Building Capacity within Extension to Address Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate

Authors

Crystal Powers, University of Nebraska
Rick Stowell, University of Nebraska
Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska
Elizabeth Whitefield, Washington State University
Joe Harrison, University of Minnesota
David Schmidt, University of Minnesota
Larry Jacobson, University of Minnesota
David Smith, Texas A&M University
Saqib Mukhtar, University of Florida
Pam Knox, University of Georgia
Mark Risse, University of Georgia
Gary Hawkins, University of Georgia
Jennifer Pronto, Cornell University
Curt Gooch, Cornell University

Volume

56

Issue

1

DOI

10.34068/joe.56.01.16

Abstract

The Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate project was formed to build capacity among Extension professionals and other livestock advisors to address climate change issues. We offer a case study of how a small team can build national capacity for new topics. We used a coordinated multiregional approach to leverage national efforts applied to locally relevant climatology, production systems, and climate issues. Key insights on overcoming challenges centered on (a) engaging audiences with local, historical trends and agricultural impacts, (b) beginning with adaptation, rather than mitigation of climate change, and (c) providing strategies for effectively communicating science during controversy. Program participants found the project valuable and substantially increased their ability and motivation to apply climate science.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Powers, C., Stowell, R., Heemstra, J., Whitefield, E., Harrison, J., Schmidt, D., Jacobson, L., Smith, D., Mukhtar, S., Knox, P., Risse, M., Hawkins, G., Pronto, J., & Gooch, C. (2018). Building Capacity within Extension to Address Animal Agriculture in a Changing Climate. The Journal of Extension, 56(1), Article 16. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.56.01.16