Together, a Greater Impact

In New Hampshire, where hardwood forests tip into farmland and tidewater, UNH Cooperative Extension operates like a circulatory system — quiet, vital, everywhere. Its educators move through county offices and dairy barns, over timber tracts and into school gardens, translating academic research into practical use. The work is granular and local — but tied to the grander idea that shared knowledge strengthens communities.

This is education by proximity and trust, a long conversation between the university, the land, and its people.

And it is why the latest evolution in Extension’s storied history of state outreach and service makes so much sense: This past summer, Cooperative Extension entered a new chapter — one defined by deeper collaboration, broader outreach, and a bold reimagining of what it means to serve the state — when it officially joined the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA). As a result of the merger, COLSA and Extension will work more closely to integrate research, teaching, and outreach; enhance the university’s ability to meet the needs of the Granite State; and expand capacity to deliver practical, relevant results.

“Cooperative Extension has always been about helping people and communities thrive,” says Amy Loader, its associate dean and director. “Joining COLSA brings our work even closer to the heart of UNH’s mission: connecting teaching, research, and outreach in a way that directly benefits the people of New Hampshire. Together, we can make an even greater impact.”

Anton Bekkerman, associate dean of COLSA and director of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, which was founded to advance science-based agricultural and natural resources research across the state, agrees.

“The merger provides an exciting opportunity to strategically reenvision our mission for the 21st century,” he says. “It is critical to enabling all of New Hampshire’s communities to thrive in increasingly complex and interwoven food, environmental, and economic systems.”