Tagged With "Facilitate & Celebrate Success"
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Juntos 4-H and Purdue University
The National Juntos Movement, built on the efforts of many Extension professionals who have a vision to partner and serve a growing community in our states, has a success story to share. During my time with Juntos and Extension, I have worked with great minds who think outside the box and understand the practices and engagement it takes to walk side by side with our youth and their families. I want to highlight one such Extension professional. Over six years ago, I met Xiomara Diaz, who grew...
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Tips to Cope with Market Volatility
With respect to investments, the word “volatility” refers to sharp up and down movements in prices. Read on for several tips for Extension educators to share with clients to help them cope with market volatility.
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Seaweed is on the Menu with Connecticut’s Sugar Kelp Industry
A team from UConn is using innovative research and community outreach to help make this novel food more accessible for consumers and more profitable for producers. When you crave something tasty, seaweed may not be the first thing that springs to mind. But UConn researchers and extension educators want to change that. A team from UConn Extension within the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources , and Connecticut Sea Grant are using innovative research and community outreach to...
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Pillars of Successful Transition - Models to help Service Members and their Families Prepare for the Military to Civilian Transition
By Jenny Rea, Ph.D. While many separating Service members successfully adapt to civilian life, 40 to 75% describe some difficulties managing this major transition (Castro & Kintzle, 2017; Zoli, Maury, & Fay, 2015). For instance, within the first year of transitioning to civilian life, Veterans face increased challenges with homelessness, family integration, employment, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse, all of which can increase the risk for suicide ( VA,...
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Extension Foundation Selected by USDA-NIFA as Technical Provider for NEXTGEN Funding Opportunity
The primary goal of the From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program (NEXTGEN) is to enable 1890 Land-grant institutions, 1994 Land-grant institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Hispanic-serving institutions, and insular area institutions of higher education located in the U.S. territories to engage, recruit, retain, train, and support students to help build and sustain the...
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Implementing the Health Framework Lightning Sessions
Join the Health Framework team on November 15 th and December 15th, 2022, to learn how some land grant universities are implementing Extension’s framework for health. These two sessions will feature 12 Land Grant Universities that are demonstrating success in health-related work, particularly around capacity building for framework Implementation. Register here for the November 15 th session Register here for the December 15 th session.
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Extension's Role in Addressing Social Isolation.
At a recent Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Community and Public Health Program Work Team (PWT) meeting, the topic of social isolation was discussed. Groups of Extension educators from across New York State spoke about how their existing work supports people navigating social isolation. There were also a number of ideas on how Extension could play a larger role in partnership with other health-focused community-based organizations to address this issue. What are folks doing in your LGU...
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EXCITE(ing) Strengths!
Since launching in 2021, the EXCITE program has reached more than 12 Million individuals with immunization education in 1,017 counties across 48 states and territories through the hard work of Extension Professionals from 72 land grant universities and 410 community and healthcare partners. It all began with support for the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) "Vaccinate with Confidence" campaign in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. WHY EXTENSION? Cooperative Extension has an over 100-year...
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Positive Changes
"Whatever you do out there in the world do an equal amount of work internally because if you don't your work in the world will not be as effective." - Dr. Gabor Mate' Recently attended a leadership development workshop where a Psychologist spoke and led us in some discovery exercises. He point-blank stated there are not enough Psychologists to encourage positive lifestyle changes. He asked us to implement them in some way and share the value with others! Here are the therapeutic lifestyle...
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Practicing Gratitude and Building Better Thoughts
For service providers and clients alike, life is a winding road of good things here and bad things there. Actively working toward wiring your brain to acknowledge the good and appreciating those good things can help individuals shape personal strengths and build protections. Creating protective factors which can help cultivate positive mental health and generate an asset-based outlook that reaches all aspects of life. November is National Gratitude Month Gratitude is the practice of being...
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Building Public Health Partnerships and Telling Extension's Story
Recently, @Adam T Hughes from Cornell University asked me to join him and their Public Health Program Work Team (PWT) in a quarterly meeting to discuss how Mississippi State University Extension is connecting with public health partners here. That gave me reason to take a step back and consider what approaches have led to our success in health-related work. These are some of the things I shared with them that undergird my thinking and efforts in this area. 1. Extension has a history of work...
