Posts Tagged: Graduate Students in Extension

UCCE advisors and specialists invited to Extension Showcase Nov. 19

The Graduate Students in Extension invite all UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists to an Extension Showcase on Nov. 19 at UC Berkeley. The aim is to connect graduate students who are interested in working for UCCE with UCCE academics who are interested in mentoring them. The event will be held in 103 Mulford Hall from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Bill Frost, associate vice president, will kick off the event. UCCE academics are invited to give a lightning talk on their work or prospective research and to meet with interested students.

Advisors and specialists from all disciplines are welcome to participate regardless of whether they have an appropriate 3- to 12-month project in mind or are simply interested in getting involved. Talks will be followed by topic-specific breakout sessions and a happy hour at 5 p.m. 

GSE program

The Graduate Students in Extension pilot program at UC Berkeley facilitates Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists to mentor current graduate students to conduct applied research and develop extension products. The three-year program, now in its final year, is intended to train graduate students for careers in extension research and outreach. This is also a great way for advisors and specialists to receive research assistance at a quarter of the price of a normal Graduate Student Researcher! 

Students work with UCCE personnel on projects and products for a summer, one or two semesters or a full calendar year. To support the student, ANR provides 50%, UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources provides 25%, and CE advisor/specialist or other mentors are responsible for the remaining 25% (For details on the funding structure please refer to this year's Request for Applications on the GSE website). However, if a UCCE advisor does not have funds to cover 25%, there is an opportunity this year for advisors to apply for funds that will cover this portion. 

The GSE program is available to graduate students in all departments within the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley, which includes students in Environmental Science Policy & Management (ESPM), the Energy & Resources Group (ERG), Nutritional Science & Toxicology (NST), Agricultural Resources & Economics (ARE) and Plant Microbiology (PMB). 

Getting involved

To RSVP for the Extension Showcase, please email Matthew Shapero at matthewshapero@berkeley.edu by Nov. 6. If you are unable to attend the Nov. 19 showcase but would like to connect with students, please send a paragraph to matthewshapero@berkeley.edu describing your work and potential research so it can be included in the literature for the event. 

Travel support may be available for CE advisors and specialists to travel to Berkeley for the event. In your RSVP, please note if you need travel support.

As the pilot program comes to a close, the GSE steering committee will conduct a formative assessment to propose continuation and model changes of the program to Frost. For more information about the Graduate Students in Extension pilot program, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/GGCE or contact Vanessa Murua at Vanessa.murua@ucop.edu.

 

Grad students seek UCCE mentors, projects

Applications are now being accepted for the 2015-2016 academic year Graduate Students working in Extension (GSE) program. This program is geared for CE personnel and graduate students who are interested in working collaboratively and for CE academics to mentor a graduate student on a project. Mentors contribute only 25 percent of the funds for graduate student support. Applications are due on March 6 and students are starting to work on them. Now is a good time to get involved.

The original group of GSE graduate students are working to facilitate the next group by helping to connect students to potential mentors. There are several ways to get involved. On Feb. 5, there will be a Cooperative Extension Showcase at UCB. It features talks by CE specialists, advisors and program staff, but also, this year, includes sections for people with project ideas to give a short talk for interested graduate students. The event will be followed by a mixer to further facilitate networking among academics and graduate students.

If you would like to attend the Showcase or if you cannot make the Showcase and have a project idea, please email Kevi Mace at kmace@berkeley.edu.

Background: Recognizing that there is no formal program currently devoted to educating and training students interested in Cooperative Extension work, ANR launched this three-year pilot program in 2014 to train and recruit graduate students for careers in extension research and outreach. The program is designed for graduate students and Cooperative Extension academics to work collaboratively on projects that are relevant for all involved.

In order to apply, students need to develop a mentorship team including their academic advisor and at least one CE academic or advisor. The funding structure is 50 percent from ANR, 25 percent from the students' home department and 25 percent from the mentorship team. The positions are known as Graduate Student working in Extension (GSE), or Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) in Extension.

The first set of graduate students received funding during the 2014-2015 academic year. These students developed their projects with their mentorship teams and have been achieving exciting results in both research and extension. Their projects are listed at http://ucanr.edu/sites/GGCE/Current_Graduate_Student_Researchers. You can find updates on their research and extension efforts at http://ucanr.edu/sites/GGCE/Research_Updates.

 

 

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