Connect Extension Chat: Virtualizing and Social Distancing Horticulture and Master Gardener Volunteer Programs

Click here to join the chat at 1 PM ET on July 23rd. 

Each month, the eXtension Foundation will host a virtual chat here on Connect Extension, available to all Cooperative Extension professionals. The purpose of these short virtual chats is to highlight best practices and innovation throughout Cooperative Extension. Each session will be a different topic area. 

For July 23rd, 2020, we will be discussing Virtualizing and Social Distancing Horticulture and Master Garden Volunteer Programs and how Extension is reimagining these events virtually and/or with social distancing. We invite Cooperative Extension professionals to join us to discuss their own best practices and how they’ve innovated to deliver Horticulture and Master Gardener programs virtually!

This conversation will be hosted by John Porter, University of Nebraska - Lincoln and Stephanie A Mathias, Master Gardener Program Coordinator, University of Maryland. 

To participate, Cooperative Extension professionals will need to have a Connect Extension account. To register your free Connect Extension account, click here. 

@John Porter is the urban agriculture extension educator for Nebraska Extension in Omaha.  His work is a mix of home garden, urban farming, and food systems programming and engagement both in-person and (now more than ever) online. His recent virtual offerings include a 4-part synchronous course in home hydroponics and “Food Chat” virtual informal “coffee house” discussions for farmers The first eight years of his career were in his home state of West Virginia, where he was a county agent and county Master Gardener program coordinator and also served on the social media team for the national EMG program.  He is a long-time contributing member to the Garden Professors and is an eXtension Impact Collaborative facilitator.  

Stephanie Mathias is the Maryland State Coordinator for the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener Program. She graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a B.S. in Environmental Science and is currently working on her Masters in Landscape Architecture at University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to joining UME, She worked as a Conservation Technician for the National Aquarium’s Field Conservation team. She leads volunteer and program management activities for the Master Gardener program in Maryland.