Fall Highlights
This semester, the AAEC faculty, staff, and students continued to represent the department at the college, the university, and the state through presence at the Sunbelt Ag Expo and Ag Dawg Kickoff, as well as by hosting events such as the Pumpkin Painting Contest and the Fanning Lecture.
Sunbelt Ag Expo
This year, the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics was named the spotlight department at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, Georgia. Drs. Colson and Campbell and the departmental ambassadors represented our department to more than 2,000 industry professionals, community members, and students across the region.
A photo of Governor Kemp and the departmental ambassadors at the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
A photo of the departmental ambassadors on a tour of Southern Valley's farms.
Dean Place and Provost Ayers visit the departmental table at the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
Ag Dawg Kickoff
AAEC faculty and ambassadors participated in the annual Ag Dawg Kickoff, hosted by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, in August. The departmental table featured Ag-opoly boards, while the Environmental Economics and Management Club operated button-making stations.
A student playing Monopoly at the departmental table.
People chatting at the Ag Dawg Kickoff.
Environmental Economics and Management Students promoting EEM Club.
Event Snapshots
The photo of EEM Club students and their pumpkin designs at the Pumpkin Painting Contest.
Graduate students working on rangoli at the annual Diwali celebration.
A photo of AAEC graduate students at the Diwali celebration
Dr. Colson presenting Dr. Sexton, the guest speaker for the Fanning Lecture, with a plaque.
FDRS Student Food Marketing Challenge
Two AAEC undergraduate students, Grace Greer and Holly Drexler, and a graduate student, Mahnoor Talat, participated in the 2025 Student Food Marketing Challenge with Dr. Vanessa Shonkwiler as their advisor. They received an industry case study about the sugar beet industry in California and submitted a 10-minute video for their proposal. Although they were not selected as a finalist, their participation allowed the students to put their classroom knowledge to the test in potential real-life scenarios.