Joy grew up on a grain farm near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and earned her M.Sc. in Bioresource and Food Engineering at the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. in Ag/Bio Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. Her graduate work centered around measuring and modelling greenhouse gas and odour emissions from manure spreading and modelling nitrogen dynamics throughout the growing season. Her early career at the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute was focused on answering questions related to on-farm waste management, converting waste to energy, understanding the carbon footprint of agriculture, and helping producers understand how to better manage in-bin grain drying and storage systems.
In 2019, Joy moved to Alberta to join the team at Olds College. As Associate VP Applied Research, Joy oversees the applied research activities in crop production, livestock production, environmental stewardship, and technology integration while supporting the College’s innovation and entrepreneurship activities, smart farm operations, and the barley and triticale breeding program at Lacombe. Joy also holds a leadership role in the development of the College’s Smart Ag Ecosystem, bringing together the academic programming, applied research, strategic partnerships, smart farm operations, and extension & communication activities to help the College meet its goal to be a leader in Smart Agriculture. In 2021, Joy was named one of Canada’s top 50 most influential people in Canadian Ag by Canadian Western Agribition.