My journey through ag has been interesting and unexpected – to say the least. Here is an excerpt (below) from a talk I gave at Advancing Women in Agriculture conference in 2018 in Calgary, Alberta.

Affiliations and Awards

• Senior Business Partner, Industry Affairs and Sustainability, Bayer CropScience Canada (Calgary, AB)
• Social & Behavourial Sciences Lead, Bayer CropScience (St Louis, Missouri)
• Professional Affiliate, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of Saskatchewan
• Member, International Consortium of Applied Bioeconomy Research
• Chair, Science Industry Advisory Committee, Genome Canada (current) (member since 2018)
• Member (Project: Engaging Networks to Influence and Support Practice Adoption), Midwest Row Crop Collaborative
• Named a Top 20 Influencer in the Seed Industry – Germination Magazine (2018)
• Grassroots Award for Stakeholder Engagement – CropLife Canada (2017)
• 100 Voices in Science Communication – Science Borealis (2016)
• The President’s Volunteer Service Award – National and Community Service (2015)
• Executive Endeavour Fellowship Award Australia – Grains Research and Development Corporation (2013)

Biography

In 2015, we left behind grown children, family, and friends and relocated to the USA. We are establishing roots in the ‘Show Me’ state of Missouri! We settled on a picturesque little farm outside of St. Louis along with a few critters.

I am wholly energized by everything ag.  I am not a farmer (but I come from a farming family). I am not a scientist; at least not in the traditional sense. I am a social scientist. Social scientists like me study relationships between people and their social environment. This interdisciplinary area of research includes economics, anthropology, sociology, political science, linguistics, rhetoric, and aspects of psychology and history.

For 30 years, I have worked in the area of agriculture and ag sciences. For many of those years I was a public sector researcher (University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary, University of Alberta). I love research and have been lucky to be involved in many interesting projects over the years -> innovation and agriculture policy, social networks and social network analysis, science communication and public perceptions of agriculture and science. I am a social/behavioral scientist (by training and discipline) and am back on Canadian soil! I am Senior Business Partner, Industry Affairs and Sustainability, for Bayer CropScience Canada.  I hold a Bachelor of Commerce (Major in Biotechnology Management) and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (agricultural economics, business psychology and sociology).

I love writing poetry, drawing, and painting. I have been involved in theatre for several years and enjoy volunteering in the local community: the arts, literacy, and therapeutic riding.

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Want to know more about me?

Check out my four-part story about my unexpected journey through agriculture.

Vivian Ko of STEM/JobTalk (founded by the UC San Diego Neurosciences Graduate Program) chatted me up, asking about my career path and history.

Check out “My Science Love Story” on Stories in Science. 

I enjoy my chats with Katie Lukens Pinke’s The Pinke Post and was fortunate to be featured on her blog: “Canadian Mom and Monsanto’s New Social Scientist, Meet Dr. Cami Ryan.”  Thanks for that, Katie!

Also, I had the opportunity to engage with the Arctic Apple folks on their Q&A series.

Here is a Q&A of me by historian/ranter (her term, not mine), Maureen Ogle.

Plus, listen in on this interview that I did with the ever-charming, Ray Bowman of the Food and Farm Show.

*This blog is and always has been a personal channel of expression for me and I am solely responsible for its content.  It does not represent official communications from my employer, Bayer Crop Science, or any other organization. The views expressed in the body of the entries or in comments may not necessarily reflect my views, those of the company or of anyone else. Posts made prior to September 29, 2014 were made when I was either an independent researcher/public speaker or an academic, employed by the University of Saskatchewan.

Photos by: Kate Colton Studios