Extension Exchange
Please join us for an informal monthly session hosted by Assistant Director of Employee Engagement, Beth Hawkyard
On the third Friday of every month, 11:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Assistant Director of Employee Engagement, Beth Hawkyard, will host an informal monthly session via Zoom video conferencing featuring Extension guests (both UMaine and beyond) to share information about their current projects of interest, share resources and increase collaborations.
If you have suggestions on topics or would like to present during an Extension Exchange, please contact Beth Hawkyard, beth.hawkyard@maine.edu.
Extension Exchange conversations are recorded and will be available to watch, on this page, if you cannot participate during the time and date scheduled.
Friday, May 17, 2024, 11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Join us for May’s Extension Exchange featuring a presentation from the UMaine Extension EFNEP Team.
2024 Session Recordings
Friday, April 19, 2024: Michelle Snowden and Matt Thomas, UMaine Extension Web Team
Friday, March 15, 2024: Brad Thibodeaux, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy
Friday, January 19, 2024: Samantha Toner, UMS Office of Organizational Effectiveness
2023 Session Recordings
Friday, December 15, 2023: Alisha Targonski and Laura Personette
Friday, October 20, 2023: Beth Hawkyard, Assistant Director of Employee Engagement
Friday, June 16, 2023: Beth Hawkyard, Staff Coordinator
Friday, May 19, 2023: Monica Palmer, CRM System Professional
Friday, April 21, 2023: Melissa Arndt, Director of Marketing and Communications
Friday, February 17, 2023: Jason Bolton, Associate Dean
Canceled Session/No Recording: Friday, January 20, 2023
2022 Session Recordings
Postponed due to inclement weather: Friday, December 16, 2022, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Canceled Session/No Recording: Friday, November 18, 2022
Friday, October 21, 2022: Civil Rights Update, Requirements, and Training
Guest Host: Fran Sulinski, Assistant Director
CANCELLED: Friday, September 16, 2022, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Friday, August 19, 2022: 4-H For All: Building Cultural Competency
Friday, July 15, 2022: Overview and Updates from the Diagnostic and Research Lab (DRL)
Must have a “maine.edu” email address to view the shared link:
- Avian Flu FAQs: A Guide to Answering Client Questions, Show Resources for Solving Sick Bird Dilemmas, Avian Flu Update: Summer 2022 (Google Doc) —Anne Lichtenwalner, Director of UMaine Extension’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab
The June 17, 2022 Lunch and Learn session was canceled.
Friday, May 20, 2022: “Understanding PFAS and Your Home Garden” — Becca Long, Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture Professional, and members of the PFAS PLT Team
We asked that all University of Maine Cooperative Extension office staff, who will be answering phone calls or greeting clients who may have PFAS questions attend this special presentation on understanding PFAS. You’ll find additional PFAS information and staff resources, below this video.
PowerPoint Presentation:
UMaine Extension Resources:
- For Gardeners: Understanding PFAS and Your Home Garden
- For Farmers: Guide to Investigating PFAS Risk on Your Farm
For Ag Service Providers in Maine:
- Internal Staff Use Only (continuingly updated): Addressing PFAS Client Concerns FAQ document (Google Doc)
Staff or clients can send questions to: extension.pfasquestions@maine.edu
- For non-program staff receiving questions: please gather as much information as possible, including if the client is a farmer or gardener, and pass the information along to your office’s relevant program staff.
- Program staff: if you are comfortable answering a question, please send a draft answer to extension.pfasquestions@maine.edu so we can track questions and ensure consistent messaging with other state agencies. If you are not able to answer the question, you can forward it directly to extension.pfasquestions@maine.edu.
Friday, April 15, 2022: “Micro-Credentialing, Certificates, and Badges” — Laura Wilson, University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H Science Professional
Friday, March 18, 2022: “PFAS… What We Know, What We Don’t Know” — Rick Kersbergen, Extension Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Sustainable Dairy and Forage Systems
Friday, February 18, 2022: “Taming the Email Monster” with Mari Glatter, Instructional Designer, and Beth Hawkyard, Staff Coordinator
- Would you like to simplify your inbox and tackle email-related tasks with more efficiency?
- Does the thought of your inbox make you shudder?
- Have you dreamed of a zero inbox?
Friday, January 21, 2022: Revisiting Personal Sustainability: What’s changed? What’s not? And what do we need now?
Dean Hannah Carter with two of the members of the Personal Sustainability Team (10 years ago): Leslie Forstadt and Frank Wertheim
2021 Session Recordings
Friday, June 18, 2021: “Ticks in Maine”
Griffin Dill, Integrated Pest Management Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Friday, August 20, 2021
Dr. Angie Zheng, Associate Professor of Business Analytics at the University of Maine, “Let’s Collaborate on Local Foods!” — Consumers’ preference and willingness-to-pay for food attributes: Cases of Alaska wild salmon and local foods
Based on Lancaster consumer theory (Lancaster, 1966) and random utility theory (McFadden,
1974), consumers derive utility from attributes of goods and choose the alternative good with the highest utility. This seminar talk presents research findings of two projects on consumers’ food preference and choice based on these theories using choice experiments:
- Chinese consumers’ preference and willingness-to-pay for various salmon attributes, including the growing environment of salmon (wild-caught vs. farm-raised), preservation method, color, and safety certification label;
- Alaska consumers’ preference and willingness to pay for local, organic, and hydroponic attributes of foods, and the effect of information provision on consumers’ choice. Both projects provide guidance to help the food industry and agricultural community to better understand consumers’ preference for food attributes so as to make effective marketing strategies to promote natural, sustainable, and local food products and strengthen the food network.
Biography: Dr. Qiujie “Angie” Zheng is an Associate Professor of Business Analytics at the University of Maine. She has been conducting research on consumer choice and preference, agribusiness, food and seafood marketing, agricultural production and supply, risks, and experimental economics. Her research has covered topics such as crop yield distribution and insurance, biofuel feedstock supply, market structure and power, consumer preference for food attributes, consumer willingness to pay for local foods, information effect on consumer food choice, etc. She has rich experience in designing surveys and experiments to understand consumer perceptions and attitudes and elicit their preference and valuation for food products. Before joining the University of Maine, Dr. Zheng had worked as an Associate Professor of Quantitative Methods and Economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage and Sr. Risk Analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in economics and MS degree in Statistics from Washington State University.
September 17, 2021, “How Can I Help You? Building Extension’s Instructional Design Efforts”
Mari Glatter, Instructional Designer, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
October 15, 2021, Maine AgrAbility, FishAbility and LogAbility
Lani Carlson, Project Coordinator, Maine AgrAbility Program
Friday, November 19, 2021, “Computer and Technology Purchasing / Q&A Session”
Derek Husson, Computer and Technology Coordinator, UMaine Bookstore