Lori Scharmer is the North Dakota Association for Communication Excellence 2011 communicator of the year.

Scharmer serves as the North Dakota State University Extension Service’s family and consumer science agent in Ward County.

The Communicator of the Year Award recognizes an individual who has displayed exceptional expertise and professionalism in delivering educational programs and information to the public through several types of media. The association and NDSU Agriculture Communication staff selected Scharmer for the honor.

During the devastating flooding in Minot and other parts of Ward County this year, Scharmer took the lead to make sure the Extension office provided the appropriate information in numerous formats to help people take the necessary steps before, during and after the flooding.

She is part of the NDSU Extension team that developed Recovery After Disaster: The Family Financial Toolkit through a partnership with the University of Minnesota Extension. The tool kit is a free, online resource to help people recover financially after a disaster. She also has been active on the Ward County Extension office’s Facebook page and is collaborating with NDSU Extension family economics specialist Debra Pankow on the Emergency Money Management blog.

“I have always considered Lori to be an outstanding communicator as she has the unique ability to both write and speak in ways that cause others to stop and pay attention to the critical point that she is making,” says Mike Hanson, NDSU Extension’s northwest district director. “Individuals know right away that she is a caring person. It comes out in how she carefully listens to what they are communicating to her and then how she, in turn, communicates with them.”

Scharmer joined the Ward County Extension office in 2001. As the county’s family and consumer science agent, she offers research-based educational programming in food and nutrition, family resource management and human development.

The North Dakota native grew up in Drayton. She is a graduate of NDSU with a bachelor's degree in home management and family economics and a master’s degree in family financial planning. She and her husband, Mark, live in Mohall.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 17, 2011