Research Approaches in Urban Agriculture and Community Contexts

Dr. Levon T. Esters is a Professor in the Department Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication at Purdue University. He received a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Florida A&M University, an M.S. in Agricultural Education from North Carolina A&T State University, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Extension Education from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Esters serves as the Director of the Mentoring@Purdue (M@P) program which is designed to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) receiving advanced post-secondary STEM-based agricultural and life sciences degrees in Purdue's College of Agriculture. Dr. Esters is a nationally recognized scholar on mentoring, equity, and diversity within the STEM-based agricultural and life sciences disciplines. His research focuses on issues of educational equity and access of URM students with a concentration on the mentoring of Black graduate students; STEM career development of students attending Historically Black Land-Grant Colleges and Universities; and educational and professional mobility of Black graduate students and faculty. Dr. Esters also serves as a Senior Research Associate at The Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions.Dr. Amie Patchen is a postdoctoral associate with Cornell University's Master of Public Health Program. Her work focuses on increasing equitable access to science learning opportunities in various contexts, increasing access to nature, supporting the development of environmental stewardship attitudes and behaviors, and engaging young people in using science to support social justice in their communities.Dr. Isha DeCoito is an Associate Professor of STEM Education at Western University in Canada. She possesses extensive experience in developing successful partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders in a variety of educational contexts including medical programs, school gardens, refugee camps, Aboriginal reservations, science centres, teacher education programs, universities, and school boards. Her research focuses on STEM engagement and STEM career aspirations amongst girls and underrepresented populations, experiential learning, gamification, educational technologies, engineering and medical education, professional development, and nature of science conceptions, with a goal of creating equitable and better opportunities for all students.Dr. Neil Knobloch is a Professor of Agricultural Science Education at Purdue University, serves as Chair of PU-CoA PK-12 Council, and has extensive project management. His integrated approach to scholarship of discovery, learning, and engagement has advanced educational innovations in university teaching and PK-12 outreach to engage and retain more students in the agricultural STEM career pipeline. He has demonstrated campus and national leadership in advancing diversity in agricultural STEM majors by co-directing the Mentoring@Purdue (M@P) Program and building partnerships with nine Historically Black Land-Grant Universities.