Visiting Extension Outreach Associate, Agriculture and Agribusiness

Duties & Responsibilities

• Program Development, Delivery and Evaluation • Develop and deliver programing on bio diversity agriculture, research and smart agriculture practices, and carbon/ storage technologies for Illinois agriculture. • Facilitate communication, meeting, and outreach strategies under the guidance of Extension’s Specialist, Professors and Agriculture and Agribusiness Program Leader. • Work with Illinois agriculture and industry partners to acquire data, program information, and photos that advance sustainability, smart agriculture practices, circular farming practices, community vitality and soil health practices. • Monitor the overall project timeline and track project successes through evaluation. • Evaluate and conduct data analysis and prepare data summaries and visualizations to show impacts. • Manage the professional, educational social media for Smart agriculture projects, carbon sequestration and public awareness of soil organics and soil provisions. • Complete reports, maintain records and data as required by members of the leadership team.
• Scholarship • Establish professional relationships and participate in campus-based partnerships that tie academic programs and research to complement Extension programming by partnering with Extension Specialists and/or faculty members on research projects as appropriate within the initiatives. • Continually seek professional development opportunities to enhance competency in subject matter areas. • Use research and evaluation findings to create innovative programs and make changes to existing programs in order to improve quality. • Share principles of evidence-based best practice with peers. • Attend meetings of Agriculture and Agribusiness, Local Foods/Small Farms and other teams as appropriate. • Identify funding opportunities for the SARE and Smart Agriculture for both public and private to meet project goals. Prepare and offer assistance preparing competitive grant proposals to fund the project.
• Organizational Requirements
  • Perform other duties that contribute to the mission of University of Illinois Extension programming, as assigned.
  • Comply with all University of Illinois Extension Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity policies and guidelines in all aspects of Extension work; assist unit staff with data collection for Affirmative Action, Gender, and Targeted reports as needed.
  • Local, regional, statewide, and (limited) interstate travel required.