See photos, page 6

Several Extension professionals from the

Panhandle District received recognition recently.

Nebraska Extension Fall Conference:

Extension Educator Gary Stone received the

Chester I. Walters Extra Mile Award, which

recognizes staff who go beyond the call of duty in

carrying out their responsibilities. When Jim Schild

was appointed Associate Research and Extension

Director in 2014, Gary took over several major areas

he had previously covered, including coordination of

the Master Gardener program and delivery of

pesticide education for private and commercial

applicators. He also helps with chemigation training

for Scotts Bluff, Morrill and Garden counties and

continues to help irrigators install and understand soil

moisture probes. He also has taken on new projects.

Extension Entomologist Jeff Bradshaw received

the Innovative Extension Specialist Award, which

recognizes outstanding contributions by an Extension

Specialist in his program areas. In recent years the

wheat stem sawfly has re-emerged to become the most

important insect pest of wheat in Nebraska. About five

years ago Jeff initiated a wheat stem sawfly survey,

collaborating with farmers, extension educators and

crop consultants. The survey has produced five years’

worth of data and helped create a network of people

interested in participating in tracking this pest. It has

revealed the presence of a parasitoid wasp and helped

track its spread, as well as that of the sawfly.

Several teams were recognized. The Innovation in

Team Programming Award went to the Go NAP

SACC program, whose members include Erin

Kampbell, Nutr ition Education Program Assistant

in Scottsbluff. Go NAP SACC stands for Go Nutrition

and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care,

a program designed to promote healthy child

development by supporting healthy eating and

physical activity for children with child care

providers.

The Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association

presented the Outstanding Programming Team Award

We are already well into 2017, can you be-

lieve that? Jim and I have had the chance to read

your reporting of the past year’s accomplishments.

As we move into the new year, it is great time to as-

sess where we are. A regular assessment of one’s

personal, professional and other aspects of life can

be refreshing and rewarding. I sometimes find my-

self “too busy sawing to take time to sharpen my

saw.” I hope you are better than me about taking

time to pause and reflect on your accomplishments

and goals for the future. Remember, we only go

through this life once, so taking time to stop and

smell the roses along the path is important. I suggest

that pausing periodically to do a personal inventory

ought to be part of all of our priorities.

We have enjoyed reading your Activity In-

sights contributions from the past year. It is the one

time a year for me to really grasp the full scope of

what you do individually, and what collectively our

district does for the investment made in our pro-

grams. In many ways, I am blown away by the

scope and quality of what you have been up to. I

complement you and thank for your efforts, thanks

for the work and thought you put into your roles in

the district. Thanks for having enough confidence in

me to allow me to serve as Director. I deem it a

great responsibility and privilege. Thank you. Have

a good month.

Jack

Continued on page 3

Spouse/Significant Other: Jesse Cruz

Children: Jazmine, stepdaughter , 18, senior at

Gering High School; Alyssa, stepdaughter, 16, junior

at Gering High School; Gabriel, son, 13, 7th grade at

Gering Junior High; Carlos, stepson, 12, 6th grade at

Lincoln Elementary; Izayah, son, 8, 2nd grade at Lin-

coln Elementary; Ezekiel Wayne, furry son, 1 year

old, German Shepherd; and Meaya Nicole, furry

daughter, 10 years old, Weimereiner/Lab

Background/family: Place of Bir th: North Platte;

four siblings.

Education/career: I have been in the workforce

since the age of 14, starting as a kennel technician

for a small animal boarding facility and working my

way up to office and kennel manager by the age of

18. Life took a turn when I became pregnant at the

age of 16 and a junior in high school. As a result, I

dropped out of school after completion of my junior

year. After the birth of my oldest son, I obtained my

GED and later secured my first entry-level position

in the financial services industry as a teller at a local

bank. I served in that position for several years until I

had my second son and left my position to pursue my

undergraduate degree in business. I attended the Uni-

versity of Phoenix online and obtained my associates

of arts in business administration while given the op-

portunity to stay at home with my children. I then

went on to pursue my bachelors of science in small

business management and entrepreneurship and re-

entered the workforce, securing a position at an in-

vestment company serving the role of Branch Man-

ager, which allowed me the flexibility to pursue my

educational goals. At the completion of my bache-

lor’s degree, I began pursuing my MBA. It was then

that I secured a mid-level career at a local bank man-

aging new and existing financial portfolios for vari-

ous small business in the Gering, Scottsbluff, and

Torrington markets. At the completion of my MBA,

I began attending Walden University and completed

a semester in the Doctorate of Business Administra-

tion program until life commitments took me away

from my educational focus. In 2016, I secured the

position of Financial Associate at PHREC and have

since been given the privilege to serve as the Interim

Assistant Business Manager. It is my hope to secure

this position permanently when the time comes and

continue to advance within my career at UNL.

