September 25, 2018
Kansas Extension Professionals Hosting National Meeting
Submitted by Jennifer Wilson and Stacey Warner, Conference Co-Chairs
"Vast Prairies - Endless Possibilities" will be the theme for the National Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference to be held in Manhattan, October 1 - 4, at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center. More than seventy Kansas Extension professionals will be attending and hosting Extension colleagues from 29 other states.
Epsilon Sigma Phi is an organization dedicated to fostering standards of excellence in the Extension system and to developing the Extension profession and professional. Membership includes those in all subject matter disciplines and those who have local, regional and state-wide responsibilities.
Attendees at the national conference will be able to participate in pre-conference tours - the "We Like Ike" tour to Abilene and the “Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie” tour to Council Grove and Cottonwood Falls.
Conference highlights will include an opening event at the Flint Hills Discovery Center and three keynote speakers - Jim Richardson, National Geographic Photograper; Clifton Taulbert, entrepreneur and author; and JoAnne Owens-Nausler, a motivational speaker and physical activity advocate.
Several Kansas members will be presenting concurrent sessions, posters and lightning sessions.
Steering committee members who have been working for about two years to prepare include: Andrea Burns, John Forshee, Gayle Price, David Dunn, Laurie Chandler, Trudy Rice, Denise Dias, Sandra Wick, Jim Lindquist, Sarah Keatley and conference co-chairs Jennifer Wilson and Stacey Warner. Many other Kansas Extension professionals are serving on committees.
Doug Jardine, Extension Specialist in Plant Pathology, is currently serving as the national organization’s North Central Region Vice President. John Forshee, River Valley District Director, is the Alpha Rho (Kansas) Chapter President, and Erin Yelland, Extension Specialist in Adult Development and Aging, is the chapter’s President-Elect.