Jessica Hemphill

Introduction 

Jessica Hemphill is working as an agricultural communications graduate research and teaching assistant under Dr. Fischer. She began her academic journey at Frank Phillips College, where she earned an Associate of Science in Agriculture while participating on the livestock judging team. She then transferred to Texas Tech and graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Communications in August 2022.  

Shortly after, Jessica decided she wanted the opportunity to grow professionally and personally and applied for a job with an advertising agency. As an associate brand strategist, she worked with agriculture and animal heath clients, which solidified her interest in communications and inspired her to pursue graduate school to further develop her skills.  

Research 

Drawing on her industry experience, Jessica primarily focuses on consumer facing communication. She enjoys the practicality of learning an audience’s values and behaviors to segment audiences down with the end goal of carefully crafting messages to address their unique needs and perceptions.  

Jessica has had a hand in other research projects that include her love for consumer facing communication. She has explored consumer preferences for beef nutrition information sources. Additionally, she is in the beginning stages of her thesis project which will strive to conduct audience segmentation in the beef nutrition realm to build audience profiles based off sustainability, nutrition, animal welfare, and price. These segments will be used to build personas in order to create messages that are tailored to the target audience.  

Why Agricultural Communications? 

“My perspective has evolved over time. I strive to find meaning in my work and hope to change perceptions for the better. Agricultural communications provides a platform for me to impact the industry so agriculturists can keep doing what they’re doing. Right now, consumers do want to learn more, and I want to connect consumers with their food by discovering ways to communicate effectively with them and promote trust in the industry.”