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Graduate Students in Extension

There will be not be a Graduate Students in Extension Pilot in Fiscal Year 2019-2020.  

This site contains information about the pilot and graduate researchers that participated in the pilot.

Purpose

Recognizing that there is no formal program currently devoted to educating and training students interested in Cooperative Extension work, the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), has launched a three-year pilot program to train and recruit graduate students for careers in extension research and outreach. Graduate Students in Extension receive up to a year of funding to conduct applied research and outreach to California communities, coordinate workshops and other training events, and co-author materials with ANR academics. Four cohorts of graduate students have been selected through a competitive process to develop their research and apply it to real-world situations.

The pilot program was extended to include a 2017 Summer Semester, and is being extended to include a fourth year (2018-2019). 

The impetus for developing this pilot program emerged from both a UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management review in 2012 that suggested that the Department should better connect graduate students to cooperative extension and UC ANR's interest in training the next generation of Cooperative Extension Specialists and Advisors. Since then, several graduate students interested in Cooperative Extension began holding events  with Cooperative Extension personnel to make the recommendation a reality.  These included a graduate student seminar, Extension showcases, and training events.