We are grateful for the passionate alumni, friends, volunteers, stakeholders, industry partners and community members who made these new UF/IFAS facilities a reality in 2021:
In April, Florida 4-H Camp Cherry Lake celebrated its renovated pavilion, which was named in memory of Henry and Nell Davis thanks to a generous gift from Morris and Judy Steen. Then, in November, the UF/IFAS North Florida Research & Education Center – Suwannee Valley (NFREC-SV) opened a new 4,200-square-foot pavilion during the annual Florida Farm Bureau Suwannee CARES event. Made possible by the generous support of Suwannee Valley community members and friends, this flexible indoor/outdoor space is the perfect venue for demonstrating research-based best practices to farmers and engaging local youth.
The UF/IFAS Extension Alachua County and Ag. Auditorium building ribbon cutting took place November 30. With support from the Alachua County Commission, the City of Newberry, and a grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture, the new facility houses six Extension Faculty Agents and four staff, with an auditorium seating 300.
The UF/IFAS Department of Animal Sciences held two ceremonies on December 11. With gratitude to Kim and Danny Sams and honoring Avery and Bernie LeFils, the new Sams-LeFils Round Pens at the Horse Teaching Unit (HTU) is providing much-needed cover for equine students “in all kinds of weather.” In addition, the Sam Tripson Memorial Porch at the Beef Teaching Unit (BTU) was dedicated in memory of Sam R. Tripson, who was a Florida cattleman, AGR brother and CALS alumnus, thanks to a gift from Trey and Chelsea Warnock establishing an endowment to support the BTU.
In the future, we look forward to building a new graduate student dormitory at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research & Education Center; a new lab classroom for Microbiology & Cell Science students; a new Agricultural & Biological Engineering Teaching Building; renovating CALS classrooms; renovating the cabins at our Florida 4-H camps; and creating a sawmill education exhibit at the Austin Cary Forest. For more information about how you can support these and other UF/IFAS facilities projects, please email us at advancement@ifas.ufl.edu.