RBC Extension staff includes extension agent Tonya Merz (left), fair board administrative assistant Sierra Gomez (center) and office manager Inge Bair (right.) Not pictured are director Linda Masters and administrative assistants Jamie Preciado and Jessica Harrison. Lucas Turner Photos
RBC | “What’s really cool about the extension office and this idea of bringing the university to the people is that we have resources across the state through CSU [Colorado State University],” said extension agent Tonya Merz from her office at the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds. The 4-H Youth Development specialist offered insight about the role of extension offices in Rio Blanco County and throughout the state which include offering educational programming for youth and a wide variety of expertise, resources and information for county residents. Extension agents serve the broader vision of the CSU extension program to bring state level university resources to communities all over Colorado.
In addition to supporting and/or facilitating 4-H community clubs, advisory boards and county fair operations, extension offices are a specialized resource tailored to the specific needs of the local community where residents can access up-to-date scientific information about a variety of subjects such as:
– pasture and livestock management, weeds
– renewable energy
– home, family and finances
– insects, trees gardening
– nutrition and food safety
– natural resources
– water
– yard care and gardening basics
– etc.
Local extension offices, which exist in each of the 64 counties in the state, tailor their particular services and education programs to the individual communities they serve. Examples of services provided in Rio Blanco County are pesticide training and recertifications, water and soil sampling kits, forage testing, tree health assessments, and providing information on request for subjects like seasonal and regional gardening, what to plant, bugs and more.
“So say you have a bug and it’s looked at, and then we need help identifying that, we have contacts with entomologists and things like that through the university system,” said Merz. She described the benefits of the state level partnership between the county and CSU in terms of the array of resources/experts that can help with individual needs of residents. CSU Extension’s website reiterates this message, stating:
“Faculty and staff with expertise in agriculture, horticulture, range, forestry, water, health promotion, financial literacy, business management, community development and 4-H youth-development-based in counties and on campus-are all part of Extension’s effort to bring the latest information to the people of Colorado.”
ONLINE RESOURCES
Many of the resources available through the local extension office can also be found online, in addition to free publications and studies, access to experts and more “reliable, research-based information to help you make informed decisions.” The online tool Ask Extension exemplifies the easy access to expertise and even hyper-specific information typical of extension programs by connecting people’s questions to qualified experts. For instance, recent examples of questions answered through the service included someone looking for info on a declining rhubarb patch and receiving detailed information about a disease affecting the plant and how to mitigate its impacts.
The CSU extension website also hosts free publications on subjects that may extend beyond the purview of the local extension office for any particular county.
4-H
Tony Merz’s role in the office is to bring educational 4-H programming to young people in the community, including “traditional” programs like livestock and indoor programs like cake decorating as well as other “non-traditional” or one-time educational programs. She explained the programming offered through 4-H/Extension reflects the broader vision of serving the specific needs of the local area. “We’ve got our traditional path, but then the programming outside of that could be anything that our county really feels like they need,” Merz said. In recent years specialized programming included STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses in computer coding, personal finance and more. She also highlighted a new program called “Art of Ranching” that will involve studying the history of a ranch and eventually presenting on that history at the state fair.
Extension agents and administrative assistants who work in the office are paid by the county as part of an agreement with CSU. Merz said administrative staff act as the right hand to her and County Extension Director Linda Masters by assisting with fairgrounds/facility scheduling, answering phone calls, directing residents to resources, sending out 4-H/extension newsletters and other operational duties.
You can learn more about CSU extension offices at extension.colostate.edu/ and rbc.us/205/CSU-Extension
BY LUCAS TURNER | [email protected]
