Virginia Cooperative Extension agents trained in Global Positioning System program to educate local communities

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 20, 2004 – Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), in partnership with the Virginia Geospatial Extension Program, and Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources forestry department, will offer a program to provide Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and GPS supporting software to the 107 local extension offices, the Agriculture Research and Extension Centers, and the 4-H Educational Centers throughout Virginia.

The program is designed to train extension agents in order to educate their local communities. A Virginia Cooperative Extension office is located at:

James City County
James City County Office
3127 Forge Road
P.O. Box 69
Toano, VA 23168
757-566-1367
757-566-8413 (Fax)

The GPS is a constellation of 27 satellites that orbit the earth. A GPS receiver acquires radio signals from these satellites and is able to precisely pinpoint the coordinate address on the surface of the earth. With GPS, a user can assign a coordinate-address to every tree, man-hole cover, and field boundary. Hunters use GPS to identify and later relocate their hunting stands. Fishermen use GPS to identify underwater reefs and favorite fishing holes. GPS receivers also can provide estimates of area and perimeter measurements of fields.

The Extension Agent GPS program will enhance the capabilities of Virginia's extension agents and help them to obtain more accurate information, to support the needs of their local constituents. Through the Extension Agent GPS Program, agents will be better able to provide constituents with information to figure correct land usage for fertilizer and herbicides, tracking livestock, calculate urban tree inventories, and locate point and non-point pollutions. In addition, agents will learn many other geographical application measurements that they can use to help or teach citizens.

"The Extension Agent GPS program will generate indirect benefits throughout Virginia," said Charlie Stallings, Virginia Cooperative Extension Associate Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Assistant Dean of Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "The Extension Agent program is not only intended to support the day-to-day application demands of the agriculture and natural resource extension agents but also, family and community sciences, food, nutrition, and health."

The program provides Extension agents with a Gamin Etrex Legend GPS receiver and trains them to then provide training at their local offices for interested constituents.

Workshops to support the Extension Agent GPS Program for extension agents will be held at the following locations from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.:
May 6 - Rappahannock Community College, (Glenns Campus) Room #131
May 25 - Central Virginia Community College, (Lynchburg) Merritt Hall, Room #5137
May 27 - University of Virginia-Wise (Wise) Darden Hall, Room #B010
June 3 - Tidewater Community College (Virginia Beach) Advanced Technology Center: Room #H-179
June 8 - Danville Regional Center for Applied Technology and Training (Old Sears Building/Galileo Magnet School)
June 10 - Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) CEARS Lab, Cheatham Hall, Room #217A
June 11 - Piedmont Community College (Charlottesville) Main Building, Room #823

Any interested constituents should contact their local extension agents after their area training dates in order to set up a personal training session. For more information visit http://www.cnr.vt.edu/gep/GPS_Workshops/.

The College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top five programs of its kind in the nation. Faculty members stress both the technical and human elements of natural resources and instill in students a sense of stewardship and land-use ethics. Areas of studies include environmental resource management, fisheries and wildlife sciences, forestry, geospatial and environmental analysis, natural resource recreation, urban forestry, wood science and forest products, geography, and international development.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.