Talks at Twelve: Andrew Turner, Thursday, May 12, 2016

Exploring the Building Blocks of Disruptive Innovation in Cornell Cooperative Extension
Andrew Turner, New York 4-H Youth Development

Thursday, May 12, 2016
12:00-1:00 PM
Beebe Hall, 2nd floor conference room

Parent educators and faculty review latest parenting research

Dinah Castro, Maxine Cohen, Kerri Reda, and Tim Jahn in conversation at the in-service.

The annual Parenting in Context in-service event brings together Cornell researchers with New York State parent educators and others who work with families and youth for networking, professional development workshops, and presentations.

The 2015 in-service, held September 16-17, featured presentations on topics such as parenting in the digital age, custodial grandparent families, cognitive development in social context, positive discipline strategies, and adolescent well-being amidst family instability. Presenters included Rachel Dunifon and Laura Tach from policy analysis and management, Michael Goldstein from psychology, Chris Watkins, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, local school social worker Melissa Enns, and Parenting In Context staff Kimberly Kopko and Eliza Cook.

Participants came from 9 counties across New York State and left the following feedback on the event:

The updates and research presentations are always thought-provoking and reinforce our connection to the university. It is so important to those of us in the field.

It was very helpful to better understand the environment and dynamics of niche families--grandfamilies and fragile families. Presentations being research-based reminded me of its importance.

Youth research updates on gossip, children of prisoners, and minority participation in STEM

Group discussion at the 2015 YDRU

The BCTR's annual Youth Development Research Update (YDRU) brings together 4-H educators, Cornell Cooperative Extension county leaders, and others in New York State affiliated with youth programs with Cornell researchers. At this year's YDRU, held in early June,  researchers presented on gossip and aggression, the effects of parental incarceration on children, racial and ethnic minority youth engagement in STEM, and the influence of class on cohabitation choices. Jutta Dotterweich (director of training and technical assistance, ACT for Youth Project) and Stephen Hamilton organized the event.

In a Cornell Chronicle article, Jacqueline Davis-Manigaulte ’72, a Cornell Cooperative Extension-New York City senior extension associate, describes the importance of the YDRU,

This event allows us to hear about the latest Cornell faculty research on youth development. But what I really enjoy is the powerful connections we make with faculty members who see the value in working with us on projects. It gives us a direct line to potential partners.

In addition to talks by researchers, the YDRU features group discussions and unstructured time for participants to talk. Giving these generally institutionally separated groups access to each other allows for discussions leading to stronger, more relevant research and more effective, evidence-based programming for youth.

This year's presentations were:

• Steven E. Alvarado (Sociology): Racial and Ethnic Minorities in STEM: Challenges and Opportunities for Advancement
• Anna R. Haskins (Sociology): Paternal Incarceration and Children's Early Educational Outcomes
• Sharon Sassler (Policy Analysis and Management): Social Class Differences in Relationship Processes and the Entry into Cohabitation
• Dawn E. Schrader (Communication): Everybody Talks: Forms and Functions of Gossip and Talk in Adolescent Female Social Aggression

Talks connect faculty, youth-focused extension partners - Cornell Chronicle

Collaboration with CCE on new youth development curriculum

A new training curriculum for youth work professionals, Positive Youth Development 101, has just been released by the ACT for Youth Center of Excellence. Authored by Jutta Dotterweich, the curriculum was developed in collaboration with New York State (NYS) 4-H, the NYS 4-H Educator Association, the Risk and Thriving in Adolescence Program Work Team, and several youth development consultants and former trainers of the NYS Advancing Youth Development (AYD) Partnership.

This curriculum is designed for professionals who work directly with youth in late childhood and adolescence in a wide range of educational, recreational, or residential programs. It is especially appropriate for newly hired 4-H or community educators within the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) network.

The first phase of curriculum development consisted of a literature review and series of meetings to reflect on lessons learned from past youth development training initiatives such as the AYD Partnership. This led to a draft curriculum structured as a 10-hour training. The draft curriculum was pilot-tested in three upstate locations and in New York City. Participants included CCE 4-H educators and other CCE community educators working with youth, as well as community-based youth work professionals outside the CCE network. During each pilot training, participants provided extensive feedback on activities and materials.

Positive Youth Development 101 and all related materials are available without charge from the ACT for Youth site. This curriculum development and training project is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Smith Lever project 2012-13-272.

