eXtension Launch for Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center

Co-Chairs: Rick Koelsch, University of Nebraska; Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska; Joe Harrison, Washington State University; Mark Risse, University of Georgia

Abstract
The LPE Learning Center national facilitation project has two significant accomplishments over the past year. First, the Learning Center has hosted 15 web cast seminars on animal manure management issues for a national audience by end of 2007. Thirty national experts from 12 universities, US EPA, USDA (ARS, CSREES, and NRCS), and USGS have contributed to the web casts. The team has plans for web casts through the end of 2008 addressing emerging issues such as ethanol co-products and their impact on nutrient planning, veterinary medicines and water quality, revised CAFO regulations, and other topics. The proposed session on the LPE Learning Center will provide a brief review of our web cast seminar accomplishments, how individuals can utilize these resources, and share ideas on emerging distance learning technologies that might be integrated into regional or local educational initiatives. (30 minutes)

Second, the Learning Center is an approved eXtension Community of Practice. To develop its content, the project has assembled nine issue teams to which more than 100 land grant university faculty and NRCS staff are contributing or reviewing content. The Learning Centers web site for eXtension is due to go live March 2008. The session will provide a brief tour of this national product and allow participants to test and critique the proposed product. The presentation will also connect participants to the nine issue team leaders for an introduction to the products they have produced and their needs for expertise and additional web pages in the future. The nine leaders will join the group using the same distance learning technology used for web casts and share their respective goals and needs. (60 minutes)

Finally, the LPE Learning Center will host a discussion session with 4 national experts on emerging contaminants (antibiotics and hormones) associated with animal manures. The four will share their perspectives on the potential environmental risks, fate and transport of these contaminants, and management practices that may need to be considered for minimizing risks. (45 minutes). */ /*

-----------------------
The new national Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center hosts monthly live web cast seminars (viewable from your computer) on animal manure management issues. Go to http://lpe.unl.edu to learn more and sign up for a monthly newsletter during your web site visit.
----------------------
Rick Koelsch, University of Nebraska, 213 LW Chase Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0726, 402/472-4051, 402/472-6338 (fax), rkoelsch1@unl.edu