Room 311
Jensen Hayter
Assistant Professor, Extension Specialty Crop Pathologist
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Jensen Hayter
Assistant Professor, Extension Specialty Crop Pathologist
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
APS Committee Sponsoring the Proposed Session: None
External Group Support/Co-Organization: None
Description: Extension specialists and agents seek to serve the stakeholder community by translating the results of both basic and applied research into actionable recommendations for optimizing crop production. This is done through providing resources focused on best agronomic practices and pest and disease management. They interact with community members and stakeholders and are often the most accessible and present members of a land-grant university. For a variety of reasons many states face high rates of turnover in Extension programs, particularly among Extension agents. This session seeks to present an Extension career as a viable option at the Bachelors, Masters, and PhD level to both undergraduate and graduate students, and to provide helpful insights into creating stable and successful Extension programs.
The session organizers will briefly explain the mission, purpose, and history of land-grant institutions. Invited professionals with significant Extension appointments will then describe the process of establishing Extension-centered outreach and research programs (including information on how to form productive relationships with other Extension personnel and leveraging the power of an Extension network), developing stakeholder relationships, and funding opportunities available for Extension research and education. The session will conclude with an open forum for discussion and questions moderated by the panel of invited speakers. Additionally, speakers will provide insight into mentoring graduate students and postdocs and managing laboratory personnel.
Plant Health 2025 Theme: Agricultural trade has become a global enterprise. The world's food system is heavily intertwined. Extension personnel are the boots on the ground helping to maximize food production through education and applied research. Growers are the foundation of the global food supply and Extension personnel are the bridge to translating basic and applied research into actionable recommendations, thus making them an integral part in addressing risk to food production systems. Additionally, a global food system inherently shares the good and the bad. Pests and pathogens are disseminated through global trade. Extension personnel are able to rapidly focus in on an emergent problem in order to provide timely recommendations to growers to manage novel pathogens and slow disease spread.
Speaker: Mary Hausbeck – Michigan State University
Speaker: Mitchell D. Richmond, PhD – University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Speaker: Madalyn Shires, PhD – South Dakota State University