The new Northern Area director for the University of Nevada Reno Cooperative Extension, Holly Gatzke, Ph.D., introduced herself and gave Lander County commissioners and residents an update on the extension office located in Battle Mountain. The UNR Cooperative Extension offers children, youth and families and community development educational programs to its Lander County citizens.
Gatzke started in January and has been making her rounds to every county. Her job is to oversee all the counties other than Clark County, and she is pleased to announce they have 10 applicants already for the extension educator in Lander County, and she stated that is one of her top priorities right now.
Lander County Commissioner Patsy Waits is on the committee reviewing the applications.
Gatzke said, “I’m excited because it looks like we have some good applicants. That is my goal, to get a person who will come out and become part of your community, evaluate what you need and what Cooperative Extension can provide.”
The major areas that are mandated by the state include agriculture; horticulture; community and economic development; family, youth and children; and nutrition.
“Their job will be to come in, work with you guys closely, because we’re in a full partnership with every county, discover what you need and create some great programming based on your needs,” said Gatzke. “If you do have Cooperative Extension issues, please come talk to me. In the next couple months, we’ll have somebody hired, and there will be somebody on the ground in the fall to address your needs, keep 4-H and all of those other programs going strong, and hopefully adding some new programs. Please think about what the needs are in your community, and that person hired should be coming to you and talking to you about those.”
Gatzke can be contacted at gatzkeh@unce.unr.edu, and the website is www.unce.unr.edu
