How well are we
communicating with our natural resource education opportunities to agencies and
organizations addressing water, soil and nutrient issues? Part I introduced this topic in a June 5
blog (found below). Do all of us have responsibility
for the answer to this question? A few
of my thoughts as to how we can each contribute to future communications with
agency staff follow…
Reaching Agencies Statewide
NRCS has identified three contact points for communicating UNL
Extension programs with NRCS staff:
·
Renee Hancock (Water Quality Specialist) – lead contact
for all UNL Extension communications and programs specific to Nutrient Management.
402- 437-4064 or Renee.hancock@ne.usda.gov
·
Corey Brubaker (State Conservation Agronomist) –
lead contact for UNL Extension programs specific to Soil Health. 402 -437-4164 Corey.brubaker@ne.usda.gov
·
Jacob Robinson (Acting State Water Management Engineer) - lead contact UNL
Extension programs specific to Irrigation Water Management. 402-437-4030 or Jacob.robison@ne.usda.gov
I will be watching for educational opportunities to share with these
individuals. Faculty are welcome to do
the same. Please copy me on topics that
you share so I can avoid duplicating your efforts.
Katie Pekarek, Extension Water Quality Educator, has agreed to be the
point person for communicating opportunities with Natural Resource Districts
and Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Please share educational opportunities of
interest to these agencies with Katie.
Local Agency Connections
There is nothing better than a direct phone call, email,
or mailing from a local educator to our agency peers. Your local relationships
and invitations are essential to welcoming agency staff to our educational
programs. Do you know who these key
individuals are locally? If not, these
resources may help you locate agency staff serving your region.
Natural Resource District: Staff can be located for your local NRD by
starting from http://nrdnet.org/find-your-nrd.php
. The NRD manager and the Information
& Education Coordinator are two names that should become a part of your local
network.
Natural Resource Conservation Service: You network of
local contacts should include the District Conservationist (aligned with
Natural Resource District regions) and the Resource Conservationist found in
each of the Field Offices. These
individuals can be identified through the NE NRCS Employee Directory found at http://www.ne.nrcs.usda.gov/contact/directory/index.html or ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NE/Outgoing/Directory/6-24-2013_NRCS_NE_DIRECTORY.pdf
. The first link will also inform you of
the priority “Resource Needs and Concerns” identified for your NRD region.
Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: NDEQ maintains its field people at its main office in Lincoln and its six regional field offices in Omaha, Norfolk, North Platte, Holdrege, Scottsbluff, and Chadron (http://www.deq.state.ne.us/Gen.nsf/Pages/OffInfo ). Another option for finding NDEQ field specialists in your region is to contact the Agriculture Compliance Assistance (402-471-8131) or Water Quality Program Assistance (402-471-4220) hotlines.
Nebraska Department of Natural Resources: DNR maintains field offices in Norfolk, Ord,
Lincoln, Cambridge, and Bridgeport (http://dnr.ne.gov/division/division2.html
). Field Office staff can be located at http://dnr.ne.gov/docs/dnrstaff.html#division . DNR
Field Office Supervisors should be a part of your local network.
What Else Can Be Done?
Have you:
___ Invited these local contacts to coffee at your office to get better acquainted.
___ Shared a recent edition of
CropWatch, BeefWatch, Acreage, or other electronic newsletter and invited agency
staff to sign up to receive these products via their email?
___ Placed your events on the
Extension calendar and tag them so they show up on the most appropriate
umbrella web site such as http://water.unl.edu?
The first place I point individuals to is our Extension calendar system.
