Outreach and Extension Goals
Outreach and extension goals include translating research findings into actionable recommendations for agricultural professionals and engaging in dialogue with them to refine and direct research efforts. Team members routinely provide annual progress updates to growers and other stakeholders at the state level.
To enhance the dissemination of the project accomplishments, several researchers with extension appointments have been invited to join the W-5186 team, including members from Florida, Louisiana, Indiana, and Arkansas. Many W-5186 participants have a strong applied research component to their programs and frequently engage in extension-based activities such as meetings, presentations, and publications with agricultural stakeholders. They host and attend field days and regularly communicate with growers.
Extension members also host weekly podcasts that have a wide reach and have won awards for their influence. These podcasts are an excellent tool for communicating with end users. Additionally, Twitter accounts allow immediate announcements by phone, which can be tracked for user engagement. This ability to reach users through their phones ensures that research findings are quickly accessible to everyone.
Project members will also utilize web-based delivery methods to reach the broad stakeholder base that will benefit from objective, science-based knowledge and information on important topics such as plant parasitic nematode biology, diagnosis, management, and regulation. Examples of these methods include GenBank for depositing most DNA sequences, the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) for DNA sequences of COI barcodes with associated metadata, NemaTaxa (a new ITS nematode barcoding database), and the international database of quarantine organisms (QBOL).
Among the identified stakeholders are growers and food processors, national and international trade partners, USDA-APHIS and state regulatory agencies, national and state legislators, fellow scientists, and K-16 teachers and students.
