Donna Nuger continues her service to University of Illinois Extension in the urban areas of DuPage, Kane, and Kendall Counties. Nuger began her career with University of Illinois Extension in 2004 in Kankakee County and joined the team in DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties in 2012.

Under Nuger’s leadership, teens have increased their leadership ability through 4-H Teen Science Ambassadors. These young people utilize their interest in STEM-related fields and increase their ability to lead others by developing short-term workshops and walk-by activities for younger children. Opportunities for personal growth are available to teens through national and state conferences. Field trips to FermiLab and Argonne National Laboratories benefited the members in their career planning. Members of 4-H Science Ambassadors mentored by Nuger have been recognized locally, statewide, and nationally by 4-H and other organizations.

Nuger has increased the capacity in her three-county area through grants from National 4-H Council, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology, Iowa State University, Altria, and Bayer. Grants were focused in the areas of birds, pollinators, robotics, healthy soils, agricultural technology, and food systems. The grants have been a benefit to youth well beyond the designated grant period and in additional delivery modes.

In recent years, Nuger has used her personal interest in dog training and showing, as she led Illinois 4-H as the superintendent for the state 4-H dog show. During the pandemic, she utilized remote learning to assist youth to train their dogs through a series of training modules titled “Dog Training Nibbles.” The use of those modules has reached beyond Illinois 4-H to other states and people unaffiliated with 4-H.

Nuger received he B.S. in Animal Science from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Arts in Teaching degree from National-Louis University. She has been a very active volunteer with Girls Scouts, Boy Scouts, her local school board, Lyons Township Dog Training Club, People to People Student Ambassador Program, and Garden Clubs of Illinois board. All of which contributed much to her experience and competency as an Extension Educator. Her contributions have been recognized by National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, Achievement ins Service Award and the Distinguished Service Award and Excellence in Urban Programming.