Connection, culture and community: Highlights from the 2026 CHE In-Service

More than 80 Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) educators from across New York State gathered on campus April 15-17 for the annual Cornell Human Ecology In-Service.

CCE connects communities with Cornell University research from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the College of Human Ecology (CHE). It facilitates partnerships among faculty and researchers, CCE staff and leadership, community partners, and students that advance the university’s land-grant mission. CHE’s collaborations focus on youth development and family support, community vitality, and nutrition education and food security.

At the in-service, attendees took part in workshops focused on youth development, family and parenting support, early childhood education, nutrition, and community partnership and outreach. CHE faculty researchers shared their recent work on topics like caregiving for aging family members, the nutritional impact of access to community-supported agriculture, and autistic youth’s exposure to nature.

Whether you're working in agriculture, nutrition and health, 4-H Youth Development, or other parts of extension, what do we all have in common? We're working through human beings. We're connecting people.

A man with orange glasses, wearing a blue dress shirt, blue paisley tie, and a blue checkered sportcoat.

Andy Turner

Cornell Cooperative Extension Director

One woman, with blonde hair and a black shirt, holding a bottle, speaks with an unknown person with long curly red hair and a grey shirt.

The In-Service provided opportunites for CCE staff and educators, CHE faculty, and CHE students to connect. (Credit: Galib Braschler/CHE)

Two people stand next to each other holding up a small poster at an event. The person on the left is wearing a yellow vest with yellow pants and a black shirt, the person on the right is wearing a blue button down shirt with grey and white striped pants.

Various research work done in conjunction with CCE was on display during a poster session at the In-Service. (Credit: Galib Braschler/CHE)

A person wearing a blue shirt and beige pants, with glasses, gives a presentation with an audience in front of him

Attendees learned about Cornell's Future of the American University initiative from co-chair Ariel Avgar, Ph.D. '08. (Credit: R.J. Anderson/CCE)

Two people, both wearing blue shirts and blue pants, hug next to a table of three people who are sitting at an event.

The Human Ecology In-Service was also an opportunity for colleagues to see each other face-to-face. (Credit: R.J. Anderson/CCE)

A woman wearing a blue and white blouse stands in front of her poster smiling at another person who is asking a quesiton.

A poster session where researchers could share their work that involved 4-H was part of the In-Service event. (Credit: Galib Braschler/CHE)

Several themes emerged that county educators can carry back to their communities:

Relationships are key to effective programming. While the content of programs is important, educators need to encourage trust and genuine connection to make a lasting impact and inspire continued participation.
Cultivate community partnerships to meet people where they are. Extension work can and should extend beyond CCE offices, by taking programming to schools, libraries, military bases, community centers — wherever the community gathers.
Culture matters. Creating a culture grounded in care and compassion at the county office level is both a foundation and an incentive for CCE staff to further the university’s land-grant mission across the state.
Research should translate directly into community benefit. Extension work connects research discovery to community need, which is the heart of the land-grant mission.

The in-service took place as Cornell is exploring how it can evolve to best serve future generations while pursuing its core missions. Ariel Avgar, chair of the subcommittee focuses on the mission of public impact and community engagement, spoke at the event. He shared the work so far, with a focus on how CCE is advancing that mission.

Participants then met in small groups to discuss what Cornell’s evolution might mean for the Extension system's future. They revisited familiar challenges, including adequate staffing, funding, and participant engagement, while also surfacing new priorities such as the impact of artificial intelligence; longer-term, credit-bearing internships for undergraduates; and more equitable partnerships with campus researchers.

A woman in a red and black shirt, holding a microphone, gives remarks.

Rachel Dunifon, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology, gives opening remarks on the final day of the In-Service (Credit: R.J. Anderson/CCE)

A man, holding a microphone, gives remarks in front of an audience in a classroom, while looking at a screen.

Andy Turner, CCE director, gives closing remarks during the final day of the In-Service. (Credit: R.J. Anderson/CCE)

A man in pattenred shirt, holding a microphone and standing in front of a screen, gives a talk.

Roger Figueroa, assistant professor of social and behavioral science in nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, presented his research on the second day of the In-Service. (Credit: Galib Braschler)

A person with dark hair, dyed blue at the end, gives remarks to a crowd in a classroom.

Autumn Lavine, NYS Fair & 4-H International Exchange coordinator for New York State 4-H, talks to the crowd during the final day of the In-Service. (Credit: R.J. Anderson)

A woman makes a presentation at a dias, in front of a screen that is showing a smiling woman in one of her slides.

Jenna Wells, assistant professor of psychology, presented her research on the second day of the In-Service. (Credit: Galib Braschler/CHE)

Andy Turner, CCE director, concluded the in-service by highlighting Cornell’s deep roots in outreach, community education, and youth development, which predate the formal establishment of the Cooperative Extension System.

“At its core, Extension is reciprocity, a two-way relationship between campus and communities,” he said. “The heart, center, and core of what we do will continue to be the work you’re doing.”