are discussed. We have met with the program officer and submitted a one-page outline that received positive feedback and are encouraged to submit in 2026.
• Planning for a joint scoping review article of current AFNR technology adoption research

Milestones

• Update research priority document by 2025
  • While this has informally been completed, the leadership is working on a formal Delphi study to formalize the priortity document for future use
• Submit integrated grant proposal by 2026
  • The Technology Adoption Workgroup is anitcipated to accomplish this milestone by the end of 2026
  • Additional efforts to collect national baseline data related to American's perceptions of science will also be implemented in 2026 to assist other workgroups in submitting integrated grant proposals

N/A

Publications (both in journals and for conference presentations) that support the objectives of this projectare listed below:

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Lawson, C., Stone, W., & Fischer, L. M. (2025). An investigation of Oregon and Texas residents’ information seeking and processing behaviors during extreme weather events. Journal of Applied Communications, 109(4). https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2621

Orton, G., Fischer, L., Lawson, C., & Hemphill, J. (2025). Prioritizing psychographics: Identifying target audience segments’ values for strategic climate change communications. Journal of Applied Communications, 109(2). https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2579

Settle, Q., & Seitz, H. (2025). Using experiential learning to help undergraduates understand the science of science communication. North American Colleges and Teaches of Agriculture Journal, 69(1), 238-246. https://doi.org/10.56103/nactaj.v69i1.242

Murphy, M., Loizzo, J., & Stone, W. (2025). Developing collaborative communicators: A qualitative case study of student–scientist partnerships and project-based learning experiences. Journal of Applied Communications, 109(2), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.4148/1051-0834.2577

Loizzo, J., Hundemer, S., Spandau, G., Smidt, S., Akers, A., Bhadha, J., & Her, Y. G. (2025). An exploration of early career agricultural and natural resource scientists’ perceptions of social responsibility. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 15(1), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2024.2335673

 Warner, L. A., Hundemer, S., Loizzo, J., & McIntyre, T. (2025). Increasing irrigation restriction compliance with water conservation messages of varying complexity. AWWA Water Science, 7(4), e70030. https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70030

Colclasure, B. C., Ruth, T., Beasley, V., & Granberry, T. (2025). Examining student perceptions of AI-driven learning: User experience and instructor credibility in higher education. Trends in Higher Education. 4(4), 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/higheredu4040059

Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations

Thapa, M., Lawson, C., Rumble, J. N., Specht, A. R., & Buck, E. (2025, February). Exploring usage patterns of news and information sources among Ohio residents. Paper presented at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS), Irving, TX.

Volk, N., Lawson, C., & Fischer, L. (2025, May). An Exploration of Rural U.S. Residents’ Climate Change Beliefs. [Poster Presentation]. National American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Lubbock, TX, United States.

Dammers-Hemphill, J., Fischer, L., Meyers, C., & Lawson, C. (2025, May). Revealing Cognitive Structures Through a Hard Laddering Technique. The referred abstract was submitted for poster presentation at The Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Adhikari, S., Lawson, C., & Fischer, L. (2025, May). Climate Closeness: An Exploration of Psychological Distance and the Perceived Severity of Climate Change. Refereed abstract accepted for poster presentation at The Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Owen, J., Fischer, L., Huguley, B., Lawson, C., & Gibson, C. (2025, May). Meat the Message: Analyzing Consumer Engagement with "Climate-Friendly" Beef Posts.  Refereed abstract submitted for poster presentation at The Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Owen, J., Huguley, B., Fischer, L., Lawson, C., & Gibson, C. (2025, May). The story behind the "climate-friendly" steak: Analyzing consumer engagement with social media posts about beef sustainability. Refereed abstract submitted for poster presentation at The Association for Agricultural Education National Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Akowuah, Y., Parella, J., Settle, Q., Swenson, R., Forbes, B., & McCain, K. (2025). The science of storytelling: evaluating the efficacy of a narrative framework in agricultural and life sciences communications courses. Poster presented at 2025 National Agricultural Communications Symposium, Irving, TX.

Steede, G. M., Yue, C., Gallardo, K., & Parasuram, U. (2025). A focus group study of emerging and experienced wine enthusiasts’ perceptions of wine bottle label communication regarding disease resistance. Research paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Lubbock, TX.