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RFA: ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams: Resilient Economies and Community Health (REACH)
ELIGIBILITY: Competitive opportunity available to ALL Land-grant universities (LGUs) (1862, 1890, 1994) by completing a simple online application. The Extension Foundation in partnership with the ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams, is offering two opportunities to apply and be selected to pilot a community development initiative in a community of their choosing. More specifically, successful applicants will have the opportunity to pilot test how Cooperative Extension can catalyze...
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RFA Deadline Extended! ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams: Resilient Economies and Community Health (REACH)
RFA: ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams: Resilient Economies and Community Health (REACH) ELIGIBILITY: Competitive opportunity available to ALL Land-grant universities (LGUs) (1862, 1890, 1994) by completing a simple online application. The Extension Foundation in partnership with the ECOP Health and Workforce Program Action Teams, is offering two opportunities to apply and be selected to pilot a community development initiative in a community of their choosing. More...
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Job Opening: Association Lead Executive Director (Kingston, NY)
Cornell Cooperative Extension Ulster County is hiring a Lead Executive Director . The position is located in Kingston, NY. Read the full position description and apply online by Jan. 5th: https://cornell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CCECareerPage/details/Lead-Executive-Director---Kingston--NY_WDR-00034546 The Lead Executive Director for the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Ulster County represents and is accountable to the Association Board of Directors and the Director of the...
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Dr. Christine Nygren Announces Retirement from Extension Foundation as CEO
Dr. Christine Nygren (formerly Geith), Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Extension Foundation has announced her retirement effective January 13th, 2023. The Board of Directors selected Dr. Nygren as CEO in July 2015 during a transitional period for the Extension Foundation. Prior to joining the Extension Foundation, Dr. Nygren was the Assistant Provost and Executive Director of MSU Global at Michigan State University. During her tenure as the CEO, Dr. Nygren led a vision for the organization to...
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Happiness Power!
Is your goal to have a little success each day? Can probably guess you said "yes"! In one of my favorite Ted Talks , Shawn Achor says every time we experience some success we move the goalpost for what it means to us. AND...if our overall happiness is connected with that success, it's likely we never get there. What? We're undermining our own happiness? In his happiness research, he's discovered our brains work in the opposite way. A "happiness advantage" can occur when we raise our level of...
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Alignment with a Stop Light?
You've worked hard to come up with a great plan that will make things easier, remove frustrations, and even save time for everyone. You're proud of it. It's thorough. It's researched. You've consulted people with more experience in this area. You've taken criticism. You've been vulnerable. Now it's time for the big meeting to unveil it. You're excited. Even a bit nervous. It's your turn on the agenda and... Your excitement is met with a mild, lukewarm reception from the team. What happened?
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Success at the 2023 Impact Collaborative Summit!
The Impact Collaborative conducted a fantastic three-day Summit centered around Climate Resilience on January 17, 18, and 19th! Twenty-eight new Project and Program teams across Cooperative Extension representing thirty-four institutions attended the Project Acceleration Summit via Zoom This was one of our largest Summits to date, with 130 people in attendance. D uring the three days, teams attended special keynote speaker sessions and were connected with skills, tools, resources, Coaches,...
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The Perfect Meeting
"One can either work or meet. One cannot do both at the same time." -Peter Drucker Darn it! He's right again. Despite our best efforts we can only do one of these (effectively) at a time. Through this, he also reminds us of the multitasking myth. What we actually do is task switch. It takes 40% longer to accomplish two things we're switching on and longer when we add a third or fourth task. One thing we can do to help with effectiveness is to have better meetings. Most HR professionals will...
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Equitable Development: Starts Within Individuals and Emphasizes Well-Being
When you think about how societies have grown and developed in the past, can you identify efforts where, “ good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation,” were prioritized? Unfortunately, most stories of development tell tales of exciting economic growth and ignore the inequity that serves as the foundation for their success. However, some countries are shifting from economic-focused standards of development to factors centered...
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Evaluating a System-wide Project: An interview with the EXCITE evaluation team!
