UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jennifer Fetter, Penn State Extension water resources program leader, has been named director of the Center for Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training. Fetter has served as the center’s interim director since it was launched earlier this year.

As part of an ongoing effort to promote soil and water conservation on farms, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences established the center in partnership with the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Coordinated by Penn State Extension, the center is aimed at helping Pennsylvania farmers, agricultural and forest landowners, and conservation professionals implement best practices, meet appropriate technical qualifications for those practices, leverage funding and partnerships, and ensure the health of land and water in communities.

The center is funded by the State Conservation Commission through its new Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program, which was created through the Clean Streams Fund established in the fiscal 2022-23 state budget. Additional support is provided by USDA-NRCS through its Conservation Technical Assistance Program.

Fetter has more than 17 years of experience as an educator with Penn State Extension, becoming water resources program leader in 2017. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Villanova University, she spent three years as an environmental education specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources before joining Penn State.