Erica Irlbeck is a professor of agricultural communications and associate dean for outreach and engagement in the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources at Texas Tech University. 

In her career, she has taught various undergraduate and graduate courses, mostly in risk and crisis communications, video production, and strategic communications. Her teaching has been awarded at local and national levels.

In 2023, Irlbeck published a textbook, The Crisis Communications Guide for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources. The text is a culmination of years of research in risk and crisis communications in the agriculture industry. It's available online through XanEdu Publishing.  

Irlbeck's passion for the agriculture industry started as a child on her family's wheat and cattle farm in Northwest Oklahoma, where she was heavily involved in 4-H and FFA.

Her career began in broadcast journalism at KLBK-TV, Clear Channel Radio, and AgDay Television. She then worked in public relations for several years where she found herself poorly equipped to handle a crisis. When her career as a researcher and teacher began at Texas Tech, the area of crisis communications in agriculture was an easy fit.

Irlbeck's research areas are in risk and crisis communications, agriculture in television media, and agricultural communications curriculum. Her research has been published in nearly 50 journal articles and in 100 academic presentations.

She serves the industry at local, state, regional, and national levels in various capacities. She is a past president for the Western Region American Association for Agricultural Education and assists with local and national FFA events. Locally, she serves on the Lubbock County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and is the leader of the Hub City 4-H Club.

Irlbeck received her doctorate in agricultural education and a master's in agricultural communications from Texas Tech. Her bachelor's degree in agricultural communications is from Oklahoma State. Erica is married to Scott, who farms wheat and grain sorghum in the Texas Panhandle. They have one son, Jett.