Limited organizational capacity has hindered Extension's ability to address substance misuse in communities. To inform capacity-building efforts, we obtained Extension educator and health educator feedback on opportunities, challenges and resource needs using the Delphi technique. Opportunities included collaboration and partnerships with local…

Extension program participants tell story after story of the impact of Cooperative Extension on their lives, their families, and their businesses. Despite huge amounts of qualitative data, very little quantitative data exist showing the aggregated public value of Extension programs--especially across program areas. The lack of data leaves…

Effectively communicating with diverse groups involved in environmental management is critical to facilitating successful projects. This five-step communication plan is designed to enable resource managers and extension professionals to successfully engage their stakeholders. This plan, which uses oyster reef management as an example, was informed…

Extension educators face challenges as they strive to keep up with critical issues in their communities, such as those surrounding water. A growing population and a diminishing water supply necessitate that Florida residents become more knowledgeable about water issues. We conducted research to determine how confident both the general public and…

Education is an important tool to increase the capacity of local government officials for community flood adaptation. To address flood adaptation and post-flood stream management in municipalities, Cornell Cooperative Extension and collaborators developed an educational program to increase municipal officials' knowledge about how to work…

The study reported here surveyed Extension educators' awareness and knowledge of woody biomass energy and assessed their desire and ability to reach out to family forest owners-a critical feedstock source. The results indicate Extension educators are aware of the potential of woody biomass to serve as a renewable source of energy. Respondents…

TBI"options" helps survivors of traumatic brain injury and their families identify, locate, and contact helpful organizations in their local communities to promote successful living. This article discusses the role of county agents in the program and the support offered by community partners. Results of pre- and post-surveys for both…

Following the call for more stringent evaluation methodology and recently documented national Extension presence in the field of divorce education for parents and children, the study reported here describes a local multi-level evaluation to capture program impact of a stakeholder-accepted divorce education program. Using a post-then-pre…

University-based Extension specialists often face the dilemma of scheduling time for both teaching and outreach activities. Service learning projects that give hands-on experience in the application of classroom activities while giving back to the community can bridge this gap. A demonstration forest and service learning techniques were used to…

Healthy lifestyles education (HLE) is defined as nutrition and physical activity education aimed at controlling or preventing serious health issues. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine knowledge and behaviors of Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) and 4-H agents concerning HLE. Eighty-five and 86% of FACS and 4-H…

Using an interdisciplinary approach to water resource education, 4-H Youth Development and Environmental Extension agents enlisted 4-H teens to connect local watershed education with social action. Teens participated in a dynamic service learning project that included learning about nonpoint source pollution; constructing, decorating, and teaching…

Culturally Responsive Youth Work: The Journey Matters is based on the theory that when knowledge and skills are found within the lived experiences and cultural contexts of youth, they are more meaningful and more engaging and are learned more easily (Gay, 2000). The program was evaluated using a retrospective pre-then-post test evaluation and…