Dr. Lofgren’s interest areas are instructional design and innovative educational techniques within the context of agriculture/animal sciences. She received her BS and MS in animal science with an equine emphasis at Murray State University. While pursuing a PhD in Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication at Purdue University, she also received a certificate in instructional design from the Learning, Design, and Technology department in the College of Education at Purdue.
Dr. Lofgren has created educational materials for a variety of audiences, such as online modules, presentations, and infographics. For her dissertation, she partnered with the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, Kentucky, to create, design, develop, implement, and evaluate on online museum exhibit about horses in agriculture. Dr. Lofgren is also the project manager for a nationwide group of horse extension specialists, Extension Horses, Inc. Dr. Lofgren is currently a Senior Instructional Designer at Purdue University working specifically with the College of Agriculture and College of Veterinary Medicine. Outside of instructional design and education research, She also has an interest in the social science aspect of equine management and training, specifically looking at how certain personal characteristics, such as preferred riding discipline, effect perceptions of training and management practices of horses. Dr. Lofgren has had the opportunity to present her research at national and international conferences and is always working to further contribute to the body of knowledge by submitting new work to journals.
In her spare time, she enjoys riding her horses, as well as teaching riding lessons and putting on educational programming for youth interested in horses.