Extension Update: May 2006 Archives
UNH Cooperative Extension’s Strengthening New Hampshire Communities Program is collaborating with state, regional and national partners to develop and implement a community certification course for community development practitioners in New Hampshire.
The program, called the Community Development Institute (CDI), will serve to build the capacity of community development professionals, planners, policy-makers, organizations and community leaders to initiate, manage and sustain successful community and economic development efforts. The faculty contracted to teach the course would include professional practitioners, Extension educators, town officials and university faculty.
CDI is a nationally recognized community and economic development training program that consists of three one-week long seminars over a three-year period. Professional certification can be obtained if participants complete levels I-III and pass a national certification exam. Although the program is run at the national level, the curriculum will have a distinct New Hampshire flair.
To capture the key topics facing New Hampshire communities, Charlie French, Michele Gagne, Deb Maes and Dan Reidy are working with UNH’s Dept. of Resource Economics and Development to develop the course curriculum. Other key partners include Plymouth State University’s Center for Rural Partnerships, the Northeastern Economic Developers Association, the Rockingham Planning Commission, and the National Community Development Council.
If all goes well, the first of three levels of the course will be taught in the summer of 2007. In subsequent years, two levels of the course will be taught each year to provide flexibility for those interested in taking the course. More information on the course will be provided to Extension staff in the next few months.
Cooperative Extension staff from throughout the state enjoyed a full day of workshops and activities on May 25 at our annual conference at UNH’s Memorial Union Building.
Highlights included the awarding of the fifth Maynard & Audrey Heckel Extension Educator Fellowship to Mary Tebo, the introduction of new staff, and a great keynote address by UNH Football Coach Sean McDonnell, with a little help from the UNH Wild E. Cat.
Another highlight of the day was the presentation of several awards, including the Performance Beyond Expectations awarded to Sharon Blake, Darrel Covell, Lynn Garland and Karna Williams and the Professional Courtesy awarded to Nancy Berry, Claudia Boozer-Blasco, Cheryl Estabrooke and Terri Schmoppmeyer.
The Staff Recognition Work Team also recognized several staff with “Diversity and Pluralism” awards for outstanding efforts and accomplishments in achieving and sustaining diversity and pluralism within our organization, and/or programs that addresses the needs and concerns of underrepresented audiences.
This year, the award was presented to Suzann Knight and Deb Luppold for LEAP, Julia Steed Mawson for her work with a diverse population of youth through the 4-H Green Thumb Team, Margaret Hagen, for developing a community gardening program for newly arrived Somalian refugees, and Val Long, for her social marketing efforts.
The Staff Recognition Work Team also recognized Tina Savage with an Early Career Outstanding Achievement award, noting her dedication and ability to reach out to Carroll County residents through the Veggie Volunteer Program.
UNH Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Bruce Mallory offered remarks during the recognition program, and staff were recognized for their years of service and dedication to UNH Cooperative Extension.
Recognized for 10 years were Ginny DiFrancesco, Sandy Rumrill, Marilyn Sullivan and Andrea Talbot; for 15 years, Anne Atwater, Jolee Chase, Terri Cirillo, Carolyn McQuiston and Sam Stoddard; for 20 years, Robin Luther and Catherine Violette; for 25 years, Michael Sciabarrasi; for 30 years, Lauren Bressett; and for 35 years, Don Black.
Special thanks to the Conference Planning Committee for their excellent work in designing this educational and fun-filled event. Members are Charlene Baxter, Faye Cragin, Paula Gregory, Gillian Hodges Rapp, Ken La Valley, Thom Linehan, Sadie Puglisi, Deb Russell, Sarah Smith and Holly Young.
Dr. Susan Lynch, New Hampshire’s First Lady, joined approximately 100 Strafford County 4-H youth and community members at the Seymour Osman Community Center in Dover this week to walk a mile together for the UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H “Get up and Go” program.
The 4-H “Get up and Go” program, developed by UNH Cooperative Extension in partnership with the WalkNH initiative, challenges youth and adult 4-H participants to walk 70 miles, the width of New Hampshire, as a way to promote walking as part of a healthy lifestyle. 
To illustrate their commitment to walking as a healthy lifestyle choice, 4-H youth-adult partner teams are also developing banners with their footprints on them to present to Gov. John Lynch and Dr. Lynch at the WalkNH celebration June 9. To date nearly 1,154 youth and adults have signed on to the program. At its conclusion, they will have collectively walked nearly 60,000 miles. Supporting the 4-H “Get Up and Go” program are PlustimeNH Americorps, Foundation for Healthy Communities, and the Bean Foundation.
I provided opening comments for Tuesday’s event, while Thad Mandsager, director of Family Services at the Seymour Osman Community Center, introduced Dr.Lynch. The group then fell in line behind Dover’s Mounted Police for a shortened walk, due to the rainy weather.
The New Hampshire Wildlife Action Plan is an unprecedented effort to identify and conserve habitats for the state’s most vulnerable wildlife populations. The plan, created under the direction of the NH Fish and Game Department, requires the involvement of many different groups and individuals. Land trusts, municipal conservation commissions and other conservation groups will play an important role in turning the plan into action. They also will benefit from the plan in several ways.
Members of New Hampshire groups concerned with wildlife conservation will appreciate the plan’s goals. A top challenge in wildlife conservation today is how to maintain or expand populations of species of concern – those species most vulnerable to habitat loss or degradation from land fragmentation and other effects of rapid development. The plan focuses on these species and the habitats they need to survive.
