The PIE Center is pleased to release the 2019-2020 annual report highlighting the center’s accomplishments in research, outreach, and education. First, read below as center director, Ricky Telg, reflects on the past year.
When the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources (PIE Center) began hearing in February of the potential ramifications the pandemic may have in the United States, we began developing a strategy to conduct research on COVID-19’s societal and economic impacts on the general population and for agriculture and natural resources leaders. What you will read in this year’s annual report will highlight not only the PIE Center’s research and outreach on COVID-19’s impacts, but also the center’s contributions supporting the state’s agriculture and natural resources sector.
Because of the pandemic, the PIE Center, as well as the entire University of Florida, worked from home for the spring and summer months. We collaborated electronically to continue our work, meeting regularly through Zoom video conferencing. Since March, we have conducted three national surveys of the general public and one national survey targeting agriculture leaders on COVID-19-related topics. Immediately after each survey, we turned the research findings into informational materials: fact sheets, social media posts, webinars and videos. In addition to our own COVID-19 research, the PIE Center, as part of the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (SCCAHS), has created numerous informational materials that Florida’s agriculture industry can use to help protect farm workers from COVID-19. Please visit http://www.sccahs.org/index.php/covid-19/ to see the PIE Center’s contributions to SCCAHS’s COVID-19 outreach and education efforts.
In addition to our research and outreach on COVID-19, the PIE Center has been busy with many other projects. PIE Center staff have just completed developing communication materials to inform people about harmful algal blooms, as part of a Florida Sea Grant program. We are continuing our year-long research project with Martie Gillen in UF’s Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences to enhance and promote the state’s Guardianship Assistance Program, part of the State of Florida’s Department of Children and Families. We collaborated on two SEED-IT grants, a program through the UF/IFAS Research office that provides start-up funds for new research programs. We’re also part of a $1 million grant that focuses on ecological and economic impacts of land use and climate change on Florida’s Gulf Coast. IFAS Extension asked the PIE Center to research what the state’s policymakers know about local food production (LFP), sometimes called “urban agriculture”; research findings from this project are being used to better equip Extension faculty to help local officials navigate the LFP waters. Extension has also requested the PIE Center’s assistance to conduct listening sessions and focus groups for the next Extension Roadmap.
Several of the PIE Center’s research and outreach efforts in 2019 – including providing resources during Hurricane Dorian and the Prevent & Protect mosquito control messaging program – received awards at the 2020 Association of Communication Excellence (ACE) conference. The overall Prevent & Protect campaign received the top award in the issue communication category. Research involving PIE Center-affiliated faculty or staff received the following awards at the ACE conference: Runner-up, outstanding research paper; outstanding research poster; and outstanding innovative poster.
As mentioned, the PIE Center is an integral component of the SCCAHS’s efforts, providing leadership in that center’s State of Science meeting, community stakeholder advisory board meeting, and overall outreach. The PIE Center develops and delivers a monthly webinar series for SCCAHS. We also coordinated the Insight Summit in February in Minnesota. The Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement, a new partner program for the PIE Center and co-directed by Lauri Baker, conducts the Insight Summit, which brings people together to learn how to use cutting-edge new media marketing strategies. In 2021, the Insight Summit will take place in Florida; we will provide more information later this fall about the summit’s plans. The PIE Center also plays a major role in Florida’s Extension Disaster Education Network, under Angie Lindsey’s direction.
Looking ahead, we wanted to let you know that the PIE Center has moved. Since its inception, the PIE Center was in Bryant Space Science Center in the center of UF’s main campus. In April, the PIE Center moved a little further out from the middle of campus. We are in Building 60; if you’re familiar with Fifield Hall, we’re near there. (If you don’t know where Fifield Hall is, we’re about three blocks from where the new UF Gator baseball field is being built.) We’re very excited about our new office space. What’s more, we also received space to create the Social Science Research Lab, which is being equipped with top-notch statistical software, perception analyzers, a large-screen television and video cameras. The space can be arranged in many ways to conduct focus groups, presentations and workshops.
After reading this annual report, I hope you see how integral the PIE Center’s research and outreach efforts are to the future of Florida’s agricultural and natural resources sectors.
Sincerely,
Ricky Telg
Director and Professor
