Extension Update: August 2008 Archives

Several staff recently retired from UNH Cooperative Extension, taking advantage of the early retirement offer extended through the University of New Hampshire. Their years of service to UNH Cooperative Extension add up to almost 163 years.

Staff retiring include:

Roland Barnaby, Rockingham County Extension Educator, Sea Grant and Marine Resources, officially retired August 22. A decision to refill this position will be based on the funding situation within the National Sea Grant College Program office. Rollie’s years of service total 20. In the photo on the right, I presented Rollie with a certificate honoring his years of service.

Tom Buob, Grafton County Agricultural Resources Educator, retired after 25 years. Tom continued to work part-time until August 15 and the plan is to have the position filled by January, 2009. Tom and his wife purchased a house in North Carolina and are in the process of completing their move to their new home.

Dotty Burrows, Carroll County Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, retired after 24 and one-half years with Cooperative Extension. Plans are to fill the position by the beginning of 2009. Dotty is looking forward to her new role as a 4-H volunteer in Carroll County.

Lynn Garland, Rockingham County Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, retired after 39 years with Extension. Plans are to fill the position by the beginning of 2009. Lynn continues to work part-time covering the Stratham and Deerfield Fairs.

Frank Mitchell, Extension Professor/Specialist, Land and Water Conservation, retired after 29 years with Extension. He continues to work part-time for Extension, working on the Wildlife Action Plan and revising the NH Wetlands Evaluation method.

Northam "Nory" Parr, Grafton County Extension Educator, Forest Resources, retired after 25 years with Extension. He continues to work for us two to three days a week, until a replacement is selected. The position is currently being advertised with an August 29 deadline.

Congratulations to these retirees. We wish them well!

The 2008-2009 in-service calendar is now available, and you are encouraged to sign up for professional development opportunities.

The registration process remains the same and we are continuing the catalog web page developed last year to categorize in-services in four broad categories to help staff and supervisors develop appropriate professional development plans. This page is intentionally redundant, listing many of the in-services multiple times because they fit under several categories.

If you have a question about a particular in-service, email or call the contact person listed. Thank you for participating in the staff professional development process!

UNH Cooperative Extension recently received the following grants and awards:

Darrel Covell, Program Leader, Forestry and Wildlife Program, received $5,000 from the NH Charitable Foundation’s Madison Fund to support marketing and outreach for the publication, “Integrated Landscaping: Following Nature’s Lead.”

Covell also received $30,921 from the NH Division of Forests and Lands for the 2007 Urban and Community Forestry Program, and $159,151 from the Division for the 2007 Forest Stewardship/Forest Resource Management/Conversation Education Programs.

Mark Wiley, Extension Specialist, Marine Science Education, received two grants: $1,800 from the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Council for his project, “Nuisance Species Volunteer Monitoring,” and $30,000 from the NH Dept. of Environmental Services for the Great Bay Coast Watch Volunteer Water Quality and Phytoplankton Monitoring efforts.

Rick Alleva, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, received $1,800 from the Raymond Coalition for Youth to support the project, “Raymond Coalition Grants Management, Research, Development, Training and Support.”

Suzann Knight, Extension Specialist, Family Resource Management, received $20,000 from the University of Delaware for the project, “Let’s Talk about Who Gets the Farm before It’s Too Late.”

Karen Bennett, Extension Specialist, Forestry, received $100, 000 from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests for the project, “Good Forestry in the Granite State.”

Dignitaries from Congress, the Armed Services and the American Red Cross descended on Bear Hill 4-H Camp Thursday in celebration of Military Day at the 2008 Operation Purple Camp.

Sen. John Sununu, (R-NH,)  representatives from the NH National Guard and its Family Program, along with Skip DeHart, Red Cross manager of services for military families in New Hampshire, all had the opportunity to tour camp and meet some of the youth whose parents are in the Armed Services.

Operation Purple Camp is funded by the National Military Families Association. This week-long, residential summer camp hosted 103 children of all military service members, with preference given to families experiencing deployment, preparing for deployment, or adjusting to reunification.

