ANR CE Specialist in Strategic Communication Systems
Position Title: CE Specialist in Strategic Communication Systems
Position: The Strategic Communications Systems (SCS) Specialist will conduct social science research on developing innovation systems for strategic communication of agricultural and environmental knowledge, including social networks and the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) like social media. Social networks consist of individual people or organizations, linked by relationships of communication or collaboration. The SCS Specialist requires a social science background in decision-making, network analysis, and “big data” analytics. Network science has become an important component of all social science disciplines (political science, communications, economics, sociology, others), along with computer science and physics. Familiarity with theoretical concepts such as knowledge networks, communities of practice, boundary organizations, social learning, and innovation systems is preferred. The SCS Specialist will be housed in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at UC Davis, in order to collaborate with academic researchers who are actively investigating new strategies for agricultural extension and outreach.
The SCS Specialist will accelerate sustainable agro-ecological systems by capitalizing on innovation systems, social networks and ICTs to change peoples’ thinking and behavior. The individual will develop a cutting-edge research program that links theories of networks, systems, and decision-making to the effectiveness of communication strategies. The SCS Specialist will have a statewide mandate to support and educate ANR professionals and stakeholders in building strategic communications programs that incorporate systems and network principles and methods. By combining diverse sources of knowledge and learning, these extension programs go beyond research “done by scientists, repackaged by extension officers, and launched at farmers” (Carr and Wilkinson 2005). The position builds on a groundswell of innovative social networking and social media efforts already underway throughout the UC system (see http://ucanr.edu/Social_Networking/), nationally (http://www.extension.org/), and other Land Grant Universities.
Justification: By facilitating collaboration and knowledge sharing across multiple groups, social networks and ICTs can help meet all of the key challenges identified in the ANR Strategic Vision 2025. Until 2008, ANR had academics that specialized in communications and community education. There is currently no CE specialist who evaluates the effectiveness of communication systems and strategies, and then helps ANR professionals develop practical outreach and extension programs. ANR works with a diverse array of stakeholders so it is critical to have an academic who can help determine communications approaches that are appropriate for target audiences. Units throughout the ANR system, ranging from county advisors to RECs, are interested in using these strategies to integrate knowledge across multiple stakeholders. These networks involve all of the external stakeholders related to agricultural and natural resource systems. Social network and social media tools can be used to directly engage the participation of stakeholders in learning and delivery of information. This approach recognizes that expertise is widely distributed among different organizations and individuals, and tries to assemble these diverse sources of knowledge to bring to bear on core challenges.
Extension: Key extension activities will be to consult with clientele to construct and evaluate outreach programs that catalyze social networks and social learning. The SCS Specialist will train people to apply network-related concepts to the development of outreach programs, effectively use social media, and quantitatively analyze social network data as part of monitoring and evaluation. Activities may include programming and design of Internet-based social media, “smart phone” applications, and other information-technology decision support tools. Given the wide range of activities being initiated by CE Specialists and others, the SCS Specialist will become a key expert for questions about program design.
Research: The SCS Specialist will focus on the following key research questions: 1)What types of outreach programs are effective for building social network capacity and communities of practice where people with common goals and knowledge communicate about strategies; 2) What is the appropriate use of information technology and social media in the context of these outreach programs; 3) What are the social processes driving the evolution of knowledge networks and innovation systems, and how do they contribute to the goals of sustainable natural resource management and agriculture; 4) What are the appropriate research design and quantitative social science methods for evaluating the effectiveness of outreach and education?
Addressing these questions entails both basic and applied science. Hence, the specialist will publish in core disciplinary journals, social network journals, and applied journals on environmental and agricultural policy, including California Agriculture. The specialist will also be expected to translate research findings with policy reports through ANR, online information portals (RICs), and stakeholder workshops. The online information portal will be accompanied by a strong social media identity and creative applications of online learning tools.
ANR Network: The SCS Specialist responds to the groundswell of social networking, information technology, and social media activities that are occurring throughout the system. Many CE Specialists, ANR communication professionals, AES faculty, and I&R faculty are using social media like Twitter and Facebook, and are also developing information-technology decision support tools. These innovators have expressed a keen desire and need for expertise to help them maximize effectiveness.
Network External to ANR: A key assumption of network-based extension is that knowledge about agricultural and environmental systems is widely distributed across many types of stakeholders and not produced exclusively by the university. Such expertise is located in government agencies, producer groups, nongovernmental organizations, consultants, etc. Any of these stakeholders are potential partners in the development of network-based outreach, or might utilize the extension specialist to help them develop their own program. A recent example is Driscolls, which recently hired a former UC Davis doctoral student (Matthew Hoffman) to reinvent its grower education program with these types of network-based strategies.
Support: The Department of Environmental Science and Policy will provide office space and departmental support. DESP also includes researchers actively working on these ideas.
Other support: The SCS Specialist will compete for a variety of government, foundation, and industry grants. Many different grant programs are strengthened by outreach activities that focus on developing stakeholder collaboration networks, and social science research that integrates with biophysical sciences.
Location: The Department of Environmental Science and Policy is an interdisciplinary department that combines natural and social sciences. Professor Mark Lubell has worked extensively on the role of networks in environmental and agricultural decision-making, including “Extension 3.0” as a new approach to outreach. The SCS Specialist will be a member of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior, in order to maximize synergy between basic and applied research, and outreach.
Developed and proposed by: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, Department of Plant Pathology and ANR professionals who are innovating in communication strategies: Ann Filmer, Rose Hayden-Smith, Faith Kearns, Pamela Kan-Rice, Sam Sandoval Solis, and Mark Bolda. Comments were solicited from all strategic initiative and workgroup leaders.