Congratulations to Sreedhar Upendram for winning the 2022 Tennessee Association of Agricultural Agents and Specialists award!

Since joining the department in 2017, his community development program has quickly gained momentum. In 2021, he received the Bonnie Teater Community Development Early Career Achievement Award from the Southern Rural Development Center for significantly advancing community development in Tennessee. His use of applied research combined with UT Extension outreach equipped him to identify and strategically assist the state’s most distressed rural communities. Assessing the most urgent community needs, he turned his focus to rural water infrastructure, broadband access, and digital literacy. His programs effectively target communities in Tennessee that need help the most.