Extension Emerging Leadership Initiative

Kevin Burkett’s role is Agribusiness Extension Associate and Assistant Director of the Clemson Tax School. He works with South Carolina farmers on business management skills and help run the annual Clemson Income Tax School for tax preparers.

I have always felt leading by example is the best and most effective way of leading others. When I think of leaders I admire, they have always been great examples in work, life, faith, etc. It is also important to be a team player and realize you are representing all the institutions and organizations you are a part of.

In the past 9 months, (much like other programs) all Clemson Tax School programs transitioned to online delivery. In that time over 1,100 clients participated in the annual workshops. Going forward, there are plans for both virtual and in-person programming. I am also proud of the Small Fruit Certification Training course that was launched in conjunction with Auburn University and University of Georgia that helps agents learn about certifications for fruit farmers.

(And I would be remiss to not say I am glad to be able to join the EELI program).

One of Karen’s most significant achievements in the last few months is the release of the South Carolina Stream Bank Repair Manual! This document is a collaboration with Katie Altman, also an EELI class participant, and it is the newest resource for the statewide program launched in 2020. After seeing the degraded conditions of small streams around the state and the lack of knowledge surrounding what it means to have a “healthy stream,” it became evident that landowners and managers needed a program to help protect and restore streams. The Stream Bank Repair program has already hosted one workshop in the Upstate in 2021 and has three more scheduled for the fall/winter of 2021-2022. The listserv has quickly grown over the last several months, and more and more landowners are reaching out for guidance on stream issues. Although neighboring states such as North Carolina have similar programs, the South Carolina Stream Bank Repair program is novel to our state.

Lauren Hood leads the York County 4-H program through Clemson Extension. While the community clubs are all led by volunteers, Lauren works with the local schools to deliver school enrichment. School enrichment comes in the form of planting and maintaining gardens, hatching chicks through embryology lessons, creating healthy snacks and meals, and various other STEM and natural resources-related lessons.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauren completed her master’s degree and wrote the first thesis of the new Clemson University Master of Science in Agriculture program. Her thesis was a mixed methods study gaining the perceptions of 4-H participants and their parents of the virtual programming efforts made by South Carolina 4-H during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The goal of this study was to learn what worked and how to improve if there is ever another situation like the pandemic. This study also provides recommendations to Extension leadership to aid county 4-H (or any program area) Agents in data collection and analysis, communication, and marketing, as these were common themes throughout the study. Lauren and other members of the research team hope this study will be beneficial for Clemson Extension, South Carolina 4-H, and other states’ Extension and 4-H programs as it is being formatted for publication in academic journals.

Amber Starnes, Area Livestock and Forages Agent, believes in a comprehensive extension program.  Her work covers multiple program areas within Extension, including Livestock, 4-H, and pesticide coordinator.  In Chesterfield, she manages all the 4-H activities, including offering at-home kits for youth to stay active during the pandemic.  In addition to the Chesterfield 4-H, she also serves as the Pee Dee Region 4-H and Livestock Coordinator, in which she assists in coordinating the following projects: poultry, swine, goat, rabbit, green tomato, coloring contest, and other activities for the ECA fair and Pee Dee Region events.

In her primary programmatic area of Livestock and Forages, Amber has developed and implemented several virtual workshops, including Forage Week.  These online programs cover production and management information for constituents to stay informed in a timely manner.  Her work through managing social media accounts and offering virtual programs in partnership within her team and across extension teams has gained several new supporters for Clemson Extension in multiple states.  In addition, she has also been working toward making the Backyard Poultry Series available as an online course.  She has a passion for serving the agricultural community in which she lives and works.

My name is Lance Beecher, and I have enjoyed being part of the EELI program and the people I have met so far at our gatherings. Being a part of EELI, I hope to expand my leadership approaches, strengthen my networking contacts, and leverage my passion for being an exceptional specialist and effective mentor of the Clemson Extension Service. Since becoming a Clemson University Extension member, I have individually managed an aquaponics, aquaculture, and fisheries program. Executing this program has been a challenge; however, I feel these are essential disciplines to explore natural resource conservation and produce an alternative, sustainable food source. I offer knowledge and advice for these disciplines in various methods such as educating adults through workshops, college students through the Creative Inquiry program, and youth through multiple programs. One such program I am involved with and genuinely enjoy participating in every summer is the South Carolina Commissioner’s School for Agriculture (SCCSA).  SCCSA, a partnership between Clemson University and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, is a program that provides a challenging and enriching college-based experience for rising 11th and 12th-grade students. The programs offered provide experiences from a variety of related disciplines in areas of agriculture and natural resources. I offer various specialized lessons for the students in aquaponics and fisheries; however, there is one experience, called stream surveying, that I enjoy participating the most in with the SCCSA students. The students arrive streamside, are taught all of the indicators to explore for sampling a stream, then each group is given a bucket and two nets and sent out to gather invertebrates and any other organisms found in the stream. The exploration is the most exciting and sometimes challenging time because of the students’ enthusiasm for returning with all kinds of exciting stream organisms. They then separate, count, and identify various organisms and follow charts to determine how healthy the stream is now and what can be done to improve stream health in the future. It’s a special time for all and gives me a chance to provide the students with the knowledge to make choices to improve the future for all.

