Dr. Natalie Coers is an instructional assistant professor with a split appointment between the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) Dean’s office and the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC). Coers is primarily in charge of the CALS Leadership Institute and the Challenge 2050 Project.

Originally from Emden, Illinois, Coers earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2008, studying agricultural leadership. She then went on to obtain her master’s degree in agricultural leadership from the University of Georgia (2010) and her doctorate in agricultural education and communication, specializing in leadership development (2017) from the University of Florida.

Outside of the classroom, Coers enjoys cooking, baking and traveling. To date, she has visited 22 different countries and continues research in the areas of intercultural development, programmatic leadership development, and learning through study abroad.