Events

Marcus Blum, Ph.D., joined the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as the statewide wildlife specialist and assistant professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management in 2025. Blum’s work focuses on mitigating negative wildlife interactions and damage, especially related to feral hogs and predators. In addition to resolving negative impacts for landowners, Blum helps landowners achieve specific wildlife management goals through ongoing research that addresses real-world challenges specific to regional ecology and habitat. Prior to this role, Blum was a research scientist with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, where he worked with numerous big game species ranging from moose to mule deer. 

Kelly Brown is the general manager of KAMU-TV & Radio and an associate vice president at Texas A&M University where she leads the PBS and NPR affiliate. She directs strategy, budgeting, programming, partnerships and staff, while guiding content and operations.

For 27 years, Kelly lived in the fast-paced world of news, where she was an award-winning investigative reporter and editor. The last decade or so of her journalism career was spent as editor-in-chief of a prized Texas newspaper, responsible for newsroom operations, editorial and public accountability reporting.

She left newspapers to handle crisis communications at Texas A&M, her alma mater. She specialized in developing and implementing strategic communication plans during emergencies and for sensitive issues. She also was responsible for the news and social media teams, along with media relations.

She and her husband, Mike, are proud dog parents to Finn, an 11-year-old Boston Terrier.

Jarvis Parsons was elected as the Brazos County District Attorney in November of 2012. He is serving in his third term. Parsons graduated in 2001 from the University of Maine School of Law. After a yearlong clerkship, he moved to Brazos County in 2002 and began his career at the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office. He has been there for over 21 years, prosecuting offenders for robbery, child abuse and murder, and has sought the death penalty on multiple occasions for the most heinous of offenders.

Parsons is a past recipient of the 2013 Texas Lawyer Legal Leader on the Rise award, the 2014 Brazos County Coalition Against Domestic Violence “Voices Against Violence Award”, the 2017 Jefferson Award, the 2019 Texas State Bar Prosecutor of the Year Award, the 2019 Texas A&M College of Nursing “Partner in Nursing Award”, and the 2023 statewide recipient of the Texas District and County Attorney Association C. Chris Marshall Award for Training and Ethics.

On a statewide level, Parsons was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, an agency that investigates allegations of professional misconduct regarding forensic science in criminal cases. He was also appointed by the Texas District and County Attorneys Association to the Governor Abbott’s Sexual Assault Survivor Task Force which creates protocols and best practices that address the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of sexual assault.

On a local level, Parsons is on the governing board Scotty’s House Child Advocacy Center and the local Sexual Assault Resource Center. Parsons has been innovative on the local level by starting the Brazos County Citizen’s Prosecutor Academy that gives the public an in-depth look at how a District Attorney’s Office works. He also brought the “Cut It Out” program to Brazos County, which teaches local hairstylists to recognize the signs of domestic violence in their customers and how to safely provide needed resources.

Parsons has been married to Amiee Parsons (his college sweetheart) for the past 22 years and they have one daughter, Erin. They have been faithful members at Skybreak Church for the past 21 years, actively serving as small group leaders and Children’s Ministry volunteers.

Alan Day was born and raised in Brownwood, Texas, and has been a proud agriculturalist his entire life. He has served as the general manager of the Brazos Valley Groundwater Conservation District since 2012. He has a master of science in animal science from Texas A&M University and was the ranch manager at Whiskey Canyon Ranch in Bosque County, Texas, for 27 years. He served as the county extension agent in both Navarro and Borden counties, was president of the Bosque County Farm Bureau for 19 years and is the vice president of the Robertson County Farm Bureau.