PhD student Claire Schloemer part of team awarded WEDA Excellence in Extension Programming award

A team of researchers from Auburn University and University of Hawaii at Manoa, including Claire Schloemer (PhD student, Groves Lab), were awarded the 2026 Western Extension Directors Association Award for Excellence in Extension Programming-Team for their work on the Organic Sweet Potato IPM and Soil Health Management for Small- and Mid-Size Farms project funded by the Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) program through USDA NIFA.

This award recognizes Cooperative Extension Professionals who excel at Extension programming, make a positive impact on constituents served, and provide visionary leadership for the System. It is designed to focus national attention on the role of Extension – one that is fundamental to the lifelong education and development of residents in communities around the nation.

Their work resulted in 11 peer-reviewed journal publications, 2 M.S. students’ theses, and 10 extension articles, 27 conference papers in the last 5 years from the two institutions. Total of $1.12 million extramural fund was secured (2021-2025) to work on this sweet potato IPM/soil health research and extension. As well as a total of 21 workshops for farmers (17 in HI, 3 in AL) and 3 new farmers training lectures per year have been offered related to this team project, reaching 461 attendees in HI and 193 attendees in AL.

Claire is proud to continue contributing to extension efforts through her work on PVY management in Wisconsin seed potatoes in Dr. Russ Groves’ lab here at UW-Madison.