The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
ANNUAL REPORTING FORM
 
Timothy Prather, Extension Specialist I
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
Annual Performance Period: January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007


A. SUMMARY AND IMPACTS.

1. Summary. Provide an overall summary (500 words or less) of your accomplishments during the reporting period.

Emergency Management Planning for Extension: I was appointed chair of a committee to develop a totally new Extension Emergency Management Plan. This group collaborated mostly by e-mail and telephone to discuss aspects of the plan. Other collaborations included the UTIA Safety Office and Brian Browning (UTK campus emergency management coordinator) to determine how to best coordinate the Extension Plan with the UTK and UTIA Plans. The Extension Plan will also be reviewed by Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) to assure that the Plan adequately addresses Extension’s roles under Emergency Support Function 11 (Food) and 16 (Animal Care and Housing).

Farm Safety Education: Farm safety programs include group meetings, youth farm safety day camps, news releases, newsletter articles, and the farm safety website. Major efforts of the farm safety program were related to supporting Extension agents and others involved in promoting tractor and machinery safety, including tractor overturn prevention, use of roll over protection structures (ROPS), and safe operation of farm machinery on public roads. Other major topics included safe use of outdoor power equipment (chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc.), personal protective equipment and fire safety. I continued representing UT Extension on the Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner’s Core Injury Prevention Project committee.

Disaster Education: Activities include a review of the EDEN website in preparation for a major overhaul and collaboration with Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency on issues related to agricultural emergency responses in Tennessee. Member of the EDEN Southern Region Animal Biosecurity Workshop planning committee. Assisted Hamilton County Extension Agent Ray Burden in developing his poster presentation for the 2007 EDEN Annual Meeting.

Tennessee AgrAbility Project: My role as the Tennessee AgrAbility Project principle investigator includes coordinating the project activities with the four partners subcontracted to the project and providing training and technical assistance with clients’ specific needs. The primary goal of the AgrAbility Project is to provide direct, on-farm services to assist farmers in identifying, developing and implementing methods for coping with disabilities. Project staff review accessibility and safety, and suggest ways to enhance productivity and prevent secondary injuries. The AgrAbility Project also assists farm families in securing funding and other aid to obtain needed assistive technologies and modifications. Project staff also trains to professionals regarding AgrAbility to increase their understanding of methods used to increase accessibility of homes, offices, businesses and farm buildings and equipment. Major AgrAbility Project activities during 2007 included planning AgrAbility Project and Farm Safety exhibits for various field days and meetings, including the Sunbelt Expo, and development of the Year 3 Continuing Increment Award proposal.

GIS and GPS: I assisted Dr. Mike Buschermohle with GIS in-service training workshops for Extension agents and assisted several students and faculty members with GIS data and training, and provided additional support for faculty and staff. In partnership with Dr. Joanne Logan, we host a quarterly UT Agricultural GIS Users Group meeting to discuss current GIS activities and needs. I also participate and represent UT Extension in the quarterly Tennessee Federal GIS Users Group meetings and the UT GIS Users Group meetings. The most recent development is assuming the role of technical advisor for county 4-H GIS projects and assistance in applying for and conducting ESRI 4-H GIS Grants.

2. Impacts. List up to three significant impacts of your program. Impact statements should be one to three sentences and should be written in a way that would be meaningful to the public.

Farm Safety: More than 2,000 persons received information and training by participating in various Farm Safety programs, plus thousands more received information through displays and mass media. In addition, the Farm Safety website page requests were logged during the year. Collaborative youth farm safety education through the Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camps has been popular in recent years. These programs target youth primarily in the 8 – 13 year old range. Five camps were held in Tennessee during 2007, reaching approximately 600 youth, plus their parents or guardians. Topics include basic tractor safety, fire safety, safety with outdoor power equipment, safety around large animals, and hearing and eye protection. Impact of the Farm Safety program is difficult to due to the unavailability of reliable statistics on farm workers health and safety. However, based on National Safety Council cost estimates for work-related injuries and deaths, savings resulting from prevented each work-related death and injury are approximately 980,000 and 28,000 dollars each, respectively.