Yue, C., Parasuram, U., Steede, G. M., & Gallardo, K. (2025). Uncorking the consumer mind: Preferences for wine label communication and design regarding selective breeding for disease-resistant grapes. Research paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Lubbock, TX.

Yue, C., Parasuram, U., Xu, R., Gallardo, K., Steede, G. M. & Clark, M. D. (2025). Consumer preferences for disease-resistant wine: Implications from thematic and Latent Dirichlet Allocation analysis. Research presented at the International Food Marketing Research Symposium. Athens, Greece.

Steede, G. M., Swenson, R. D., Baker. L. M., Hundemer, S., Peterson, H. McLeod-Morin, A. N., & McKay, T. D. (2025). Integrating science communication modules into graduate-level agricultural and natural resource science courses. Innovative idea poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Lubbock, TX.

Yue, C., Parasuram, U., Xu, R., Gallardo, K., Steede, G. M., & Clark, M. D. (2025). Decoding consumer preferences: The impact of wine label design and packaging. Research poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Horticultural Sciences, New Orleans, LA.

Loizzo, J. Hundemer, S., & Beattie, P. (2026). Reflecting on a Decade of The Streaming Science Project while Looking to Scale-Up for the Future. [Idea Incubator Session]. National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) at the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) meeting. Louisville, KY. [refereed]

Loizzo, J. L. (Presenter). (2025, November 13). The Streaming Science Project: Science communication in action through place-based partnerships, dialogue, and discovery. Association of Communication Excellence (ACE), Fall Virtual Conference.

Loizzo, J. L., & Barnett, C. (Authors and Presenters). (2025, April 23). Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development. Florida Sea Grant Site Review FY2018-23, Gainesville, FL.

Loizzo, J. L., & Beattie, P. (2025, July 14). Next-Level Engagement: Using ICTs to Reach Non-Traditional Audiences. National Association of Extension Program and Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) Summer School, Gainesville, FL. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2KZPBtne6E

Murphy, M., Loizzo, J. L. (Presenter), & Spandau, G. (2025, June 05). Future of our food: Arts-based analysis of electronic field trip impacts on sustainable agriculture content knowledge. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Spandau, G., Loizzo, J. L. (Presenter), Meyers, C., & Hock, G. (Presenter). (2025, June 04). A virtual sense of place: Analysis of students’ VR experiences and feedback from the iVisit project. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Loizzo, J. L., Aenlle, J., & Barnett, C. (Presenter). (2025, June 04). Tools, trust, and transformation: Human AI-podcasting in ANR communication and education. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

White, S. (Presenter), Loizzo, J. L. (Presenter), & Murphy, M. (2025, June 03). The art of science communication: Capturing nematological research in Nebraska. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Dyment, M., Loizzo, J. L., Hilburn, K., & Barnett, C. (2025, April 16). Sustainable solutions: Case study of an international project-based learning podcasting course to connect U.S.-based students with Canada-based scientists. Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education Conference, Inverness, Scotland.

Meyers, C., Hock, G., & Loizzo, J. L. (2025, April 16). Exploring the potential for virtual tours in agriculture: Feedback from agricultural and extension educator. Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education, Inverness, Scotland.

Hillburn, K., Dyment, M., & Loizzo, J. L. (2025, April 14). AI-powered podcasting: How to use Descript for smart storytelling in agriculture and natural resources. Inverness, Scotland.

Watson, B., Colclasure, B., Ruth, T., & Mason, K. (2025). Beefing up perspectives: A One Health exploration of beef producer practices. Paper abstract accepted for presentation at the 2025 Southern Region American Association for Agricultural Education Conference, Irving, TX.*

Ruth, T., Graas, K., Colclasure, B., & Rumble, J. (2025). Understanding food recall communication across generations [Poster Abstract].2025 Southern Region Conference for the American Association for Agricultural Education. Irving, TX. 

Ruth, T., Graas, K., Colclasure, B., & Rumble, J. (2025). Transparency in food safety: Empowering consumers for safer choices [Poster Abstract]. 2025 National Agricultural Communications Symposium. Irving, TX. 

Watson, B., Ruth, T., Colclasure, B., Mason, K., & Rampold, S. (2025). Cattle Conversations: Exploring Beef Producers' Perspectives of mRNA Vaccines [Poster Abstract]. 2025 National Agricultural Communications Symposium. Irving, TX.