More than 400 years ago, a Frenchman, Samuel de Champlain, encountered the lake and land surrounding what would later be named after him, Lake Champlain. Earlier this week, Extension CD and Natural Resource professionals converged on this same part of the country in Burlington, Vermont for the first ever joint NACDEP-ANREP conference.
After a virtual welcome from NIFA director Sonny Ramaswamy, participants engaged in a wide range of sharing and learning opportunities. Much of the focus could be centered around the symbiosis between CD and natural resources, with the goal of both vibrant communities and a healthy environment.
More than a dozen OSUE-CD professionals could be counted among the project, paper, and poster presenters and OSUE-CD attendance was at or near an all-time high. We honored outgoing board secretary Julie Fox and welcomed incoming board treasurer Nancy Bowen. We also congratulated national award winner Brian Raison for his work with educational technologies. After 3+ days of sessions, tours, team building and learning, many have returned home to celebrate independence.
It was by all accounts one of the best NACDEP conferences yet. But, perhaps most exciting of all, we were able to formally invite our colleagues throughout the country to the 2018 NACDEP conference to be held in Cleveland, O-H-I-O! If you are interested in helping with the 2018 event, please contact me or David Civittolo.
Greg Davis is the Assistant Director for OSU Extension, Community Development.