EXTENSION UPDATE: An ongoing newsletter for staff and volunteers from John Pike, Dean & Director, regarding personnel, programs, finances and other Extension-related issues.

UNH Cooperative Extension received the following grants recently:

Extension specialist Julia Peterson, $50,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for her project, “Coastal Communities," and $30,000 for the "Climate Adaptation" project.

Assistant Director, Program Teams, and Associate Director, N.H. Sea Grant, Ken La Valley received $227,727 from NOAA for the Sea Grant Extension program, and Extension specialist Mark Wiley received $145,713.00 from NOAA for Sea Grant Education efforts.

Program Team Leader, Community and Economic Development, Charlie French received $40,000 from NOAA for the NH Seafood Alternative Markets project.

Stonyfield employees recently volunteered at the UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Children’s Teaching Garden at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn as part of their Earth Day activities.

Stonyfield employees, an organic yogurt maker in Londonderry, have volunteered for Earth Day activities the past three years. For Stonyfield employees, Earth Day is an extension of the company's mission - an opportunity to educate, celebrate and take action for the benefit of world in which we live.  

"It's a chance for us to demonstrate our commitment to protecting our earth and a chance to create awareness at the local level of how the everyday decisions we make in life affect our environment and community," explains Stonyfield Earth Day organizer and event coordinator Kelly Johnson, “It is way to make a difference in our community, while having a little fun with our colleagues."

The 4-H Children’s Teaching Garden provides opportunities and skills for low income, urban youth and their families in organic gardening and nutrition science learning.  Using the garden as a focal point, 4-H works with the youth to foster better decision  making regarding the environment, healthy lifestyle choices, and a greater awareness concerning food distribution, food security and sustainable, local agriculture. The 4-H Children’s teaching garden program has successfully engaged youth in this mission in Hillsborough County for over 10 years.

This garden annually serves 90-120 young people who take great pride in their ability to raise fresh vegetables for their families and the New Hampshire Food Bank.  Over the past three yearsm over 7,000 pounds were produced and donated. “Teaching young people the sense of generosity and the ability to give back to their community is a major aspect of this program,” according to Mike Koski, UNH Extension field specialist.

To keep the 4-H Children’s teaching garden available to as many youth as possible, ongoing fundraising and volunteer efforts are needed.  If you are interested in supporting the garden with time or resources, contact the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension office at 603-641-6060.

Rick Alleva is this year’s Presidential Award of Excellence winner. The award is in recognition of outstanding performance and distinguished service to the University of New Hampshire.

Rick was chosen for his service to youth and families in need, his ability to work on the cutting edge of youth development issues, his ability to raise money for affiliated programs and initiatives and his “incredibly positive effect” on the workplace “through an impeccably ethical and consistently upbeat approach.”

Over the past nine years, Rick has helped develop a collaborative approach to youth development throughout Rockingham County. Through these collaboratives, he worked with several communities in helping to establish and sustain quality afterschool programs.

Noted for his grant writing abilities, Rick worked with community members to bring more than $1.4 million in grant dollars to support the most vulnerable youth and under-served communities of the county. As an example, Rick partnered with Seacoast Youth to establish a center, build a program, and provide vital services to a very needy area of the state.

Rick currently provides statewide leadership for both 4-H science education and 4-H afterschool programming. A combination of communication, collaboration, community organizing, strategic planning, program development and evaluation skills define much of his in work with populations and communities.

As well, Rick has been successful in connecting UNH student interns from the Thompson School, Family Studies and Social Work with community agencies to help provide the real world experience for them. Each intern becomes a screened 4-H volunteer for Rockingham County as well.

He generously shares his knowledge with colleagues and collaborators, helping them find solutions to the challenges of working with even the most troubled young people. He is very deserving of this year’s President’s Award. Congratulations, Rick!

Please join me in congratulating the following staff for their years of service to UNH Cooperative Extension, and to our Presidential Award of Excellence winner, Rick Alleva.

They were formally recognized today during the UNH 2012 Staff Recognition Program, hosted by UNH President Mark Huddleston and university council chairs Monique Couillard (OS), Judith Quist (PAT), and Sharon Cowen (Extension Educator Council).

A total of 205 UNH Durham and Manchester staff members were honored for a total of 3,590 years of service.

