About

Julie Harlin is an Associate Dean in the Graduate and Professional School and an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications at Texas A&M University. She leads the Graduate Mentoring Academy and collaborates with the Center for Teaching Excellence on mentoring initiatives, the teaching assistant institute, the TATEP compliance system, and the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) initiatives. Her professional focus includes learner-centered instructional design, program evaluation, teacher education, and mentoring, with a passion for student success at all levels from PK-20. Dr. Harlin holds a B.S. in Agricultural Science from Texas A&M University, an M.S. in Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Education from Oklahoma State University. She is a certified mediator, serves on the board of trustees for a local school district, and volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate for children in the foster care system. She resides in north Bryan with her three dogs and six cats and is a proud Aggie mom.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Medical education
• Social psychology
• Gender studies
• Public relations
• Psychology
• Geography
• Medicine

Selected publications

• Salivary cortisol concentration in western performance horses and riders: Associations with performance

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2025-11-21

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Competition stress is a common factor influencing the success of performing athletes. However, few studies have quantified the physiological stress responses in horses and riders surrounding an equestrian event. AIMS/OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the current study were to determine salivary cortisol concentrations (SCC) as an indicator of stress in fifteen horse and rider pairs competing in western stock horse events and to investigate the relationship between SCC and performance. METHODS: Subjects included male and female Quarter horses aged 3-15 years and equestrians aged 18-22 years. Salivary samples were taken at rest, during practice, during four stock horse classes (pleasure, trail, reining, and working cow horse) in a Stock Horse of Texas sanctioned event, and at a maximal exercise test for riders only. Saliva samples were collected 20 min pre- and 20 min post-test. RESULTS: =0.348). CONCLUSION: An increased rider SCC before competition, negatively impacted the outcome of horse and rider performance; indicating that competition stress may impact equestrian performance in western stock horse events.

  PublisherDOI

• Influence of virtual reality stallion collection simulation on student salivary cortisol levels

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2025-05-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• 267 AQualitative Exploration of Barriers and Recommendations from Women Leaders in Science and Agriculture

  Journal of Animal Science · 2022

  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Psychology

  Abstract The purpose of the study was to conduct a qualitative exploration of barriers and recommendations from women leaders in science and agriculture. This study used a voluntary sample descriptive survey design that included 8 demographic, 11 importance/satisfaction, 7 negative/positive attribution, 11 barrier, and two open-ended questions. Responses were collected over a one-week period using social networking sites for women leaders in science and agriculture resulting in 60 respondents. The average respondents were all women in leadership roles in science and agriculture, 44years old, married, with no children, making between $60-120,000 per year, who were also highly educated with a Masters or Doctoral degree and traveled more than two-three times per month. This study focused on responses of the two open-ended questions. Comments to the questions: “If there was one piece of advice you could go back and give yourself when you began your career, what would you share?” and “Please let us know if there was something else you wanted to share related to women in leadership roles in science and agriculture” resulted in 72 individual responses analyzed using the constant comparative method. Peer debriefings and inter-coder reliability were used to ensure trustworthiness and credibility. The qualitative analysis resulted in the following emerging themes: Having it all, Personal Development and Education, Personal Advocacy, and Networking. Though the results of this study are limited to this group of respondents, it is an important step in understanding the nuanced issues women face in leadership roles. One participant summed it up by stating: “The "take this opportunity now because it might never happen again" advice Iwas given for my career, Iused too much... and sometimes…the opportunities DO happen again... your life doesn't though, and at the end of the day, it's your family and health that stick.”

