Two special awards were presented at the Oct. 18-20 NDSU Extension Service/Research Extension Center fall conference in Fargo.

• Friend of the North Dakota Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences – Aging Services, N.D. Department of Human Services

For several years, Aging Services has played a vital role in Extension’s delivery of two evidence-based educational programs: Powerful Tools for Caregivers and Stepping On (SO).

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a self-care program that provides family caregivers with tools and strategies to better handle the challenges they face. Aging Services has encouraging its clients to participate in these workshops, along with paying their registration fees and providing respite care while they attend.

Stepping On helps older adults reduce their risk of falling. Falls-related injuries are a major public health concern because of their impact on older adults’ health and quality of life, and the health-care system. Aging Services has provided grant funds to cover workshop registration costs and class leaders’ travel expenses to attend a three-day training.

Aging Services also has partnered with NDSU Extension on two statewide studies: Circles of Aging, which explored baby boomers’ needs and desires as they age, and the Family Caregiver Study, which examined the services and supports available to family caregivers.

• Communicator of the Year presented by the NDSU Agriculture Communication department and North Dakota chapter of the Association for Communication Excellence – Lisa Pederson, Beef Quality Assurance Specialist

Lisa was honored for her expertise and professionalism in delivering educational programs and information using a variety of communication tools.

She assists beef producers on issues such as improving carcass quality, using better cattle-handling techniques and protecting their herds through herd health practices. She also helps dairy producers understand practices to improve their value to the industry.

Pederson incorporates innovative communication tools into her educational programs. For example, she uses a syringe to shoot mustard into cupcakes to show where producers should and should not vaccinate cattle. She uses her personal Facebook page to communicate the work she and others are doing to educate producers, and to pose questions to generate discussions.

She has been NDSU Extension’s BQA specialist since March 1999. She grew up on a cow-calf operation in southwestern Colorado, and she and her husband are involved in his family’s fifth-generation cattle operation.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 24, 2016