OSU Extension and the Ohio AgrAbility Project welcomes Laura Cherry Akgerman as the new Disability Services Coordinator. Laura will serve CFAES faculty and staff, by answering questions and finding solutions for specific disability accommodations for outreach events held around the state. She will also oversee many of the services offered to Ohio AgrAbility clients to maintain their quality of life as they remain engaged in farming.
Laura is a two time graduate of The Ohio State University, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, and a Master of Arts in Education: Rehabilitation Services. She comes to us from Ohio Dominican University where she was the Disability Services Coordinator, and an Academic Advisor for almost eight years. She has also worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for Goodwill Columbus, VocWorks, and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Laura grew up on a small farm in Sunbury, Ohio, and was an active member of the Pegasus 4-H club in Delaware County. She showed horses and sheep at the Delaware County fair, the Hartford Fair, and was lucky enough to take her horse to the Ohio State Fair three times. Her father & brother owned and operated Cherryhill Aquatics, a water lily & aquatics nursery for almost 25 years, and Laura got to work with the water plants every now and then.
Laura’s campus office is in room 263 of the Agricultural Engineering building. She joins Dee Jepsen and the Ohio AgrAbility team, as well as Kathy Lechman and the CFAES diversity teams. She can be reached at 614-247-7681 or akgerman.4@osu.edu.