Recent Blog Posts

Seed Your Future and the American Floral Endowment are launching an in-depth survey that promises to shed light on the salary potential in horticulture jobs. The Industry Salary Survey for Horticulture Sectors is designed to expand the understanding of wages and benefits in horticultural sectors ranging from floriculture, public gardens, garden centers, and landscape to fruits and vegetables. Read the complete article.

Sourced from Morning AgClips

OSU Extension is again joining the global community to celebrate Urban October. Ohio’s theme this year is “Celebrating Our Urban-Rural Connections – Where We Live, Work, Play, Learn & Serve.” As we head into Urban October, we want to hear your stories.

Share Your Urban-Rural Story – 1 image + 100 words

Inspiration, success, accomplishments, and innovation! Using one image and 100 words share what you have been doing and partnerships you have established across our urban-rural communities. Stories will be shared as an online collection for urban-rural Extension awareness during Urban October. Use this link to submit your stories before September 26. Contact Michelle Gaston.6@osu.edu with questions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it will invest $15 million this year for the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Classic program. Through CIG, grantees work to address our nation’s water quality, water quantity, air quality, soil health and wildlife habitat challenges, all while supporting agricultural production. This year’s funding priorities are climate-smart agriculture, addressing invasive species and conservation in urban agricultural systems. Learn more.

Sourced from Morning AgClips

For 75 years, the CHS Foundation has helped develop the next generation of ag leaders for lifelong success. In honor of this milestone, the foundation is awarding $75,000 in grants for K-12 teachers to implement a project at their school that will engage students in experiential agricultural education. Do you have an ag-realted school project with a K-12 educator, they can apply for a grant.

  • The initiative is open to any K-12 educators in a CHS trade territory (Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming).
  • Applications must be submitted by a teacher, and applicants must have school administration approval for the project.

 

Learn more.

Sourced from Morning AgClips

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Sciences and Extension is a special issue focusing on Extension engagement in urban communities. The 35 authors who contributed to this issue represent a range of geographic and programmatic viewpoints. Insights shared demonstrate that diversity in our cities is multidimensional, reinforce the importance of culturally relevant engagement, highlight the impact of Extension investment in urban partnerships and communities, underscore the complexity in metropolitan areas, emphasize the value and potential of our national network, as well as address issues of access, equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging.

Articles in this issue include:

1. Foreword by Marie A. Ruemenapp and Katherine Williams

2. Extension Engagement with Urban Communities by Julie Fox, Donna J. Peterson and Scott R. Cummings

3. Visualizing Diversity: Spatial Data as a Resource Enabling Extension to Better Engage Communities by Justin Krohn, Jacqueline Davis-Manigaulte, Christopher Fulcher, and Jennifer Sarah Tiffany

4. Strengthening Urban Food Systems Through Extension Programming and Community Engagement: A Case Study of New Brunswick, New Jersey by Cara L. Cuite, and Lauren Errickson

5. Cooperative Extension in Urban America: Place-Based Approaches for Improving Health by Dawn Burton, LaToya O’Neal, Erin Yelland, Suzanne Stluka, and Roger Rennekamp

6. Perspectives of 4-H Professionals: Practices to Engage Immigrant Youth in 4-H Teens as Teachers Programs by Fe Moncloa and Ester Rodriguez

7. “I’m Going to Live My Life Freely”: Authenticity as an Indicator of Belonging Among Urban Latinx LGBTQ+ Youth by Maru Gonzalez, Bianka M. Reese, and Tania Connaughton-Espino

8. Accessibility and Inclusion as an Approach to Enhancing Local Extension Programs by S. Dee Jepsen, Laura Akgerman, Karen Funkenbusch, Jessie Calero, and Heather Kelejian

9. Reconceptualizing Youth Sparks: A Sociocultural Approach to Co-Designing Programs for Somali Youth by Joanna A. Tzenis

10. Extension and Faith-Based Organizations – Understanding Past and Present Linkages and Future Opportunities for Urban Communities by Jeffrey A. Young and Kenneth R. Jones

11. Book Review – The Art of Being Indispensable at Work: Win Influence, Beat Overcommitment, and Get the Right Things Done by Eric Killian

