Between October 10-14, all of us at Mizzou will celebrate Extension and Engagement Week. As always, the activities planned by Vice Chancellor Marshall Stewart and his team are informative, educational and fun. And this year’s theme is something we can all relate to: All Things Food. While the week reinforces MU’s commitment to our land grant mission, the work you all do to serve our state and our citizens happens every day and in every college, school and division.

Importantly, collaborations both within MU and across the state empower this work. Recently we applauded Dr. Rob Myers of CAFNR who received a $25M+ grant award for climate smart commodities. As Dr. Myers notes, his work would be impossible without his network of external stakeholders, who enable his work by sharing input and resources. Dr. Myers notes:

“Growing up on a farm, I’ve seen firsthand challenges that can arise from extreme weather, whether it’s flooding from excessive rain or drought from not enough rain,…Climate change ultimately impacts our food production and food prices, so our goal is to help farmers with different practices that will make their farms more resilient.”

Another example of work that matters to our state is the research led by Dr. Patrick Westhoff. As director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) and Cowden Professor, Dr. Westhoff’s research examines the impact of farm legislation that informs policy making related to trade agreements, technology, and through these channels, the economy of our state and nation.

As part of Extension & Engagement Week, I want to celebrate some of the extraordinary people, programs, and research at MU that support our land grant mission:

• Programs led by our faculty, staff, and students all over the state that promote agriculture – corn, cotton, fisheries, and more
•  Research and instruction partnerships between the MU Office of Extension and Engagement (MOEE), MU’s School of Medicine, and the research investments at NextGen that aim to improve health outcomes for our rural communities
• Outreach programs led by the Office of Health Outreach, Policy and Education (HOPE), which is a collaboration between the Missouri Telehealth Network, the Rural Track Pipeline Program, the Center for Health Policy, Community Health Engagement and Outreach, and Continuing Medical Education (CME), and the Sinclair School of Nursing
• Initiatives like Annie’s Project, which empowers women in agriculture
• Programs that support veterinary medical services and the work of units like the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at MU’s College of Veterinary Medicine
• Programs like 4-H, which help us connect with our future via programs offered to the youth in our state
• The many outreach programs offered by the Trulaske College of Business to students from rural Missouri
• The rural immersion programs offered by the College of Health Sciences
• The Veterans Clinic at MU’s School of Law, which helps veterans in our state access the services they need
• Journalistic reporting by students via the Statehouse Reporting Program at MU’s J school
• The Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center (RPDC) at the College of Education and Human Development (among 15 outreach programs), which works to create professional development programs to serve public school teachers in our state
• The Missouri Center for Addiction Research and Engagement (MO-CARE) in the College of Arts and Science, which brings together researchers from across MU to study and create solutions for all Missourians affected by addiction
• The Digital Transformation Consortium at MU’s College of Engineering, which brings together academic and industry leaders to create learning modules to help Missourians develop digital skills for the workplace of the future
• Research done at MU’s National Swine Research and Resource Center, which is a resource for specialized swine breeding in the state and nation, led by leading animal science researchers at MU’s College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
• Research on hybrid crops by faculty like Dr. Blake Myers who was recently elected to join the National Academy of Sciences, that has a big impact on agricultural yield in the state (not to mention in his own home-grown tomato garden!)

Needless to say, there are many more examples of the work by MU’s faculty, staff, and students that make our land grant mission come alive. Mark your calendars, and join us for MU Extension and Engagement Week, so we can collectively reaffirm our commitment to serve, to make a difference, and to change lives for Missourians.

Please join us for events throughout the week of Oct. 10^th to learn more about these and other essential parts of our Extension programs.