We are excited to have Isabel Osborne and Laura Downey to discuss their involvement in the evaluation and reporting process for the system-wide Extension Collaboration on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) Project. Isabel and Laura have been integral in developing a comprehensive and dynamic system for evaluating the EXCITE project's progress and success. Q: Isabelle and Laura, could you please tell us about yourselves and the roles you play in the evaluation team? Laura: Great.
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Have you ever...
Have you ever tried to change something about someone else? Of course, you have. We ALL have! The point is we can't motivate anyone else. Like us, they show up for what they believe in. And like us, they always find time for what's important to them. We can engage , inspire , and support . In short, we can show up for them in an authentic way because we care about them. We don't have to be better or smarter, we just have to courageously care about them. Connect first with your intention. If...
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2 thoughts...
When you feel the surge, resist the urge. There are times in our lives when we feel threatened. Some are real. Some aren't. Our bodies process these situations exactly the same. When threats aren't real often we let our fight/flight response take over. In these moments we react as if in real danger. The actual danger here is not having the self-awareness to realize the "threat" is perceived and be able to calm ourselves down. If we succumb to the survival hormones flooding our bodies we...
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Building Resilient Families: How New Technologies for Ag Extension is Serving the Heart & Hope Program from the University of Nevada, Reno
New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) is a grant from USDA-NIFA in partnership with Oklahoma State University and is currently in its fourth year. Since 2019, the Extension Foundation has served 72 leaders and programs from across Cooperative Extension to help strengthen their programs and make a greater local impact in the communities they serve. Programs that applied for NTAE each year were competitively selected and aligned with USDA and Extension Committee on Organization and Policy...
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"No" isn't negative
"No! Don't touch the hot stove." "No! Don't text and drive." In these examples, "no" is actually positive to alert us from burning ourselves and not driving while distracted. In other situations, primarily in our professional lives, we perceive saying "no" will be viewed as negative. This leads to saying "yes" to much more than we can accomplish and the mistaken idea that if we're busy it means we're valued more. Does always being busy with more equal accomplishing more? Here's a scenario...
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Be Aware!
Leadership is influence. Influence is felt by others in our behaviors. These behaviors provide evidence of our intentions. Be aware: It's our intentions we betray first followed by our behavior. When tolerated, these bad behaviors have devastating effects on those we spend the most time with; our professional colleagues. There are many studies that chronicle the impact of poor leadership, the resulting toxic environment it creates, and the negative effects on our health. Just guessing it's...
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EXCITE Pilot Project Celebration & Wrap-up
The Extension Collaboration on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) project held its final Strategy Session, marking the last time the EXCITE pilot projects will meet before concluding their projects. This event signifies the end of a two-year effort aimed at bringing Immunization Education to Extension communities. During the session, the EXCITE Program team members, EXCITE teams, and partners gathered together to celebrate the project's efforts. The success of this project is a...
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Beliefs on the Leadership Journey
Getting clear with ourselves about our beliefs helps connect us to our core values. They will shift over our lives so it's a constant journey of discovery. Here are some things to ponder as you check in on your journey. Your Leadership Philosophy Defining what the huge topic of leadership is to you is of utmost importance. It helps us get clear on our approach, communicate it to others, and measure how we're doing every day. Here's mine right now... It's realizing it's not about me &...
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2 Questions...
How do you know it's time to do leadership development? The short answer is it's always time. Developing our leadership is a journey, not a destination. Improving our self-awareness and becoming truly effective takes consistent focus. Here are some clues to watch for on your journey to help stay focused: If you're feeling like some honest and respectful feedback it might be time for leadership development! Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Getting meaningful information from trusted...
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Unique Strengths of the EXCITE Project: Partnerships
The Extension Collaboration for Immunization, Teaching, and Engagement ( EXCITE ) project was created to reduce vaccine hes it ancy in rural and medically unders erved communities . Fund ed by the CDC through an Inter agency Agreement with USDA N IFA and a cooperative agreement with the Extension Foundation , the team has four goals : reduce hes it ancy, increase communication between populations and health systems , increase accessibility to clinics and help implement public health programs...
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Who's responsible?
