LOI Deadline Extended to January 30, 2012

The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is calling for scholarly papers on cooperative extension's role in emerging, changing, or dynamic national extension agrosecurity priorities. As we did for this year's (2011) EDEN Annual Meeting, we intend* to provide up to three authors with a $1000 travel stipend (or actual travel cost, if less) to present their "extension agrosecurity priority papers" at the 2012 EDEN Annual Conference. These and other peer reviewed articles will be published on the EDEN website. Land and sea grant university extension faculty and staff are encouraged to submit letters of intent before JANUARY 30th, 2012 [originally November 15th] (See contact information below.) Others who wish to serve as lead authors, including graduate students, must identify a land or sea grant extension faculty or staff member as a willing co-author.  

*A note about the travel support:  The 2012 EDEN Annual Meeting will be in a new funding year for the Food and Ag Defense Funds (USDA-FADI). As Congress debates those and other funds, there is no guarantee at this time that the FADI funds will be available. So we have to make this offer based on whether or not we receive the funds. We will keep EDEN informed on the outcome of that support and update this site as soon as we know.

 Successful Extension Agrosecurity Priority Papers will:

• Focus on the present and future direction of cooperative extension activity as it relates to the particular topic in question; addressing research or formal education as it relates directly to extension 
  
• Address production agriculture; including non-agricultural extension that is closely tied to production agriculture (examples: extension targeted at home owner plant biosecurity to prevent agricultural outbreaks, human health implications of zoonotic diseases of livestock, consumer communication to protect production agriculture markets from misinformation)
  
• Address agricultural production (including input supply) through the immediate post farm gate transportation stage, excluding post farm processing and food product marketing (i.e. the scope of Agrosecurity Priority Papers focuses on extension activities affecting production agriculture, with one degree of separation in many areas).
  
• Target the following audiences:
• Extension Professionals - To aid planning and program development; 
• Researchers - As a citation reference when discussing extension's role in a proposal; and
• Federal Grant Managers and/or Policy Makers - Identifying RFA priorities.
  
• If applicable, state how future work affects the five NIFA priority areas: Climate Change, Bioenergy, Food Safety, Nutrition, and International Food Security.

Authors must submit a letter of intent by November 15th of no more than 500 words (not including tables, figures, or the reference section). Letters of intent should briefly provide a: 1) Listing of currently identified authors and their institutions/agencies; 2) Description of the future-oriented high priority topic; 3) Summary of literature to be cited in the final paper; 4) Clear statement of extension's potential role(s) over the next 10 years; and 5) Courses of short term action to increase cooperative extension's effectiveness in addressing these priorities, both with and without substantial future supplemental funding. Additionally, mention any ties research and education.

Letters of intent will be examined by members of the EDEN Agrosecurity Committee. Prior to December 15th, selected authors will be invited to submit a 2000 word Extension Agrosecurity Priority Paper. Full submissions are due by March, 31, 2012.

Letters of intent and final submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria: 

• Outcome Focus: Addresses an extension agrosecurity outcome (example: early detection of high consequence and non-endemic plant pests); 
  
• Scope: Thoroughly addresses the defined issue within the aforementioned scope;
  
• Rigor: Based on valid and reliable information, documentation or sound concepts; content is empirically, logically and/or theoretically supported; and
  
• Contribution: Has the potential to help extension educators guide their agrosecurity extension activities, scholarly citation, and/or policymaking.

Authors should submit their 500 word letters of intent, as a Microsoft Word attachment to an e-mail addressed to alillpop@purdue.edu.