Journalism Club Selects New Speaker for Last Lecture Series

Linna Jones

Managing Editor

Courtesy of Paul Francis

Last Lecture Series Speaker- Paul Francis will be speaking at the Journalism Club's seventh Last Lecture Series in the MCB Auditorium at 7 p.m. Nov. 19.

The Journalism Club will be hosting their seventh Last Lecture Series in the Memorial Classroom Building at 7 p.m. Nov. 19.

Paul Francis, professor of Agriculture, will be speaking at the event.

Francis is a plant and soil Scientist. A plant and Soil Scientist involves a complex interaction between soil and crops. He is an Agronomist, which is the art and design of field crop production, which includes everything from soil science, plant breeding, crop management, water management and pest management. He described himself as a plant/soil scientist.

Francis grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa on the Mississippi River in the quad city area. He spent his childhood in Tennessee and Memphis. Francis lived in the city and his father worked for International Harvester. His father was raised on a 380-acre wheat farm in Central Kansas. His father grew up to be an Agricultural Engineer.

As a child, Francis liked being outdoors growing things. He grew flowers and corn in his little garden and helped his grandfather with his garden. He enjoyed plants.

In an area surrounded by farmland, Francis worked on a farm starting from the 8th grade doing odd jobs for farmers. He described the area as having really rich soil.

“That’s how I got into Agriculture, I liked working on a farm, being outdoors, smelling the soil,” Francis said.

He started working as a labor. At first, he did not understand some of the farming practices used, like putting out fertilizer. As he became older, a junior or senior in high school, he started asking questions about the different practices, why they did it and how it was done.

He realized this was an area where he wanted to make an impact on the planet. At that age, he described himself as philosophical and wanted to do something with his life that would make a difference in the world. He did not just want to make money. He saw agriculture as a way to do this.

During this time something happened in Iowa, which stirred him. They had much expansion in the area and many of the farms he worked on were developed into businesses and subdivisions. This development put good soil under asphalt.

He also realized some of the best soils around the nation were being “gobbled up” and put under asphalt for businesses subdivisions and strip malls. He said he saw this happening and realized that some of our best soils in the nation were being gobbled up for things that would ruin them forever. When someone puts a parking lot on some soil, they have ruined it.

“Our richest resources we had in the nation, we were losing them to that and erosion through misuse,” He said.

At one farm he worked on, he brought a soil conservationist on the farm to develop a conservation plan. He followed him around and watched him take measurement and develop a plan to keep the soil from eroding.

He described the soil as a valuable resource and how people may not understand this. Since the 70s, people have become more contentious about conservation and land management and resources.

He described his high school as having the second best science program with the exception of Wheat Ridge High School in Wheat Ridge, Colo. He graduated from High School in 1975. He said he loved the sciences in high school.

“It was awesome and that’s why I’m here today,” He said. “That’s the only reason I’m here today, because of my high school and their science program. I already had a natural curiosity for sciences, and they just fueled it.”

He took Biology and Advanced Biology, which was taught by a teacher with a master’s degree in Biology. A chemist taught him chemistry and a physics taught by a teacher who specialized in Math and Physics.

By the 11th grade, he decided to become a soil conservationist. He felt like it was an honorable career, where someone could help other people and help the nation. He felt the environment needed better care; the soil and water resources were too valuable to misuse. He described how once a farmer loses his topsoil he loses his productivity. He still thinks environmental science and soil and water conservation are honorable fields where someone can feel like they doing something to make a difference.

After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Tennessee-Martin for his bachelor’s degree and received his master's at Iowa State University. He taught labs, while at Iowa State from 79-81. He received his Doctorate from the University of Tennessee in Plant and Soil Sciences and even then he wanted to teach.

“I enjoy the challenge of research, but I really enjoy the challenge of teaching,” he said.

He learned he enjoyed teaching at Iowa State. He enjoyed taking information and explaining them to students by taking a complex topic and explaining it to them so that they could understand.

Courtesy of Paul Francis

Collecting Samples - Paul Francis collecting a soil sample at a collection site.

Before coming to University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1987, Francis taught crop science courses at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tenn.

Francis talked about how being published did not mean as much to him as teaching. He had two referee publications on his master thesis in premiere journal of his field and it did not mean anything to him.

“It didn’t prove anything, I just did some theoretical mumbo-jumbo with some numbers, just some real basic science stuff, but it didn’t thrill me as much as being able to communicate something complex about soil systems to somebody,” he said.

He described the greatest accomplishment of his career as see his students walk across the stage at graduation to get their diploma.

Whitney Whitworth, associate professor of Animal Science, described Francis as extremely kind, someone who does much volunteer work and extremely civically minded.

Kelly Bryant, chair of the Division of Agriculture, described what Francis meant to the Division of Agriculture and his students.

“Dr. Francis is a beloved member of the Division of Agriculture faculty. Our students regularly describe him as very knowledgeable in his field,” Bryant said. “He is respected by other agricultural professionals for his expertise in soils. He receives very positive student evaluations each year. He is well known by campus faculty for his work on the UAM Assembly and various committees. An icon.”

Francis helps in the Divsion of Agriculture's recruiting effort. For years, he coordinated an FFA competition at UAM. His soils judging trips, state fair adventures, and his "Royal Order of Tape Throwers" are renowned among Ag students and alumni. "Royal Order of Tape Throwers” are the students enrolled in his Soil and Water Conservation class each year. The term comes from the measuring tape that is used in land surveying: a skill that is taught in this class. This secret society started around 1991 and continued through 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2008.

According to Bryant, everyone who knows him have his or her favorite Francis story.

“When our alumni return for a visit they want to see Dr. Francis,” Bryant said. “He has provided stability to our Plant and Soil Science program.”

Francis talked about how his Biblical philosophy and how everyone’s lives can be like growing a crop.

“We have to have good soil to put our roots in to make sure you put yourself into good soil and that’s things like knowledge, wisdom, friends, service (and) helping others, that’s good soil for your life,” he said. “You’ll be a healthy person if you have your roots in good soil.”

Anyone interested in attending the Last Lecture Series, the admission fee is $2 with UAM ID and $3 without an ID.

Past Last Lecture Series speakers include:

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Journalism Club Selects New Speaker for Last Lecture Series

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