Operation Purple Camp's goal is to impart the message to these young heroes that they serve, too. The camp helps military kids experience a fun-filled week at camp, while they learn coping skills to deal with deployment-related stress and foster relationships with other, similarly situated, military kids. On Thursday, they also had the opportunity to interact with Armed Services representatives who are in active service and been through deployment. A highlight for the kids was watching a demonstration of well-trained dogs and their handlers who support military actions.

I had the opportunity to serve lunch, with help from 4-H Youth Development Program Leader Wendy Brock, Associate Director Jim Grady, Brigadier General Stephen Burritt, Col. Deborah Carter and Chaplain Wayne Santos, all from the NH National Guard. A surprise presentation was the naming of the garden next to the dining hall in honor of Wendy Brock, for her support of 4-H Camps. A "gold" shovel was unveiled to mark the presentation to her.

UNH Cooperative Extension, 4-H Youth Development program partners with all branches of the military, the military's NH Joint Family Support Assistance Program, military support groups, and many other organizations to form the outreach effort called Operation: Military Kids.

Whole grain foods are an important part of a healthful diet. Whole grain foods are associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and improved weight management.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend healthy Americans eat at least three ounces of whole grain foods each day or "make half your grains whole." However, survey results show the average American eats slightly less than one serving of whole grain food each day. Because the U.S. population is aging and older adults are more likely to have one or more chronic health conditions, older adults represent an important audience for educational programs designed to increase whole grain food consumption.

How can UNH Cooperative Extension help consumers identify, purchase and eat more whole grain foods? To answer this question and then design effective educational programs, we need to know more about how older adults identify foods as whole grain and if and how they use product packages to do so. To develop targeted education materials, we also need to know more about what motivates older consumers to purchase whole grain foods and the barriers they encounter. Lastly, we need to know what older adults want to learn about whole grains and how they would like the program delivered.

To answer these questions, two grant-funded applied research projects are currently underway. For the first project, researchers from five universities (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota and the District of Columbia) interviewed 110 older adults to identify how they determine if sample food products were whole grain. While the results are still being analyzed, preliminary indications show the food package ingredient list is an important source of information older adults use to determine if a food is whole grain.

The second research project is looking at how older adults want to learn about whole grains and to work with them to develop the program. Known as community participatory research, we are working with both agency representatives and older adults to plan and implement a whole grain foods program. This project is funded by the UNH Outreach Scholars program and focuses on older adults in Manchester. Five "listening sessions" were held in Manchester with 44 older adults attending.

These lively group discussions provided much valuable information to Catherine Violette and Alice Mullen from UNH Cooperative Extension and Dr. Alison Paglia, associate professor of Psychology at UNH Manchester, who are leading this project. A smaller group of older adult volunteers derived from the listening sessions is currently meeting and engaged in each step of program development. Involving older adults in program development is helping us prioritize information and approaches that will best meet their educational needs.

Nine New Hampshire youth experienced a different kind of horse camp at UNH in July when UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Camps offered Equine Seminar, an alternative to traditional horse camp.

Equine Seminar, an addition to the 4-H Camps, Teen Adventure 2008 Series, was the first session offered on the UNH campus. There was riding, but the bulk of this camp was about the science of horses, learning about them and making deeper connections.

4-H Camp staff worked with Extension’s 4-H Animal Science Specialist, Trent Schriefer, as well as UNH faculty/staff Dr. Bill Berndston, Pam McPhee, Cindy Burke, Brenda Hess-McAskill and Sarah Hamilton to provide clinics on equine biomechanics, reproductive management, nutrition, stable management, therapeutic riding and equine assisted learning techniques.

Schriefer said, "The time and knowledge that UNH equine faculty shared with our campers was phenomenal, what an opportunity for youth to have access to faculty and their expertise."

Field trips took the group to the Myhre Equine Clinic in Rochester, which provided an opportunity to observe state of the art equine medical technology, including computer assisted tomography (C.A.T. scan), ultrasound, nuclear medicine and digital radiography.

Participants also visited a variety of working horses in action at Tuckaway Farm in Lee, Bear Brook Stables, Allenstown, the Dover Mounted Police Unit and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales in Merrimack. Campers were treated to a day at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where they used scavenger hunts to find and critique horse-related art.

Campers also participated in the many recreational activities offered at UNH during the summer, including tennis courts, lacrosse field, track and swimming pool, thanks to the complimentary use of the Thompson School bus.