Bruce McPheron, Dean
Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences
RETAINING RELEVANCE FLOATING THE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SHIP ON A SEA OF INFORMATION
Retaining Relevance • Are we irrelevant?
• What is our trajectory?
• How do we use our strengths to our advantage?
– Examples from energy research & extension
• Building our criticality
Are We Irrelevant? • Google search results – “extension relevance”
– “about 86,400,000 results”
– In 0.18 seconds
• What is the role of our organization in this sea of information?
• Who are our students?
• Who are our stakeholders?
• Are these nouns synonymous?
What Is Our Trajectory?
• We cherish our history & the accomplishments that we have achieved
• Let us not confuse what we did with how we did it!
• Best way to see the future is to stand on the shoulders of the past
Historical Strengths of Extension
• Research-based
• Distributed learning
• Responsive to stakeholders
• Agile
Historical Strengths of Extension • Research-based
– Who pays for our science?
• Distributed learning
– Do we take full advantage of our synergies?
• Responsive to stakeholders
– Are we slow to embrace new “students?”
• Agile
– Do our programs change with the times?
Historical Strengths of Extension
• Research-based
• Distributed learning
• Responsive to stakeholders
• Agile
Stories of Change – Using our Strengths
• Plum Pox Virus in stone fruit
• Colony Collapse Disorder & honey bees
Marcellus Shale Natural Gas
• Devonian sedimentary rock deposit
– 5-9,000 feet deep
– Marcellus, NY
• Perhaps >500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
Marcellus Shale Natural Gas • In 2001, Penn State Extension had essentially
zero expertise in natural gas issues or the Marcellus Shale
Marcellus Shale Natural Gas
• Initial questions involved legal issues around leases
• Questions have evolved through time
– Land use & regulatory issues; community resilience & services; water; forest fragmentation; wildlife ; invasive species; wealth management
Marcellus Shale Impacts • Landowner education
• Municipal official education
• Govt agency policy recommendations
• Economic impact analyses
• Partnerships
• Applied research
– Forest fragmentation & wildlife
– Water
Using Our Strengths – Marcellus & Water
• >1 million private wells serve >3 million PA residents
• Nearly ½ of these wells have never been tested
• 1 of 2 states that do not regulate private water supplies
• Are there Marcellus impacts?
Using Our Strengths – Marcellus & Water
• Provide an unbiased study of water quality in private water wells both before and after the drilling of Marcellus gas wells nearby.
• Document both the enforcement of existing regulations and the utilization of voluntary measures by homeowners to protect water supplies.
Extension Energy Entrepreneurship • The Case of Marcellus
– Meeting fees – currently about 20,000 attendees per year
– Our usual granting sources
– New granting sources
• Heinz Foundation
• National Science Foundation
– Philanthropy
Extension Energy Entrepreneurship • Alternative energy sources
– Industry adoption
– Supply chains
– Regulatory paths
Extension Energy Entrepreneurship
• National Energy Leadership Corps
– Focus on driving implementation of home energy audits & retrofits
• Farm Energy Efficiency
Extension Energy Entrepreneurship • Renewable Energy Credit Aggregation
– Extension as an aggregator
– Information broker – value of energy in heterogeneous commercial & regulatory environment
• Mid-Atlantic Solar Resource & Training Center
• Smart Grid Training and Resource Center
• Energy Innovation Hub
Building Our Criticality • What does keep the Extension boat afloat in a
sea of information?
– Innovation
– Research base
– Minimal bias
– Local solutions
– Entrepreneurial approach
– Documenting impact of our efforts
The Big Picture • We will provide new knowledge in the food and fiber
sectors and world-class educational programs built upon that new knowledge to the citizens of Pennsylvania
• Putting Science to Work – discovery and translation
• Teaching & Learning by Doing – engagement & experiential learning
• Managing Information/Solution Distribution – ensure delivery of knowledge
• Valuing & Building Diverse Partnerships – find & use all appropriate expertise
• Leveraging Unique National Networks – use the Land-Grant system to its fullest
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