New Prairie View A&M Extension agent hired for Potter County
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, [email protected]
Contact: Jennifer Nickell, 806-373-0713, [email protected]
AMARILLO – Jennifer Nickell has been named the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program agent for family and consumer sciences in Potter County, according to Dr. Angela Burkham, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service regional program coordinator for family and consumer sciences in Amarillo.
Like AgriLife Extension, the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program delivers practical research-based information to small farm producers, families, aspiring entrepreneurs and youth throughout Texas. Prairie View A&M, a part of the Texas A&M University System, is currently working in partnership with AgriLife Extension to provide family and consumer sciences agents in 16 counties across the state.
Nickell will work with AgriLife Extension county agents Lizabeth Gresham, family and consumer sciences; Austin Voyles, agriculture and natural resources; and Tina Hicks, 4-H youth development, at the agency’s office for Potter County at 3301 E. 10th Ave. in Amarillo.
The addition of a Prairie View agent in Potter County enables the agency to better serve families in lower socioeconomic circumstances and “reach more people in need than we ever have before,” Burkham said.
Nickell said continuing to educate the under-resourced is important not just for them, but for the entire community.
“Resources that help them ultimately helps everyone,” she said. “For every SNAP (the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Education Program) dollar used, $1.79 goes back into the local economy. Their purchase of things being grown generates a multiplier effect that circulates back through the economy in the form of more jobs and services.”
Nickell, a Canyon native, is a graduate of West Texas A&M University, earning her bachelor’s degree in sports and exercise science and her master’s degree in communications.
She spent three years working with Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Project Initiative as the regional director in Amarillo, and prior to that worked in various roles in politics. Additionally, she is an adjunct instructor in communications at Amarillo College.
“I’m excited for this opportunity. What I’ve always loved about Extension is no matter how times change or families change, this work stays relevant and needed,” Nickell said. “I have a good base of knowledge for working with those in need and look forward to the challenge of learning the programs associated with this position to serve our clientele in Potter County.”
