Dan Cotton, eXtension director, who has been instrumental in the creation and development of extension, received a champion award at the organization’s first national conference.

The eXtension program (www.extension.org) is an online source of objective, research-based and credible information from land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System.

Cotton, based at UNL, became eXtension’s first director in 2004. He has built a dedicated virtual staff, engaged thousands of Cooperative Extension workers and has presented eXtension to local Rotary Clubs to the high echelons of university presidents and the U.S. Congress.

Also announced was eXtension’s first national awards recognizing outstanding partners, as well as individual and team achievement. HorseQuest was recognized for innovation and leadership in its respective area of expertise.

The equine group helped develop some of the initial eXtension processes and mentored other university experts in ways to reach the general public.

The leadership group includes Kathy Anderson, UNL equine professor and UNL Extension horse specialist.