UW Extensions Communications Office Receives National Honors

Members of the Communications and Technology team in University of Wyoming Extension received national recognition during the recent virtual Association for Communication Excellence conference.

The office, part of the UW College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, received several honors.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our UW Extension Communications and Technology team continuing to persevere and produce award-winning work despite the COVID pandemic,” says David Keto, manager of Communications and Technology. “Even while working remotely, our team continued to collaborate seamlessly on joint projects and continued to share the best of extension knowledge across Wyoming and beyond.”

The college’s research magazine, Reflections, received a gold award in the technical publications division. The magazine is edited by Steve Miller and designed by Tanya Engel, with articles written by scientists in each of the college’s departments, plus a selected student paper. To view the 2020 edition of Reflections, click here. Miller received a gold award in newspaper stories for an article last October originating from Torrington about growing giant pumpkins.

Brittney Gross, extension’s instructional technology educational specialist, received a silver award for Qualtrics survey software training.

Engel, with writer Katie Shockley, received a bronze for “Raspberry Production Guide for Wyoming,” an  extension publication. To view or download the free publication, click here.

The Wyoming Integrated Pest Management Calendar, another publication designed by Engel, received a bronze. Videographer Lindsay Hadfield also received a bronze in information technology for a meat fabrication and identification project.

In the early days of COVID, Keto says the office trained and helped others in UW Extension adapt to remote educational delivery.

Although it was meant for internal audiences, Gross’ training highlights the consistent quality of extension products to reach any audience, Keto says. He also commends Miller’s efforts to tell stories and travel safely in the state when articles required a personal touch.

He says the office continues to excel at creating unique and compelling long-form bulletins, thanks to collaborations such as the one between Engel and Shockley. Hadfield’s project to create a dynamic video-driven training about meat fabrication and retail identification should serve 4-H youths in the meat judging project, animal science students, hunters and foodies well into the future, Keto adds.

“In short, I continue to be nothing but thankful for our amazing team and their great work,” he says.

Stories, videos, publications and more information about UW Extension, the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources are at https://uwagnews.com.