National 4-H Council Congressional Breakfast

National 4-H Council Congressional Breakfast – This year's Congressional Breakfast will be April 15 from 8:30-9:30 am at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in room G-50. The purpose is to bring together Members of Congress, land-grant university and Cooperative Extension leaders and 4-H youth from across the country to highlight the proven impact of 4-H and Cooperative Extension on America's young people. The re-launch of the Congressional 4-H Caucus will be announced. This highlights Members of Congress who are 4-H alumni and friends of 4-H. For more information on the event, resources for reaching out to your Member of Congress and where to RSVP, please see the Materials for the 2015 Congressional Breakfast or contact Kelly Baird at kbaird@4-H.org. 

Robert Kallenbach, Plant Sciences Extension Program Leader,
and Forage Specialist, University of Missouri Extension;
1310 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 3.3.15

Extension Award Winner on Capitol Hill – Cooperative Extension’s 2014 Excellence in Extension national award winner was featured at an NC-FAR Capitol Hill Lunch/Learn event last week designed for Congressional staffers. Robert Kallenbach, University of Missouri, spoke about The Wisdom of Crowds: Can the Public Guide Research and Extension Programs? See http://www.ncfar.org/Hill_Seminar_Series_2015.asp for the PowerPoint presentation and be sure to watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iEEU9c4H1Q for a quick glimpse into the impacts of Dr. Kallenbach’s research and Extension work. Michael Ouart, Director, University of Missouri Extension, moderated the Hill session and especially emphasized the value of federal capacity funding. 

Robert Kallenbach and Michael Ouart at
NC-FAR Capitol Hill Lunch/Learn

ECOP Continues Focus on Social Media – The national ECOP social media platforms established last year for the Cooperative Extension Centennial are continuing to be used to promote the good work being done by our system. Your help is needed to identify pictures, videos, and stories from your states to share through our platforms. We are particularly looking for state specialists to come forward with topical information about Cooperative Extension priority areas. If you have information ready to be shared across social media, please have your faculty contact Bill Woodrum, Social Media Associate for ECOP, at extensioncentennial@gmail.com. Find the national Cooperative Extension Social media pages at: 
Twitter: twitter.com/ext100years 
Pinterest: pinterest.com/ext100years/pins/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9GyqMs0FKlUKBTxtcyg04w/videos 
Facebook: facebook.com/Extension100Years 

SNAP-ED Program Development Team Names New Members – Kathleen Manenica (WSU), Megan Ness (NDSU), and Karla Shelnutt (UFL) are the newest members of the LGU SNAP-Ed Program Development Team. PDT members serve on one of three committees: Communication, Reporting and Evaluation, or Legislative and Reporting. The work of the PDT is supported by assessments from institutions where Cooperative Extension receives funding for SNAP-ED. 

USDA-NIFA Webinar on FY 2015 Centers of Excellence Implementation – The 2014 Farm Bill requires that NIFA give priority in competitive research and Extension funding to Centers of Excellence in the food and agricultural sciences. In NIFA’s outreach efforts, the Office of Grants and Financial Management will hold an educational webinar to present information on the FY15 implementation of the Centers of Excellence provision. The webinar will be 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET, Thursday, March 12, 2015. Connect at http://nifa-connect.nifa.usda.gov/frnce.