11-08-06

Media Release

OSU Extension Dean and Director Honors Outstanding Achievements in 2006

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University Extension Service faculty and staff were honored by Dean and Director Scott Reed for their outstanding achievements recently at the 2006 OSU Extension annual conference in Corvallis.

The awardees are recognized for their outstanding contributions and exceptional performance above and beyond the call of duty. At the annual conference capnote address, each received a $1,000 award check and a plaque honoring their accomplishments.

The 2006 Extension Dean and Director’s honorees include:

Washington County -- Janice Smiley, OSU Extension Family and Community Development faculty in Washington County, was awarded for her outstanding achievement in service for her work stepping in with little notice and leading Extension in the statewide Oregon Foods and Nutrition Program. Under her stead, the program grew from $1.8 to $2.7 million.

Umatilla County -- Mary Corp, OSU Extension horticulture faculty in Umatilla County, was awarded for her outstanding achievement in strategic impact of her work with precision agriculture incentive program, which provides growers financial incentives to conduct field-scale experimentation with OSU and other agencies. She also works to help growers find suitable alternative crops to integrate into the traditional wheat-fallow production cycle in the region.

Multnomah County -- Lucy Lores-Lezcano, OSU Extension Foods and Nutrition’s Metro Hispanic office in Portland, was awarded for her outstanding achievement in program support. She is lauded for her dedicated, dynamic teaching of immigrant families from all over Latin America. She teaches nutrition and basic foods.

Lane County -- Charlotte Riersgard, OSU Extension, staff chair of the Lane County Extension office and 4-H Youth Development faculty, was awarded for her outstanding achievement in innovation in administrative leadership. She was lauded for integrating diversity, financial management, human resources, program development, organizational skills and stakeholder involvement into her leadership.

Jackson County -- The entire OSU Extension Jackson County Youth Team was awarded for their outstanding achievement and strategic impact. There are four full time and six part-time staff that service 16,814 boys and girlws in Jackson County. The staff works in and outside the schools with 4-H in animal science, natural resources and technology, Latino outreach, reading and nutrition. The team includes Megan Kleibacker, Theresa Leonardo, Anne Manlove, Alicia McCuen, Diane Miller, Alexandra Steiner, Pauline Sullivan and Erin Taylor.