Extension Update: December 2007 Archives

As we head into a New Year, I want to thank you and all our staff and volunteers for your dedication, commitment, and many contributions you've made this past year in our work with the citizens of New Hampshire. You can take great pride on the completion of another year of Cooperative Extension work that showcased numerous program accomplishments.

This past year, UNH welcomed a new president, Mark Huddleston, who immediately began learning about UNH Cooperative Extension. He was our guest at a September State Advisory Council and has already participated in one of our County Conversations hosted by Belknap and Carroll Counties. He toured the Coos County office as well and noted how impressed he was with our extensive outreach efforts.

We continued to welcome new faces this past year, most recently with Hugh Christian. As Assistant Director, Hugh will assume responsibility for oversight of Cooperative Extension's Financial and Human Resource activities. Also new on campus is Dr. Malcolm Smith, Extension Faculty and Specialist, Family Education and Policy; Kristina Ferrare, Forestry and Wildlife Program Outreach Assistant; and Emma Carcagno, Wildlife Program Assistant. Also joining us was Patrice Mettauer, Community Outreach, UNH Manchester.

In the counties, we welcomed Donna Lee, administrative assistant, Grafton County; Fred Borman, Rockingham County Forest Resources Extension Educator; Sue Farris, administrative assistant, Hillsborough County; Giegie Marrone, administrative assistant, Belknap County; Pam Joslin, administrative assistant, Sullivan County; Dana Karuza-Tulp, volunteer management program assistant, Grafton County; and Elizabeth Brink, Rockingham program assistant, agricultural resources.

The UNH Cooperative Extension Strategic Plan 2007-2012 was distributed earlier in the year and a Strategic Plan Implementation Team is currently looking at what the next steps will be to actualize the plan, assignment of responsibilities, resources, time frames for each action, and tracking/reporting of the plan's progress. The first goal of the 2007-2012 UNHCE strategic plan is at the heart of what we do to improve the lives of the people who live and work in New Hampshire:

UNH Cooperative Extension will enhance its responsiveness to significant issues facing youth, families and communities, the state’s natural resources and its economy in a changing social and natural environment.

The Strategic Planning Implementation Team recommended a proposal process through which significant resources would be dedicated to a small number of high priority issues. I will be sending out a "Request for Proposals" that respond to significant issues in early January.

We’ve looked at how to expand and become more effective with our outreach initiatives, with the most recent awarding of six grants focused on community outreach that will benefit several organizations in the greater Manchester area in the coming months. With funding from UNH Cooperative Extension, UNH’s Office of Outreach Scholarship and UNH Manchester, the $40,000 in grants will touch such diverse organizations at the Manchester Area Homeschoolers, YWCA of Manchester and the Hillcrest Terrace Retirement Community. These awards stem from the "engagement and outreach" priorities of the UNH Academic Plan, UNH Manchester’s plan, and our Extension strategic plan.

Again, I reiterate my admiration for your dedication to our mission and willingness to invest the effort necessary to make a difference. I continue to be proud to lead an organization that makes a positive difference in the lives of so many New Hampshire citizens. Given our outstanding network of county extension advisory councils and the strong political and public support for UNH Cooperative Extension, I'm confident we will remain a strong outreach system making impacts important to New Hampshire people.

I extend warmest wishes to you and your family for an enjoyable and restful holiday season. I wish you a happy 2008 and much personal and professional fulfillment.

Extension Specialist Suzann Knight was recently recognized for her work on the multi-state research project, Rural Low Income Families: Tracking Their Well-Being and Functioning in the Context of Welfare Reform.

The project, also known as Rural Familie Speak, has been ongoing since 1998 with researchers in 17 states involved in the project at different periods of time. Suzann, along with Associate Prof. Elizabeth Dolan in the Dept. of Family Studies, have received commendation for this project, which allowed researchers to gain a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges of rural, low-income families.

More information can be found at the project Web site.

