Cran Career Spotlight: University Professor
Overview
University professors that specialize in agriculture are often involved in three primary efforts: teaching undergraduate and graduate students, providing professional development outreach and sharing expertise with farmers, and conducting research that advances agricultural production while protecting the environment and human health.
What is this career like?
The work of a university professor that includes teaching, outreach and research is very diverse and varies by the day. Some time is usually spent in the classroom teaching students, but much time is also spent in the greenhouse, lab and field doing research or traveling to visit with farmers and other experts.
Some of the things university professors might do:
Develop and teach classes for undergraduate and graduate students, sometimes including labs and field research
Explore creative solutions for issues or develop new opportunities by designing and conducting innovative research
Share research results in the classroom, at farmer outreach events like field days and annual commodity meetings and at professional conferences
Travel throughout the state, country and internationally to develop projects, conduct research and attend professional conferences
In many ways, being a professor is like owning a small business: professors raise money through grants, contracts and charitable foundations to conduct their work and support staff and students
What skills are needed?
Creative thinking. University professors specialize in discovery and rely on innovative thought to research topics and ideas that have never been explored.
World-class expertise. Agricultural professors specialize heavily in fairly narrow areas of expertise, like pest management, soil health or agricultural economics.
Analytical skills. Objective research relies heavily on a good study design that eliminates confounding factors and statistical analyses that remove biases and opinions in drawing conclusions.
Communication skills. Both teaching and professional development outreach rely heavily on the ability to interpret practical applications from complex situations or research results and communicate the value of that work to students and farmer clientele. Good writing skills are also needed to publish research results and to provide outreach that’s valuable to clientele.
Interpersonal skills. Professors work with teams of staff, students and their professional peers to conduct research that often includes partners across the globe.
Self-motivation. The work of the professor is like running a small business – there isn’t a lot of day-to-day oversight, multi-tasking to address complex issues is needed and the level of success is self-determined.
What education is required?
Agricultural professors have a Ph.D. within their area of specialization. Their undergraduate degrees are typically fairly broad, such as biology or economics, but almost always involve internships and/or jobs within the area of desired specialization. This may include work in labs or in the field during the summer months between semesters. The M.S. and Ph.D. degrees involve much more research than classwork, and the level of specialization becomes more refined in the Ph.D. study period. During graduate school most agricultural students also work part time for their professor advisors which adds practical experience and hands-on training, while often getting their tuition paid and a stipend to support living costs. It typically takes about 6 years of graduate study (beyond the undergraduate degree) to earn a Ph.D. in applied agricultural areas of expertise.