After a two-year COVID-19 induced delay, Courtney Meyers, a professor and graduate studies coordinator within Texas Tech's Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, is finally set to complete a Fulbright Scholar Award funded by the Australia-based Regional Universities Network (RUN) and the Australian-American Fulbright Commission.

Meyers' five-month project, “Exploring Agricultural Communications in Australia,” begins in July and will still be based at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The research project was originally supposed to start in January 2021. 

As a Fulbright Scholar, Meyers will research how agricultural issues are being communicated in Australia. Insights gained from her research will be used to create teaching case studies to help students develop critical thinking and communication skills. She will also collaborate with colleagues at Charles Sturt University to facilitate the curriculum development process for agricultural communications.

“My goal is to conduct the research necessary to build a framework for this curricular area that will serve to strengthen regional communities and the Australian agriculture industry,” Meyers said. 

“I am eager to share my expertise in agricultural communications and learn more from my colleagues at Australian universities,” Meyers said. “I'm thankful for the opportunity to represent Texas Tech as a Fulbright Scholar, and look forward to returning with a global perspective to enhance my research and teaching endeavors.”

Among Meyers' honors are a President's Academic Achievement Award and being named a Texas Tech Integrated Scholar. She is a member of Tech's Teaching Academy, and has received a Texas Tech President's Excellence in Teaching Award (2014), U.S. Department of Agriculture's New Teacher Award (2015); and Texas Tech's Chancellor's Council Distinguished Teaching Award (2018). She was recognized as a 2020 American Association for Agricultural Education Fellow.

Meyers has co-authored award-winning research articles and conference papers, including outstanding research article in the Journal of Applied Communications, the Association for Communication Excellence outstanding paper, the SAAS Agricultural Communications outstanding paper, and the AAAE distinguished manuscript. She is currently serving a three-year term on the editorial team for the Journal of Applied Communications and recently completed serving four years as the American Association for Agricultural Education Vice President for Communications.

Meyers, who joined the Texas Tech faculty in 2008, received her bachelor's degree in agricultural communication and journalism from Kansas State University. Her master's degree in agricultural and extension education is from the University of Arkansas, and her doctorate in agricultural education and communication is from the University of Florida.

CONTACT: Scott Burris, Chair, Department of Agricultural Education & Communications, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-8689 or scott.burris@ttu.edu

0621NM22