Tatumn Kennedy approached her college career with a clear purpose: to use engineering tools to solve real challenges in agriculture.

Through undergraduate research, campus leadership and service, she built a college experience defined by connection to both students and producers — a combination that ultimately earned her recognition as the 2026 Louis and Betty Gardner Outstanding Senior award for the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture.

Each year, one graduating senior is selected as the outstanding senior based on academic achievement, leadership, and service to the college and the agricultural community.

As a biosystems engineering student whose program bridges the Ferguson College of Agriculture and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, Kennedy built her college experience through undergraduate research focused on agricultural water systems and involvement in organizations supporting students across the college.

The award reflects more than academic success.

Kennedy’s involvement across multiple areas reflected the relationship-based, experiential values emphasized within the college, said Cynda Clary, Ferguson College of Agriculture associate dean for academic programs.

“Tatumn has such a broad collection of involvement across so many different areas,” Clary said. “The way she balances her involvements and shows up for others is really commendable and outstanding.”

Coming from Meeker, Colorado, a small agricultural community where she helped with livestock work and irrigation alongside school and athletics, Kennedy and her siblings were raised by their mother and learned early to take initiative both at home and in the community, Kennedy said.

Arriving at OSU without the built-in connections many students already had, finding her place on campus took intentional effort after years of being deeply involved in her hometown activities, Kennedy added.

“When I got to the college, I really felt hit in the face a little bit,” Kennedy said. “It seemed like everybody here knew everyone, and I knew no one.”

Unsure where to begin but wanting to stay as involved as she had been growing up, Kennedy started applying for opportunities across campus. Drawing on her connection to agriculture, Kennedy pursued roles that reconnected her with the involvement she had always known, she said.

Those early steps eventually led her to deeper involvement across Ferguson College of Agriculture, Kennedy added.

One of Kennedy’s first involvements was the Ferguson College of Agriculture Student Council, where she found opportunities to serve while learning how the college supports students, Kennedy said.

“When I applied, I cared about all of the things the organization was doing,” said Kennedy. “As time went on, I ended up building this passion for being a part of the student council.”

Kennedy said her involvement in STUCO helped establish relationships throughout the college.

“An important element of Tatumn’s service was in our freshman seminar course,” Clary said.

As a First-Year Seminar Student Academic Mentor, she supported first-year students as they adjusted to college life, Kennedy said.

Through that role, Kennedy developed patience and learned that students arrive with different strengths, motivations and needs, requiring mentors to meet them where they are, she added.

“In terms of leadership, it made me better at one-on-one relationships, talking with individual students and figuring out how I can help them on their path,” Kennedy said.

She remained in the role for three consecutive years, mentoring students each Fall as they transitioned into Ferguson College of Agriculture and the university community.

“There’s no external reward, no scholarship, no pay,” Clary said of the role as a student mentor.

Clary added she respected Kennedy’s consistent work in connecting with and guiding freshmen students over multiple semesters.

While she spent much of her time supporting students across Ferguson College of Agriculture, she built technical experience early in her academic career, Kennedy said.

Before committing to OSU, Kennedy interviewed for the CEAT Scholars program, where she met Danielle Bellmer, Ferguson College of Agriculture assistant dean for academic programs and professor in the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center and the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

During the interview, Bellmer asked detailed questions about her goals, how she planned to pursue them, and why she should be selected as a scholarship recipient — an interaction that stood out immediately, Kennedy said.

“Most people really fill you with hot air when they hear you mention the word engineering,” Kennedy said. “Dr. Bellmer was very honest. I felt like she wanted to invest her time in me.”

Bellmer said she noticed Kennedy’s potential during that same interview.

“From the very first moment that I met her, I was impressed,” Bellmer said. “She was well spoken and involved in many things at home.”

After arriving at OSU as a Freshman Research Scholar, Kennedy began working with Bellmer on a newly launched project studying compostable plastics and how different pretreatment methods could improve their ability to break down outside of commercial composting environments, Bellmer said.

“I remembered that honesty and that feeling of this is going to be a good mentor,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy quickly demonstrated independence in the lab while balancing responsibilities across campus, Bellmer added.

“She is 100% independent,” Bellmer said. “If you just gave her a description of something and said ‘Go do it,’ she would figure out a way to go do it.”