Hobbies/Interests: My family and I enjoy travel-

ing and camping, my kids and husband enjoy fishing.

I specifically enjoy the art of classical dance; my

love of dance started at the age of 4 when I began

ballet and continued to grow throughout the years. I

enjoyed being part of competitive dancing, which I

was able to showcase my love for dance through

Pointe (a form of classical ballet).

Spouse/Significant Other: Jody, Water

Technician at the North Platte NRD

Children: Tyler , 20, attending Colby Community

College in Colby, KS, on a rodeo scholarship (tie-

down roping and team roping) majoring in Farm and

Ranch Management; Kaylie, 19, attending Colby

Community College on a rodeo scholarship

(breakaway roping, team roping, barrels) majoring in

Ag Education. She would someday like to be an Ag

Teacher.

Background/family: My husband and I have lived

in the Scottsbluff area for the past 20 years on a

small acreage outside of McGrew. We enjoy

watching our kids rodeo (although it’s a little harder

now that they are both in college and their rodeos are

in Kansas or Oklahoma), however, we are adjusting

to the “empty” nest and finding both our food bill

and laundry duties have significantly decreased.

Education/career: I have a master of science in

educational administration and a bachelor of science

in elementary education. I have taught at Morrill

Elementary school, Scottsbluff High school and

Bayard High School, where I also had the privilege

of coaching my daughter as the head girls basketball

coach. I have also been the clerk/treasurer at both the

Village of McGrew and Village of Melbeta for the

past 6 years.

Hobbies/Interests: I love gardening and taking

care of my fish pond during the summer. I also love

watching sports: football, basketball, rodeo,

volleyball, etc. NOT golf or tennis or curling LOL.

to the Animals Inside and Out program, whose

Panhandle members include 4-H staff Jana Schwartz,

Scotts Bluff County; Terri Lemmon, Dawes County;

Deb Kraenow, Box Butte County; and Melissa

Mracek, Sher idan County. Animals Inside and Out

is designed for elementary students to explore the

science of animals.

National Conference:

Animals Inside and Out also won the Excellence in

Science Programming Award from the National

Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) at

this fall’s national conference in New Orleans.

Cynthia Gill, Extension Educator in Cheyenne

County, received a National Communicator Award for

her published photo of a 4-H member and his chicken

bonding at the fair. She also received the Achievement

in Service Award (ASA) for Nebraska, for

members with at least two years of service.

Sue Pearman, Extension Educator in the

Continued on page 5

OPEN POSITIONS

NOTE: A hir ing freeze remains in effect as the

University awaits finalization of a state budget for

2017-19. UNL and other state agencies anticipate

reductions in state funding due to lower projected

tax revenues.

Irrigation management specialist: Interview and

seminar of fourth candidate, John “Burdette”

Barker, has been completed. Candidates are under

review.

Other open positions include Extension educators in

Morrill County and Box Butte County.

DEPARTURES

Deb Alber, Office Manager in Morrill County.

NEW HIRES

Brianna Conroy, manager of Panhandle Research

Feedlot.

Chelsea Altena, 4-H coordinator in Morrill County.

Spouse/Significant Other: Mike Joern – Truck

driver (cattle) for B & W Livestock, Inc.

Children: Josh, 10 years old, 5th grade Lincoln

Elementary-mathematical genius and computer

whiz! Hunter, 5, preschool – loves trucks and

digging in the dirt!

Background/family: Born in upstate New York

into a Coast Guard family but raised in California

(Bay Area) by my grandparents. Moved to Wyoming

in 2006 to be with my family who “migrated east”

and then I moved to Nebraska in 2009. My parents

now live in Oregon and my sister still lives in

Evanston, Wyoming.

Bulk of my professional career has been in property

management and mortgage banking. I enjoy

spending time with my family. We are an outdoors

family who enjoys hunting and fishing together. I am

a proud horse-mom to Comanche and enjoy

exploring the Nebraska Panhandle on horseback as a

means to unwind and get away from technology.

Hobbies/Interests: Cooking/baking, horseback

riding, waterfowl hunting, fishing/camping,

gardening. I want to start a miniature cow farm!

