After the session I sat and thought about my project because I was going to have to pivot due to the research aspect of it. Thinking of topics for a few weeks have given me clarity on where I will be shifting my energy. Looking at the state plan of work, gathering some thoughts on documentation, I believe so far I'm heading in the right direction. I opened up and started working on the PDLC Project Template with my new project idea to help put the ideas on paper, and I feel better about giving myself time to think about it. This helped me to clarify what I want to do, as I can break everything down how it makes sense to me in these early stages. I also redid some of the documents I did at the kick off with my new project in mind. I was worried I was getting behind, because my season is just starting to ramp up and it is certainly going to get in the way! I think it will continue to get in the way, so I need to take advantage of our Zoom sessions and down time.

Most of what I am planning for program delivery hits all the POW needs or can be adjusted to meet those needs. Creating a spreadsheet with checkboxes and an explanation box may be helpful on making sure there is documentation/justification on how specific pow needs are going to be met. The biggest and most difficult next step for me is understanding the exact volunteer need and making sure those bases are covered.

My own project - is less about PoW (and content) and more about staff development. I'm creating resources for staff around AI and Extension Programming work.

It has helped me to begin to set time aside for drafting materials and considering how to get those materials used. Putting words on paper makes it more likely to come to fruition for me. And setting the timer to engage in the action to get words on paper is what makes it happen.

What gets in the way is the steady flow of e-mail that comes in the door. Earlier this month I realized that I was feeling over the top ovewhelmed by "all of the projects". This is not the first time that I've felt that way in my career. It did take me feeling the feels though to right-size how I was spending my time (shutting down incoming e-mail for work blocks, setting the timer for work chunks)....beginning to feel better about my project (and all of the various projects that I'm working on). Amazing how things can begin to spin if we are not intentional.

So far I am feeling more confident in identifying objectives based partly on the State Wide Plan of Work, but mostly on findings from my literature review and interviews with experts and potentially advisory committee members. It seems like from what info I have gathered, some very clear needs have emerged. I have been organizing it all visually using a "white-board" in Canva. And then I summarized it by key themes, which are the objectives. It was good to do this so early in the project because a novel need and new objective emerged because obvious from the lit review and interviews, and I am glad we are early enough that we can include it as a key objective.

I feel like having the objectives clarified now also make me feel more clear about how to find mechanisms and modles to base our methodology on for the program.

I still want to do a focus group or two later in the summer to check my objectives and methods with the target community

Reviewing - and simply being introduced to - the statewide plans of work and associated resources is helping to clarify and shape the project. My project is best aligned with the Health and Wellbeing - Social Determinants of Health plan of work, and seeing those outcomes related to partnership offered a great reminder to be specific about the value of partners throughout - inputs, outputs, and outcomes/objectives.
I've struggled a bit with how to best address and communicate the intended impacts of direct education (i.e. participant behavior change) along with systems change initiatives (i.e. resilient/sustainable partnerships and as appropriate, relevant practice or policy adoption). My experience is primarily in systems change initiatives but both aspects are critical to this project.
The objectives added to my program plan doc will benefit from cleaning up - soon!

I was able to schedule an initial meeting with the person I will be collaborating with to discuss the goals, requirements, and deliverables a successful version of the project could offer. It gave me a better understanding of what resources are available through the University and identified some of the gaps that could potentially be filled at the local level. This helped elevate some (not all ;)) of the skepticism I am having about pursuing the grant proposal and encouraged me to buckle down and move forward with the idea. Reviewing the statewide plans of work was beneficial to help recognize the more feasible outcomes to reach as well as those that are beyond the scope of this project. Moving forward I need to dedicate more structured time to researching similar projects that have been awarded and successfully implemented at other land grant institutions across the county, aiming to emulate the structure of their development in a regional context. This spring already seems busier than last year so the best thing I can do is to block out few reoccurring hours each week to focus on the project. It is still feeling extremely preliminary but is slowly starting to come together.

Honestly, what has helped the most is just doing it and seeing what breaks. Working through a real soil test with Deborah in real time told me more
about what the tool was missing than any amount of planning would have. The September 11 launch date also helps a lot — having a fixed point keeps me
from endlessly tweaking and actually pushes me to prioritize.

What gets in the way? Scope, mostly. I'm an evolutionary biologist trying to build a soil assessment tool, an economics calculator, and a compliance
resource all at once. It's a lot of territory outside my comfort zone, and getting expert input takes time — everyone is busy, including me.

What's helping me clarify direction is actually this process — writing things down, talking to colleagues, and realizing that I don't need to solve
everything before launch. The needs assessment after September 11 will tell me what to focus on next. I'm trying to embrace "good enough to be useful"
rather than waiting for perfect.

Curious how others are managing scope — are you finding it hard to draw a line around what your project is vs. what it could be?

Because I am already in a data space I know a great deal about the needs of my county and the population I serve already. That being said, I want to get different perspectives from Master Gardener Volunteers and our Master Gardener Educator, as well as local CBOs that have gardens that they use for produce distribution. These will be two very different populations, but I think input from both is very much needed. That will help clarify how to proceed.
What gets in the way is time. A lot of these folks are really busy, and it's tough for them to find time to sit down and talk with me. This is what's keeping me "held up" at this point.

