Consortium News¶
January 25, 2021
The past year has brought tremendous changes to us all. The Consortium experienced the [planned] retirements of both our tireless Executive Director Jim Cropper, and our longtime friend and land-grant partner, Sid Bosworth. We wish them happy, healthy, well-deserved retirements as we carry this work forward.
At the January, 2020 Annual Meeting, Dr. Jessica Williamson agreed to serve as Executive Director. She was joined by Jennifer Colby to serve as PI to continue hosting the Consortium at the University of Vermont, as well as work in partnership carrying forward the business of the organization.
Throughout 2020, the NEPC Executive Committee updated and finalized Organizational Bylaws; initiated internal procedures to orient new members and develop an annual workplan; planned a webinar series to deliver information about regional grazing issues; and tested (and have now implemented) a quarterly newsletter and mailing list management system.
The Winter Learning Series represents so much of what the Consortium was established to do; in planning a stand-alone series, we became aware of the efforts of Granite State Graziers to pull together a regional collaboration. The Consortium’s series folds nicely into the broader effort, helping to connect a wider geographic audience to one another across the whole Northeast.
As 2021 progresses, the NEPC will be sharing more of what we are doing to forward the work of grazing, and we in turn hope that you will reach out to us with your ideas, suggestions and hopes for greater sharing of research and scientific information for pasture and forage managers from West Virginia to Maine.
Thank you, Jenn, Jessica and the NEPC Executive Committee