Sherry Hunt (right) and Tyler Selvey use a U.S.-manufactured quadcopter with camera to gather erosion data from an embankment overtopping a research test facility. (Photo by Kennedy Willingham)

Blazing her own trail: Ferguson alumna upholds family tradition

Friday, December 13, 2024

Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu

Raised in southwestern Oklahoma, one of the driest regions of the state, Sherry Hunt is expanding on a family legacy with passion, purpose and determination.

“I grew up on Sugar Creek Watershed Dam Site 8,” said Hunt, supervisory civil engineer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. “I knew the impact the USDA had on my family in protecting the agricultural land from flooding by the construction of these dams.

“Being a research civil engineer connected me to home in how much I could impact the people of my community and my family,” Hunt said.

Her title of research leader at the Agroclimate and Hydraulics Engineering Research Unit of the USDA can be associated with many responsibilities, successes and achievements, Hunt added.

“It’s pretty meaningful when you have successful female engineers,” said Mari Chinn, professor and head of the Oklahoma State University Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. “Engineering is not necessarily a discipline that’s flooded with women, and Hunt carries that torch well.”

When Hunt was pursuing her degree and as she started her professional career, few female role models were in her area of expertise, said Paul Weckler, professional engineer and emeritus professor for the OSU BAE department. But, she got involved and would show up to help where she could, he added.

“She doesn’t mind getting dirt on her boots or getting her hands dirty,” Weckler said.

During her 25 years of working for the USDA, Hunt was recognized for her expertise and dedication through various awards and nominations, Chinn said.

“Hunt is an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers fellow, one of the highest honors of a professional society,” Chinn said. “She also is the president-elect of our ASABE professional society.”

ASABE is a global leader in promoting sustainable technology and practices that meet humanity’s need for biorenewable products like food, fiber, timber, renewable energy sources, water, and natural resources in an ever-increasing world population, Chinn added.

Hunt has created a significant research and education presence and has served the profession, Chinn said.

Hunt’s peers trust her to enhance the ASABE’s direction as a professional society, which she is doing as president-elect and will do as the next ASABE president, Chinn added. Hunt is the sixth female president-elect of the 7,500-member organization.

“My dad actually passed away about one week before the international meeting where I was announced as president-elect,” Hunt said. “He said to me, ‘It’s important for me that you go. You have to be there.’”

Hunt flew to Anaheim, California, with her two daughters the Saturday after her father’s funeral, she said.

“I did it for me, for him, and to show my daughters what Mom does,” Hunt said. “The society is over 100 years old, so it’s not every day that you get elected for something like that.”

Along with serving as a supervisory civil engineer for the USDA ARS, Hunt also serves as the research lead and location coordinator for the Agroclimate and Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit in Stillwater and El Reno.

Hunt maintains the Lake Carl Blackwell facility as a national and international resource, Weckler said. Few places in this country or even the world are capable of the type and scale of research done there, he added.

“She’s been able to keep the facility at the forefront of research,” Weckler said. “She is very involved in the whole area of watershed dam safety and the issues involved.”

As an OSU alumna, Hunt serves as an adjunct faculty member in the BAE department and is involved with the Oklahoma Water Resources Center.

“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure I was coming to OSU,” Hunt said. “I decided to come to OSU and was going to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering with an aerospace option.

“We had somewhat of a local hero near my hometown, Gen. Thomas Stafford,” Hunt added. “He went on to fly NASA missions. I was fascinated by the space program, and I wanted to be an astronaut.”

Hunt later changed her major to biosystems engineering, the same degree program as her two older brothers, she said.

“I did not want to cross paths with them,” Hunt said. “I wanted to blaze my own trail.”

Hunt and her two brothers, Terry and Berry Britton, are the first and only set of three siblings to have come through the BAE department, Hunt said. She now has a nephew enrolled as a freshman in the same department, she added.

“The next generation is coming along,” Hunt said. “I guess you could say engineering is in our blood.”

Hunt has always given back to the department, Chinn said. She invites students, faculty and visitors to engage with the unit at Lake Carl Blackwell.

“Sherry has always reached out and shared with me what she can do and helped the department succeed,” Chinn said.

“She doesn’t just provide this support because she’s an alum to our department,” Chinn said. “Her influence extends beyond OSU. We’re just down the street and get the most benefit from her generosity.”

Story by Kennedy Willingham | Cowboy Journal