The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station 2020 Annual Report spotlights the many stories of outreach and resilience during COVID-19. To read more, see the NJAES 2020 Annual Report.
NJAES Vision 2025 is a comprehensive, strategic initiative with a goal for NJAES programs, farms, stations, and centers to become national models that are sustainable, responsive, innovative, and inclusive and can address grand challenges of the state and broader society. Given its presence in every county in the state, NJAES is a critical resource for responding to pressing challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted investments in infrastructure, information technology, and equipment are designed to enable the expansion/development of cutting-edge facilities and programs and generate even greater impacts to the state.
Current areas of priority investment include:
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Morris Gbolo, beginning immigrant farmer from Liberia, with assistance from agricultural agent Rick VanVranken, growing ethnic African vegetables.
Climate Resilience and Adaptation: identify climate risk for communities and resource-based industries and demonstrate/evaluate climate management practices, resiliency preparedness responses, and clean energy technologies.
- Future of Agriculture: catalyze economic development in the agricultural and food sectors through innovation and entrepreneurship, new crop development, and diversity, support business succession and intergenerational transfer of farm assets, and support new farmers through agricultural incubation programs.
- Community Health and Wellness Through Urban Extension: expand Rutgers Cooperative Extension engagement and program delivery in urban and suburban communities that center on access, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
4-H STEM Ambassadors Training
NJAES Vision 2025 will re-imagine experiment station programs and operations of farms, centers, and research stations so that by 2025 they are models for NJAES/RCE program delivery. Given the broad diversity of the experiment station in terms of programs and expertise, we will work to create a common theme—“One team, one dream”—in order to accomplish our goal. Research and Extension will work closely together, along with external and internal stakeholders, in planning and implementation. Strategic investments and expanded engagement will provide a platform for NJAES faculty to be more innovative and more competitive for external funding. The result will be greater capacity and capabilities at the experiment station to address current and future needs of New Jersey and broader society.