Kristina Ferrare is the new Forestry and Wildlife Program Outreach Assistant. Kristina most recently worked with Dave Kittredge at the University of Massachusetts Extension and Dave Welsch, US Forest Service, as a graduate student developing a database system and manual for the BMP monitoring project. Several UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry Educators provided field work for that project.

Kristina, who received her Master's degree in forestry from UMass, assisted the UMass Extension Forestry program in its landowner outreach programs and communications, including their Coverts program. Prior to that, she worked in the private sector in middle management of a large, educational testing firm and also for the Massachusetts Woodland Cooperative as its office manager. Welcome, Kristina.

Strafford County's new Extension Educator, Forest Resources is Deborah Goard of Manhattan, Kansas.

Deborah is originally from Massachusetts, where she earned her B.S. degrees in both forestry and biology from the University of Massachusetts. She earned her M.S. degree in forest hydrology with a minor in silviculture from Oregon State University. She has worked for the Kansas Forest Service/Kansas State University for nearly four years as both a forest resource specialist and a watershed forester.

Her Kansas job experience has helped her gain a strong appreciation for good forest stewardship and the need for quality education of landowners and natural resource professionals. She has served in an "Extension-education-like" role in her jobs in Manhattan.

Deborah begins work February 4. Many thanks to Search Committee members Darrel Covell, Wendy Scribner, Dan DeHart, Dave Dallaire, Anna Boudreau, Holly Avery and Geoffrey Njue, as well as the Strafford County Advisory Council members. And, of course, thanks to Don Black for his 37 years of service, and for positioning UNH Cooperative Extension well in Strafford County as we continue into the coming decades. Welcome, Deborah!

If you wish to order software through our ITDE office (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Captivate, Contribute, InDesign, etc.) use our newly-created online form. This form will help consolidate requests and ensure that they are ordered in a timely fashion.

When requesting your purchase, you need to provide information on how you’ll be paying for the product(s). Where possible, try to group orders together for your office.

A UNH Cooperative Extension employee orientation course is now available on our Web site.

This course supplements the formal orientation process and gives new employees a reference to use even before their formal orientation sessions.

This course was developed using MOODLE, a Learning Management System (similar to courseware) available to our staff. For more information on MOODLE, contact Steve Judd or Barbara Wright.

As a reminder, the Professional Development Web site, Orientation site and Professional Development blog are all resources available to staff on training, design, and Extension employment resources.

Extension specialists focused on food and nutrition as well as marine fisheries are faced with a similar question, “Is seafood safe?" The importance and influence of media outlets in promoting and/or dispelling concerns and fears concerning food safety is exemplified by recent headlines about seafood.

As educators, our experience dealing with the public indicates a lot of confusion and frustration about the risks and benefits of eating seafood. From the health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids found in seafood to the risk of PCBs in farm-raised fish, it’s challenging for health professionals, educators and consumers to remain current with the latest research. While there is sufficient research on the topic, the challenge is providing a venue to present the results of research studies in a way that helps consumers weigh the risks and benefits of consuming seafood and make appropriate choices.

To address this issue, a UNH Cooperative Extension interdisciplinary team comprised of Catherine Violette, Food and Nutrition Specialist, Rollie Barnaby, Marine Extension Educator, and Ken La Valley, Commercial Fisheries Specialist, coordinated a focused effort to help nutrition, medical and food service professionals by providing a one-day conference.

The conference "Seafood: Exploring Benefits and Risks" provided the more than 70 participants with a nationally-recognized field of experts from Purdue University, the Harvard Risk Analysis Lab, University of Rhode Island and UNH. Presentations covered topics from the global need for seafood, media influence on consumer choices, Omega-3’s and cardiac health as well as what a FDA risk assessment actually means.

The consensus was that the potential benefits of consuming seafood far outweigh the risks. However, consumers can make seafood choices to further minimize potential health risks by knowing where the seafood they buy is harvested and by limiting consumption of freshwater and marine fish known to contain higher amounts of methyl mercury and PCBs.