Becoming the leader we want to be requires consistent personal commitment. The environment also matters, especially where we spend the most time...at work. With the combination of personal growth and organizational support, we can rise with leadership challenges throughout our professional lives. Personal Responsibility Improving your leadership skills on your own is a daunting task at the least. Actually, we don't really do it on our own, we have help from a ton of different sources. Our...
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USDA Announces Funding for 33 Institutions for $262.5M Investment through NEXTGEN Opportunity
The Extension Foundation (EXF) was awarded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in the Fall of 2022 to serve as the Technical Service Provider for the NEXTGEN Funding Opportunity. According to USDA-NIFA, “...the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) ‘ From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program ’ (NextGen) will enable eligible institutions, from New York to the Northern Mariana Islands, to...
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EXCITE Launches Implementation Phase for 33 Immunization Education Projects/37 Land-grant Universities
Cooperative Extension has been given the opportunity to continue immunization education work through the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE). The Extension Foundation, in cooperation with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), through an Interagency Agreement with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are funding the Cooperative Extension System to increase...
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Coaching or Mentoring?
Not that many years ago it wasn't very cool to have a coach for personal development. It was seen as somewhat of a weakness if you sought out a coach for help. Today, it's different. You want to learn and grow because you're after increased effectiveness. It's cool to have a coach. On the other hand, mentors have been a big part of personal and professional networks throughout our lives. These relationships continue to be a vital part of our development and the quality of our lives. Mentors...
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Well Connected Communities Webinar: Building Coalitions to Advance Community Health and Well Being
Building Coalitions to Advance Community Health and Well Being Thursday, July 27th, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET Register here ! Register here to join us for another lightning session to share best practices and strategies for building, managing, and sustaining coalitions. Six LGUs will be sharing how they developed coalitions and the keys to their success, resources they have developed or used to help Extension professionals work more effectively with community coalitions, and community...
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Toxic Leadership
What is toxic leadership? Using coercive, controlling, or manipulative tactics prioritizes personal gain over meaningful goals undermining collaborative achievements. When our actions hurt those we are charged with caring for, it can damage relationships and the whole organization. Common Characteristics Micromanagement Excessive control and monitoring of others leave little space for autonomy or independence. It inhibits creativity and imagination. Intimidation Using threats, humiliation,...
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What keeps senior leaders up at night?
Our family had the pleasure of being stationed in Tokyo, Japan while my wife and I were in the U.S. Air Force. While Japan and the other countries we visited were amazing, it was a particularly complicated time in the Pacific region. Most notably, North Korea's leader was threatening war. Additionally, many career fields in the Air Force lacked the people to sustain the operational pace required to maintain peace and stability in the region. Because of these situations, several military...
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Extension Foundation Receives USDA-NIFA Award to Maximize Biosecurity Threat Resilience
The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is a collaborative network of Cooperative Extension educators across the United States and territories who work to improve the delivery of education and information, and the availability of resources related to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Historically, this grassroots network has been aligned with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and supported by USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)...
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Transdisciplinary Approaches: The Science of Team Science
Transdisciplinary Approaches: The Science of Team Science Webinar Wednesday December 6, 2023 at 12pm PT/3pm ET Register : https://www.nal.usda.gov/about-us/events/transdisciplinary-approaches-webinar-dec2023 Speakers: Jeni Cross, Colorado State University Anne Mook, Colorado State University Description: Working on teams employing transdisciplinary approaches presents many challenges. This webinar will share information about the keys to the success of complex teams, and highlight the role...
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Feel the surge? Resist the urge!
A few years ago an assignment came my way due to a lack of personnel with the right experience. It featured a lot of diverse tasks to prepare a team for a challenging assignment involving advanced training, remote communication, outside agency networking/coordination & team building. After months of painstakingly detailed work, my bosses felt I had not asked the right questions, sweat the small stuff enough and let too many “balls drop”. In a one-way conversation, they fired me. This hit...
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We are hiring: University of Minnesota Extension Specialist Faculty Position
The Department of Family Social Science in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and University of Minnesota Extension Department of Family, Health and Wellbeing seeks a tenure track Assistant Professor whose work centers community-based applied research approaches to studying family health, resilience and thriving in the context of social and economic inequalities. The person in this role will contribute through 1) establishing a national and international reputation in...
