Dr. Janet Usinger-Lesquereux
University of Nevada
Biography:
Janet Usinger-Lesquereux has been with Nevada Cooperative Extension since 1982, beginning her tenure as a community-based food and nutrition specialist. She focused her educational efforts on the development of healthy food habits by children, with particular attention to adolescent food habits as related to body image. Since 1989, she has been the Assistant Director for Nevada's four major program areas: Children, Youth and Families; Water Quality and Quantity; Nutrition, Diet and Health; and Agriculture Profitability and Sustainability. This role allows her a broad view of Extension's total programming. One of her primary goals has been to deepen existing programs by encouraging comprehensive and interdisciplinary approaches to education with a particular emphasis on involving the earner in the decision-making process. Another goal has been to ensure program relevance to contemporary societal problems, ranging from youth living in multiple risk environments to conflict resolution in the use of our public lands.
In 1993, she served as Interim Deputy Administrator, Home Economics and Human Nutrition at CSREES-USDA. In addition to her focus on strengthening relationships with other USDA agencies, particularly the Food and Consumer Services, she worked with the Deputy Administrators in 4-H/Youth development and Communications, Information and Technology on the initial development of the Children, Youth and Families Networks.
From 1990-1992, Janet participated in the first class of the W.K. Kellogg funded National Extension Leadership Development Program (NELD). The focus of her independent study was the impact of economic globalization within the context of political nation states. Of particular interest was the integration of the economies of the United States and Mexico, including the North American Free Trade Agreement as understood from the Mexican perspective. This effort was a continuation of her previous experiences studying and living in Mexico, Colombia, France, and Switzerland.
Janet's educational background is a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Walden University and both undergraduate and masters degrees in Nutrition from the University of Nevada, Reno.