Running cross country and running extension services programs both require energy, stamina and determination, skills Amanda Salinas has demonstrated. She joined Hood County as the new extension agent in September and will be introduced to the Lake Granbury Master Gardeners of Hood County at their meeting on Sept. 18, 2024. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at the Reunion Grounds, 641 Reunion Ct, Granbury.

“I am excited to be in Hood County — I like the smaller feel and sense of this community,” said Ms. Salinas. “I look forward to building on the programming here and working with the 4-H kids.”

Previously, Ms. Salinas was the agent for the 4-H Cooperative Extension Program in Tarrant County, and worked more than two years as the agriculture agent in the Webb County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Office. She attended Texas A&M International University in Laredo, where she ran cross country and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology with a focus on ecology. She expects to complete her master’s degree in biology this December.

She grew up in Laredo, participating in 4-H, raising goats, and helping her family work a cow/calf operation.