Extension Outreach and Engagement Platform

Engaging with stakeholders to translate plant science into solutions for applied field issues.

Collaboration from Field to Lab

Alongside NC State Extension, the Extension Outreach and Engagement
platform is focused on connecting the science conducted in N.C. PSI to address on-farm challenges. The platform supports effective, bilateral communication between applied expertise in the field and research-based information generated by N.C. PSI. North Carolina’s vast Extension network is crucial to the success of N.C. PSI, both in identifying emerging issues and transferring groundbreaking research, tools and technology back into the hands of North Carolinians.

Labs Rats to Field Mice: N.C. PSI’s Inaugural Backroad Tour

22 N.C. PSI faculty were brought out to the fields of North Carolina to meet with growers from Vick Family Farms, processors from Nash Produce and commodity board leaders representing cotton, peanuts, soybeans and sweetpotatoes. The faculty represented nine departments across three colleges at NC State.

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Extension Agent Network

NC State Extension agent were selected to beta-test N.C. PSI-developed technologies in the field to accelerate seamless adoption on farms.

Learn about this novel program

N.C. PSI Extension Faculty

We have a diverse group of N.C. PSI-affiliated faculty with Extension positions who hail from multiple colleges, departments and specialties.

Meet the specialists

Off-Campus Research

We put research to work on farm fields and research stations to refine solutions to real-world challenges.

Explore our statewide research stations

Join N.C. PSI Platform Director Rachel Vann as she interviews Dr. Lina Quesada and Dr. Lirong Xiang to learn more about their project that uses robots to help detect cucurbit downy mildew in the field. Dr. Quesada is a N.C. PSI-affiliated faculty member from the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, and Dr. Xiang is a N.C. PSI-affiliated faculty member from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at NC State.

N.C. PSI in the Field

The Extension Outreach & Engagement Platform seeks to engage with stakeholders in a variety of meaningful ways.

N.C. PSI faculty from various departments and colleges representing N.C. PSI at the Sweetpotato Field Day

Rachel Vann and Celeste Brogdon attending the N.C. PSI Field Day

Undergraduate student Duncan McSorley presenting his work on the Plant Aid Project at the Tomato Field Day at the Mountain Research Station

Rachel Vann meeting with Extension Specialists in the midwest

Rachel Vann and Alex Goodnight representing N.C. PSI at the NC AgExpo Field Day

N.C. PSI welcomes the Franklin County Extension team to the NC State Plant Sciences Building

Attend an NC State Field Day

Rachel Vann

Extension Outreach and Engagement Platform Director

Vann is an associate professor and soybean Extension specialist at NC State. As Platform Director, she seeks to strengthen communication with internal and external stakeholders, creating open dialogue and feedback opportunities to bridge the gap between research and field applications.

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Rachel Vann, Extension Outreach and Engagement Platform Director, shares her vision for N.C. PSI.

The mission of NC State Extension is getting a huge boost from N.C. PSI.

Discover How

Man seated on the ground in an agricultural field.

The Heart of the N.C. PSI: Morgan Menaker

For Morgan Menaker, being a North Carolina Cooperative Extension field crops agent in Union County means being a linchpin in ensuring that the nation’s research-and-extension system continues to deliver agricultural…

N.C. PSI Seeds Project to Improve Apple Production

An interdisciplinary North Carolina State University team has kicked off new research exploring whether imaging technologies paired with artificial intelligence might prove useful for apple farmers. Seed funding for the…

What’s Ahead for the N.C. PSI in 2025

As the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative enters its fourth year in the Plant Sciences Building, Executive Director Adrian Percy sees it growing beyond its startup phase into a stage…