Above:
Extension Educators from around the country attended the 2014 Energy,
Environment and Extension Summit, held in Ames, Iowa.
By
Kristin Peterson
CenUSA
Bioenergy ‘s took great strides towards its goal to increase knowledge and
awareness of bioenergy and sustainability programs by hosting the 2014 Energy,
Environment and Extension, or E3 Summit this October . The summit provided a
forum for the exchange of research findings and university outreach ideas,
methods and techniques.
The
conference allowed scientists and extension experts to compare notes and
cultivate new ideas about bioenergy. The
three-day event featured speakers, break-out sessions on bioenergy, interactive
facility tours and the release of a new documentary featuring Iowa State’s
STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairies) project. The
five -year research project has shown that strategically replacing as little as
10% of a row- cropped field with native prairie strips can reduce sediment export
by as much as 95% and nitrogen export but as much 82%.
A
goal of CenUSA is training two hundred extension specialists through webinars,
field days, social media and other events. The E3 summit brought approximately
85 extension educators to the event.
A
planning team selected presenters after reviewing abstracts submitted by
extension educators from across the country. Selected presenters were provided
stipends from CenUSA to attend the conference.
“We
wanted to get as many people sharing as possible,” said Jill Euken, CenUSA
Bioenergy Co-Project Director and Project Director for Extension and Education.
A
special education and sharing session, presented by the Leopold Center for
Sustainable Agriculture, took place in the evening featuring the STRIPS video
release.
“There
has been so much positive interest about this research project and we knew we
couldn’t talk to everyone or visit the experimental sites near Prairie City, so
we thought a short video would be a good way to share it with people at the
conference.” said Jeri Neal, who leads the Leopold Center’s Ecology Initiative
and a member of the STRIPS research team. “We wanted to make it fun for
everyone, while still presenting the science behind this project.”
Neal
explained that science is not always the easiest thing to explain to people,
especially after a long day of learning and sharing. This video worked to
explain in a simple way the premise of the STRIPS project in a relaxed outdoor
movie setting, complete with popcorn.
The
new video can be seen here
CenUSA
appreciates all the positive responses to the conference and will continue to
share information through conferences, webinars, videos and fact sheets on the
creation of sustainable bioenergy system for the Midwest.
