INNOVATION IN EXTENSION: Tennessee State University

The following describes an innovation.

Region: 1890

Main contact information for this innovation: Dr. Jason de Koff

Main contact job title / position: Assistant Extension Professor

Main contact number: (615)-963-4929

Main contact email address:  jdekoff@tnstate.edu

Innovation name: New and creative project to enhance extension outreach education

Brief description of innovation as provided in online survey: 1. Mobile bio-diesel/bio-fuel demonstration platform:

This is a mobile demonstration platform to show the exact process of making a bio-diesel or any other bio fuel. It has a oil seed crushing unit and the chemical mixing unit to show the complete process. This is mobile unit that we take to different counties to conduct field days and in-service trainings.


The following describes an innovation.

Region: 1890

Main contact information for this innovation: Mr. Stephen Shirley

Main contact job title / position: Extension agent for Technology and Communications

Main contact number: (615)-963-2598

Main contact email address:  sshirley@tnstate.edu

Innovation name: 2. TSU extension Virtual Coffee Shop: Monthly Extension webinar series by Extension faculty and county extension agents.

Brief description of innovation as provided in online survey: Using distance education technology, we created a series of monthly Extension educational webinars for public in all four areas of our educational programs


The following describes an innovation.

Region: 1890

Main contact information for this innovation: Mr. Chris Robbins

Main contact job title / position: Research and Education Center, Farm manager and Extension agent

Main contact number: (615)-792-5744

Main contact email address:  crobbins@tnstate.edu

Innovation name: 3. Annual Tennessee Small Farmer Recognition Program and Small Farmer Recognition Program

Brief description of innovation as provided in online survey: The Tennessee Small farmer Recognition Program and Tennessee Small Farms Expo is organized to attract small farmers to a research/extension field day. We use this opportunity to recognize three to four small farmers each year for their best practices and innovative marketing activities.


The following describes an innovation.

Region: 1890

Main contact information for this innovation: Dr. Dilip Nandwani

Main contact job title / position: Extension Associate Professor

Main contact number: (615)-963-1897

Main contact email address:  dnandwan@tnstate.edu

Innovation name: 4. Extension Third Tuesday Field day

Brief description of innovation as provided in online survey: We established one day a month to invite local farmers, families and individual to come to University farm and learn about agriculture and get the information they need.


The following describes an innovative person.

Region: 1890

Contact information for this innovator: Jason de Koff
Job title / position: Extension Assistant Professor Assistant Program Leader - Cooperative Extension Program Focus Group Leader - Environmental Sciences

Contact number: 615-963-4929

Email address: jdekoff@tnstate.edu

Brief description of innovator as provided in online survey: Soybeans, canola and sunflower seeds have long been used in the production of cooking oils and other products for human consumption. A 60-pound bushel of soybeans, for example, can yield about 11 pounds of crude soybean oil used in cooking, while also producing soymilk that is high in protein and low in fat.

But the oil extracted from the plants can also be used to produce a renewable fuel that does not deplete finite petroleum resources, and that can be used in diesel engines with little or no modification.  Now researchers at Tennessee State University are traveling across the state in an effort to educate farmers on the potential to produce their own biodiesel fuel by demonstrating the process with their new mobile lab.

The eye-catching mobile lab is the showpiece of the University’s pioneering alternative fuels program. Funded with $250,000 from the USDA Capacity Building Grant program, the mobile lab takes biodiesel fuel education right to working farmers, and has all the equipment necessary for producing the alternate fuel.

Local farmers will have the opportunity to see the mobile unit first-hand during the Biodiesel Production Demonstration at Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

“This region has a modest oil seed production rate by area farmers,” said Dr. Jason de Koff, assistant professor of agronomy and soil sciences in the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences.

According to de Koff, a typical farm uses an estimated two to six gallons of diesel fuel per acre every year. Depending on the oilseed crop and yield, a farmer could devote one to 15 percent of farm acreage to producing oilseed crops strictly for biodiesel fuel production.

Some of those advantages, according to studies by the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy, show biodiesel can reduce life-cycle greenhouse gases by 78 percent, the exhaust emissions from biodiesel are essentially eliminated compared with petroleum diesel, and biodiesel produced from agricultural crops can offer a consistent renewable source of energy. Researchers hope to show some of the advantages of bio-diesel fuel production when the mobile lab makes its way across Tennessee.