CCE Summer Interns present their research findings

Katrina Simon next to her poster on her research with 4-H

This year's Cornell Cooperative Extension Summer Interns presented on their summer research on October 7th. Included in the group were four students who worked with BCTR researchers (listed below). This year each student gave a condensed one-minute presentation on their work. Presentations were followed by a poster session/reception where students could talk to attendees about their research.

Each year the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Summer Internship Program connects undergraduates with faculty research projects, helping Cornell fulfill its land grant mission by engaging students in outreach. From research to education and program development, interns are involved in a wide spectrum of activities which they document by blogging.

This year's BCTR-connected projects, which collectively reached eight counties:

Building a Community Legacy Together Program Evaluation
Faculty: Karl Pillemer
Location: CCE Orange County and CCE Genesee County
Student blog by Masrai Williams

Parent Education in New York City: The Parenting A Second Time Around (PASTA) Project
Faculty: Rachel Dunifon
Location: CCE New York City
Student blog by Paisley Marie Terenzi

Refugee Family Child Care Provider Project
Faculty: John Eckenrode with Lisa McCabe
Location: CCE Madison-Oneida County
Student blog by Emily Nina Satinsky

Research for the Continuous Improvement of 4-H
Faculty: Stephen Hamilton
Location: Erie (base), Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming Counties
Student blog by Katrina Simon

Cooperative Extension interns report on statewide research - Cornell Chronicle

RNI workshop connects extension educators with Cornell faculty

Karl Pillemer presenting

On June 25-26, nineteen Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) educators from eight New York State counties attended a Research Navigator Initiative (RNI) workshop focused on skill-building, networking, and resource identification to form partnerships with campus researchers. The RNI is a BCTR initiative and a central component of the College of Human Ecology’s extension and outreach efforts. The workshop was planned and facilitated by Jennifer Tiffany, BCTR director of outreach and community engagement and executive director of CCE’s New York City programs, and Karl Pillemer, Hazel E. Reed Professor of Human Development and College of Human Ecology and associate dean for extension and outreach, in collaboration with the New York State affiliate of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Karl Pillemer, who co-founded the RNI in 2010, introduced the workshop with a presentation on bridging the “two cultures” of research and practice. Tasha Lewis, assistant professor of fiber science and apparel design, shared her autobiography to demonstrate the motivations and interests of researchers. Janis Whitlock, director of the BCTR’s Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery (CRPSIR), presented with CCE educators Suzan Sussmann and Denyse Variano (Orange County) about their successful research-practice partnership, which has led to various dissemination efforts on non-suicidal self-injury prevention. Natalie Bazarova, assistant professor of communications, shared her research on social networking and asked for participants’ advice on outreach and dissemination strategies. Marianella Casasola, associate professor of human development, also consulted with the group about building community partnerships for her research on early childhood development.

Other Cornell faculty and staff, including BCTR director John Eckenrode, Monica Hargraves, and Mary Maley, discussed the resources available to CCE educators and executive directors in support of research-practice partnerships, and Carol Devine led an institutional review board training. The workshop included several networking opportunities where participants could informally meet Cornell faculty and discuss their research interests.

The RNI supports collaborations between Cornell faculty and CCE educators, promoting campus-community research partnerships. The RNI provides research-related workshops to CCE educators, and informs Cornell faculty about the resources and capabilities of CCE as a research partner and broker of community collaborations. For more information on the RNI, contact Jennifer Tiffany.

Workshop offers roadmap to link research, practice – Cornell Chronicle

Related articles:
Advanced Research Navigator Workshop held for CCE educators
Research Navigator Initiative trains extension staff in all NY counties

2014 CCE summer interns begin work with BCTR researchers

Each year the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Summer Internship Program connects undergraduates with faculty research projects, helping Cornell fulfill its land grant mission by engaging students in outreach. From research to education and program development, interns are involved in a wide spectrum of activities which they document by blogging. Findings are presented in the late summer at a poster event on campus.

