For Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jane Schuchardt, Cooperative Extension, (202) 478-6029
Webinar Showcases 2012 Cooperative Extension Award Winners
November 29, 2012—A Conversation with 2012 Extension Award Winners, a webinar showcasing the Extension programs and achievements of five Excellence in Extension and National Diversity Award winners, is now available for viewing online.
The hour-long webinar is sponsored by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), the representative leadership and governing body for Cooperative Extension.
During the webinar, each of the award winners gave a short presentation which explained their programs, discussed impacts and outcomes, and explained how the programs can be adapted for other localities. Jane Schuchardt, executive director of Cooperative Extension served as the webinar moderator.
The National Award for Excellence in Extension recipient Elizabeth Andress, professor and food safety specialist at the University of Georgia, began the conversation outlining some of her outreach programs on food preservation. Andress focused on her work with the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), a multi-state project that conducts research, hosts workshops, builds curricula, and maintains a website. The website reached 3.9 million page views in 2011 and averages 1,644 to 11,049 visitors per day.
“We have met real needs of people for both research-based knowledge and skill-based applications of that knowledge,” says Andress about the relevancy of her programs. “Our current work includes adapting what has usually been true home-based food preservation emphasis to more timely issues of farm to school and school garden activities, local food support and interests, food security and planning, and value added entrepreneurship in farming.”
Michael Vogel, team leader of the National Tribal Housing and Environmental Health Program at Montana State University gave a presentation on behalf of his program, the recipient of the National Diversity Award. Vogel touched on a few of his team’s programs, but focused mainly on the Tribal Healthy Homes initiative, a multifaceted program that offers home assessments, diagnostic training, and health services to tribal communities. To date, Vogel and his team have worked directly with 122 of the 565 federally recognized tribes at one of the 23 regional meetings. As a result, Native American communities nationwide have improved both the safety of their homes and the health of the occupants.
“It is a very rewarding audience to work with,” says Vogel about Native American communities. “The Extension way of doing business fits well with this group—from the face-to-face meetings to the high tech [aspects, including] diagnostics and distance learning.”
Other speakers included three of the four Excellence in Extension Regional Award recipients: Kevin Crenshaw, Extension legal family educator, Alabama A&M University, Fred Whitford, pesticide specialist, Purdue University; and Tom “Andy” Vestal, professor, Extension specialist director of homeland security and emergency management, Texas A&M University. Crenshaw was honored for developing the Successful Aging Initiative, a program that provides finance, health, and legal education resources to senior citizens; Whitford for his coordination of the Purdue Pesticide Program that helps farmers understand and mitigate the risks associated with pesticides; and Vestal for developing programs for emergency preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.
The Western region award recipient, Mary Burrows of Montana State University, was unable to attend the webinar; however some of her accomplishments were highlighted by Schuchardt. As associate professor and Extension plant pathology specialist, she is recognized for her leadership in developing programs on plant disease control in rural areas and on pest management in the home environment.
The Excellence in Extension Awards are given annually to one Extension professional overall and one individual in each of five regions who excel at programming, provide visionary leadership, and make a positive impact in their communities. The National Diversity Award recognizes significant contributions and accomplishments in achieving and sustaining diversity and pluralism in Cooperative Extension. Cooperative Extension and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture have sponsored the awards since 1991.
The awards were presented at the 125th Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Annual Meeting in Denver on November 11.
ECOP is the representative leadership and governing body of Cooperative Extension, the nationwide
transformational education system operating through land-grant universities in partnership with federal, state, and local governments.
Located at: APLU 1307 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005 202.478.6088