Senior Extension Associate, Policy Analysis and Management
Associate Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Kimberly Kopko received her Ph.D. in Child Development from the Department of Human Development at Cornell University and joined the Department of Policy Analysis & Management in the College of Human Ecology. Her research and Extension work examines child development, parenting and family processes. Current research and outreach projects include: parenting and child learning, parenting education in School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs), teens being raised by custodial grandparents, and the use of research and evidence-based parent education programs to promote positive parenting behaviors and strengthen families. Ongoing academic and research interests incorporate an international dimension with a focus on comparative parenting and child and family social policies in Scandinavian countries and global early childhood education and care.
In the early days of Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology, Extension educators traveled around the state in demonstration trains to engage directly with families, especially farm wives, in their homes. Today, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Associate Director Kimberly Kopko is reimagining ways to meet families where they are with more portable parenting models that bring learning opportunities to spaces where families already get together, including schools, community and health centers, and, when necessary, online.