Zack Snipes, Charleston County Extension agent, and others get the same call over and over each year: how much liquid fertilizer should I be using on my strawberries and on other high-value crops? Most extension agents then pull off on the side of the road and do some calculations and then come up with an answer for their client.  And then, just as quickly as that calculation is done, another call from a different grower with the same question.  This process repeats for three months or so.  Most liquid fertilizer recommendations are written in pounds of product per acre, making one scratch their head when the product you are using is a liquid.  Zack Snipes, Justin Ballew, and Rob Last began exploring options on how they could easily calculate these recommendations for growers.  They quickly came up with an excel file that gave an easy way to calculate the amount of fertilizer to use on certain crops.  The only problem with what they came up with is that it was a clunky excel file and would not be easily accessible in the field for farmers.  They began talks with Dr. Kendall Kirk, an agricultural engineer at Edisto Research Center.  He began developing a web-based app that was easily assessable and easy to use that used our calculations.  After adding fertility recommendations from the Southeastern Vegetable Crop Handbook that included how much fertilizer to deliver at varying times during a plant’s development, they also added other features like the option to add customizable fertilizer densities and crop acreage.  The tool tells farmers how much fertilizer to use, when to use it in a crop’s development and is tailored to their fertilizer and acreage.  There is no second guessing with the tool.  You enter your parameters, and the tool spits out exactly how much to use and when. Mazzei, the worldwide leader in fertilizer injectors, reached out recently to ask if they could add the calculator to their website.  In the last 30 days, the calculator has been accessed by 248 users from 34 countries and 33 U.S. states; 44 of these users were from South Carolina.

Faith Isreal has been actively utilizing her leadership skills from EELI. She is the President-Elect for Extension Senate and an active student within Clemson’s Human Resources CU Grow Professional Development program. She has developed and delivered live and on-demand webinars on the topics of “Food Safety During a Pandemic”, “Food Safety for Donated Foods” and, “Food Safety & Nutrition on a Budget” with over 100 participants and growing. The “Food Safety During a Pandemic” webinar addressed the growing concerns of consumers regarding food. Basic information about coronavirus, recommendations for prevention, food safety, and resources for safe food practices were presented. Faith has been leading within the Food Systems and Safety in-service team meetings by creating a state-wide Food Systems and Safety Program team needs assessment through Qualtrics. The online survey provides the discovery of community’s needs for enhanced programming and resources. Most recently, she delivered a Food Photography and Styling training with her skills to help promote and captivate current and future audiences to utilize the information and resources of Extension through social media. Using relevant imagery through Extension social media outlets allows the audience to gain awareness, establish loyalty, and communicate research-based information to the citizens of South Carolina and beyond in a way that is consistent with Extension branding.

Dawn Stuckey is a believer in young people and their ability to create a positive change in the world. As the Hampton County 4-H Youth Development Agent, she works to lead the Hampton County 4-H Program to fulfill its motto “To Make the Best Better.” In addition, to volunteer training and management, Mrs. Stuckey delivers a variety of leadership, personal development, STEM, agriculture, and natural resource programs. She also serves as the Savannah Valley Region Poultry Project Coordinator. She has not missed a beat with programming, in fact she has been busier than she was prior to the pandemic. She has worked with Farm Bureau District staff to develop a “Story Time with Clem Clover” program for her region. All counties now receive Ag in the Classroom Book of the Month subscriptions, and she provides live readings and hands-on activities virtually to classrooms. Clubs in both counties completed the Get Experience in Mindfulness program from the University of Delaware and now begin each meeting with a mindfulness experience. Congratulations to Dawn for her 2020 Community Service Award from the Hampton Chamber of Commerce!

Extension Agent Cornelius Hamilton, has been instrumental in coordinating, implementing, and delivering services and resources that have a positive impact on the communities in Hampton and surrounding counties in the Low Country region with the SC State University 1890 Extension Program. In preparation for the transition for alternative program deliveries, Hamilton was assigned to the 1890 Alternative Service Delivery Team which was charged with developing a plan of action for delivering program and services during the pandemic. Hamilton took a leadership role in identifying and coordinating content for the 1890 @Home Video Series. The videos are designed to provide content relative to the concerns of individuals and families at home. Video topics include Handwashing Tips, Home-Schooling Tips, Home Gardening Basics, and Staying Active at Home Basics! As the video series began to expand the content, Hamilton coordinated a networking partnership with a local television network to have the videos broadcast on their community channel. This ensured that network subscribers’ population of approximately 10,000 would have daily access to the videos. The 1890 @Home Video Series can be found on the SC State University 1890 social media accounts which include YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Hamilton also partnered with the Hampton County First Steps Organization to conduct Financial Education Workshops with their Participating Parent Group and covered topics on Money Values & Influences, Income & Expenses, Banking, and Spending & Savings Plans.

Ben Boyles serves as the Director of the Clemson University Cooperative Extension South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program (SCNBFP).  This program, the first of its kind in South Carolina, provides comprehensive agribusiness training to help famers develop (or accelerate the development) of their farm businesses.  The program convenes a cohort of farmers from all across the state of South Carolina each year and traditionally these participants would have gathered in-person to attend the program’s core workshops. When COVID-19 restrictions were enacted, a record number of 54 participants chose to move forward with the online format, while the dozens of guest presenters came together in a great show of support for a new schedule and program delivery platform.  With a reduction in travel time due to remote program delivery, attendance was at unprecedented levels and engagement with participants and program presenters was facilitated through online interaction strategies.  The SCNBFP team looks forward to employing successful remote learning strategies and tools post-COVID to continue to deliver training that meets the needs of our state’s new and beginning farmers.