Recognized for 10 years of service:

Wendy Brock, executive director, 4-H Foundation of NH & Extension specialist, youth & family

Charlie French, program team leader, community & economic development

Kathleen Jablonski, Extension field specialist, youth & family

Michele King, 4-H program coordinator

Michal Lunak, Extension assistant professor/specialist, dairy

Rachel Maccini, Education Center coordinator

Awilda Muniz, educational program coordinator, food & nutrition

Amy Ouellette, program team leader, food & agriculture

Matthew Tarr, Extension associate professor/specialist, wildlife

15 Years

Mary Tebo Davis, Extension field specialist, natural resources

Tim Fleury, Extension field specialist, natural resources

Stephen Judd, manager, information, technology & distance education

Dan Reidy, Extension field specialist, community & economic development

20 Years

Christine Parshall, Extension program associate, food & nutrition

Deborah Russell, senior administrative assistant, Taylor Hall

25 Years

Lawrence Barker, Extension field specialist, youth & family

Margaret Hagen, Extension field specialist, food & agriculture

Deborah Luppold, Extension professor/specialist, food & nutrition

Alice Mullen, Extension field specialist, food & agriculture

Jeffrey Schloss, program team leader, natural resources

30 Years

Charlotte Cross, Extension professor/specialist, youth & family

Presidential Award of Excellence

Rick Alleva is this year’s Presidential Award of Excellence winner. The award is in recognition of outstanding performance and distinguished service to the University of New Hampshire. (See separate story about this award.)

Shown in the above photo, left to right, are UNH Cooperative Extension Dean & Director John Pike, Dan Reidy, Wendy Brock, Alice Mullen, Awilda Muniz, Charlotte Cross, Mary Tebo Davis, Amy Ouellette, Charlie French, Debbie Luppold and Kathy Jablonski.

UNH Cooperative Extension will play an important outreach role in the National Science Foundation-funded project "Interactions Among Climate, Land Use, Ecosystem Services and Society."

The five-year $20 million grant, awarded to UNH through N.H. EPSCoR, will promote a statewide research and education program to better understand the complex interactions of the climate-ecological-human system, as well as provide critical information for state decision makers.

From the Youth and Family program team, Michael Koski and Julia Steed Mawson were awarded $182,100 to develop after-school programs based on NH EPSCoR research for middle and high school age students. These programs will seek to engage young men and women in the collection of measurements, observations and analyses on New Hampshire’s urban hydrology and snowpack. Programs will be developed and piloted in the state’s most urban cities, then extended to rural areas in the later years of the grant.

Shane Bradt, Extension specialist in geospatial technologies, was awarded $88,415 to work with community stakeholders and educators to map and analyze the research data collected by the project team.

Shane will work with NH GRANIT to design the project GIS database, and will develop and deliver training on the use of the climate and ecosystem data produced by the project. In-person and online training on the use of project data in desktop GIS, online mapping and Google Earth will target K-14 teachers and community decision-makers.

An update on the budget, re-Extension efforts, an introduction of the four new program team leaders, and a discussion focused on public awareness topped the list of items discussed at the April 19 meeting by UNH Cooperative Extension’s State Advisory Council.

Representatives from each of the 10 counties provided an update on their respective county budget process.

Charlene Baxter and Wendy Brock provided the council with information on how they plan to expand efforts for private resource development, in keeping with the sustainable funding goal of the Re-Extension plan. It was noted that those interested in making donations to the 4-H Foundation or UNH Cooperative Extension program can do so through the UNH Foundation’s “Make a Gift” page which is linked here UNH Foundation.

Ken La Valley, assistant director, program teams, gave an overview of the re-Extension progress to date, first reviewing the goals of the re-Extension plan, which are:

• Focused on high impact programs
• Enhancing the economic, social and environmental impacts of Extension programs
• Greater effectiveness through enhanced technology
• Secure and sustainable funding
• New specialized roles for Extension staff
• Enhance mutually beneficial collaborations between UNH and Extension
• New partnerships and funding arrangements with New Hampshire counties

State Council Chair Anna Boudreau led a discussion on a renewed effort at the county level in building public awareness as “getting the word out” about the impactful programming UNH Cooperative Extension is doing throughout the state is critical for the public and decision makers to be aware of.

The next State Advisory Council meeting takes place in October.

Three New Hampshire 4-H members represented the state at the National 4-H Conference held recently in Washington, DC.

Ross Lougee, Manchester, Deanna Scruton, Farmington, and Gillian Robidas, Barrington, were selected following a review of their experiences in 4-H as well as through a series of interviews at the county and state level.