12. Documentary Review – Two Roles in Urban Community Revitalization: Julian Price the Philanthropist and Cooperative Extension by Susan A. Kelly

13. Book Review – Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good Review & Implications for Engaged Programming by M.C. “Molly” Immendorf

14. Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Urban Extension for Internal and External Stakeholders by Ramona Madhosingh-Hector and Linda M. Seals

15. Futuring Perspectives and Practices for Urban Extension by Julie Fox and Solomon Garner

Articles provided in this issue further JHSE’s continued efforts to promote practical implementation of research by providing food for thought, opportunities for practical replication or local adaptation, and ideas to keep the dialogue on urban Extension moving forward.

A printed version of this special issue was distributed at the National Urban Extension Conference thanks to the support from The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Washington State University Extension, and the Western Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research, and Mississippi State University.

Julie Fox, Guest Editor for the 2022 Special Issue

Donna J. Peterson and Scott Cummings, Editors Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities Annual Conference will take place October 23-26 in San Diego. The conference theme is "The Essential Role of Urban and Metropolitan Universities." The conference is focused on CUMU member institutions, their community partners, and their work addressing contemporary challenges through dialogue and presentations delivered in a variety of formats that allow for in-depth conversations and actionable next steps. Ohio State faculty and staff will receive the CUMU member rate when registering.

Learn more and register.

Urban agriculture is booming, but there’s often a hidden danger lurking in city soils: lead. A recent University of Illinois study showed universally elevated lead levels in soils across Chicago, an urban ag hotspot.

Scientists don’t know much about how vegetables and other crops take up and accumulate lead in real-world settings, but new U of I research in Chicago backyard gardens shows tomatoes are likely safe to eat, even when grown in highly lead-contaminated soils.

Read the full article here.

Sourced from Morning Ag Clips

Climate Change Could Cost Ohio Municipalities Nearly $6B Annually by 2050.

Local governments across Ohio will need to increase municipal spending by as much as $5.9 billion annually by midcentury in order to adapt to the challenges of a worsening climate crisis, according to a new study released today by the Ohio Environmental Council, Power A Clean Future Ohio, and Scioto Analysis. 

The report, The Bill is Coming Due: Calculating the Financial Cost of Climate Change to Ohio’s Local Governments, provides a conservative estimate of the additional costs that municipalities — including specific estimates for Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Cuyahoga Falls, Dayton, Lima, Marietta, Marion, Oberlin, Piqua, Toledo, Wadsworth, Youngstown — can expect to incur due to climate change. Follow this link for the complete article.

Sourced from the Ohio Environmental Council

Plan to attend the Urban Food Systems Symposium September 26-28, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. The theme for this year's conference is "building Coalitions for a Chanding World." The program schedule has been announced so check out the UFSS website to learn about keynotes, invited speakers, posters, and technical sessions. Register by August 31 to receive the best prices. Limited funds are still available for travel scholarships - check it out.

Check out the updated Innovation Skill-Building Experience ePub: A Guide for Project Incubation and Tools for Success.

Impact Collaborative Innovation Facilitators and Extension Foundation team members provide a hands-on introduction to the Innovation Skill-Building Experience (ISBE) workbook. This workbook and related tools is the start of your team’s collaboration in imagining something extraordinary, experimenting to make it great, and then turning your team’s vision into actuality. A new iteration of the ISBE workbook is interactive to better utilize all the workbook’s tools in a more user-friendly, easy to share, and printable format.

With updated and improved content, more examples to help enhance learning, and newly added features such as note-taking, embedded videos, and links, this workbook is designed to enhance learning and create more results! With this workbook, you have a collection of tools that will guide you on your journey into change and innovation.

Use it as a tool to:

  • Guide your team through a project idea that needs incubation with checklists and methods for documenting progress
  • Learn about Cooperative Extension’s best practices for solving important community issues
  • Measure learning outcomes to improve program/project impact continuously


This ISBE ePub is your device to spark ideas, foster innovation, and ultimately create a local effect.

Check out the workbook link and test out all its features.
New ISBE Epub
Tutorial on how to use Ebooks

Sourced from Connect Extension

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