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Heather Young
Instructional Assistant Professor
113A Bryant Hall
PO Box 112060
Gainesville, FL 32611
352-273-0749
heather.young@ufl.edu
Dr. Heather Young is an instructional assistant professor of agricultural communication in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC) at the University of Florida.
Young earned her Associate in Applied Science in Agricultural Business and Bachelor of Technology in Dairy Management from Morrisville State College – SUNY Morrisville – in 2008 and 2010, respectively. After graduation, she interned for Upstate Niagara Cooperative (Buffalo, NY) to develop their animal wellbeing program. Then, she worked for Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), Inc. – Northeast (Syracuse, NY) as a senior field representative, certified milk inspector, and National FARM program trainer and evaluator from 2010 to 2020. After eight years in the industry, Young returned to school to pursue her master’s degree in agricultural education and communication while still working for DFA through the University of Florida’s distance learning option, completing her degree in 2019. Deciding to continue pursuing her education, she left DFA and northern New York in 2020. She moved her family from the Canadian border to Florida to attend UF in person to obtain her doctorate from AEC, graduating in 2023.
Young was born and raised in central New York on her family’s dairy farm, which has been operating on the same ground as was settled by her family in 1862. She spent many years working to promote the dairy industry and educate the public on the importance of agriculture. Her master’s non-thesis project was titled “Educating the Public with an Open Gate.” This project was created to help farmers better communicate the “Why” behind what they do to the general non-agricultural public. Her dissertation explored the impacts of cooperative learning paired with the case study teaching method on students’ critical thinking ability regarding Issues in Agricultural and Life Sciences at the collegiate level.
Though her career is just beginning, Young has developed an interest in cooperative group learning and its impact on critical thinking ability and student engagement.
Awards & Honors
- American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) Distinguished Agricultural Communications Educator Award, 2025
- Alpha Epsilon Lambda Academic Member Inductee, 2023
- NACTA Graduate Student Teaching Award, 2022
- Alpha Tau Alpha Agricultural Honorary Society Inductee, 2021
- Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Society Inductee, 2008