Since the first conference in 1927, the National 4-H Conference, known as the “Secretary’s Conference,” continues to be the Department of Agriculture’s premier youth development opportunity. The National 4-H Headquarters seeks to promote positive youth development, facilitate learning and engage youth in the work of the land-grant universities and USDA to enhance their quality of life.

Scruton summed up the experience by saying: “National 4-H Conference was a great opportunity and an amazing learning experience. Being able to work with other 4-H'ers from all over the country, and then make a presentation to a governmental department is an experience few people get. The fact that people in government were willing to listen to our ideas and give us feedback was very encouraging. I hope to share what I learned on my trip with other NH 4-H'ers and help them to work toward attending national conference.”

Chaperone Rich Lougee said, “I was greatly impressed by how well our New Hampshire delegates did during the week. Each of the students was an active and important part of their team and the presentations were highly professional and impressive. The youth were also great ambassadors for New Hampshire and 4-H in their meetings with representatives of our New Hampshire Congressional delegation.”

Congratulations to all three for representing New Hampshire at this conference.

Shown in the above photo, left to right, are Ross Lougee, Deanna Scruton and Gillian Robidas.

Two 4-H volunteers are the New Hampshire recipients of the 2012 National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Recognition award.

Judy Cogger of Brentwood is the award recipient for volunteers who have served 10 or more years, while Cindi Wiggins of Rochester is being honored in the category for individuals who have served as a 4-H volunteer for less than 10 years at the local, county or state level. National 4-H Volunteer Appreciation Week runs through April 22. They will be honored for these efforts June 2 on the UNH campus.

A sample of their many efforts include the following:

Cogger established and led clubs in Portsmouth and Newmarket, in addition to coordinating the Rockingham County Next Step Teen Club for 15 years.  She organized and conducted 4-H afterschool programs in Epping, and served as a 4-H Program Assistant for Summer Happenings for six years.

At Stratham and Deerfield Fairs, she served as superintendent of the 4-H exhibit buildings and managed the 4-H Omelet Wagon. She served as a key leader for 4-H Spaces Conferences, Fashion Revue, Favorite Foods Festival and 4-H showcases. On the state level, Cogger led 4-H Sewing Camps, Teen Winter Weekends, chaperoned NH 4-H Teen Conferences, and served as advisor to the State 4-H Teen Council.

Never involved in 4-H as a child, Wiggins discovered 4-H as an adult working with youth in an afterschool setting at the Dover Housing Authority's Seymour Osman Community Center.  There, she encouraged youth to become involved in the Kids Can Grow program with Master Gardeners mentoring youth as they built raised beds, then planted and tended vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Wiggins helped develop the Teens Can Grow program at the Community Center.  Her other 4-H projects that she introduced at the center included Photography, SET (science engineering and technology), Lego robotics, movie making and NPASS (engineering).

Our congratulations to them both! Their service and dedication to 4-H is truly appreciated!

The team of Mike Sciabarrasi and Holly Young from UNH Cooperative Extension, and Scott Jones and Scott Ripley from UNH Video Services, received a bronze award in the national Association for Communication Excellence Critique and Awards program. The video entry, "Managing Risk on the Farm," was entered in the informational or non-credit educational video production, and received a score of 98. Congratulations!

April marks the nation’s “Month of the Military Child,” a time to honor youth impacted by deployment. In celebration, New Hampshire Operation: Military Kids (OMK), part of the 4-H Youth Development program of UNH Cooperative Extension, invited everyone from the UNH campus on Friday to join us for the second annual “Purple Up! For Military Kids.”

Wearing purple is a visible way to show support and thank military children for their strength and sacrifices.

Those that gathered for the event included UNH President Mark Huddleston, members of the UNH ROTC, students and Extension staff.

New Hampshire was the first state to "Purple Up! For Military Kids." According to Charlotte Cross, UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development specialist and director of the OMK program, said she hoped “everyone will take this opportunity to appreciate and celebrate these young heroes. Purple is the color that symbolizes all branches of the military, as it is the combination of Army green, Marine red, and Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard blue."

The Whittemore Center's lights will turn purple each night through the end of April, and there is a banner hanging from the building noting that April is the "Month of the Military Child."

New grants for UNH Cooperative Extension include the following:

Extension Specialist Charlotte Cross, $50,000 from Kansas State University for the 2012 Operation: Military Kids Camp.

