reliant on snowpack in this state, climate change definitely should/could be entering their vocabulary in conversations that they're having [with clientele]. ” (R05) Capturing & Measuring Program Impacts C/EW program impacts and outcomes are largely unknown or undocumented, and for Extension as a whole to better understand and communicate the value of these programs, we need a consistent yet flexible and adaptable framework for capturing, measuring, evaluating and documenting impacts. ● “Sometimes I feel like the more embedded you get in Extension, the less innovative you can be, because you're so worried about your evaluation and how many people are coming to meetings .” (R13) ● “Behavior change in this area is harder to measure. But looking at knowledge gain, you know, spreading the information, spreading the awareness of the problem and that there are solutions. You know, there are things that we can do to really cut down on our greenhouse gas emissions.” (R05) ● “In the past we've focused a lot on the outputs and a little bit on the outcomes. And now we're trying to trace the impacts and a lot of this requires follow up over a long period of time because occasionally, through the work it will lead to an output. Okay, that's fine, but the opportunity for the stakeholder to then employ the information or the planning process that we co-developed might not come until a couple of years later when they have funding.” (R06) Investing in Professional Development & Workforce Training Several respondents noted Extension’s opportunity to partner with private industry and energy specialists & practitioners to expand our climate and extreme weather program offerings and services.. There’s an especially rich economic opportunity with technical training and workforce development in this area - this should be explored as an important and fruitful path forward. Furthermore, Extension is currently operating with a very “shallow bench” of experts in climate change, energy, and extreme weather, and respondents would like to see investments in building this internal depth of expertise. ● “One thing we could probably do is train Extension educators in this knowledge to raise their level of awareness, because I'm not sure how many of them are even aware. So you know, in- services, to try to build the number of people and the coverage throughout the state that could address these kinds of issues directly with their communities... and with the agricultural community, with whomever is in their county who is starting to raise their level of awareness. I think that's what I would suggest, that we really build our human infrastructure with Extension. ” (R15) ● “So I think that raising Extension’s position in this as an educational institution... and like I say, increasing climate literacy and getting people to understand that the media has objectives, fossil fuel companies have objectives, you know all those institutions and organizations have objectives, alright, and I have objectives that are 100% educational. That's the way we retain
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