Morgan Treadwell, Ph.D.

While grantsmanship and academic publications often take precedence in higher education, for Morgan Treadwell, Ph.D., associate professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension range specialist, San Angelo, fostering meaningful relationships with producers is the cornerstone of her career. 
 
“We are in the business of managing rangelands, but we're mostly in the business of building and sustaining relationships with people,” Treadwell said. “It takes a lot for people to open up their front gates, and it takes even more trust for them to talk to you about how they’re managing the land and even past mistakes they may have made.”  
 
Treadwell said many of these relationships have bloomed through simple conversations while sharing a cup of coffee and chatting about family as well as what producers encounter during day-to-day management activities.
 
“These are the folks who are truly invested in the stewardship of the land because they realize they're in it for the long term,” Treadwell said. “They want their grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be able to experience rangelands and ranching.”
 
Thanks to her leadership in large-scale collaborative endeavors such as the Prairie Project, Treadwell has had the opportunity to cultivate partnerships with producers, researchers and extension specialists across the Great Plains and beyond.
 
Established in 2019, the Prairie Project is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded initiative spanning Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska with the objective of developing and sharing current research and management techniques to address critical rangeland health issues.
 
This year, Treadwell and collaborators across Texas A&M AgriLife received an additional $1.5 million grant to build upon this existing framework and promote the use of more sustainable, cost-effective agricultural practices to restore rangeland health and benefit livestock production across the Great Plains.
 
“Dr. Treadwell’s efforts span all three categories of teaching, research and service and serve as a beacon of rangeland management set in the center of Texas,” said Bill Fox, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Center for Natural Resource Information Technology and AgriLife Extension range specialist, College Station.
 
In 2021, Treadwell was named Outstanding Young Range Professional by the Society for Range Management. The following year, she received the Fellow Award from the Texas Section Society for Range Management, recognizing exceptional service to the section and its programs in advancing the science and art of range-related resource management.
 
To date, Treadwell has published 20 referred journal articles, 28 popular articles and 49 peer-edited extension products. Throughout her career she has reached more than 48,000 individuals through hundreds of speaking engagements and maintains a robust audience through social media and the West Texas Rangeland Blog. She also is co-creator of the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management Stewardship Webinar Series.
 
Treadwell also maintains an ongoing record of service across organizations including the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Prescribed Burn Board, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Great Plains Extension Alliance and the National Extension Fire Working Group, among others.
 
“At the end of the day, it's the relationships we develop that truly matter the most,” Treadwell said. “I think that's at the heart of our department.”