Schreyer Scholar sows passion for agricultural leadership 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Individuals are often direct products of their environment. Fourth-year Schreyer Scholar and agricultural engineering major Landis Crawford is a shining example of this phenomena, as she grew up tending to livestock on her family farm and learning about farming practices throughout her formal grade school education.  

This emphasis on agriculture, both at home and in the classroom, planted the seeds for Crawford’s fascination with the topic from a young age, she said.. She shared how a kindergarten lesson on farm pollution was one of the stand-out events that ignited her passion for agricultural engineering.   

“One of my earliest memories was when the Local Conservation District placed brightly-colored sprinkles onto the toy farm and sprayed it with water. They did this to teach us how pollution can run into the town's water and how farmers could solve it using better management techniques,” Crawford explained. “I remember learning this from a young age and thinking to myself, ‘This is what I want to do.’” 

Crawford’s mother is a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences alum as well as an agricultural engineer. Seeing her mother’s successful career firsthand, Crawford said, she knew that Penn State would provide the perfect balance of challenging her academically while giving her the resources needed to thrive in her agricultural interests.  

This led Crawford to apply to the Penn State 2+2 program, starting her journey at the Behrend campus in Erie, Pennsylvania. She described that this choice was invaluable in allowing her to learn in smaller class sizes and form more intimate connections with the faculty, staff and students across Behrend. 

Crawford, like any first-year student, diligently searched for avenues to get involved on campus upon arriving at Behrend. It was here, she said, that she noticed a lack of Schreyer-specific organizations and clubs available for Scholars.  

Inspired by the success of the University Park Schreyer Student Council, Crawford said, she wanted to create a similar organization for Behrend Scholars to take part in. With support from the Behrend Honors coordinators and faculty Mike Brown and Amy Carney, Crawford spearheaded the creation of the Behrend Schreyer Council (BSC) from the ground up. This included writing the constitution and surveying students to determine what events and resources would be the most valuable to them. She shared how this process allowed her to craft a council that was purely community-based, and one that addressed the pertinent social, academic, and professional needs of all Scholars.  

“Coming out of COVID in 2021, we found out that Scholars were really looking for a mix of things in the BSC. They wanted the council to be a source of building community, but also a place to help students work on professional development. Our club served as a resource for Scholars, and even if we didn't know the answer, we knew who to ask and connect with,” Crawford said. “I led the formation of the BSC, and in the end, I petitioned with the council officially recognized.” 

Crawford is no stranger to facilitating community engagement and creating innovative involvement opportunities. During high school, she was appointed the 2020 Northwest PA Maple Ambassador, and then the State Maple Ambassador the following year. In this role, she ran social media campaigns, created and uploaded online education materials, and held community meetings for maple syrup producers across the state.  

She translated this past leadership and community-building experience in her tenure as the president of the BSC. She described how each council meeting, no matter how simple or laid-back, helped her to establish new friendships while growing her passion for leading others in the Penn State community.  

“The BSC did a lot of fun activities like eating food together and having pajama parties to talk about our classes. These events allowed for the Schreyer community to grow strong,” Crawford highlighted. “For me personally, it was a great resource during my time at Behrend. It allowed me to become involved in college, and take on this leadership role my freshman year. This was crucial in setting the tone for how involved I wanted to be during my time at Penn State.”  

In addition to her work with the BSC, Crawford’s passion for sustainability has continued to grow through her extra-curricular involvement. She served as the vice president and summer intern for the Behrend Garden Club and was also a member of the Greener Behrend Sustainability Club. Throughout each of these experiences, in addition to her minor in Sustainability Leadership, Crawford has been able to merge her enthusiasm for environmentally conscious agriculture with her talent for problem-solving in a team setting.  

When she transitioned to the University Park campus, Crawford said, she immediately went about building community, and joined new clubs in an effort to help make the large campus feel smaller.  

One of the organizations Crawford joined was the Penn State Pullers Club, where Crawford works with a team of students to create a functioning, quarter-scale tractor in only two semesters. Her role as the club’s treasurer consists of recording and managing the overall production process and allows her to connect with students on campus who also share a similar knack for agricultural engineering.  

Crawford shared how her past and present leadership roles, including her position on the Penn State Pullers, have uniquely enhanced her collaborative skillset, expanded her connections, and transformed her into a more experienced, thoughtful leader. 

“Penn State has provided me the opportunity to develop more of my leadership skills and has also given me the space to gain more experience in different situations. For example, for the BSC, I got experience forming a council from the ground up. With Penn State Pullers, there are always new problems every day, and it's a lot of juggling, scheduling, and balancing budgets, which I hadn't done until now,” Crawford said. “One super great thing is that these clubs are opportunities for professional engagement with industry professionals. Penn State provides students the chance to explore and learn a lot from the connections they are making.” 

One of these connections that Crawford has formed through her extra-curricular involvement at Penn State has transformed into a flourishing, mentor-mentee relationship. Matt Heidecker, vice president and principal scientist for the PSN Labs, is a mentor for the Schreyer Mentoring with Honors program. Crawford and Heidecker connected during Crawford’s initial creation of the BSC and have continued their mentorship. 

Heidecker described how he immediately took note of Crawford’s personal determination and enthusiasm for the Schreyer community. As a current member of the Schreyer Alumni Society Board and an 2002 Behrend graduate, Heidecker helped Crawford navigate the process of getting the BSC off the ground sharing insights from his student experience as the first president of the Graduate Student Council.  

“Originally, Landis blew me away with her passion and willingness to say the silent part out loud. When it came to her efforts with the council, I taught her that consensus is difficult to develop, and you need to come to terms with the fact that you're never going to please everyone,” Heidecker explained. “A lot of our discussions were around having direct and honest conversations with students and staff to drive consensus. She'd present a problem to me and together we figured out how to respond in the most effective way to achieve her goals.”  

Crawford detailed how fulfilling it has been to continue to work with Heidecker even after the creation of the BSC. In their monthly meetings, he acts as a window into the post-graduate world, but also as a useful resource for Crawford to talk through opportunities, challenges and daily life questions.  

“Matt Heidecker has been fantastic to work with. Having someone to bounce ideas off of and receive feedback from has been huge in navigating my entire college career,” Crawford emphasized. “He went to Behrend and then came to University Park for his Ph.D., so he had done the transfer and is familiar with both campuses. It's been so helpful to have this mentor-mentee relationship, and I recommend that every Scholar find a mentor during their undergraduate career.”  

While her time at Penn State is slowly coming to a close, Crawford’s enthusiasm for community engagement and agricultural resiliency will only continue to grow, she said. For her honors thesis, Crawford is currently analyzing a model for stream crossings on farms to determine new methods for reducing run-off pollution and conserving stream integrity. In her post-graduate endeavors, instead of a toy farm set from her kindergarten classroom, she will now help real farmers on the ground with pollution and nutrient management. 

Crawford explained how she hopes to use this opportunity as an outlet to build upon the leadership skills and the passion for sustainability she sowed during her time at Penn State. 

“Moving forward, I will be working with nutrient management on farms and the sustainable infrastructure that goes along with that to prevent pollution. I find that being sustainable is inherent in agriculture,” Crawford said. “We exist on this planet, so we have an ethical duty to do the right thing, and sustainability is a pillar in the way I want to live my lifestyle. I also enjoy leadership, and I hope to bridge the two, and always lead others to the best of my abilities in my life post-graduation.”