This year BCTR researchers are involved with four summer intern projects, reaching eight counties:

Building a Community Legacy Together Program Evaluation
Faculty: Karl Pillemer
Location: CCE Orange County and CCE Genesee County
Student blog

Parent Education in New York City: The Parenting A Second Time Around (PASTA) Project
Faculty: Rachel Dunifon
Location: CCE New York City
Student blog by Paisley Marie Terenzi

Refugee Family Child Care Provider Project
Faculty: John Eckenrode with Lisa McCabe
Location: CCE Madison-Oneida County
Student blog by Emily Nina Satinsky

Research for the Continuous Improvement of 4-H
Faculty: Stephen Hamilton
Location: Erie (base), Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming Counties
Student blog by Katrina Simon

Related:
BCTR connections at the CCE student poster showcase
2012 CCE Student Poster Event showcases summer research projects

Jennifer Tiffany named Executive Director of CUCE-NYC

Jennifer Tiffany

This week College of Human Ecology (CHE) dean Alan Mathios announced that Jennifer Tiffany will permanently serve as Executive Director for Cornell University Cooperative Extension in New York City (CUCE-NYC). She had been acting as interim director since the sudden loss of Donald Tobias in November, 2013.

In addition to her role as BCTR Director of Outreach and Community Engagement, Jennifer will continue to serve as Associate Director-Human Ecology of Cornell Cooperative Extension and as CHE’s Associate Director for Outreach and Extension. These positions, in conjunction with the newly-permanent CUCE-NYC directorship, put her in a prime position to connect and promote center and college research with communities throughout New York State and beyond, while also working to increase community members’, policy makers', and practitioners’ participation in developing research projects and agendas.

Tiffany named NYC cooperative extension director - Cornell Chronicle

Student hydroponics lab is the only one in NYC

Jennifer Tiffany, Roger Turgeon, and Jennifer Sirangelo

In the basement of the Food and Finance High School on W. 50th Street in Manhattan, tilapia swim in large, circular tanks. Under the guidance of Cornell Cooperative Extension applied scientist and extension associate Philson Warner, students help raise these and other varieties of fish that go on to be used in school lunches, distributed to green markets, and donated to hunger relief programs. By working in the  Hydroponics, Aquaculture, Aquaponics Learning Lab, students fulfill their state-mandated science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) lab requirements.

Recently Jennifer Sirangelo, National 4-H Council president, toured the labs to see how 4-H students are excelling in STEM projects. The tour was led by students, but the BCTR's Jennifer Tiffany, interim executive director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension - NYC and the school's principle Roger Turgeon we on hand. The labs were originally created as a part of the school's culinary program. The labs also include a hydroponics facility a few floors up. There waste from the fish is used in a nutrient-rich, soil-free culture to raise vegetables. The hydroponics process also serves to clean the water, which is then returned to the aquaponics lab to raise more fish, creating a symbiotic loop.

Video: Fish Farm Coop, Students Get Along Swimmingly in Hell's Kitchen - NY 1

Big Apple's Only Hydroponic Student Lab Showcased - Cornell Chronicle
Food and Finance High School Impacts Students and 4-H Alum in STEM - 4-H Today

Parenting educators, researchers share wisdom

Rachel Dunifon speaking with educators

The BCTR's Parenting in Context Initiative held its annual in-service event with county parenting educators this month. Educators hear about the latest findings on parenting and children from Cornell researchers and researchers have the opportunity to learn about research needs from the educators. This process of communications helps to better serve parents throughout the state with evidence-based information on aspects of child-rearing from infancy to adulthood.

In a recent Cornell Chronicle article about the event, Rachel Dunifon, director of the Parenting in Context Initiative, comments on the process:

The goal is to give extension educators new tools and information that they can use in their programming with families across New York. However, I always come away from these events convinced that I have learned much more than they have. They are an amazing group of professionals committed to making a difference in the lives of those doing some of the most challenging work there is – raising children.

The agenda included presentations on adolescent sexual health, early childhood education, connecting to community agencies, and engaging-low income fathers. The presenters included the BCTR's Jane Powers and Jutta Dotterweich of ACT for Youth, Lisa McCabe of the Corenll Early Childhood Program, and Jennifer Tiffany, BCTR director of outreach and community engagement.

The mission of the Parenting in Context Initiative is to provide research-based resources for parent educators as well as develop new curricula that will enhance existing programs. They also provide training and tools that will be useful in evaluating parenting programs as well as assess parenting programs by county, by program and statewide to identify areas of potential collaboration and resource.

Parenting educators, researchers share wisdom - Cornell Chronicle