Our Outreach & Extension Impact
In a public lecture he delivered at Cornell in January 1893, Dean Liberty Hyde Bailey shared his view of the place of extension in the mission of Land-Grant institutions saying, "I should like to see the principle officially recognized that the office of universities is primarily a mission to the people ..."
Today, extension is not just a one-way street for research to get to citizens, but rather a vibrant two-way interaction where community needs are identified and appropriate research and outreach responses take place.
This is public engagement. This is educational democracy in action.
Extension Firsts
Mortier Franklin Barrus (B.S. 1911, Ph.D. 1914) was the first official extension plant pathologist in the U.S.
Birth of Home Economics at Cornell
In 1900, Martha Van Rensselaer began a program of extension work with farm women.
She and Flora Rose went on to head the Department of Home Economics within the College of Agriculture. In 1925, it became the New York State College of Home Economics, the first state-chartered college of home economics (now human ecology) in the country.
Extension Firsts
John Craig was the first professor of extension teaching in agriculture in the U.S.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County’s marine program – the only one of its kind in the state – is restoring native shellfish populations to Long Island, improving ecosystems and economies.
Pioneer in the field: Eschewing a focus only on chemistry, Cornell AgriTech was the first experiment station with a broad agricultural mission and became a model for later stations.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society's Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and display results in near real-time.
Addressing Ag Workforce Challenges
The Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development program helps farm and agribusiness managers build effective employee teams by applying the best human resource management practices for the agricultural setting.
Run by Richard Stup, a senior extension associate and agricultural workforce specialist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and at Cornell Cooperative Extension, the program is unique because of its strong focus on research and extension.
Farming in the Big Apple
Cornell University Cooperative Extension-New York City (CUCE-NYC) sows innovative urban agriculture projects in New York City schools, senior centers and public housing facilities.
Philson Warner developed a hydroponic learning model at Manhattan’s Food and Finance High School. The technology quickly and cleanly produces high-quality fresh vegetables, and it also produces a better quality of learning for the students who work with it.
Bringing Nature Home
In 1893, Cornell received state funds to teach nature study in New York’s rural schools. Anna Botsford Comstock ran the program that produced the groundbreaking Home Nature-Study Course.
Empowering the Empire State
Every day, in every county in New York, individuals, schools, businesses, entrepreneurs, local governments, families and communities work with Cornell CALS to turn discoveries into real-world solutions.
Empowering the Empire State
Every day, in every county in New York, individuals, schools, businesses, entrepreneurs, local governments, families and communities work with Cornell CALS to turn discoveries into real-world solutions.
The Early Days of Extension
Ag and homemaking correspondence courses began in 1897.
Cornell's first "extension car" in 1913. Second from left: Martha Van Renssalaer.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension train in 1946 boasted "eight cars of ideas!"
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