Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The initial cohort for the Rural Scholars: Students Encountering Research and Extension through Rural Community Engagement project reached 5 different counties across 3 regions of the state in year one. The team's initial proposal was focused on only 3 counties with the intention to scale to additional parts of the state. The diversity of community connections, student interest and availability of community mentors led to a greater impact of reaching southeast Oklahoma in Sequoyah County, central Oklahoma in Payne County and southwest Oklahoma in Tillman, Jackson and Greer Counties. Based upon the United States Census Bureau, Sequoyah County population in 2023 was 40,291 with 23.3% of the population self-reporting as American Indian and Alaska Native, alone. The 2.6% increase in population when compared to the 6.4% of the population responding as under 5 years old suggests an out-migration, consistent with the declining population reported between the 2010 and 2020 census. Further, according to the Center for Disease Control's United States Diabetes Surveillance System, 11.6% of the population in Sequoyah County was battling diabetes in 2021, a full 3.2% higher than the national average. These statistics led to Rural Scholar, Madeline Drake completing an experiential learning project on reducing out-migration through youth-adult partnerships and Rural Scholar Diana Garcia to complete research into the development of a practical roadmap to improving treatment for diabetes and understanding of the disease in rural communities within Oklahoma. Tillman, Greer and Jackson counties, nestled in the southwest corner of Oklahoma, combine for a population of 37,004 residents across the three counties per the 2023 United States Census Bureau (6,869 Tillman; 5,466 Greer; 24,669 Jackson). Within that population, both Tillman and Jackson county report being over 25% Hispanic or Latino. In 2023, based upon the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service (USDA NASS), Jackson County reported planting 121,000 acres of cotton with only 22,500 being harvested. Similarly, Tillman county reported 66,000 acres being planted with 25,300 being harvested. Cumulatively, these three counties in January of 2024 reported to USDA NASS an inventory of 145,100 beef cattle, nearly three times the human population. Based on these demographics, Rural Scholar Jake Schreiner spent the summer in Tillman County studying the promotion of renewable energy technologies for sustainable agriculture. Rural Scholar Colin Caso was in Jackson County studying the trends in groundwater quality in Oklahoma wells. Rural Scholar Tania Peebles was based in Tillman County studying the shared identity through an understanding of the rural narrative and perceptions of Black producers toward their role in agriculture. Rural Scholar Maya Miller was based in Greer County studying the loss of rural veterinarians. Payne County, Oklahoma reported a population of 83,352 during the 2023 United States Census survey. Less than 20 miles from a major interstate, situated between the two largest metropolitan cities within Oklahoma, and housing the state's 1862 Land-Grant University, Payne County also hosts over 1,100 farms between 10 and 499 acres according to the 2022 USDA NASS Ag Census. Based on a central location within the state, Rural Scholar Cayden Pittman studied agritourism opportunities for Oklahoma producers. Beyond the counties and communities reached by this effort, the rural scholars themselves were an audience based upon the formal classroom training throughout the project, as well as experiential learning while embedded for 11 weeks within the communities. Similar to the expanded impact of counties in year 1, the team was able to expand the diversity of rural scholars as well, by recruiting undergraduates from outside of Oklahoma institutions with the inclusion of two scholars spending a summer in Oklahoma from Tuskegee University in Alabama and one scholar from Kansas State University. Changes/Problems:Reflecting on year 1, the REEU team has seen first-hand the importance of a present and participatory research mentor to ensure student success. Given the time commitments realized last summer, each co-PD has been asked to reevaluate their ability to adequately commit their time to help these students have a positive experience and support students throughout the entirety of the research process. The REEU team also has plans to form a sense of unity within the student cohort before they arrive in Stillwater for training next May. This will entail a few virtual meetings in spring 2025 focused on introductions, interesting topics, preparation, and relationship building. During the spring we will also work with students to ensure their IRB-related trainings are completed and commitment letters are signed prior to training week. The REEU team is committed to ensuring students come into the summer experience with a comprehensive understanding of the details of this internship, their project, and their focus community. Financially, each departmental accounting office has been asked to review the budget and salary allowance for each co-PD. Some faculty were not able to accept summer salary due to be over-prescribed on other grants which were ending, however others may require budget recasting to properly compensate their effort on this project. These modifications in FTE will be reflected in the annual financial report. All financial allocations will be reviewed, discussed by the REEU team and a plan created to fully expend future funds. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Significant, strategic and extremely intentional efforts were focused on training the students who would be embedded in the rural communities. A week-long itinerary was built and curriculum developed for each topic: Sunday, May 12, 2024 Scholars Check In @ Air BnBs at 4pm Monday, May 13 What is Rural Renewal Initiative? Overview of Training Week Professional Standards Community Capitals Overview Botanical Garden Tour Research Mentor Meet and Greet, OSU Rural Scholars, Welcome Event Lunch Research Mentor Introductions Research Mentor One-on-Ones Tuesday, May 14 Science Communications Poster Session Review Campus Tour Professional Headshots Community Mentor Meeting Research Mentor Time Plan of Work Outline Project Specific Training Wednesday, May 15 Langston University (HBCU) Tour What is Extension Research Methods Meet with Research Mentor Research Plan County Research Project Presentation Thursday, May 16 Responsible Conduct of Research Meet with Research Mentor Plan of Work Draft County Presentations Friday, May 17 Oklahoma 101 Big (Small?) Ideas in Rural Renewal, Becky McCray Plan of Work Presentations BBQ and Volleyball Saturday, May 18 - Pawhuska, OK Chamber of Commerce meeting, Mike McCartney Lunch at the Mercantile, walking tour of Pawhuska Sunday, May 19 Free Day Monday, May 20 Make way to new communities! This training protocol provided a structure for research plans to be developed, relationships between faculty mentors and scholars to be built, and it provided the scholars the opportunity to learn expectations of their upcoming experience. Scholar professional development was then continuous throughout the summer with weekly check-ins with mentors which defined new connections, identified research and volunteer efforts and provided an opportunity to discuss next steps, simulating a career experience. At the end of the summer