I plan to reach out to those folks again and since health fair season has wound down I will also have more time/energy to dedicate to PDLC.

As I have continued developing my “Ag Leases 101” project, the biggest thing helping clarify the direction of the program has been the ongoing conversations I have with farmers, landowners, and other educators. I regularly receive calls with questions like: “What should I be charging for rent?”, “Do you have resources on how to write a lease agreement?”, “What should I do with my land?”, and “How do I market my land to farmers who want to lease it?” Hearing many of the same questions repeatedly has helped confirm that there is a real educational need for this topic.

From these conversations, I have also started developing the idea of creating a regional custom rates survey. Many farmers and landowners are looking for guidance on what others are charging for services such as equipment work, haying, land rental etc. I think this could become a valuable resource that complements the Ag Leases 101 program by helping provide better information for lease discussions and agricultural services.

One thing that I need to be aware of when discussing lease agreements is the legal aspect, since leases are legally binding documents. It is important to stay within Extension’s educational role and avoid giving direct legal advice. I am still working through the best way to navigate that while still providing helpful resources and information.

I have been gathering thoughts for, having conversations, and developing my project long before PDLC, and appreciate PDLC for reinforcing greater depth to the project, helping me to better understand the dynamins. A few folks who are passionate about Physical Education for Older Adults initiated a statewide workgroup for collaboration which has also been tremendous in developing my project and a shared project statewide. I have a logic model developed & I am working on a local plan of work, which our county does not have.

I want to teach folks how to exercise, structure PA, move safely, self-nurture confidence, identify and adopt supports, and find a sense of mattering in community. Organically that develops a big picture change that we all want, well-being.

Yet it must be justified, even though intuitive. being rejected by potential funders & having management who do not see strength in the connection to CCE's mission is discouraging.

I typically use OneNote to sketch out and organize my ideas for various projects. For me, any new program begins with listening to my producers and my regional team's advisory board. Most often, it's the result of repeated statements/questions from producers on a given topic - which I will then bring to my adv board for their input. Two things usually get in the way: not fully knowing whether or not I'm in a bubble (do a lot of people want to learn about this or have the only five people interested already reached out and given me this idea?), and devoting the time required to plan the program in a way that does it justice (did I promote this enough? Or, Why didn't I think of [insert thing I wish I'd included] earlier?). I appreciate how the PDLC program has helped me better realize that a great program requires dedication to carving out time/space/effort to the planning process so details don't get overlooked. I feel like I've traditionally done a good job of this, but applying a framework to my planning process is something I'll be much more intentional about in the future.

I was able to meet with the Master Garden educator today to map out logistics/ideas for my program. Since I already deliver nutrition education in the community and have established partners that are happy to have me back, I know I have an audience to some degree. The main issue I'm grappling with right now is the cadence of education (how many sessions? how far apart? How much nutr ed, how much gardening?) and the curriculum. The MG Educator and I came up with some ideas and she will follow up with resources, but since gardening is not *currently* in my wheelhouse, I tend to have a lot of questions for her! I plan to reach out to my pantry partners who have gardens as well to see if they have ideas and if my concept would be feasible for them.

For my project I am creating new and updating old (CWMI) resources for the new NYCORE website and stakeholder engagement. This is a continuous process, but what has been helpful so far is having events scheduled for a particular date and using that date as the deadline to complete a new/updated factsheet and/or website content so we have the relevant information to share with stakeholders at that event. For example, our program had an exhibitor table at the Highway School conference in June and we used that event as our deadline to update our page on the website focused on managing roadkill because this was a relevant topic for attendees at this conference. This also allows our small team to not get overwhelmed with trying to create new/updated content all at once.

At this point, putting the project into practice means building the potato leafhopper monitoring and communication work that is already happening rather than creating an entirely new program. Each week, I sweep ~32 alfalfa fields & collect PLH data, compare counts with the current economic threshold, and help share the results through the Field Crops Update.

 
Talking through the project with Erik, other Extension staff on weekly statewide field crops meetings, and producers will help clarify which parts of the monitoring updates are most useful and what additional information may support decision-making. I would like to ask producers how they currently use the updates, whether the information encourages them to scout their own fields, and any other context they'd find valuable.

The logic model and statewide outcomes helped me separate the activities from the changes I hope to see. Weekly scouting, newsletters, graphs, and presentations are the activities and outputs. The intended outcomes hopefully are that producers better understand the monitoring information and use the thresholds/ current field conditions when making management decisions.

One challenge is that many factors, including weather, natural enemies, insecticide applications, and cutting schedules, may influence what is observed in a field, but I don't always have complete or consistent information for every location. Time is another limitation because weekly scouting, data entry, and communication already require a significant amount; the analysis gets put on the back burner (especially if there is a noticeable impact of other factors). Plus, producer feedback is difficult to collect, especially during chopping szn.

To keep the project realistic, I plan to focus first on improving consistency (ie. with field names) and usefulness of the monitoring updates. I have a standard format for recording field observations (google form), gather informal feedback during field visits and meetings, or use a short survey/ poll to evaluate whether producers understand and use the information.