In the coming year, NH Fish and Game and UNH Cooperative Extension will host a series of workshops and visits to explain the Wildlife Action Plan. During these workshops and visits, participants will learn about the plan’s underlying conservation biology principles, actions they can take to conserve critical habitats, and how they can inform landowners about Wildlife Action Plan opportunities.
The Landowner Incentive Program, linked to the Wildlife Action Plan, makes funds available to landowners who agree to manage or conserve their lands in a manner consistent with its goals and recommendations. The Landowner Incentive Program is a good way for conservationists to interest landowners in considering their land use practices in support of the Wildlife Action Plan, as well as the goals of local and regional conservation groups. To learn more, contact Frank Mitchell at frank.mitchell@unh.edu or Darrel Covell at darrel.covell@unh.edu
A new ITDE User's Guide gives you the "FAQs" for many technical/computer-related procedures UNH Cooperative Extension staff encounter. It can serve as an orientation tool for new employees as well as a "how to" guide for current staff.
New information also is available on the ITDE Blog .
The Grafton County Administrative building was the site Monday night for the third round of County Conversations II with President Ann Weaver Hart. Over 50 people attended, including several state representatives.
Legislators, collaborators and others heard from a panel that featured participants from UNH faculty, Cooperative Extension specialists and educators, and local farmers. The focus was on how UNH and UNH Cooperative Extension help maintain, as well as sustain, New Hampshire’s agricultural heritage, highlighting progressive and profitable dairy and farm enterprises.
The event was preceded by stops at two local farms, the Tullando Farm in Orford and Hatchland Farm in North Haverhill. Shown, left to right, at Hatchland Farm, were Juli Brussell, John Pike, President Ann Weaver Hart, John Porter, Howard Hatch and Denis Ward. 
Panelists included Dr. Charles Schwab, Professor, UNH Dairy Nutrition Research Center, David Keith, Dairy Producer, Tom Buob, Grafton County Extension Educator, Agricultural Resources, Dr. Becky Grube, Extension Professor/Specialist, Sustainable Horticulture and Howard Hatch, Hatchland Farm. John Porter, Extension Professor/Specialist, Dairy, served as facilitator.
The NH Preservation Alliance presented its annual Preservation Achievement Awards May 9 to five restoration and rehabilitation projects, two groups, a family and an individual for their leadership in preservation education, planning and advocacy.
The Alliance presented the awards at the NH Historical Society’s Tuck Library in Concord. Since 1989, these awards have recognized outstanding construction projects, as well as individuals and groups, for their contributions to the state’s preservation movement.
Extension Professor/Specialist John Porter received the Elizabeth Durfee Hengen award for his dedication to education and advocacy regarding the preservation and revitalization of barns and agriculture in the state. John is shown receiving the award from Elizabeth at the awards ceremony.
“This year’s awards remind us of both the vulnerability of many of New Hampshire’s significant historic landmarks and the effectiveness of community-based efforts,” said Christopher P. Williams, NH Preservation Alliance board member and awards committee chair.
Congratulations, John!
Honored today, May 5, as part of the second UNH Outreach Scholars Academy. were several Extension members. Charlotte Cross, Extension Professor/Specialist, 4-H Youth Development, Colette Janson-Sand, Extension Specialist, Food and Nutrition, and Associate Professor, Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, Suzann Knight, Extension Professor/Specialist, Family Resource Management, and Sarah Smith, Extension Professor/Specialist, Forest Industry, were recognized for their successful completion of the Academy, along with faculty from other departments and UNH Manchester.
The 2006 Outreach Scholars Academy is a faculty development program that consists of several workshops, group discussions, and projects designed to encourage outreach scholarship at the University of New Hampshire. Provost Bruce Mallory, Vice President for Research & Public Service John Aber, and Director of Outreach, Eleanor Abrams, were on hand and all spoke to the importance of keeping the university’s public service mission in the forefront by working with our community partners in mutually beneficial ways that not only “make the world a better place," but also advance the various disciplines we work in. Congratulations!
Congratulations to the following Professional, Administrative & Technical (PAT) staff, Extension Educators (EE) and Operating Staff (OS) honored for Years of Service during UNH's Annual Awards Ceremony today:
35 Years
Donald Black, Extension Educator, Forest Resources
30 Years
Lauren Bressett, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development
25 Years
Michael Sciabarrasi, Extension Professor/Specialist, Agricultural Business Management
20 Years
Robin Luther, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development
Catherine Violette, Extension Professor/Specialist, Food & Nutrition
15 Years
Jolee Chase, Extension Program Associate, 4-H Youth Development
Therese Cirillo, Administrative Assistant, Resource Economics & Development, James Hall
Sam Stoddard, Extension Educator, Forest Resources
10 Years
Virginia DiFrancesco, Extension Program Associate, Water Quality
Marilyn Sullivan, Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Resources
Andrea Talbot, Educational Program Coordinator, FSNEP
Presidential Award of Excellence
Michael Sciabarrasi, Extension Professor and Specialist in Agricultural Business Management, received the UNH Presidential Award of Excellence. As noted previously in this Update, Mike is well-known for his efforts on and off campus, teaching risk management strategies and agribusiness management programs. Please join me in congratulating Mike.