Enjoy road trips to visit family and explore new

places.

Cody Creech, $37,800 from the Nebraska

Department of Agriculture for a project entitled

Incorporating Dry Bean into Dryland Cropping

Systems. Term of award: Sept. 30, 2016, through

Sept. 29, 2019.

Bob Harveson, $30,923 from Nebraska

Department of Agriculture for a project entitled

Integrating Fungicide Application Timings with

Genetic Tolerance for Managing Phomopsis Stem

Canker in Sunflowers. Term of award: Sept. 30,

2016, through Sept. 29, 2019.

Dipak Santra, $16,999 from the Nebraska

Department of Agriculture for a project entitled

Identifying the Best Peppermint and Spearmint

Varieties for Production in Western Nebraska. Term

of award: Sept. 30, 2016, through Sept. 29, 2019.

Dipak Santra, $16,999 from Nebraska

Department of Agriculture for a project entitled

Identifying High Seed Protein Pea Variety and

Production System in Western Nebraska. Term of

award: Sept. 30, 2016, through Sept. 29, 2019.

Carlos Urrea, $20,381 from Nebraska

Department of Agriculture for a project entitled

Identification of Sources of Common Bacterial

Blight pv. fuscans Resistance in Dry Beans. Term of

award: Sept. 30, 2016, through Sept. 29, 2019.

Jeff Bradshaw, $3,000 from Dow AgroSciences

for a project entitled Corn Rootworm. Term of

award: April 1, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2016.

Mitch Stephenson, $50,000 from Nebraska

Grazing Lands Coalition for a project entitled

Evaluation of Grazable Cover Crops and Annual

Forages. Term of award: Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec.

31, 2018.

Cody Creech, Dipak Santra, and others: $200,000

from University of Minnesota-SARE for a project

entitled Rotational Benefits and Agronomic

Evaluation of Field Peas in Cereal Based Cropping

Systems. Lead PI, Strahinja Stepanovic. Term of

award: Jan. 1, 2017, through Dec. 31, 2019.

Jamie Goffena, $2,500 from Panhandle Public

Health District for a project entitled National

Diabetes Prevention Program. Term of award: Jan. 1,

2017, through Dec. 31, 2019.

Mitch Stephenson and others, $7,740 to suppor t

application Improving Forage Mass and Nutritive

Value of Pastures by Interseeding Summer Annuals,

Lead PI John Guretzky. Term of Award: Through

Jan. 31, 2018.

Nevin Lawrence, $1,520 from Montana State

University for a project entitled Ecological

Management of Kochia in Irrigated Western

Cropping Systems. (Entire award was $325,000, with

$75,000 going to UNL.) Term of award: Sept. 1,

2016, through Aug. 30, 2017.

Central Sandhills office, was part of a team that

received the Educational Piece Team Award, a

National Specialty Award, for the new STEAM

Clothing Curriculum.

IANR Awards

Carlos Urrea, dry bean breeding specialist, has

received the Omtvedt Innovation Award from the

UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The award recognizes IANR faculty who demonstrate

exceptional abilities and innovation. His program

focuses on selecting plants that are multiple-disease-

resistant and have desirable qualities related to water

efficiency, minimum tillage and more upright

architecture, allowing direct harvesting.

Other kudos

Dipak Santra was given special recognition by Dr.

Jason Gillman of USDA-ARS, Chair of Crop Science

Society of America C9 Division, for his presentation

at the Nov. 6-9, 2016, Symposium, “Novel and

Ancient Crops: Small in Acreage, Large in Value,”

sponsored by CSSA, the American Society of

Agronomy, and the Soil Science Society of America.

Dipak presented on proso millet breeding, genetics,

genomics and uses. It was the first time for a

symposium like this to highlight such crops.

The Go NAP SACC team poses with Chuck Hibberd, Dean and Director of Extension, as they receive the Innovation in

Team Programming Award. Erin Kampbell, Nutrition Education Program Assistant in Scottsbluff, is on the right.

The Nebraska Cooperative Extension Association’s Outstanding Programming Team Award is presented to the Animals Inside and Out team. Panhandle members include Terri Lemmon (fifth from left); Jana Schwartz (sixth from left); Melissa Mracek (fourth from right); and Deb Kraenow (not pictured) with NCEA President Ron Seymour.

Gary Stone with Dean Hibberd. Jeff Bradshaw with Dean Hibberd. Carlos Urrea with Ron Yoder, interim

vice chancellor of IANR.