By UVM Extension - Febraury 2022
The University of Vermont (UVM) Extension 4-H is the recipient of a three-year Food and Agricultural Non-formal Education grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The $645,856 grant will fund the AgroTek Innovation program, which takes a transdisciplinary approach to provide Grade 7-12 students with immersive research experiences in agrotechnology. Participants will have an opportunity to conduct experiments using an inquiry-based approach to explore four innovative agrotechnology curricula: culturing cells for healthier soils, shifting the waste to value paradigm, creating smarter plastics with plants and using virtual reality for more precise agriculture.
"The AgroTek Innovation program will offer timely, hands-on and engaging experiences to build a technology-savvy workforce for Vermont's agricultural future," says Sarah Kleinman, director of the Vermont 4-H program. "It will bridge UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences research with 4-H experiences, supporting career exploration by connecting participants to UVM researchers and undergraduate mentors."
The funds will be used to support several non-formal educational experiences beginning with two VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Cafés this winter. Culturing Cells for Healthier Soils, the January 22 café, features Eric Bishop von Wettberg, UVM Plant and Science Department. Steve Kostell, UVM Community Development and Applied Economics, will lead a session, Waste to Value Paradigm, on February 5.
AgroTek Summer Academies, focusing more in depth on these same two topics, will be offered June 26-July 2 on the UVM campus. Each academy is open to 12 students. In subsequent years, one new academy will be added each year.
"The academies are residential, week-long experiences for teens to really learn about the content and related technology and then develop a project that helps to promote the safe use of that agriscience skill," Kleinman says. "They also help to build relationships with students and faculty members that are meant to support a pathway to higher education and a career in food and agriculture."
Academy participants will have an opportunity to take part in the AgroTek Innovation Slam on August 5, a pitch-style competition where student teams will share projects that demonstrate what they learned from these first two agrotechnology curricula and create outreach materials that support the safe use of these technologies.
"Through these experiences, participants will begin to make decisions regarding the design, execution and evaluation of projects that will build public confidence in the safe, equitable and enhanced use of technology in agriculture, the environment and food systems," Kleinman says.
The AgroTek Innovation program will reach over 400 participants and be led by a trans-disciplinary team from UVM. In addition to Kleinman, the grant's principal investigator (PI), and Scott Lewins (co-PI), UVM faculty researchers on the team are Bishop von Wettberg, Kostell, Rachel Floreani, and Scott Merrill.
Community partners include Generator, GameTheory, Zion Growers and Full Circle Microbes with additional support from LaunchVT for the AgroTek Innovation Slam.
To learn more, contact Kleinman at sarah.kleinman@uvm.edu