The following describes an innovative person.

Region: 1890

Contact information for this innovator: Solomon Haile
Job title / position: Associate Professor

Contact number: 615-963-5445

Email address: shaile@tnstate.edu

Brief description of innovator as provided in online survey: Tennessee State Extextention is offering a new innovative way for residents to keep up with important and timely topics in Extension educational program areas by presenting the “TSU Extension Virtual Coffee Shop” monthly public outreach educational webinars. These webinars are offered the second Wednesday of every month and consist of three, fifty minute webinars covering the critical and useful topics in each of the TSU Extension educational program areas.  Archived webinars are available in the online TSU Extension Virtual Coffee Shop.


The following describes an innovative person.

Region: 1890

Contact information for this innovator: Finis Stribling
Job title / position: Area Small Farm Specialist

Contact number: 931-375-5301

Email address: fsribling@tnstate.edu

Brief description of innovator as provided in online survey: The Tennessee New Farmer Academy is a six-month certificate program designed for those with an interest in becoming agricultural entrepreneurs. Ideal candidates for this program include those who are new to agriculture, those who wish to transition into agriculture from another field such as military service or private sector work, or those who are looking for a post-retirement opportunity. The program focuses on teaching the concepts,providing the information, and facilitating the hands on experience needed to build solid, viable, and successful agricultural businesses.

Over multiple sessions, you will learn to identify the appropriate enterprise for you and your farm, how to start your business, and how to navigate the regulatory issues of the agricultural world. A portion of each session will be dedicated to helping you establish and/or maintain productive and efficient operations, covering topics like soil health, livestock production, fruit and vegetable production, beekeeping, irrigation strategies, organic production, greenhouse management, and hydroponics. Additionally, you’ll learn about some of the most

effective marketing strategies like farmers markets and CSAs, and how to apply for grants and other types of assistance available to new farmers.

In addition to classroom instruction, the New Farmer Academy provides hands-on experiential sessions on topics including fruit tree pruning and care, drip irrigation and plasticulture, fencing installation and repair, GPS/GIS mapping, sprayer calibration, and equipment operation/safety.


The following describes an innovative person.

Region: 1890

Contact information for this innovator: Thomas Broyles
Job title / position: Extension Associate Professor and State Program Leader 4-H / Youth Development

Contact number: 615-963-7885

Email address: tbroyle1@tnstate.edu

Brief description of innovator as provided in online survey: Dr. Broyles currently serves as the 4-H Youth Development State Program Leader with Tennessee State University (TSU) College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Sciences.  Dr. Broyles provides statewide leadership working with 4-H county agents and state faculty as a program leader of an 1890 land-grant institution. Under the leadership of Dr. Broyles, TSU Extension produced impacts on the community by:

Identifying the niche for TSU Extension

Hiring more personnel to meet the needs of the clientele

Partnering and building relationships with TSU campus faculty and staff to host more programs in and around campus

Partnering with the University of Tennessee to develop a collaborative model to ensure the youth of Tennessee are successful in their endeavors


The following describes an innovative person.

Region: 1890

Contact information for this innovator: Janice Emerson
Job title / position: Associate/Acting Director Center for Prevention Research

Contact number: 615-963-5409

Email address: jemerson@tnstate.edu

Brief description of innovator as provided in online survey:

Nashville  Children Eating Well (CHEW) for Health is a multi-institutional collaboration among the following academic institutions and community stakeholder organizations: (1) TSU Center for Prevention Research; (2) TSU School of Agriculture Human, and Natural Sciences; (3) Meharry Medical College, Department of Family and Community Medicine; (4) Vanderbilt University, Division of Epidemiology; (5) Metropolitan Public Health Department of Nashville/Davidson County; (6) Community Food Advocates; (7) Progreso Community Center; and (7) a Community Advisory Board.

The purpose of Nashville CHEW for Health is to address childhood obesity prevention through research, extension and education.  All of the project activities focus on the  USDA’s federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) supplemental nutrition program. The target population is low-income WIC participant families with children ages 2-4, with a particular focus on African American and Hispanic families, and the WIC-authorized grocers that serve this population.  The geographic scope of CHEW activities is urban Nashville/Davidson County, with the potential to be extended in the future across Tennessee and in other states.  We use a multi-level approach to prevent childhood obesity through informal family-based consumer education, improving the food environment (in WIC stores), and developing human capital through formal education programs.