Extension Program Team Leader Jeff Schloss, $25,341 from the N.H. Water Resources Research Center for a Participatory Water Quality Assessment through the N.H. Lakes Lay Monitoring Program.

Extension Educator George Hamilton, $62,185 from the N.H. Dept. of Agriculture, Market and Foods, for the promotion and advancement of Integrated Pest Management in southern New Hampshire.

Extension Specialist Mark Wiley, $239,861 from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce for the project, "Putting Mittens on a Crab."

The Extension Educator Council appointed three new members to the council to complete the 2012 year. Elections will be held to fill vacant positions at the end of 2012. New members are Gail Kennedy, Sarah Smith and Alice Mullen.

The Extension Educator Council represents UNH Cooperative Extension educators and their issues to the university administration. One of the goals for the current council is to better communicate with Extension educators regarding issues that affect them as UNH employees.

Gail, Sarah, and Alice join Andy Fast, Charlotte Cross, Seth Wilner and Sharon Cowen.

A Re-Extension Implementation Advisory Committee formed in February met for the first time March 5.

This Advisory Committee's role will be to advise UNH Cooperative Extension administration on various policies/decisions related to the implementation of the reorganization plan.

Core team members include Kelly McAdam, Tim Fleury, Sharon Cowen, Larry Barker, Ken La Valley, chair, Lisa Townson, co-chair, Malin Clyde, Erik Chapman, Cheryl Smith, Steve Judd and Malcolm Smith.

Sub-committees focused on specific aspects of the re-extension model have since been developed and are made up of more than 20 engaged and enthusiastic members of the UNH Cooperative Extension community. Sub-committees include Communications and Marketing, Engagement, Cost-Recovery and Technology. For more details, meeting minutes and documents visit:  Re-Extension Implementation

March is a time for county commissioners and legislative members to come to a decision on budgets in seven of the 10 New Hampshire counties on a January 1 calendar fiscal year.

Three more counties begin their budgets on July 1, so it's still early in their budget process. Despite continued tight budgets at all levels of government, these seven counties collectively delivered $1.6 million in funding to UNH Cooperative Extension, a 2 percent increase over last year. This amount doesn't include, in some instances, additional county contributions of space and utilities.

A highlight this spring was the restoration of major funding in Strafford County, unanimously supported by the County Commissioners and overwhelmingly adopted by the delegation. With a major cut last year in state funding, we developed a Re-Extension plan that will strengthen our ability to serve the needs of New Hampshire citizens.

UNH Cooperative Extension has worked hard to ensure that the partnership with counties remains a core value of our new model going forward. The budget decisions of these seven counties should serve as a vote of confidence in our re-Extension plan and faith in the unwavering mission of our organization.

In keeping with the sustainable funding goal of our Re-Extension plan, and expanding our efforts working with UNH Foundation development staff to increase private resource development, I would like you to know of two changes in staffing finalized through UNH this week.

Charlene Baxter will be taking on an exciting new role as UNH Cooperative Extension's private resource Development Coordinator (a 50 percent appointment). Working closely with the UNH Foundation and its fundraising team, her responsibilities will be to direct, organize and coordinate UNH Cooperative Extension's private philanthropy efforts, including identification and stewardship of prospects and donors. She will also work on the creation of infrastructure for a robust current use campaign in the short term with a long term goal of more comprehensive fundraising within two to three years. This role will dovetail with her 50 percent Extension state specialist role in Community and Economic Development.

Splitting her time between a Youth and Family state specialist and the executive director to the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire, Wendy Brock will provide leadership to the New Hampshire 4-H Association and other specialist responsibilities as identified by the youth and family team. The NH 4-H Association is a new 501-c3 organization formed to manage the tax exempt status of all New Hampshire 4-H clubs and affiliates, and to serve as an advisory group to New Hampshire's 4-H program.

Wendy will also provide statewide leadership in private fund development to support educational program development and implementation within the youth and family program area by increasing her role as executive director to the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire. Donor stewardship and fundraising events will be conducted in alignment with the program team's vision and goals, and those of the 4-H Foundation of NH board of directors.

Charlene and Wendy will work together to coordinate fundraising efforts for UNH Cooperative Extension working in close collaboration with the UNH Foundation. This new emphasis on private resource development is an important step in implementation of the Re-Extension plan.