Service & Extension

Communicating research with effective teaching practices via extension work brings evidence-based recommendations directly to those most likely to adopt them. Additionally, outreach generates new and relevant research questions. With these principles in mind I have actively engaged in many service and extension opportunities which are listed on my CV. Below I highlight a few examples.

Service

For two years I served as the Council of Graduate Students (COGS) Representative for the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE). In addition to attending COGS Full Council meetings, it is required that each representative serve on a committee within the university. Both years I served as a member of the Graduate Welfare Committee (GWC) and on the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award Selection Committee. For the coming academic year 2018-2019 I have had the honor of being elected the Vice President of External Affairs (VPEA) of COGS. In this role I will now chair the GWC which is responsible for planning events that enhance graduate and professional student welfare and serves as the philanthropic arm of COGS.

Extension

In the summer of 2017 I was contacted by Phil Durst and Stan Moore, MSU Extension Agents focusing on dairy and labor management, for assistance in a program entitled "Establishing a sustainable program for workforce development of employees from

Puerto Rico for Michigan dairy farms." In this program, staff train and facilitate the interviews of individuals from Puerto Rico with dairy farms with job vacancies. I was humbled to have been able to use my experience TAing and instructing Human Resource Management classes in AFRE to assist. In the spring of 2018 I visited several large dairy farms with Mr. Durst to assist owners facing labor shortages in brainstorming alternatives to increase recruitment and retention. I actively participate in an AG HR work group of consultants and extension agents from across the country who share resources and insights with each other. The work these individuals have accomplished has helped me develop an extension plan that includes individual consulting, group workshops and articles to engage in community outreach with the work from my dissertation.