Rising to the Challenge: Extension during the COVID-19 Pandemic (in English)

The Extension service has long served as a place where you could get all of your questions answered by experts. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic put that role front-and-center in Wasco County. When cherry orchardists asked Extension where they could acquire PPE and how they could best protect their work force of 6,000 migrant workers, Extension got to work solving those complex problems. The Extension Horticulturist used her relationship with orchardists to assess the needs of the region. Orchardists needed COVID-19 education, face coverings, and cleaning solutions, and they needed these as soon as possible. Ashley Thompson rose to the challenge to step into a completely new role, building collaborative partnerships with public health, government agencies, non-profit health centers, and Oregon’s seamstresses to address these issues and ensure a healthy harvest. Attend this talk to learn more and hear how these partnerships resulted in a relatively low number of COVID-19 infections among migrant workers in Wasco County. Ashley Thompson, Assistant Professor and Extension Tree Fruit Horticulturist, Wasco and Hood River Counties