Rural Reimagined
Rural Journeys Speaker Series
The Rural Journeys Speaker Series was established at Tennessee Tech University in the Fall of 2020 as part of the Rural Reimagined Club's mission to build awareness and advocacy for rural communities. The series promotes the discussion of relevant cross-disciplinary rural issues and has advocates, from the local community, share their Rural Journeys.
Spring 2021 Speaker Series
Presented by Rural Reimagined and TAB
- Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. – Hailey Updike (foster education researcher and advocate)
- Tuesday, March 2, at 11 a.m. – Bruce Allen (innovation fellow at Rockridge Venture Law), second speaker TBD
- Tuesday, March 30, at 11 a.m. – Libby Baldwin Duke and Daniel Hines (co-founders of BrantleyMarie Medical Devices and winners of the 2020 EagleWorks Challenge)
- Tuesday, April 20, at 11 a.m. – Austin Sanders (student intern at SeedFork of the Highlands) and Rodney Laulo (chairman of SeedFork of the Highlands)
A Virtual Conversation with Libby Baldwin Duke and Daniel Hines
Please join the conversation at this link:
RURAL JOURNEYS SPEAKER SERIES - MARCH 30
Libby Baldwin Duke graduated from Tennessee Tech University in August of 2020 with a Bachelor of Science
in biology with a concentration in health sciences. She was enrolled in the Pre-Physician
Assistant program, which led her to taking a class called Clinical Immersions. During
that course, she and her group found a solution to a problem in the process of intubation,
specifically in rural, pre-hospital emergency medicine. She and her business partner,
Daniel Hines, decided to continue research on this product after the course. They
are now are co-founders of BrantleyMarie Medical Devices, Inc., and they hope to bring
their life-saving innovation to emergency systems all over the world very soon!
Libby will be attending Lipscomb University in the 2021 cohort of master’s of Physician
Assistant. She currently works full time for BrantleyMarie Medical Devices, Inc. as
acting COO of the company. Daniel Hines is currently studying Cellular and Molecular Biology at Tennessee Tech University
with plans to graduate in May 2021, pursue a master’s in business administration,
and apply to medical school. He met his business partner Libby (Baldwin) Duke in his
freshman year in an Intro to Biology course, and she encouraged him to take the Clinical
Immersions course with her. Through this course, they identified unmet needs in the
field of intubation that impacted patients in the rural and pre-hospital setting.
He is now the proud co-founder of their company, BrantleyMarie Medical Devices, Inc.,
and is excited to see where this technology will take them and the impact that it
can have on patients in the future!
Daniel is currently a nurse tech in the Emergency Department at a Nashville area hospital,
and is the CEO of BrantleyMarie. He also serves as the student trustee on the Tennessee
Tech Board of Trustees and as a student coordinator for Office of New Student and
Family Programs.
A Virtual Conversation with Bruce Allen
Please join the conversation at this link:
Rural Journeys Speaker Series - March 2
Bruce Allen is a native of Sparta, Tennessee, and a graduate of White County High School. Bruce
left rural Tennessee to attend Princeton University, where he earned a bachelor's
degree in Religion in May 2020. Currently, Bruce serves as the inaugural Impact &
Innovation Fellow at Rockridge Venture Law in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he drives
the firm’s participation in innovation and impact partnerships across the southeast.
He’s passionate about equitable access to education and capital, rural economic development,
and connecting people with great opportunities.
Bruce is active in the Tennessee community. He currently serves as executive director
of B Tennessee, a non-profit whose mission is to advance corporate social responsibility
in Tennessee through educational programming and community building. Previously, he
assisted with recruitment efforts for LEDA and SCS Noonan Scholars, non-profits that
seek to help high-achieving students from under-resourced backgrounds gain admission
to college.
A Virtual Conversation with Hailey Updike
Please join the conversation at this link:
Rural Journeys Speaker Series – February 9
Hailey Updike is a human ecology major in her second year at Tennessee Tech. With her research in foster care education, she hopes to raise awareness of the situations that foster youth face, as well as highlighting the importance of Family and Consumer Sciences education.
