NSF Virtual Town Halls - The National Science Foundation (NSF) is hosting a series of events this month as part of its new Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio) initiative. CASA-Bio is the latest federal effort to organize activities across agencies related to biotechnology, synthetic biology, and the bioeconomy, and follows from the September 2022 Executive Order and the March 2023 Bold Goals report on the bioeconomy. CASA-Bio aims to provide direction to the federal government (including research funding agencies) on which specific priorities within the broad bioeconomy landscape are most pressing and ripe for cross-sector collaboration. Slides from an informational webinar about CASA-Bio are available here.
CASA-Bio is hosting a series of town halls in February as an opportunity for stakeholders to provide their perspectives on the most important challenges in this space.
There are four virtual town halls scheduled for this month, all of which will have the same agenda and content according to NSF. Registration is on the CASA-Bio home page:
· Monday, February 12 – 7 PM ET
· Thursday, February 15 – 9 AM ET
· Wednesday, February 21 – 12 PM ET
· Thursday, February 22 – 5 PM ET
North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN) - The North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN…pronounced like the flat bread…nahn) is launching NAAAN CONNECT, an online community for extension and rural advisory services professionals in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this March. Subscribe to the NAAAN Newsletter to stay updated on the launch and be a part of fostering collaboration and innovation in agricultural and rural development. This network represents an opportunity to share your state’s Cooperative Extension resources and research results across our nation, as well as with Canada and Mexico.
Priester Health Awards - Nominations and self-nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Jeanne M. Priester Extension Health Awards. The awards are named for Jeanne Priester, former National Program Leader at ES-USDA involved in the development of such landmark programs such EFNEP and Mulligan Stew. Today, these awards recognize extraordinary programs and professionals that are modeling next generation work in health and well-being. Awards are presented in six different categories. Award recipients will be recognized at the 2024 National Health Outreach and Engagement Conference in Greenville, SC in May. The nomination deadline is March 20. For more information regarding the nomination process can be found here.
