Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience included farmers, ranchers, practitioners, and other researchers. About half of the attendees at the OARS were affiliated with an institution of higher education. Farmers comprised 16% of the attendees and the largest group of webinar viewers. Non-profits made up another 16% of attendees and the remainder were agricultural professionals, handlers, and suppliers. Changes/Problems:Several of the webinars were lost due to technical difficulties. Instead of a follow-up evaluation, we handed out and collected a written evaluation at the symposium and also had the eOrganic evaluations for those who viewed the webinars. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Workshops all offered opportunities for training and professional development. Several of the Workshops got positive feedback in this regard, including Soil Health, Long-term and Strategic Research, Innovative Educational Systems, and Organic Livestock Systems. Several of the webinars that are archived on-line offer opportunities for training and professional development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through the symposium, attended by approximately 118 people. The Conference Proceedings are online at http://eorganic.info/node/16778. Videos of many of the webinars are online at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZMuQJAj6rOrvh1wetyccI6fouxuBWki1 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project is complete and the goals were all accomplished. Many of the participants were in favor of having a symposium next year.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The 2016 OARS was held on January 20, 2016 at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove. There were 95 people pre-registered, and with walk-ins, over 100 people attended, with national and international participation. André Leu of IFOAM and Mat Ngouajio of USDA-NIFA gave the keynote presentations. The keynote talks by André Leu of IFOAM and Mathieu Ngouajio of USDA-NIFA were livestreamed, as were selected workshop sessions. There were 27 workshop presentations held in 9 sessions, with another 15 posters presented. A total of 28 evaluations were received. Evaluations were overwhelmingly positive, with 93% of the evaluations rating the symposium 'satisfactory' (45%) or 'very satisfactory' (48%). Several attendees commented how greater financial support was needed for more farmer and student participation. Many participants expressed the need to have another OARS next year. The most repeated suggestion for 2017 was the need for greater opportunities for discussion and networking. Several attendees commented how greater financial support was needed for more farmer and student participation. The webinar viewer evaluations were similarly positive. There were 336 registered and 190 who attended. Evaluations were received from 49 attendees. The largest group of webinar viewers were farmers, comprising 27% of the respondees. This indicates the webinars are an effective tool for reaching the farmers who may have limited ability to travel to a symposium. Agricultural professionals made up the second biggest group at 16%. Researchers, extension, students and non-profit staff made up most of the remainder. Those responding came from all over the US, with a good distribution in the West, Central and Northeastern US, as well as internationally. A three-quarters majority found that their understanding was moderately (48%) or significantly (29%) improved. Most intended to apply the knowledge gained in the coming year. Respondees overwhelming found the information presented was at the appropriate level (83%). Most (74%) would recommend the webinar to others. Since mid-March 2016, there were 1370 views of the OARS 2016 webinars that were uploaded. The most popular one is the biosolarization one with 311 views, followed by Andre Leu's talk with 120 views, and the one on public plant breeding with 102 views. According to the playlist analytics, approximately 56% of views were from the US with 17% from Jordan, 12% from Trinidad and Tobago, 3.1% from the UK, 2.2% from Germany. The OARS 2015 webinars have had over 6,400 views as of March 2, 2016.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Baker, Brian (editor). 2016. Organic Agriculture Research Symposium 2016 Proceedings and Recordings. http://eorganic.info/node/16778
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