Dr. Lisa Baxter never expected to be playing with grass and Legos for a living. 

Lisa earned a PhD in Plant and Soil Science from Texas Tech University before returning to the University of Georgia, where she got her masters degree, to start a full-time research position. 

She began conducting research, assisting county extension agents in 159 counties with forage issues, setting demos, writing manuscripts, mentoring and teaching students, alongside other office tasks. Lisa loves data and the story that it tells, and she values the time she spends out in the field and the joy it brings her. So, Lisa bought a custom Lego minifigure and started to brainstorm a playful joke she could share with her coworkers. 

The Lego Forage Specialist was suddenly the new kid in town and made an appearance in Lisa’s office, email threads and on demo jobs! Lisa takes pictures with her Lego minifigure in the field and posts them to social media pages she created for her Lego lookalike. But it wasn’t just her coworkers that loved the Lego minifigure, it was farmers and ranchers in the area, too. 

They began asking Lisa to do demos and send them pictures of the Lego minifigure working out their forage concerns. Most farmers and ranchers ask questions about weed control and hay production. Instead of receiving a boring, old email with information on their forage conditions, Lisa sends exciting, playful emails as if she were a miniature version of herself– the Lego Forage Specialist!