CORVALLIS, Ore.— Faculty in the Oregon State University Extension Service’s Agricultural and Natural Resources program have been recognized by their peers with national and regional awards.
Jenifer Cruickshank, Melissa Fery and Audrey Comerford won national awards at the 2024 National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) annual meeting, held in Dallas in July.
Cruickshank, OSU Extension’s statewide dairy specialist, received the national achievement award. This award recognizes excellence in professional Extension for members with less than 10 years of service.
Melissa Fery, associate professor of practice in the OSU Extension Small Farms Program in Benton, Lane and Linn counties, received a national award in newsletters for Oregon Small Farms News, a free online newsletter that concentrates on both commercial small farm entrepreneurs as well as non-commercial small acreage landowners.
Fery also received a regional award for “An Initial Economic Impact Estimate of Agritourism in Oregon's Willamette Valley.” The report was designed by OSU College of Agricultural Sciences communications and published by OSU Extension Communications.
Comerford, Extension agritourism coordinator, was recognized as a national winner for best published photo. The photograph depicts a group of adults learning how to make a dried flower wreath on a flower farm in the Willamette Valley.
Chrissy Lucas, Extension groundwater quality outreach program coordinator, was a national finalist for a video detailing what not to flush in a septic system. The video has been incorporated into several Living with your Well and Septic System webinars and self-paced lessons.
Brooke Edmunds, OSU Extension faculty in community horticulture and LeAnn Locher, statewide Master Gardener outreach coordinator, both received regional awards for a fact sheet and online content, respectively.
