Opportunities for Researcher Involvement in Extension Gardens, Lawns and Landscapes

The Cooperative Extension Service has developed a platform called eXtension (pronounced e-extension) that interlinks personnel at land grant institutions and provides tools for disseminating Web-based and other digital information.  Initial work in eXtension has concentrated on building communities of practice that interact to develop on-line content and provide information resources to clientele.  Most often it is Extension personnel, or those with a partial Extension appointment, who have engaged in eXtension.  However, as eXtension expands there are opportunities for researcher involvement as well.  For example, researchers may wish to provide press releases or synopses of their work to be posted on eXtension.  This will allow increased access to scientific information by the public and will promote increased visibility of the researcher, their program, and institution.  Researchers may also wish to help develop educational materials or provide critical reviews of such material to help ensure that information provided to the public is accurate and relevant.  Finally, researchers may wish to engage in eXtension communities of practice to network with colleagues on the national level and to engage eXtension communities of interests (clients) to ensure that their mission-based research is addressing pertinent needs.  This paper will provide examples of researcher involvement in eXtension and address ways that horticulture researchers might become involved in eXtension Gardens, Lawns and Landscapes.