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UPCOMING
EVENTS |
November 16
Urban Farming
Conference
West Valley City, Utah
November 18-20
Utah Farm Bureau
Convention
Layton, Utah
November 20-21
Utah Bioneers
Conference
Logan, Utah
Click here to visit Extension's Upcoming Events Web page.
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Vice President Receives Nearly $1 Million For Research
Utah State University Vice President for Extension and Agriculture and Dean
of the College of Agriculture Noelle E. Cockett received approval for a
$930,000 grant to support her research on the sheep genome.  The
funding is provided from the United States Department of Agriculture -
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program,
which awards funding for research, extension and education to address
food and agricultural sciences. "Noelle
is an internationally recognized leader in the field of sheep genomic
research," said Ken White, animal, dairy and veterinary sciences
department head. "This funding is an acknowledgment of this fact and
will allow those efforts to continue at a much higher level." Cockett's
project, "Assembly of the Ovine Whole Genome Reference Sequence," will
be used to generate large amounts of DNA sequence from a single animal,
which will then be assembled so it covers at least 95 percent of the
sheep genome. According
to White, the completed information will be both a reference and a
resource for other researchers who study the sheep gene sequence, and
also enable them to better compare the sheep gene sequence to other
species such as humans, mice and cattle. "This
is an important research project," White said. "The outcome of her
project will accelerate genetic research in sheep and other ruminant
animals." |
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USU Extension Specialists Teach Iraqi Visitors
Iraqi Extension specialists visited Utah State University on Oct. 19, 2009, to learn about Cooperative Extension and its applications in Cache Valley, as part of the Iraqi Agricultural Extension Revitalization Program.
Established in 2006, IAER strengthens Iraqi agriculture by revitalizing the country's extension and educational training, which enables specialists to take advice to the farmers and producers in their Iraqi communities.
USU Extension specialists Dallas Holmes, John Paul Murphy and Scott McKendrick gave the visiting 14 Iraqi specialists an introductory lesson in both Cooperative Extension theory and practice during the day-long seminar.
"It was an opportunity to share the work that Extension has done throughout Utah," Holmes said.
The Iraqi specialists included representatives from agriculture and education ministries who were taught the history, missions, philosophy and program planning techniques of Extension before watching real-life application of Extension in Cache Valley.
The day included a visit to Ellis Elementary School to introduce 4-H and youth programs, a short stop at the Community Gardens for water-wise planting techniques, followed by a field trip to a local residence to teach the Iraqi Extension specialists about small acreage applications.
Agriculture is the second largest employer in Iraq, which is why Holmes said IAER is an important project.
"Once they have the knowledge and the background, they get to share it with others," he said.
After spending six weeks in Utah learning about Cooperative Extension and water resource management, the Iraqi specialists will return home to implement techniques and teach others. |
USU Extension Announces New Online Registration System Let Extension's newly-launched registration program help you
plan your next class. The program is convenient for event organizers and offers customizable options for all classes.
Many have used the online registration program to post
events, classes and workshops ranging from The Working Ranch Horse Gathering to
Food $ense classes.
Users posting events can easily fill out a form that is
submitted to the marketing staff, who will then create your class
registration. The easy-to-use form walks users through the steps needed for holding a class or
event including cost, seats available, location, contact information and
more.
The online registration enables those who plan on attending
classes to obtain information in a matter of seconds and allows them to view,
register and pay for classes using the Internet.
Extension has started this user-friendly program in hopes of
increasing awareness and attendance of Extension classes and workshops.
Visit extension.usu.edu/courses to submit your class,
advertise your class or register for classes currently offered. To submit an event, click here. To view live registration systme, click here.
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USU Extension Food Pantry Garden Helps Utahns In Need
Several Utah food banks were recent recipients of 7,112 pounds of produce donated by the Utah State University Extension Food Pantry Garden at the Utah Botanical Center in Kaysville. 
The first Utah Botanical Center Food Pantry Garden was planted last spring by three Boy Scouts for their Eagle Scout projects with the help of approximately 60 other people who planted 100 pounds of seed potatoes, 450 tomato plants, 4,000 corn plants and 200 melon plants.
The 12,000 square-foot plot was maintained throughout the growing season and harvested in the fall by 1,100 community volunteers assisted by Utah Botanical Center staff members.
"It has been great to see the goodness and enthusiasm of the community as they have volunteered in such huge numbers to support this effort," said JayDee Gunnell, Utah State University Extension horticulture agent in Davis County.
Produce was donated to the Bountiful Community Food Pantry, the Family Connection Food Bank in Layton and the Utah Food Bank in Salt Lake City. In addition, 8,200 pounds of onions were donated to the Utah Food Bank by Boy Scouts volunteering at the Kaysville Experiment Station onion research plot.
Gunnell said the Utah Botanical Center staff looks forward to next year's garden.
"Since this was our first year, we weren't sure what to expect," he said. "We were amazed and appreciative that well over a thousand people took time out of their summers to participate in this project with us, and we are grateful so many Utahns in need were the recipients of their labors. We anticipate that next year's garden will be even bigger and better." |
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Tech Tips: Capturing Online Video From Dennis Hinkamp, USU Extension Communications
Would you like to use a video from YouTube in a presentation where you may or may not have an Internet connection? Or, do you want to edit out the commercials that most TV stations attach to online clips? Real Media is a tool that will help you do that.
Real Media was one of the first Internet streamers but I had forgotten about it the last several years. If you have not tried their updated free player lately, it's got some new features you will want to use.
Once installed, it attaches itself automatically to any internet video streaming source (Vimeo, YouTube, TV stations, MSNBC News, etc.) and allows you to download it to the Real Media Library under the proprietary filename.rm format. It has a built-in converter that allows you to convert any of your downloaded files directly to Mpeg4, Windows Media and a few others that you can put directly on your iPod, most cell phones, Facebook or as an email attachment. Real Media is a nice tool if you want to grab streams without using three separate conversion tools.
I used Real Media here, where I took the KJZZ clip of Extension's Dave Francis and edited out the commercials from the online clip. Download the free version of RealPlayer SP at www.real.com . |
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Recent Extension Publications Please take a look at these recently posted Extension publications.
Visit the USU Extension publication site by clicking here. |
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Help Spread the Word About
Extension Career Opportunities Professional positions within Utah State Extension are currently open, and we would like your help in spreading the word. Below is a list of open positions. Please forward this list to anyone you know who might be interested in applying.
Northern Region
Southeast Region
Southwest Region
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