Disaster Education: A draft version of the completely new Tennessee Extension Emergency Management Plan has been developed for review by Extension Program Leaders. The Plan is being developed to address both natural and man-made disaster situations ranging from internal emergencies to declared emergencies that require Extension's response under the Tennessee Emergency Response Plan Emergency Support Functions 11 (Food) and 16 (Animal Care and Housing).

AgrAbility Project: The Tennessee AgrAbility Project assisted 30 farmers and completed 17 on-site assessments during Year 2, and assisted 13 individuals with in selecting appropriate assistive technologies for homes and workplaces. Project staff and collaborators developed plans for modifications and adaptive controls that are awaiting funding approval for installation on several agricultural machines. TNAP collaborates with Extension and other organizations to promote diabetes education. TNAP educated more than 5000 farm family members and others about impacts of disabilities and secondary injuries during on-site assessments and 43 presentations and exhibits at agricultural field days and conferences, and vocational agriculture and 4-H curricula. Most new AgrAbility customers are identified as a result of these exhibits and workshops, and many additional non-farming individuals are referred to other agencies or organizations for assistance.



B. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (EXTENSION, RESEARCH AND TEACHING). As applicable, list title, names of participants (PIs, Leaders, Co-PIs, Co-leaders, Collaborators etc.), project number, sponsor, your role ( leader/co-leader/collaborator) and your percent effort on the project as stated in the project description or document.

Tennessee AgrAbility Project. T.G. Prather, principle investigator; Easter Seals in Tennessee (contractor). Project No. 2005-41590-01366. USDA CSREES. Principle investigator of the project and liaison with Tennessee State University, Easter Seals, East Tennessee Technology Access Center, and Special Technology Access Resource Center staff. Time commitment is 0.23 FTE.

C. INSTRUCTION, TEACHING AND EXTENSION EDUCATION. Detail credit and non-credit instruction and teaching activities.

1. College credit instruction. List courses in which you were an instructor or guest lecturer during the current calendar year. Include special topics, independent study and internship courses. Provide course number and title, your involvement, semester(s), credit hours and number of students. Please append a summary of teaching evaluations (student and/or peer) if this information is available.

Course number and title Involvement Semester Credit
hours
Number of
students
         

2. Formal continuing education (certification programs, seminar series, in-service training, field days, faculty and/or staff training, journal club, etc.). Provide descriptive title of activity, your involvement, number of participants or students involved, number and duration of each session.

Descrip. title, including dates Involvement Number of students
or participants
Number of
sessions
Duration of each
session (hours)
Precision Ag. In-Service TrainingTeam616
Precision Ag. In-Service TrainingTeam1816
Precision Ag. In-Service TrainingTeam1216
Precision Ag. In-Service TrainingTeam916
Tennessee Occupational Therapists AssociationCoordinator4514
Tennessee Physical Therapist AssociationCoordinator818

3. Extension presentations and workshops. Indicate title, type, and scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
AgrAbility Project Overview. 4/13/2007. Presented at Tennessee Physical Therapists Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN.State1
Tractor Safety. 5/1/2007. Presented at Maury County Country Classroom, Spring Hill, TNCounty101200 
Tractor Safety. 5/3/2007. Presented at Monroe County Farm-City Day, Madisonville, TNCounty10500 
Safety and Liability Concerns for AgriTourism Operations. Presented at Tennessee AgriTourism Conference, Pigeon Forge, TN. Jan 23, 2007.State140 

4. Public addresses to lay audiences (TV/radio presentations, service groups, etc.). Indicate title, type, scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
       

5. Presentations at professional meetings, without published abstracts. List presenter, co-authors (if any), title, date and name of meeting (list scientific oral or poster presentations having published abstracts or proceedings at D5).

