UT Institute of Agriculture Presents Top Faculty and Staff Awards for 2024
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture celebrated the accomplishments of some of its top faculty, staff, researchers and Extension experts at UTIA’s annual awards and promotions luncheon. This year’s ceremony was held in the newly-opened Agriculture and Natural Resources Building on the UTIA campus in Knoxville on August 14, 2024. Many of the awards are gifts made possible by faculty, alumni and friends of the Institute.
UT Institute of Agriculture Senior Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President Keith Carver hosted the award winners and praised them for their work. “I continue to be amazed by the dedication, enthusiasm and expertise demonstrated by the amazing work of our UTIA faculty and staff,” says Carver. “The awards are well deserved, and the impacts of these accomplishments are seen across the state and will benefit Tennesseans for generations.”
Crystal Blankenship, a 4-H and family and consumer sciences agent with UT-TSU Extension Cumberland County, is the winner of the 2024 G. L. Carter Jr. Outstanding 4-H Youth Development Agent Award. This award was established by the late G.L. Carter Jr., whose Extension career began in 1949 in Greene County where he served as a 4-H agent. He was also a UT Extension Hamblen County 4-H member. Carter was the first in his family to graduate from college, later earning an M.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. His 44-year career included working as the youth editor of a farm and ranch magazine; serving as a state 4-H staff member in both Tennessee and North Carolina; and helping to create the Journal of Extension, a professional publication for Extension agents and specialists. Carter provided an endowment to recognize an Outstanding 4-H Youth Development Agent.
Blankenship, a native of Cumberland County, has served in her current role with UT-TSU Extension Cumberland County for the past 10 years. Prior to that, she served 7 years with Extension in Morgan County. She loves serving youth in her hometown. Her most notable programs include STEM education programs – with 4-H’ers firing rockets, building robots and catapults – as well as gardening lessons, and leading a skillathon team studying design, food preparation and sewing skills.
Blankenship’s FCS work centers around nutrition and fitness. She is known for putting parents on school visits at ease with yoga stretches and healthy snacks. She also hosts a podcast with other agents called “Sit a Spell.”
“The most rewarding aspect of my experience in 4-H has been witnessing young people set goals and achieve them within the program. I had the privilege of observing one of my past 4-H members evolve from participating in 4-H activities years ago to becoming a 4-H agent this year,” Blankenship says. “It was truly fulfilling to become her mentor along the way.”
She adds, “I am grateful for receiving the Carter Award. Serving the people in my local community has been a source of joy, and witnessing the growth and development of my own children through 4-H has been a rewarding experience as well.”
Blankenship received her B.S. in food, nutrition and wellness from Tennessee Tech University and her M.S. in family and consumer sciences from UT Martin.
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is comprised of the Herbert College of Agriculture, UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, and UT Extension. Through its land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach, the Institute touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. to Tennesseans and beyond. utia.tennessee.edu.