Kennedy helped organize experimental data, manage sampling timelines and monitor material breakdown throughout the study — responsibilities that often go beyond those expected of a first-year undergraduate researcher, Bellmer said.

“She exceeded my expectations every day,” Bellmer said.

Bellmer served as a STUCO advisor and remained someone Kennedy could turn to for guidance throughout her time in STUCO, Kennedy said.

The mentorship they developed extended beyond those responsibilities of student council and academics — their deeper personal connection continued to shape her experience at Ferguson College of Agriculture, Kennedy said.

Bellmer encouraged Kennedy to pursue additional research opportunities through the Wentz Research Scholars program, Bellmer said.

As Kennedy progressed through her undergraduate career, her research interests expanded beyond irrigation efficiency into broader water systems questions, Kennedy said.

After contributing to projects in an irrigation group, she later began working with Ali Mirchi, an associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, on hydrologic modeling using satellite data to better understand groundwater storage and agricultural water use across Oklahoma.

Mirchi connected with Kennedy during her junior year in an advanced GIS for Water Resources course, when her team submitted a proposal that immediately stood out, he said.

After reviewing the project, Mirchi said he asked to meet with the group and quickly recognized Kennedy’s potential as a researcher.

“She was bright, thoughtful, a multitasker, and had outstanding potential for research and leadership,” Mirchi said.

During their early conversations about research opportunities, Kennedy’s technical ability became clear almost immediately, demonstrating both confidence and independence in her work, Mirchi said.

“The task was about acquiring some datasets and analyzing them to identify the study site,” Mirchi said. “I immediately took note of Tatumn’s technical skills and drive.”

That systems-level thinking did not come naturally to her at first.

While her work with Mirchi pushed her to think more broadly about groundwater storage, irrigation demand and regional water use, that same way of thinking had also developed gradually in her personal life, Kennedy said.

There was a time when she focused intensely on each individual problem, Kennedy added.

“It hasn’t always been that way,” Kennedy said. “I remember being so upset at each little individual problem, that it caused a crazy emotional toll.”

Over time, she learned to step back, trust that not every problem had to be solved all at once and look at the bigger picture — a process she learned from her youth livestock judging coach, Clint Schults, Kennedy added.

Through Kennedy’s internship with Bishop Brogden Associates, she had the opportunity to apply a broader perspective outside the classroom and research lab, she said.

While traveling through southwestern Oklahoma, Kennedy saw irrigated cotton systems firsthand.

“I just remember standing in these fields, looking around at water systems and realizing how desolate it was,” Kennedy said.

During that visit, she learned that some producers dependent on reservoir allocations had gone years without being able to irrigate their crops, she said.

“They hadn’t irrigated for seven years,” Kennedy said. “Imagine if your family is trying to grow cotton, and that is their only source of income.”

Connecting what she had seen growing up in Colorado with what she witnessed in southwestern Oklahoma helped confirm water systems engineering was where she wanted to focus her career, Kennedy added.

“The more I realized how often I was thinking about the issue, the more I thought ‘I’m in the right spot,’” Kennedy said. “I think I genuinely have a chance to make a difference here.”

That commitment to solving real-world agricultural challenges while continuing to support students across the university reflected the combination of service, leadership and technical achievement considered in selecting the Outstanding Senior recipient each year, Bellmer said.

“She’s the achiever who also wants to save the world,” Bellmer said. “That’s an awesome combination in my mind.”

For Kennedy, the recognition represented something different than a single accomplishment. Instead, she was surprised to be selected among peers she respected, Kennedy said.

“I thought there’s no way they chose me for this award,” Kennedy said. “Not because I didn’t think I deserved it, but I felt like there were people who deserved it more than I did.”

As she reflected on the announcement, the award became less about her individual work and more about the people who surrounded and supported her throughout her time in Ferguson College of Agriculture, Kennedy added.

“I was more grateful for the people who have helped me along the way,” Kennedy said.

After graduating from OSU, Kennedy plans to continue her work in water systems through graduate study focused on hydrologic modeling and agricultural water management — work she hopes will help address long-term water challenges facing producers across the region.

“I see myself dedicating all of the knowledge that I’ve spent four years obtaining and applying that to the people that didn’t get the chance to learn this information,” Kennedy said. “It is a privilege to get a four-year degree, let alone go to graduate school.”

Story by Josie Doshier | Cowboy Journal