The Agricultural Education and Communication Department was thrilled to welcome Moses Mike, Ph.D., to the team this winter quarter where he will be teaching digital media and digital communication courses. The Brock Center team got the opportunity to sit down and speak with Dr. Mike about his educational and career journey as well as what makes him, him! Continue reading to learn more about this talented and charismatic faculty member.

Hometown: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

• Education:
• B.S., Agribusiness Management, University of the West Indies
• M.S., Marketing & Agribusiness, University of the West Indies
• PhD., Agricultural Communication, University of Florida

When did you know you wanted to pursue teaching higher education?

“My earliest recollection of teaching was as an undergraduate student, where I was in a class called Quantitative Methods in Economics. It's one of the most difficult courses because it's a lot of quantitative research practices and econometric skill sets. While I wouldn't call myself the most proficient person in the class, I understood the concepts readily. Before class, I would go to the front of the class and teach whatever students were there. People would ask me questions, and I'd be able to respond to them and do the math on the board. Then the professor would walk in, and I would try to erase the homework, and he would be like, ‘No, leave it there and tell us what you did’. So, I think that inspired me early on to continue that way because there's a certain emotional release when you get validation from a professor that you're on the right track. I recognized that I had sort of a knack for explaining things in different ways so that different people could understand. Then I recognized that people older than me, and in higher positions, were coming to me for ideas and examples and different ways of teaching econometric methods. So that foundational undergraduate experience is what really got me interested in teaching.”

How did you become interested in digital media and communication?

“I had sort of a rough childhood, and you can do one of several things with that. What I chose to do is stay to myself. Sticking to myself meant that I had more time for creativity, and my mind would just go off on different creative projects. When looking at the television, the advertisements would keep my attention because that's what advertisements are supposed to do. So, I was tinkering with ideas like that for a long, long time.

Then I got the opportunity to intern at an agricultural extension office. When I was there, I went to the director and I told her. ‘Hey, yes, your marketing stuff is okay but, you need to jump on this social media bandwagon immediately. This is the future.’ In principle, she agreed. But her boss said he didn't want to invest the intern’s time in that direction. So, whatever I wanted to do, I had to do it on my own time. And I did. I did a short marketing strategy, and I designed some things, but officially, they would not be able to use it because the regional director would not agree. I started dabbling in video production at that point as well. When I went on to pursue my master's degree, I shot my first video. Let me tell you, it was a crappy video. The video was for some big ag commodities in Guyana such as rice, pineapple and some other products like that. At the time, I had a big research block myself, so I said, hey, I want to go on this trip, I just don't want to do any research. Let me do the video, and I'll be happy to go.’ And they were like, ‘Ok, why not?’ And the video was a hit! And when I tell you, this was a two out of 10 video, like, it was bad. I think the college at the time understood the potential for it, so they gave it a lot of praise and allowed me to keep working on it and go on a few other trips. And that was the foundation of how I got into digital media production for agriculture. I was able to attach my passion to what I was studying. And that's really a unique overlap. Not a lot of people get to do that.”

Can you describe your career journey for us and share what led you to Cal Poly?

“During my undergrad and master's degrees, I worked for the university through part-time lecturing and tutoring, and eventually I became a part-time staff member while I was doing my master’s. Then I became a full-time staff member. During this time, I would give tours to people from different universities around the world and show them the local culture and customs. I would sometimes go pick them up at the airport or take them out for local street food and cuisine because it's one thing to get that educational experience for the students, but it's another thing to get the cultural experience. I say that to say a couple of the professors took interest in me. Three of the professors came up to me in separate times and said, ‘Hey, we would love if you come to our institution, you know what you're doing; you've been involved in digital media, and we have a program in digital media production. We would love it if you would apply.’ That was maybe three or four years after earning my master's degree. And so, I applied. It wasn't in my mind to do school internationally; I didn't think I had the knowledge. But in my social circle, those things were coming into play. So, I applied. I eventually got through; it was tumultuous to get there. I completed my Ph.D. and then, boom, Cal Poly sends out this job posting. There were agricultural communication job postings all over but, the Cal Poly job posting really sounded like me because it's a lot less about research and a lot more about teaching. I can do that. It's digital media production; I can definitely do that. It’s agriculture, we can also do that. And so, I applied, and when I did the interview process, it became very apparent that this was a position that I could do well at. After talking to the students, it sounded like it was a position for me as well because the interest of the students at the meeting aligned with the interests that I have, and that’s the most important thing. As long as I'm able to serve my students, I'm fine with that.”

Tell us a little bit about your digital media startup business.

“In agricultural communications, or any communications position, it's really about who you know and who knows you. I developed a really decent network of people, consistent business associates and partners that I would do work for. And I decided to start my own business -- a small business. I got to go to school, work part-time, and do my business on the side. That included all digital media, but I preferred agricultural stuff so I would pass up on a regular marketing or commercial marketing for agricultural projects. I did agricultural stuff for the university, the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations (FAO), a university out of the Netherlands, and a couple other big agricultural organizations. Then I did fashion for a while. I did like four very intense years of fashion media production. So, my local culture is based around a big event in the first quarter of the year, which is Carnival. We have one of the biggest and best carnivals in the world. I would be employed for different premium events during that time. I would say throughout that period, the business was never about the money for me, it was about building the network. That came to be more useful to me now that I'm here. However, I had to leave that behind to pursue my Ph.D. I would say I miss the thrill of the run-and-gun style of digital media, but I don't regret advancing my life, you know?”

What do you love most about the work you get to do with students?

“So, this is situational, but students just need to participate in any way they can. I love it when they do that because it gives me an idea of where their mind is at, and if I understand what they're thinking at a particular time, I can defuse that or decipher that and reapply it to increase the propensity for learning. The other thing I like about working with students is when they bring their own personality to the table. I'm not here to stifle anybody's personality. I was the class clown, and I hated when people tried to stifle my creativity or the way I did things. I'm not saying that I'm going to let students run amok in class or anything, but I always encourage students to bring their own personality. I would say those are the two greatest things about working with students. You get to learn so much when they bring their own personality to the classroom, and it doesn't have to just be in the classroom. They can come to my office to talk about anything and just have a conversation. I'm always down for that as long as they bring their own personality.”

Outside of the work world, what do you enjoy doing with your time?

“I recommend for anybody to get a punching bag. It's good exercise. And if you're stressed out, you can just hit that bag and it's gone. I love biking to keep my legs in shape. Volleyball is something that I love, but it hates me. I'm a bigger person and I can do athletic things just not at a super intense level. I love to just walk too, no headphones, no electronics, just my own thoughts. People take it for granted, but it's really good to be able to defuse the day. I also love cooking, soccer, puppies and weightlifting."

Article header photo provided by Dr. Mike.