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development of a mathematical model for predicting digestible energy intake to meet desired body condition parameters in exercising horses

  Journal of Animal Science · 2019-02-04 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Maintaining optimal body condition is an important concern for horse owners and managers as it can affect reproductive efficiency, athletic ability, and overall health of the horse; however, information regarding dietary requirements to maintain or alter BCS in the horse is limited. A recently developed model had high accuracy in predicting the energy required to alter BCS in the horse. However, the model was restricted to sedentary mares, while many horses are subject to physical work. The objective of this study was to expand the scope of that model to include exercising horses by incorporating previously published estimates of exercise energy expenditure and then testing the expanded model. Stock type horses (n = 24) were grouped by initial BCS (3.0 to 6.5) and assigned to treatments of light (L), heavy (H), or no-exercise control (C). Horses were fed according to the model recommendations to increase (I) or decrease (D) two BCS within 60 d. Thus, six treatments were obtained: HD, HI, LD, LI, CD, CI. Mean DE intake Mcal/d for each group was HD = 19.3 ± 0.90, HI = 29 ± 0.84, LD = 13.2 ± 0.54, LI = 23.1 ± 1.39, CD = 12.1 ± 0.79, and CI = 21.9 ± 0.94. BCSs were evaluated by three independent appraisers, days 0 and 60 values were used to calculate the average BCS change for HD = -0.88 ± 0.24, HI = 1.13 ± 0.24, LD = -1.5 ± 0.29, LI = 0.88 ± 0.38, CD = -1.38 ± 0.13, and CI = 1.35 ± 0.14. Statistical comparison of final observed and model predicted values revealed acceptable precision when predicting BCS and BW respectively in control horses (r2 = 0.91, 0.98) but less precision when predicting body fat (BF) (r2 = 0.51). Model precision for BCS, BW, and BF respectively in lightly (r2 = 0.29, 0.85, 0.57) and heavily (r2 = 0.04, 0.84, 0.13) exercised horses was low. Model accuracy was acceptable across all treatments when predicting BW (Cb = 0.97, 0.96, 0.98). However, accuracy varied when predicting BCS (Cb = 0.82, 0.89, 0.41) and BF (Cb = 0.80, 0.55, 0.87) for the control, light, and heavy exercise groups, respectively. These results indicate that the revised model is acceptable for sedentary horses but the predictability of the model was insensitive to the exercising horse, therefore the exercise energy expenditure formulas incorporated into the model require revision. Packaging this model in a format that facilitates industry application could lead to more efficient feeding practices of sedentary horses, generating health, and economic benefit. Further investigation into energy expenditure of exercising horses could yield a model with broader applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development of a mathematical model for predicting digestible energy intake to meet desired body condition parameters in exercising horses

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2017-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Energy expenditure of horses in field conditions during light and heavy exercise

  Journal of Equine Veterinary Science · 2017-05-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• An Examination of Pre-service Agricultural Science Teachers’ Interest and Participation in International Experiences: Motivations and Barriers

  Journal of Agricultural Education · 2016-03-28 · 11 citations

  articleOpen access

  The importance of creating global mindedness within pre-service agricultural science teachers through international experiences cannot be overstated. However, providing opportunities for international experiences and college students selecting to participate in these opportunities are two very different actions. Mechanisms must be put in place that can impact behavior and motivate participation. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the theory of planned behavior and motivation. Understanding why students do or do not participate in international experiences allows the development of programs to meet the targeted needs of students. The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate pre-service agricultural science teachers’ perspectives of and motivation for international experiences in order to facilitate the development of effective international experiences. The methodology employed mixed methods that included both an online survey and interviews. The total population consisted of 39 college students of whom 31 completed the online survey and of these seven were interviewed. Findings revealed a preference for travel to a developed country as a group as well as the importance of hands-on activities and advance planning. The data provides suggestions for program planning and program preferences for college students preparing to be agricultural science teachers.

  PublisherDOI

• Stress Levels of Agricultural Science Cooperating Teachers and Student Teachers: A Repeated Measures Comparative Assessment

  Career and Technical Education Research · 2013-01-01 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Differentiation in Action: From the Lesson Plan to the Assessment, Using Differentiated Instruction to Improve Career and Technology Skills for the Modern Workplace