Please take a look at the conference presentations.

Six grants focused on community outreach will benefit several organizations in the greater Manchester area in the coming months.

With funding from UNH Cooperative Extension, UNH’s Office of Outreach Scholarship and UNH Manchester, the $40,000 in grants will touch such diverse organizations at the Manchester Area Homeschoolers, YWCA of Manchester and the Hillcrest Terrace Retirement Community.

These awards stem from the “engagement and outreach” priorities of the UNH Academic Strategic Plan, as well as academic program goals in UNH Manchester’s and Cooperative Extension’s Strategic Plans.

Projects funded include the following:

Reaching Green through Service Learning, with UNH Manchester Assistant Professor Dr. Sarah Kenick as team leader. Other team members include Extension Educator Michael Koski, Karen Acerno, director, Massabesic Audubon Center, and Melissa Drury, coordinator, Manchester Area Homeschoolers.

UNH Cooperative Extension’s Center for Innovation in Family Education and Support, with Dr. Malcolm Smith, Family Life and Family Policy Extension Specialist, as team leader. Other team members include Extension Educators Sharon Cowen and Thom Linehan, YWCA Executive Director Monica Zulauf, UNH Associate Prof. Dr. Kate Hanson, chair, UNH Community Leadership Program, and Dr. Patrice Mettauer, Community Outreach Scholarship coordinator from UNH Manchester.

New Hampshire Citizen Planner, with Extension Educator Dan Reidy as team leader. Other team members include Michele Gagne, representing Cooperative Extension and UNH’s College of Life Science and Agriculture, Extension Educator Mary Tebo and Extension Specialist Dr. Charlie French, UNH Associate Prof. Dr. Kate Hanson, chair, UNH Community Leadership Program, Kerrie Diers, assistant director, Nashua Regional Planning Commission, and Joanne Cassulo, senior planner, Municipal and Regional Planning Assistance.

An Evaluation of Real-Time Distance Learning Practices for Use in Online Geospatial Training, with UNH Manchester Assistant Professor/Computer Information Systems Program Coordinator Dr. Mihaela Sabin as team leader. Other team members include Extension Specialist Shane Bradt, Adam Kurowski, regional planner, Lakes Regional Planning Commission, Rachel Ruppel, GIS analyst, Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, and Jo Anne Carr, senior planner, Southwest Region Planning Commission, rounding out the community partners.

Reconfiguring Computing Curriculum with Community Service Projects, with UNH Manchester Assistant Professor Dr. Mihaela Sabin as team leader. Extension 4-H Youth Development Educator Michael Koski also is on the team, along with Karen Acerno, Massabesic Audubon Center, Greg Hartshorn, Manchester Salvation Army, Dominique Rust, NH Catholic Charities, and Jeremy Hitchcock, Dynamic Network Services, representing the community partners.

Whole Grain Foods: Developing a Curriculum with and for Older Adults, with Dr. Catherine Violette, Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist, as team leader. Other team members include UNH Manchester Associate Professor Dr. Alison Paglia, Kerry Olson, director of Dining Services, Hillcrest Terrace Retirement Community, RSVP Program Coordinator Shirley Frost, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, and Barbara Vigneault, director, Senior Services Dept. of the City of Manchester.

Three Extension staff join other UNH faculty members in the 2008 UNH Outreach Scholars Academy. Now in its fourth year, the Academy is a faculty development program, designed to enhance faculty success in outreach scholarship within the disciplines.

Rick Alleva, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Julia Peterson, Extension Associate Professor/Specialist, Water Resources, and Malcolm Smith, Extension Associate Professor/Specialist, Family Education and Policy, will represent UNH Cooperative Extension this year in the Academy.

The Academy will meet several times throughout the coming semester with a national expert, coaches and Outreach Scholars Academy alumni with the goal to identify, mentor and work with faculty from across the institution interested in outreach scholarship. Congratulations!