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Facing Organization Changes with Monkeys, Marathons & Popcorn!
Recently we held a workshop on change where the participants mentioned something they were hearing in their organizations. "That's how we do things around here." This phrase is often used to explain a cultural behavior or process. It seems to provide plausible deniability and deflect blame for the current situation. Healthy organizations know they must deal with the challenges of change versus the status quo. No change and you become obsolete. Change for change's sake means chaos rules and...
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Normalizing the Conversation: Mental Health
By: Sara Croymans adapted by Anna Peterson Part 1 of this blog post introduced the topic of military mental health and suicide and provided a variety of resources. To learn more, go back and read the blog post here . Many Service members and veterans with mental health needs are not seeking treatment for mental health care. One study found that more than 60% of veterans of the Iraq war that screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety, or depression did...
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Success from Extension Foundation’s New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) Program Accelerator: North Carolina State University Juntos Program Awarded $7.8 Million from USDA-NIFA
The Juntos Program from North Carolina State University was competitively selected in 2020 as a recipient of the Extension Foundation’s New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) award and received it for a second time in 2021. The program was served by Extension Foundation staff including its key informants, and was assigned Dr. Scott Reed as the catalyst/coach for the Juntos Program during their two-year partnership with the Extension Foundation. NTAE is a grant from USDA-NIFA in partnership...
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How to be a leadership "boss"
My first real job where there was a paycheck was at 13 years old at a local pizza joint. It was "the" pizza joint in town run by a graduate of the college where my parents both taught. This meant it was okay to work there as they trusted him. Most of the kids in Branson, MO worked over the summer because it was (and still is) a huge tourist destination. Despite being busy with camps and sports we found a few hours to earn a little money each summer. If you could do it someplace that taught...
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Job Opening: Extension Regional Fire Specialist, Oregon State University
The Oregon State University (OSU) Forestry & Natural Resources Extension program invites applications for a full-time (1.00 FTE), 12-month, Extension Regional Fire Specialist for northeast Oregon with an academic rank of Assistant Professor of Practice. This position will be based at an OSU Extension County Office in La Grande, OR or Pendleton, OR. The academic home for this position will be in either the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management, or the Department of...
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ICYMI: NTAE Year 4 "Showcase"!
The NTAE Year 4 "Showcase" was truly informative, and inspiring! We enjoyed celebrating the great partnership we have with Oklahoma State University and are also proud of all the project teams, catalysts, key informants, and mentors who made it so successful! We would like to thank all the teams who shared their experiences with us! If you were unable to join us you can watch the showcase video HERE . We would love to have anyone (especially project teams) who has been part of the success of...
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Family Life Educator Position - Illinois
WE TRANSFORM LIVES. Everything we do is designed to improve the quality of life of the people in the state of Illinois, across the nation, and around the world. We discover, develop, translate, and disseminate knowledge to address societal concerns and train the next generation of experts and leaders in a way that empowers them to expand the boundaries of science to higher levels of understanding and influence. Be a part of our story. Through learning partnerships that extend knowledge and...
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Treat each other with L.O.V.E.
A team we worked with was doing well except for a couple of team members who didn't get along very well. At the end of their time with us, we asked how their relationship was going. Particularly we asked if they could trust the other person. One of them replied "yes". Initially, we were excited about their progress! They continued to say they could trust them to be a jerk. What?! After some follow-up questions, we learned the behaviors they exhibited to this team member supported predictive...
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Recording and Resources: Catch Up on the NAPPC Webinar - Drilling Down on EPA Regulations: What Is the Latest Buzz on Pesticides and Bees?
Explore EPA Regulations on Pesticides and Bees in this webinar. Follow a pesticide's journey from risk assessment to the marketplace, led by host Andony Melathopoulos. Gain insights into the EPA's historical and current approaches, understanding their role in safeguarding pollinators. Since 2010, the EPA has focused on assessing pesticide risks to bees. The key question: Is the EPA effectively protecting bees? This webinar delves into this topic, exploring its impact on our environment and...