Donna Nuger, Youth Development Educator for Metro programs joined Extension in 2004 and was recognized for excellence by the professional association NAE4-HA twice, with the Achievement in Service award in 2009 and more recently with the Distinguished Service Award in 2019.

Nuger initiated the popular 4-H Teen Science Ambassadors to provide progressive leadership and teaching skills for middle and high school aged youth. Grant funding provides Nuger with resources for teens to travel to teach and attend trainings nationally. Opportunities for an international connection to youth have come through in-person teaching to foreign students through the 4-H IFFY program and virtual connection with University of Puerto Rico.

Her educational background includes a B.S. in Animal Science Companion Animal Biology from University of Illinois and a Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University. Her degrees combined with additional training and education in natural resources and ornamental horticulture have enabled Nuger to develop new programs utilizing nationally acclaimed citizen science programs on birds, climate change, stream quality and insects. Members of 4-H Citizen Science select the topic of interest to them and connect to real world research with Nuger’s assistance.

Utilization of state, local and national grants have provided for school based after-school programs in robotics. Local competition and recognition of the achievements of middle school youth in an annual robotics challenge has led many 4-H Robotics Clubs to compete and rank,at the top level at the Illinois 4-H State Robotics Competition.

Middle school teaching certification in the areas of Science, Math, Social Studies, and Language Arts contribute to the well-rounded offerings and connections to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core for all programs.

Additional STEM opportunities offered through community partnerships, which include, but are not limited to park districts, libraries, after-school resource centers and schools. Please contact Donna to inquire about more specific program offerings and becoming a potential 4-H partner at dnuger@illinois.edu.