Get to know new and promoted faculty within the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Dr. Natalie Baumgartner has been named an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education.

The past year she has served as a Fresno State lecturer, and has taught agricultural education courses in program organization and management, teaching and research strategies, leadership and communications, professional development, student teaching and industry issues.

Her research has primarily focused on school-based agricultural education, with particular attention to the experiences of teachers working with English language learners.

After she received her undergraduate agricultural education degree from Fresno State, she served seven years as a high school teacher in California and as a graduate teaching assistant and supervisor of teaching candidates at Oregon State University.

She received her doctoral degree from Oregon State and master’s degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Dr. Jessica [Jesse] Bower has been named an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education.

Since August 2019, she has worked as a Fresno State lecturer, overseeing courses in agricultural education, animal science and student teaching. In addition to her roles in advising and teacher placement, she has helped supervise California FFA Field Days, collaborated with the California Ag Teachers Association (CATA), and trained faculty in online course management.

On campus, she has worked with the Center for the Optimization of Poultry (COOP) by mentoring students, hosting workshops for agriculture teachers across the state, presenting at the World Ag Expo, and overseeing the translation of curriculum from English to Spanish.

Her diverse background in agricultural education includes experience with the Clovis East High School FFA Beef Program. Additionally, she has worked as an ag instructor and/or FFA advisor at Friend and Sutton Public Schools in Nebraska. She has been an active member of other local and state associations in both California and Nebraska related to agriculture, animal and meat science, and agricultural education.

She received her doctoral and undergraduate degrees from Fresno State and her master’s degree in applied science from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Sharon Freeman has been promoted to associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education.

She has taught Fresno State agricultural education classes since 2019 tied to leadership, communications, student teaching, FFA activities and problems in agricultural education. She has worked with students to create the Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century program, which has created a soft-skill certification for high school, community college and university agricultural students across the nation.

She had previously served as a lecturer at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, supervisor of its ag education student teachers, and advisor for its agricultural ambassador program. She also taught agricultural courses at West Hills Community College in Coalinga, and instituted several hands-on agricultural learning projects. She earlier oversaw the creation of the agricultural education program, FFA chapter and other curricular pathways at Warner High School (Warner Springs) where she worked for 18 years.

A Fresno native who grew up in the Imperial Valley, she received her bachelor and master’s degrees from Cal Poly Pomona and her doctoral degree through a joint program through Texas A&M and Texas Tech Universities.

Dr. Jessica Townsend Graybeal, dairy science assistant professor, joined the Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department this fall and will help to oversee the campus dairy.

She received her doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her undergraduate degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

While at Madison, she published research on pregnancy-related genes in cattle and sperm DNA methylation, embryo transcriptome, seminal plasma miRNA and proteome in sheep. She assisted in additional lab work and data collection in sheep and cattle research studies both there and at San Luis Obispo.

At Wisconsin, she has also helped teach veterinary genetics classes and related lab techniques, and served as a mentor for graduate students and undergraduate animal and dairy science students.

Dr. Erika Ireland has been named an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition.

A full-time lecturer at Fresno State since 2012, she has over 20 years of experience as a registered dietitian/nutritionist, certified diabetes care and education specialist and university professor.

She has taught Fresno State classes tied to food, nutrition, health, counseling, internships and work experiences. Besides holding a deep knowledge of clinical dietetics, research, and current trends tied to public health, policy and administration, and leadership. She has other areas of expertise that include course development, hybrid learning implementation, program accreditation and student outcomes.

She has also coordinated Fresno State’s dietetic internship, graduate degree and post-baccalaureate certificate of advanced study programs, and served as an adjunct instructor at Fresno City College and registered dietitian for several local, outreach organizations. In 2017, she was named a Western Region outstanding educator by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Nutrition and Dietetics Educators and Preceptors.

She received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Fresno State and is first-generation Bulldog proud.

Dr. Todd Lone has been promoted to professor in the Department of Agricultural Business.

He currently teaches classes in agricultural finance and agricultural market analysis and has taught a wide variety of agribusiness courses throughout his tenure at Fresno State. His research interests focus on consumer behavior with respect to food choices, producer input management decision making, and investigating the economic feasibility of alternative drought-tolerant crops for the San Joaquin Valley.

Dr. Lone’s private sector experience focused on market research, including survey design, data collection and analysis, and report preparation. He began working at Fresno State in August 2008, after spending 14 years at California State University, Chico.

The eastern South Dakota native received his master’s degree in economics from South Dakota State University and his doctorate in agricultural economics from Washington State University.