  ˜The œAgricultural education magazine · 2013-09-01 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  The term has become a fixture in today's educational culture, replacing some of the old buzz words such as mainstreaming and inclusion (Hall, Strangman & Meyer, 2009). Many educators, however, still struggle with the look and feel of differentiated instruction. Defining it is the easy part; however, describing how to put it into practice and what it should look like is much more difficult for even experienced educators to envision. Knowing the basics from lesson planning to assessment can assist educators in breaking down the process for ease in utilization. Differentiating is as important for the educator as it is for the student.The basic function of differentiated instruction is to reach each student at their level. The teacher must be prepared to accommodate and modify to help make learning more meaningful, but how can an educator reach every student during one lesson? The answer is simple: break it down!Getting to Know Your StudentsThe key to genuine differentiation is knowing the individual needs of each student. This is important because in order to meet each student's needs we must know their current level of knowledge in order to modify work or accommodate them in any other way. Without knowing each student individually, true differentiation cannot occur.The first week of school is difficult, especially in agricultural science. Students often pop in and out deciding which electives to take. This week should be utilized to leam about each student and assess their current level of knowledge. This can be done in many ways.First, for special needs students, they should have paperwork that is brought to the teacher. This paperwork should outline required modifications and accommodations for each student, and although the laws from state to state vary in terms of the level of access each teacher can have, one thing is certain: teachers must follow those modifications because they are the law.Special education is just one of the many labels that today's students walk through the door with. Gifted and talented, English as a Second Language (ESL), and economically disadvantaged are just a few. Trying to get to know and understand the needs of every student for a ary teacher be a very daunting task. However, it is essential that the teacher understands the needs of each learner.Developing Meaningful and Measurable ObjectivesGetting to know each student can lead into forming more meaningful objectives for the lesson. Objectives are one of the most valuable tools for educators in differentiation. It is from these daily objectives that the educator can adjust the lesson to the individual needs of students. In the following example, a standard objective is taken from an equine science course. Objectives for special education students, regular education dents, ESL and gifted/talented students are presented. Please note, this is for the same general objective. It is only slightly modified for each subgroup. Modifying objectives will then help the educator form a lesson that is not only differentiated in terms of learning but also in terms of assessment later by setting the criteria and mastery standard.1) The student analyzes equine science as it relates to the selection of horses. The student is expected to:(A) recognize the importance of the equine industry; and(B) evaluate and select horses.This is a general equine science objective that would be evaluated through a traditional 70% mastery. For a special needs student this objective would need to be modified slightly in order for them to show mastery. The objective for the special education student should be modified to fit their ability level and reflect the level of mastery and assessment in it as well.Utilizing videos and teacher prompting as needed, the student will be able to list Ovo reasons the equine industry' is important in today s society when asked by the teacher on 3 out of 4 trials. …

  Publisher

• An Evaluation of Successful Collaboration Among Agricultural Science Teachers and Extension Agents in Texas

  Journal of Agricultural Education · 2011-09-30 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  The purpose of this research was to investigate collaboration between agricultural science teachers and Extension agents in Texas from the perspective of successful collaboration. Programs, leaders, and participants in both agricultural education and Extension can be impacted positively through collaboration. However, successful collaboration ultimately rests upon the commitment of individuals and the willingness of these individuals to work together and “collaborate” with one another. This study examined factors indicated in the literature as enablers of collaboration in the context of collaboration among agricultural science teachers and Extension agents in an effort to document best practices. Specific objectives included: (a) documentation of the environment in which successful collaboration was taking place, (b) description of areas of collaboration, (c) description of the impact of Internet–based technologies, and (d) identification of the major factors influencing collaboration. Findings provided insight into factors that can facilitate collaboration.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• T. Grady Roberts

  University of Florida

  25 shared

• Theresa Pesl Murphrey

  Texas A&M University

  15 shared

• Gary E. Briers

  14 shared

• Diana L. Mowen

  10 shared

• Kim E. Dooley

  Texas A&M University

  7 shared

• John Rayfield

  Texas Tech University

  6 shared

• Gary Wingenbach

  Mitchell Institute

  5 shared

• Don W. Edgar

  University of Idaho

  5 shared

Education

• B.S., Agricultural Science

  Texas A&M University

• M.S., Agricultural Education

  Texas A&M University

• Ph.D., Agricultural Education

  Oklahoma State University