event, scholars congregated in Stillwater to briefly present about their summer experience and debrief as a group. RRI leadership, Oklahoma State University administrators, and research faculty mentors were present at this event. As a final professional development opportunity, scholars will come back to Oklahoma to present the findings and conclusions from their summer research at the annual Rural Renewal Symposium in October 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As proposed, scholars each spent and logged over 80 hours each of community service within their respective communities. The community service occurred concurrently with the research, and therefore did not provide an avenue for dissemination of results, but did increase awareness of the program and the scholar's research efforts throughout the community, building tremendous community capital through trust and service. Example projects are listed below, as logged and reported by the scholars: Volunteered with animals and the food bank Attended chamber meeting and met people in the community Story time in Muldrow and Sallisaw, story walk in Muldrow Helped with harvest breakfast at church. Helped a teacher at Frederick High School Assisted at 4-H Camp Prepared for cattleman's ice cream social Volunteered with the extension office and Altus Public Schools Assisted with a First Responder's Event and Retirement Fair Passed out fliers and attended home vet visits for Pets for Life Helped with library events Cleaned up the community Worked in the county fair barn Assisted with robotics camp In the conclusion event for the summer, rural scholars had the opportunity to share their service projects and research experiences with faculty mentors and Oklahoma State administrators who help the rural scholars program gain visibility at the university level and across Oklahoma communities. At the 5th annual Rural Renewal Symposium, scholars will have the opportunity to share their research results and impacts with community mentors and other community leaders from across the state of Oklahoma. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Overall, the REEU team was pleased with the diversity of institutions scholars were recruited from, gender diversity of scholars, and the overall programmatic impact during year 1. This year required initial programmatic setup such as Institutional Review Board approval, financial account creation, and curriculum development of the scholar training programs. With the programmatic structure needing only minor modifications moving forward, the team will focus more heavily on the recruitment of scholars. Specifically, scholar recruitment will make efforts to recruit a higher percentage of males, especially underrepresented males, by directly reaching out to student organizations and student support offices such as the Oklahoma State Center for Sovereign Nations, Langston University's Cultural Men of Business and Minorities in Agriculture clubs, as well as similar organizations across multiple institutions. Recruitment efforts will also be elevated at 2-year institutions. Specifically, the PI and co-PD's will leverage network partners to request scholar recruitment directly from 2-year institution faculty members. The REEU team will provide 2-year institution faculty with an overview of the program, scholar expectations and request directed recommendations of eligible scholars.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Rural community development and renewal require new and innovative approaches, which depart from traditional methods that have proved inadequate. Sustained, grassroots, and participatory research and extension approaches have demonstrated success in rural renewal. Providing a summer research and extension experience for food and agricultural sciences undergraduates was proposed and implemented. In comparison to our proposed effort, the following was achieved during year 1 of this project: Total Expected Impact During Entire Grant Period - Year 1 - Expected Number Number of male students to be directly supported by this grant for undergraduate education - 2 - 15 Number of underrepresented male students to be supported during the grant period - 0 -6 Number of female students to be directly supported by this grant for undergraduate education - 5 - 22 Number of underrepresented female students to be supported during the grant period - 3 - 9 Number of students supported by this grant who are pursuing: Two-year or other certificates - 1 - 8 Four-year undergraduate degrees - 6 - 29 Number of students who will be supported by this grant on: Domestic experiences with a government or non-governmental organization that is not affiliated with your university - 7 - 37 International experiences including study abroad, educational travel longer than a month, etc. - 0 - 0 Scholars were selected from five different institutions of which one was from Northern Oklahoma College, a Non-Tribal, Native American Serving 2-year institution (NASNTI) and two of the scholars were students from Tuskegee University, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Each scholar completed a one-week training course before moving into the rural communities to complete the 11-week, participatory experience. Scholar information is as follows: Tania Peebles, Junior at Tuskegee University studied how to foster shared identity through the understanding of the rural narrative in Tillman County, Oklahoma. Cayden Pittman, Sophomore at Oklahoma State University studied agritourism opportunities for Oklahoma producers in Payne County, Oklahoma. Colin Caso, Senior at the University of Oklahoma studied the trends of groundwater quality in Oklahoma wells in Jackson County, Oklahoma. Diana Garcia, Junior at Northern Oklahoma College studied a practical roadmap to improving the treatment for diabetes and understanding of the disease in rural communities within Oklahoma in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Jake Schreiner, Sophomore at Oklahoma State University studied the promotion of renewable energy technologies for sustainable agriculture in Tillman County, Oklahoma. Madeline Drake, Senior at Kansas State University studied how to reduce out-migration through youth-adult partnerships in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Maya Miller, Sophomore at Tuskegee University studied the loss of rural veterinarians in Greer County, Oklahoma. With the successful completion of this 11-week summer experience, the REEU completed many of the activities proposed in the logic model such as shared knowledge with and 'give back' to communities, recruited and trained students, developed orientation and training curriculum and fostered continuous engagement of community leaders and industry. From these activities, multiple outputs such as an increase in the number of underrepresented students active in rural renewal, best practices leading to increased research and extension capabilities and multiple outcomes per specific research area were achieved. For year 1, the project leadership was excited to see outcomes such as new research talent from associated fields began working in rural renewal, awareness and enthusiasm for rural renewal was increased and faculty, community mentors and scholars were engaged in more rural renewal research. All of these accomplishments positively impacted the communities actively engaged with the rural scholars with deeper levels of trust and larger networks of communities partners built.

Publications