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A GIFT SEED

Objective 5

Extension & Engagement

Leadership

Dr. Priya Rajarapu (Objective co-Leader), Dr. Justin Whitehill (Objective co-leader), Dr. Katie Barnhill (Objective co-Leader), Dr. Bert Cregg, Dr. Gary Chastagner

Objective Goal & Deliverables

GOAL: Develop region specific Extension and outreach materials including grower surveys and industry needs assessments. Real world consumer feedback for motivations to purchase a real Christmas tree through citizen science will be actively communicated to growers and industry stakeholders through a project website and social media platforms.

DELIVERABLES

  1. Region specific Extension and outreach materials.
  2. Grower surveys and industry needs assessments.
  3. Real world consumer feedback for motivations to purchase a real Christmas tree through citizen science.
  4. Active and regular communication to growers and industry stakeholders through a project website and social media platforms.
  5. A new Extension based seminar series centered around outcomes from the A GIFT SEED project.

Objective Activities

Each of the following activities will contribute to the generation of the Objective 5 deliverables listed above.

The main focus of Activity 5.1. is developing extension and outreach materials.

For this activity, an Extension team will serve as the bridge between university faculty, state agencies, research scientists, and Christmas tree farmers. The Extension will develop educational materials including, pocket guides (Sub-Activity 5.1.1.), Spanish language translation (Sub-Activity 5.1.2.), and publishing in trade journals/press (Sub-Activity 5.1.3.).

The main focus of Activity 5.2. is evaluating grower perceptions of genetic improvement through stakeholder surveys.

In order to do this the Objective 4 team will distribute surveys through grower associations, meetings and workshops, email listservs, social media, and project website. These surveys will evaluate Christmas tree grower perceptions of genetic improvement as a concept and in application to the industry they are a part of.

The main focus of Activity 5.3. is grower enabled citizen science through Extension.

Citizen science will investigate public/consumer perceptions of genetic improvements. QR codes on saleable trees will track genetic information in collaboration with Christmas tree growers. Codes will direct consumers to short online coproduced surveys (made in Activity 3.5.) to provide real-world data on post-harvest needle retention, aroma, and social questions.

The main focus of Activity 5.4. is website and social media development and activity for the A GIFT SEED project.

Social media will be used to help reach different demographic groups, convey knowledge, and positively impact programming. These social media pages will be linked through the A GIFT SEED project website and serve as a central online project resource. The project will connect to already existing social media groups, as well as develop new platforms (including YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook). These platforms will assist with information dissemination to stakeholder groups.

The main focus of Activity 5.5. is establishment of a new quarterly A GIFT SEED Christmas tree webinar series, as well as annual virtual workshops.

The new quarterly webinar series will highlight significant advances of the A GIFT SEED project, deployment and adoption of planting genetically improved Christmas trees, and benefits of using improved genetics to combat climate change and improve pest management outcomes. The quarterly webinar series will be delivered by project members, with one meeting yearly being co-hosted by NC State Genetics and Genomics Academy. Annual virtual workshops for scientists and stakeholders will be held to keep all members informed of progress, challenges, and future directions. Half of these all-day workshops will be focused on the research and Extension team, while the other half will be focused on stakeholder involvement and issues. Additionally, at the completion of the project an in-person workshop will be held at NC State to assess grower comprehension and acceptance of project findings.

Year 1 Progress

To date, multiple presentations have been made by project personnel directly to industry stakeholders over the course of year 1. Additionally, a project website, various outreach materials, workshops, media appearances, and trade journal articles were published to disseminate project results and communicate overall project goals and outcomes to industry stakeholders.