Three communities have joined the ever-growing list of communities of practice launched via eXtension.org or working to develop new content:
Garden Professor – This community will provide the latest research-based information on creating and sustaining gardens and landscapes to the general public. All members of the community will work to engage Cooperative Extension professionals (i.e., county agents and educators) and volunteers (i.e., Master Gardeners) using blogs, Facebook, webinars, and other social networking opportunities. Linda Chalker-Scott, Washington State; Holly Scoggins, Virginia Tech; Jeff Gillman and Mary Meyer, University of Minnesota; and Bert Cregg, Michigan State, provide leadership for this community.
Community Nutrition Education – This newly-launched community will keep implementers at land-grant institutions informed on the fast-paced and nuanced rules, regulations and complexities of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed). If you are interested in becoming involved with this community, contact Erin Braunscheidel (embraun@umd.edu), University of Maryland.
Program Evaluation – This community is dedicated to helping Extension professionals improve their ability to conduct meaningful, high quality program evaluations. They recognize there is a high diversity of program purposes, audiences, content, delivery, and expected outcomes among Extension programs and the growing need for sound evaluation principles. To become more involved with this community please contact Cheryl Peters (cpeters@anr.msu.edu), Michigan State University.