Fall 2020 Speaker Series
Presented by Rural Reimagined and TAB
- Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m. - Becky Magura and Dawson Davidson
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 3 p.m. - Catherine Jones and Casey Garrison
- Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m. - Mason Hilliard and Aaron Lay
A Virtual Conversation with Mason Hilliard and Aaron Lay
Please join the conversation at this link:
Rural Journeys Speaker Series – November 17
Mason Hilliard was born and raised in Greenfield, Tennessee, of Weakley County. He graduated from
Tennessee Tech University in Fall 2019 with a major in Political Science and a double
minor in History and Communication Studies. Mason became highly involved in various
organizations around campus starting freshman year, when he joined the Sigma Alpha
Epsilon Fraternity and a Freshman Senator in the Student Government Association. He
has served and represented the Tech community as a Student Orientation Leader in his
sophomore year, President of the Student Government Association in his junior year,
and Student Trustee on the Board of Trustees in his senior year. Mason was also crowned
as Mr. Tennessee Tech 2017, and he was also active as a President’s Ambassador, Peer
Mentor, and member in the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society.
Mason is currently an admissions counselor in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
at Tennessee Tech and travels throughout West Tennessee to encourage students from
his home region to enroll at Tech. Prior to this role, he worked as the assistant
special event coordinator in the Office of Communications and Marketing and also for
the National Student Leadership Conference at Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C.
Aaron Lay is a junior at Tennessee Tech from Madisonville, Tennessee, majoring in Agriculture
Communications with a minor in Political Science. Aaron currently serves as student
body president in the Student Government Association. He is also involved as a President’s
Ambassador and as a Student Ambassador for the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology.
Growing up on a dairy farm in rural East Tennessee, Aaron is naturally pulled towards
agriculture and rural America. However, his passions lie outside of production agriculture.
Upon graduating, he aspires to work in legislative affairs on Capitol Hill before
going to law school to practice agriculture and environmental law.
A Virtual Conversation with Catherine Jones and Casey Garrison
Please join the conversation at this link:
Rural Journeys Speaker Series – October 27
Casey Garrison joyfully spent her first 16 years as a middle grades educator and assistant principal. Casey's curiosity and love for kinesthetic learning led her into inquiry-based learning early within her tenure as a middle grades science educator. While teaching at Prescott South Middle School, she developed and implemented additional STEAM-specific encore courses based on student inventories. She enjoyed supporting her faculty and staff by facilitating STEAM learning occurring within all encore courses to become intertwined within PSMS academic classrooms. These combined efforts resulted in PSMS earning their TN STEM School Designation in spring 2019. This year, Casey enthusiastically resides as Capshaw Elementary's assistant principal, where the STEAM mindset thrives school-wide and is a purposeful part of student experiences.
Catherine Jones has served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, leadership coach, conference presenter, Elementary District Personalized Learning representative, Tennessee State STEM Leadership Council, and principal during her career in education. She currently serves as principal at Prescott South Elementary in Cookeville, Tennessee, a Tennessee STEM Designated School. She has been working with STEM practices since 2012 when Prescott South Elementary School participated in a major STEM grant partnering with the Tennessee Tech University Millard Oakley STEM Center and Prescott South Middle School. She presents annually at the state and national level to promote STEM integration at the elementary level. She completed the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network’s Innovative Leaders Institute during 2014-2015 and remains active on the TSIN Leadership Council, and is currently serving on the Tennessee College Career and Technical Council.
A Virtual Conversation with Becky Magura and Dawson Davidson
Please join the conversation at this link:
Rural Journeys Speaker Series – October 6
Becky Magura is the president and CEO of the Emmy-Award-winning WCTE-TV, the Upper Cumberland’s PBS station, and has served on the PBS Board of Directors since 2014. With over 37 years of experience in management, production, educational strategy, and engagement at public television station WCTE, Magura brings to any project a level of commitment, leadership and strategic direction necessary for success. She resides in Cookeville, Tennessee, and serves on numerous regional and national boards. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, with an emphasis in communications. She has years of experience in television production as an on-air host, producer, and videographer. In 2006, Magura became WCTE’s fourth general manager and has led the station team through the digital transition in transmission and production, as well as securing WCTE’s downtown studio and offices.
Dawson Davidson is a sophomore agriculture business management major at Tennessee Tech. He is a Cookeville native and has built his entire career off of his national winnings with his poultry. He is a television host and personality specializing in agriculture advocacy.
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