Avery joined the Brunswick County NC State Cooperative Extension team as a Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in June 2023. Born and raised in Whiteville, North Carolina, Avery took the opportunity to serve in Brunswick County after working with the extension in the western part of the state in Polk County. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Genetics from NC State and a Master’s degree in Nutrition from Meredith College.

After graduating, Avery served as an adjunct instructor for Meredith College, teaching food safety and nutrition topics as well as working in the food industry in a small beverage production facility in Raleigh. His favorite topics are nutrition, food safety, small food businesses, and home food preservation.

In FCS, we view the family as the cornerstone of a healthy society. Our mission is to improve the well-being of the family through educational programs, influencing public policy, and helping families put research-based knowledge to work in their lives.

Focus areas for the work in Brunswick County include: Each day serving as the FCS Agent in Brunswick County is very different from the next! That’s part of what we love so much about the job and Cooperative Extension! In a week, you might find me teaching about food, nutrition, or cooking at an after-school program, a local church, a food pantry, the Extension offices, a library or community center, and even a school! Our audience ranges widely between youth and adults, urban and rural, beginners and more advanced—and we hope to reach you somewhere in the middle of all of that!

• Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Chronic Disease Prevention
• Local Food Systems
• Food Preservation
• Food Safety

You can find out more about the specific programs being offered by clicking on the tabs listed under “Available Programs” to the left. To sign up for our newsletter and receive information on upcoming classes, please send us an email with your contact information!

As you can probably tell from our website, Extension has lots to offer! Take some time to browse through and learn more about program areas such as Agriculture, Horticulture, 4-H Youth Development, and more!

For more information about the above focus areas, contact:

Avery Ashley, Extension Agent, 910 253 2610, arashley@ncsu.edu