Prather, TG and Welton, D. Safety and Standards Considerations When Modifying Machinery Controls. October 30, 2007. 2007 AgrAbility Project National Training Workshop, Doubletree Hotel Sacramento, Sacramento, California

Tennessee Physical Therapists Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN. April 13, 2007. AgrAbility Project hosted a full-day continuing education session.

Tennessee Occupational Therapists Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN. October 13, 2007. AgrAbility Project hosted a half-day continuing education session.


6. Student mentoring. Fill in the boxes to indicate number of students in each category.

Level of students No. of students advised No. of active graduate committees on which you served as:
Major professor Committee member
Undergraduate      
Masters      
Doctoral      

7. Student or commodity club activities (e.g. club advisor, team competitions, honor or professional societies, etc.). List the club or group; your role with the club or group; and the activities, honors or awards received by this group under your mentorship.

8. Other instructional and teaching activities.

UT Martin AGET710 - Safety and Ergonomic Sciences in Agriculture. Summer 2007. Online graduate course for UT Martin Master of Science in Agricultural Operations Management (MSAOM) program. 3 graduate credit hours.


D. PUBLICATIONS. List only publications that were published during the annual reporting period (for #8, submitted during reporting period). Format citations as typical and appropriate for outlet. If a co-author(s) is a student or was working under your direct supervision, place an asterisk after that person's name.

1. Refereed articles or refereed reviews appearing in peer-reviewed professional journals.

2. Book chapters or books.

3. Bulletins, reports, circulars, pamphlets, factsheets.

4. Popular press, trade, UTIA magazine or newsletter articles.

5. Abstracts from scientific or discipline meetings, papers from conference proceedings, etc.

6. Theses/Dissertations completed by students that you directed.

7. Other publications.

8. Articles submitted during the reporting period that are in review, in press or rejected. Please do not list articles in preparation.


E. FUNDING. Format each entry as a citation, include as applicable: investigators (with percent effort shown on grant or contract document), title, source/agency.

1. Grant and contract proposals submitted but not awarded during this reporting period. Indicate date of submission and status (still pending, rejected).

2. Grants and contracts awarded during this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

3. Grants and contracts awarded in past years that continued into this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

4. Gifts. List recipients, donor, items or amount donated and dollar equivalent received during the reporting period.

5. Grant reports submitted. List authors, title, to whom submitted, date submitted.

Prather, TG. USDA CSREES. AgrAbility Project Year 2 mid-year progress report. Submitted to CSREES in December, 2006 as a section of the Year 3 Continuation request package.

Prather, TG. USDA CSREES. AgrAbility Project Year 2 progress report. Submitted to CSREES in June, 2007 as a CRIS Report.


6. Other (e.g. sales, royalties).


F. OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

1. Tech. advances (intell. prop., patent, copyright, products, processes, genetic lines/varieties).

2. Computer software (e.g. instructional or research software, CD ROMs).

Prather, T. G.  2007.  Rehabilitating Tennessee’s Farmer - Therapy in Agriculture. 

3. Educational tools.

4. Internet activities.

Prather, T. G.  2007.  UT Extension Agricultural Safety website. 

Prather, T. G.  2007.  Tennessee AgrAbility Project website. 

Prather, T. G.  2007.  Tennessee EDEN website. 

5. Other creative products and activities.


G. SERVICE. List client outreach activities (both public and private sectors) and professional service.
    
1. Client service.
 a. Commodity or discipline group service activities. List committees, offices held or other roles.

b. Clinical and diagnostic services. List type of service provided and client(s).

c. Service to individual producers, businesses, or corporations as a specialist, consultant or expert advisor (whether paid or unpaid). List your one-on-one service activities with this group of clients.

