Current grant-funded projects:

Cultivating Impact with Producer Co-Educators Project. I serve as PI for this professional development project funded by the USDA Western Region SARE Program. The purpose is to support agricultural educators across Oregon from 2022 to 2024. Cohort members are from OSU Extension, Oregon Tilth, and Oregon Department of Agriculture. Each cohort member has partnered with one or more producers as co-educators to plan and design education programs and collaboratively teach other producers.

Climate Stress and Grief: Building Resilience in Farmers and Ranchers Initiative. I serve as a co-PI for this novel initiative that aims to support farmers, ranchers, and farmer workers in identifying their stress/grief/anxiety related to climate change and then collaboratively exploring ways to increase their resilience and well-being. I contribute to the development and piloting of a novel climate stress curriculum. The initial module increased producers’ awareness of climate change-related mental health impacts, allowed them to brainstorm strategies for developing greater resilience, and provided resources for mental health services and stress management. The team has a suite of funding sources, including Western Region SARE Professional Development Program funds to develop a train-the-trainer program and OSU College of Agricultural Science Climate Innovation Workgroup funding to conducting research and writing publications on the impacts of climate stress on producers and ag professionals in Oregon. Additional funds have been provided by the Hoecker Extension Innovative and Replication Award to provide climate stress and grief training for extension professionals and community partners across the state. July 2024 news article on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Cover Cropping and Reduced-Tillage Systems for Onion in Eastern Oregon. I am co-PI for this Oregon Specialty Crop Block Grant Program project. I contribute to the design of educational programming and resources that center on farmers’ needs. From 2023 to 2026, this project aims to identify and test potential cover crops with a conservation tillage system in an onion crop rotation in eastern Oregon.

Recent projects:

• Smallholder Pesticide Risk Reduction Education Program was co-developed through a successful train-the-trainer program with vegetable farmers in Senegal from 2013 to 2016. The resulting scaled-up pesticide risk management reduced the use of highly hazardous pesticides and increased the adoption of protective mitigation practices that minimized exposures. Farmer-centered pesticide risk reduction education in Senegal: A novel, participatory approach was published in 2023 adn received an article of the year award in 2024.
  
  
• Increasing the Reach of Integrated Pest Management through Community Partnerships (July 2021). The USDA SARE Program commissioned a post-project impact case study, Redefining Learner-centered Education to Build High Impact IPM Partnerships (June 2024). The Western Region IPM Center wrote an article on this work, Building Community Partnerships to Improve IPM Outcomes (October 2021). The three community-driven partnerships included:
  
  Biologically-based IPM for NE Oregon Cropping Systems with Darrin Walenta (Extension Agronomist), state and local NRCS, NRCS West Technical Support Center, Xerces Society, PlantWorks, and local farmers began in 2017.
  
  Middle Rogue Pesticide Stewardship Partnership (PSP) with Gordon Jones (General Agriculture) and Rick Hilton (Extension Entomologist) at SOREC, Rogue River Watershed Council, Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District, and local stakeholders and growers. See the Middle Rogue PSP Strategic Plan for details about this ongoing work.
  
  Cranberry Pesticide Resistance Prevention Program with Cassie Bouska (General Agriculture), OceanSpray, Oregon Cranberry Association, and local farmers in 2018-2019.