Citizen science is on the rise, and Extension is poised to support this movement by offering technical assistance to citizen science programs, communities, federal partners, and researchers. The expansion of citizen science provides an opportunity for fostering innovative access to Extension resources and increasing engagement with new audiences.…

A data party is an engaging way to involve stakeholders in program evaluation. We explain the use of a data party for engaging 4-H program stakeholders (e.g., staff and volunteers) in data interpretation and helping them understand, embrace, and use program evaluation information to make data-driven decisions about their programs. We present two…

Within University of Minnesota Extension's health and nutrition program area, we created and are using a decision-making tree to prioritize our work with communities of color through equitable decision-making practices. The tool is currently used to help grant administrators winnow down a pool of applicants for a participatory grant-making program…

Extension professionals face challenges in quantifying the impact of their efforts in advancing the decision-making process inherent in setting natural resources policy. We developed a flexible tool that measures the impact of improving decision makers' planning efforts. The tool consists of two sets of survey questions that can be modified to fit…

Using natural resources data from a system developed by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, an Extension program to educate public officials who make land use decisions was conducted in a series of workshops over three years. Program effectiveness is evaluated and positive and negative results are noted. (MF)