Greetings, from the Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences.
As the end of summer draws near, I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair of SWES and to learn more about the people, programs, and partnerships that make this department extraordinary. My conversations over the past several months reinforced what I shared in the spring: the strength of SWES comes not only from the expertise of our faculty and staff, but also from our ability to connect that expertise with the needs of communities, producers, natural resource managers, and partners across Florida.
That connection is especially evident in our Extension mission. This issue of the newsletter highlights the many ways our Extension faculty are contributing to Florida Cooperative Extension’s Pathway to Creating Engagement Through Innovation & Excellence, a strategic framework that will help guide programming throughout the state. Our department brings tremendous depth in soils, water, nutrient management, environmental stewardship, and ecosystem resilience and I am excited to see SWES faculty helping shape this vision.
The Pathway document places renewed emphasis on strengthening collaboration among Extension specialists, county faculty, and campus partners while increasing the visibility and impact of Extension programming statewide. These priorities closely align with SWES’s mission of integrating research, teaching, and Extension to address Florida’s most pressing soil, water, and ecosystem challenges. Our Extension programs allow us to translate our expertise into meaningful impacts across the state. Just as important, our relationships with stakeholders help us identify emerging needs and opportunities for research, teaching, and outreach.
Source : ufl.edu