Introduction & Dean's Column
When we started to put together this issue of Connection Magazine in late winter, we had no idea how changed our world would be by the time we shared it with you. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything in the last few months, it’s how to be resilient, which, interestingly, was the theme we were developing for this issue of Connection Magazine.
Many of the stories you’ll read within these pages have to do with resilient individuals who embarked on “fresh starts” in their own lives — not because of COVID-19 — but because it’s where their heart and passion took them. You’ll find VSU alumni who opted for a fresh start; a retired USDA employee who launched a “post-retirement” career helping small, limited-resource and minority farmers; a retired military veteran who built a lavender farm for the next phase of his life; and one woman who used her varied culinary and agricultural skills to forge a fresh start as a VSU Small Farm Outreach agricultural management agent.
To quote English novelist George Elliot, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” We hope this issue of Connection Magazine will help inspire your next “fresh start.”
Sincerely,
M. Ray McKinnie, Ph.D., Dean/1890 Extension Administrator, Associate Dean and Director, College of Agriculture
Wondi Mersie, Ph.D., Associate Dean and Director, Agricultural Research Station
Doris B. Heath, Interim Assistant Administrator of Programs, Cooperative Extension
When we began this issue of Connection Magazine, COVID-19 was not the household name it is now. But like the rest of the world, the VSU College of Agriculture had to pivot quickly to meet the new challenges the pandemic created. Here are a few ways we adapted:
Our Extension agents and research scientists used Zoom and Facebook to deliver information on blueberries, ginger, cut flowers and gardening in a pandemic and even offered FAMACHA© training to detect worms in small ruminants. By switching from face-to-face programs to virtual ones, we reached more than 20,000 people, far more than we would have traditionally reached.
Extension specialists developed partnerships with the City of Petersburg and assisted in distributing food to people who face food insecurity during the pandemic.
The Small Farm Outreach Program created news alerts and a new SFOP newsletter to keep small farmers and ranchers informed when farm visits and in-person workshops were not an option.
As we move forward, we encourage you to continue to reach out to us for information and technical assistance via email and phone. Also follow us on social media and visit our website, ext.vsu.edu, for updates. We are here, and we will get through this together.
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