AgrAbility Project technical assistance is provided to farmers and family members with disabilities in the form of telephone calls and on-site assessments of the farm workplaces, machinery and home environment. The purpose is to determine impacts of the disability and develop plans to improve mobility, independence and productivity. My involvement is in the areas of personal safety and needs related to agricultural machinery, and I assist the other AgrAbility Project partners in making recommendations to minimize risk of additional injuries and I assist in developing plans for needed machinery modifications. Examples include redesigned steps to access the tractor cab and modification to machinery controls.

d. Other (e.g. Ag Day activities, Varsity Visit, judging, presentations at clubs and K-12 schools).

Vocational Agriculture CDE (Skills Day): Masonry contest coordinator.

Ag Day: Coordinate farm machinery exhibits by Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Association

2. Professional service (for professional colleagues).
a. Within the university.
I. Committee work. Briefly describe your involvement during the reporting period.
i. University.

ii. UTIA.

UTIA Safety Committee - member.

UT Extension Emergency Management Plan Committee - Chair of the committee that is charged with the development of a new UT Extension Emergency Management Plan that will be an annex to the UT Institute of Agriculture Emergency Management Plan, which in turn is an annex to the UT Knoxville Emergency Management Plan.

UT Little River Dairy - Assisting in GIS aspects of environmental monitoring projects and production of maps for presentations, reports, etc.

Represented UT Extension in the UTK Pandemic Tabletop Exercise that tested readiness of the University to deal with a pandemic influenza outbreak and closure of the University.


iii. Department.

Campus Chest Campaign

Human and Animal Subjects in Research Committee

II. Other (e.g. technical assistance to colleagues, peer reviews,
mentoring of junior faculty, hosting visiting scientists).


Assisted Hamilton County Extension Agent Ray Burden in developing his poster presentation for the 2007 EDEN Annual Meeting.

Assisted various UTIA faculty, staff and students with one-on-one ESRI GIS software training, obtaining data, GIS use, etc.


b. Outside the university (e.g. committee work/offices in professional or public organizations or societies, editorship, editorial boards, review of manuscripts (indicate outlet) and project proposals (indicate agency), meetings organized, member of grant review panel or study section, moderator, etc.).

Adjunct Faculty - Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, UT Martin

Tennessee Section ASABE - Chairman

EDEN Point of Contact (POC) for Tennessee

EDEN 2007 Annual Meeting Planning Committee - committee member

EDEN Southern Region Animal Biosecurity Workshop (Jan 2008) planning committee - committee member.

AgrAbility Project 2007 National Training Workshop Planning Committee - committee member

Commissioner’s Core Injury Prevention Project committee - Tennessee Department of Health - UT Extension representative

Tennessee Federal GIS Users Group quarterly meetings.

Foothills Antique Tractor and Engine Club – Newsletter editor and author of monthly safety and technical articles.

Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Association – Host club meetings at UT Ag Campus and assist with organizing and hosting exhibits for UTIA Open House and Ag Day.



H. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (meetings, workshops, classes, trips, etc.). List the event or activity, sponsor, duration of event and your role.

AgrAbility Project National Training Workshop, Sacramento, CA. Oct 29 - Nov 1, 2007.

EDEN Annual Meeting, Hilo, HI. Nov 6-9, 2007.

TNGIC Annual Meeting, Chattanooga, TN. Apr 17-18, 2007.

ESRI Educational GIS Users Conference, San Diego, CA. June 16-19, 2007.

ESRI International GIS Users Conference, San Diego, CA. June 18-22, 2007.

FEMA HazUS Conference, San Diego, CA. June 19-20, 2007.



I. PERSONNEL SUPERVISION. List the postdoctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, technicians, extension associates, extension assistants, graduate assistants, undergraduate students, clerical personnel or others that you supervised during the year.

ClassificationFTE's per semester
SpringSummerFall
Postdoctoral fellows      
Research associates, assistants, technicians      
Extension associates, assistants      
Graduate students, assistants      
Undergraduate students      
Clerical personnel      
Other      


J. HONORS AND AWARDS. List honors and awards received during reporting period, including the name of the organization presenting the award.