Rutgers Cooperative Extension personnel and volunteers were honored with Awards for Excellence at the 15th Annual Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) and Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 24. Director of Extension Karyn Malinowski presented the awards.

May 1, 2008

New Brunswick, NJ--Rutgers Cooperative Extension personnel and volunteers were honored with Awards for Excellence at the 15th Annual Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) and Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 24. Director of Extension Karyn Malinowski presented the awards.

The awardees were Jerome Frecon, Macy Compton, Barbara Navatto, Bonnie Wasielewski and Chan Leung, a resident of Ringoes.

Jerome Frecon received the award in the category of Extension Faculty. Frecon is the agricultural and resource management agent in Gloucester County. He delivers outreach educational programs to the agribusiness, field flower, forestry, fruit, landscape and nursery industries and their constituents in Gloucester County. He also delivers similar programs to the fruit industries in Cumberland and Salem County, and the tree fruit industry in Atlantic, Burlington and Camden Counties. His Cooperative Extension research program has resulted in significant impacts on the local and national levels. For example, he reintroduced the Encore peach, which is now the number one peach in the state; evaluated, tested and wrote the patent for John Boy Peach, the second most heavily planted new peach variety in New Jersey; and he was the first to identify Plum pox in New Jersey, which led to the eradication of this disease in North America.

Macy Compton received the award in the category of State Program Coordinator. Compton is coordinator for the New Jersey 4-H Youth Development Program. She provides professional leadership and support to the statewide 4-H youth development program. She plans, implements and evaluates state 4-H events and educational programs in personal development and leadership; coordinates New Jersey participation in selected national and regional 4-H events, serves as liaison to state 4-H advisory groups, and provides training support to youth and adults. For the past five years she has co-advised the State Teen 4-H Advisory Council. She also manages New Jersey's participation in state, regional and national 4-H events, including National 4-H Congress, National 4-H Conference, and Citizenship Washington Focus.

Barbara Navatto received the award in the Program Assistant category. Navatto is a 4-H program coordinator in Somerset County. She coordinates the Somerset County 4-H Fair, which highlights the work that the 1,100 club members have done during the year. As the fair coordinator, Navatto works closely with the 4-H agents, volunteers, staff and others. In addition to managing the fair, Navatto works to recognize and manage volunteers, coordinate or assist with coordination of special events and volunteer recognition celebrations, and encourage Somerset County 4-H alumni to continue to stay involved in the program. She is also responsible for the Somerset County 4-H public speaking program. On the state level, Navatto has been a member of the State 4-H Camp Advisory Board and participated in camp employee search committees.

Bonnie Wasielewski received the award in the Support Staff category. Wasielewski is a web designer in the SEBS and NJAES Office of Communications. She is responsible for the development, maintenance and redesign of Cooperative Extension organizational web sites, and was recognized for her work with Cooperative Extension to enhance their online presence. Wasielewski specializes in new web technology, such as instant messaging, chat rooms, use of video, and Flash animations. More recently, she has been responsible for the integration of the university's new visual identity into Cooperative Extension web pages. She is well versed in over a dozen software programs, six computer languages and a variety of computer operating systems.

Chan Leung received the award in the Volunteer category. Leung began his involvement in 4-H in 2002, as a parent and volunteer leader of the Somerset County 4-H Chinese Culture Club. Soon afterwards, he started the Clover Outreach Club for teens to promote 4-H to Chinese families in the area. On the county level, Leung is an active member of the Somerset County 4-H Association, where he was selected to be their representative on the Somerset County Cooperative Extension Advisory Board. As the Somerset County representative to the New Jersey State 4-H Association, Leung holds the office of Vice President and is on the finance committee. He also represents Cooperative Extension of Somerset County on the NJAES Board of Managers. Leung has provided testimony about 4-H, Cooperative Extension and NJAES at the state legislative budget committee hearings and arranged for 4-H teens to testify on behalf of 4-H. In 2006 he coordinated a 4-H Rally at the statehouse in support of the budget and spearheaded a letter writing campaign to support the NJAES budget. His dedication has also taken him to Washington to educate legislators on the value of this positive youth development program.

Contact: Michele Hujber
Office of Communications
732-932-7000