Women Excelling in Green Jobs
Dr. Kate Shoulders
Dr. Kate Shoulders is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Education, Communication and Technology at the University of Arkansas. She is a woman with a green job!
Influenced by the need to help consumers make informed agricultural decisions, she received her PhD in Agriculture Education, and focused her research on issues based education – the issue being renewable energy. She also served as a high school agriculture teacher as a prerequisite to becoming part of the UA’s agriculture faculty. This was so unheard of in the rural town in which she taught that news channels came out to interview her because she was the first female high school agriculture teacher in that county!
While more women are stepping up in the agriculture and renewable energy fields, Dr. Shoulders remains one of the only women represented locally in this male-dominated field.
Agriculture and Renewable Energy
Dr. Shoulders teaches university agriculture students to become high school agriculture educators. She also researches ways to make agriculture more sustainable with regards to energy efficiency for farmers, rural community members and students. Dr. Shoulders’ goals include educating people to make informed decisions for themselves about technology, energy efficiency and renewable energy. She is currently working on grants to provide agricultural education opportunities to high school students nationwide.
I’d like to be able to get the agriculture education in the high school level, so then I can teach people that want to be teachers how to teach high school students about renewable energy in agricultural settings. Hopefully then it snowballs and those students want to get their degrees in sustainability and agricultural education. By the time I retire it would be great if renewable energy was everywhere and people were qualified to actually work in it and purchase it. -Dr. Kate Shoulders
If students learn about the opportunities present in agricultural renewable energy in high school, they may be more likely to pursue a university education with a similar focus.
Dr. Shoulders advises students to take a course in renewable energy because it is applicable in several facets of agriculture occupations. Renewable energy and energy efficiency in agriculture are legitimate employment options. Knowing how to implement efficient energy consuming technology in all areas is great since the renewable energy field is growing. If you would like to know more about renewable energy in agriculture or get involved with the UA in that area, contact Dr. Kate Shoulders.