Alaska

Springtime in Alaska and it's 20 below! Even though there has been extreme cold weather in the great state of Alaska this January, it has not stopped the AgrAbility team from pressing forward with many outreach events and engagements. For many CES personnel, January-March are very busy seasons with conferences, meetings, and other events, in preparation for the coming summer. About this time of year, Alaska is gaining daylight (they now have up to 8+ hours a day now in the northern latitudes) and longing for the long winter to start to fade.

AgrAbility in Alaska is beginning to gain further name recognition and awareness.
In January the following events had AgrAbility representation:

• Jan 21-23: Alaska Public Health Association Conference-Alaska Health Summit 2020 (Anchorage) - Booth participation. Theme for this year's summit: "Creating Healthy Alaskans: For Science, For Action, For Equity." Engagement with public health professionals from around the state. https://www.alaskapublichealth.org/2020-health-summit-presentations/
• Jan 21-23: Alaska Young Fisherman's Summit (Juneau)-Partner engagement with materials distributed to introduce the project to a different sector of clientele. https://alaskaseagrant.org/event/2020-alaska-young-fishermens-summit/
• Jan 25: WSU-AK AgrAbility Women in Agriculture (co-sponsored event at Anchorage site). Theme of this virtual engagement this year was "Healthy Farms" and was all about mental health and stress management. AgrAbility materials were distributed and awareness of the project given to participants in Anchorage. This event was also broadcast to four other Western states (WA, ID, MT, & HI) and five other sites in Alaska outside of Anchorage (Fairbanks, Home, Palmer, Soldotna & Kodiak). http://womeninag.wsu.edu/
• Jan 30-Feb 1: Alaska Peony Growers Association (APGA) 2020Winter Conference (Fairbanks)-Booth participation. Outreach to one of Alaska's growing agricultural industry group. https://www.alaskapeonyconference.com/

Submitted by DeShana York