Lincoln, Neb. —Dr. Troy White has joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research and Extension Center as a lecturer in the Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (ALEC) department.
In his new position that started on June 1, White is responsible for enhancing linkages with education partners, developing and coordinating STEM learning experiences, recruiting future agricultural education teachers and providing professional development for teachers in the panhandle.
As part of the ALEC department, he will serve as a liaison between Nebraska schools and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He will develop and maintain relationships and collaborate with community leaders, post-secondary institutions, ESUs, businesses, organizations and other partners to advance their shared goals.
For the last seven years, White has been an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education at South Dakota State University. Prior to that he taught high school agriculture classes in Idaho and Oregon for ten years. White grew up in Idaho and attended the University of Idaho where he earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees.
“I am delighted that Dr. Troy White has joined the ALEC Department and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR’s) at UNL as one of our statewide agricultural education faculty members,” said Mark Balschweid, Department Head, ALEC. “Troy’s education and experience as a high school agricultural education teacher and university teacher educator makes him supremely qualified to work with Nebraska’s agricultural education teachers, ESUs, school-based STEM educators, and students across the panhandle and northwest Nebraska. Troy will be pivotal in our ability to recruit and retain agricultural education teachers as he represents CASNR’s investment in ‘doubling down’ on our commitment to school based agricultural education in western Nebraska.”
White will be working with local teachers and will be providing them support by creating curricular resources that will be easily adaptable to their classrooms and will include regional and state connections. One of his main areas of focus will be practical science and engineering integrations which will encourage students to challenge themselves to solve local issues using scientific and engineering processes.
“I am excited to work with teachers from across the panhandle and region and hope to help them provide STEM related agriculturally-based learning experiences for their students,” said White.