UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education

What UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education does

The UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education (PIE Center) is a university research and extension unit within the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), headquartered in Gainesville, Florida. Established in 2010 and built on Dr. Tracy Irani's research in public understanding of science and crisis communication, the center is the only dedicated public issues education center within the UF/IFAS system. It focuses on the intersection of agriculture, natural resources, and public understanding, conducting public opinion surveys, program evaluations, communication strategy development, community resilience research, and message framing analysis using established behavioral models. The organization employs approximately 13 faculty, staff, and graduate students.

The PIE Center's core offerings include research services (public opinion surveys, program evaluation, community needs assessments), strategic planning services (workshops, communications audits, membership surveys), and educational programs (PIE Academy, Science Communication Curriculum). Supporting resources include issue guides, toolkits, recorded webinars, the Science by the Slice podcast, and The Slice quarterly newsletter. The center has developed proprietary research instruments, notably the UF Critical Thinking Inventory (UF-CTI). It has delivered major multi-year research projects such as a five-year, $9.8M USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative study on consumer perceptions of citrus greening biotechnologies and a five-year, $6.5M NIEHS-funded Healthy Gulf, Healthy Communities project on Gulf Coast community impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The center's business model is grant-funded rather than commercial. It does not charge for services; publications, webinars, and educational resources are provided free of charge. Primary funding comes from competitive grants awarded by federal agencies (USDA, NIEHS, NSF) and state agencies (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services), with individual project awards ranging from $50,000 to $9.8 million. Distribution occurs primarily through the UF/IFAS Extension network reaching county offices across Florida, supplemented by partner program networks including the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE), the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health & Safety (SCCAHS), and the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).

Name

UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education

Legal name

UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education

Website

https://piecenter.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education is a University of Florida research center that conducts public opinion research, strategic communication, and community resilience studies on agriculture and natural resource issues, serving federal and state agencies and agricultural organizations through grant-funded projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Public Issues Research & Education

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Educational Support Services (611710), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAAFAB

Community Center Education Programs

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Community & Public Education Programs (Libraries, Community Centers)

Keywords

• Public opinion research
• Agricultural communication
• Social science research
• Extension education
• Science communication

Headquarters

HQ city

Gainesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Primary funding from competitive grants awarded by federal and state agencies including USDA, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Science Foundation, and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Projects range from $50,000 to $9.8 million.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The PIE Center conducts social science research, strategic communication consulting, and educational programming focused on public issues in agriculture and natural resources. Core services include public opinion surveys, program evaluation, community needs assessments, strategic planning workshops, and communications audits for agricultural organizations and government agencies. Educational offerings include the PIE Academy professional development program, science communication curriculum, and freely accessible resources such as issue guides, toolkits, webinars, a podcast, and a quarterly newsletter.

Product overview

The UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education (PIE Center) offers a portfolio of research, educational, and communication services focused on public issues in agriculture and natural resources. The core offerings include public opinion research services (surveys, program evaluation, needs assessments), strategic planning and communications consulting, and educational programs (PIE Academy, Science Communication Curriculum). These are supported by resource products including Issue Guides, Toolkits, the Science by the Slice Podcast, The Slice Newsletter, and recorded Webinars. The center operates a Social Science Research Lab for conducting research activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Services Public opinion surveys, program evaluation, community needs assessments, and social science research conducted for agricultural and natural resources organizations and government agencies.
• Strategic Planning Services Organizational strategic planning workshops, communications audits, and membership surveys for agricultural and natural resource organizations.
• PIE Academy Educational program for professional development in agricultural communication and public issues education.
• Social Science Research Lab Research laboratory facility for conducting social science research, surveys, focus groups, and data analysis on agricultural and natural resource issues.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• University of Maine ExtensionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023The PIE Center led a year-long statewide needs assessment for UMaine Extension, conducting in-person listening sessions and virtual research to assess programming from stakeholder perspectives. This collaboration between two East Coast states explored how research can enhance Extension services.
• Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCREE is a partner program focused on marketing resources and rural economic development. Dr. Lauri Baker co-founded CREE at Kansas State University and continues collaborative research with both CREE and PIE Center. Joint projects include research on regional food supply chains and rural enterprise engagement.
• Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health & Safety (SCCAHS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCCAHS is a multi-institutional center addressing agricultural health and safety in the southeastern US. The PIE Center provides communication and outreach support, including managing communications efforts for the center and contributing to the Science by the Slice podcast.
• Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDEN is a nationwide partnership of Extension services working on disaster education. The PIE Center serves as the point of contact for Florida EDEN and hosts events such as the annual EDEN Spring Training. Dr. Angie Lindsey serves as the EDEN point-of-contact for UF/IFAS.
• National Academy of Science, Engineering and MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding partner for the Suwannee River Basin project examining ecological and economic impacts of land use and climate change on coastal food webs and fisheries.
• National Institute of Environmental Health SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary funder of the Healthy Gulf, Healthy Communities five-year, $6.5 million project addressing environmental, economic, and emotional health concerns in Gulf Coast communities.
• USDA Specialty Crop Research InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunding partner for the five-year $9.8 million citrus greening project. PIE Center researchers examine consumer perceptions of biotechnologies in Florida, California, and Texas as part of this national research effort led by Kansas State University.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service: Texas land-grant extension service with national scale and similar agricultural communications and applied research remit; significantly larger in budget and headcount, providing a broader incumbent comparison.
• Cornell AgriTech: Cornell's applied agricultural research and extension arm; broader and well-funded but operates in a comparable land-grant model with social-science and stakeholder-engagement components.
• Center for Food Integrity: Non-profit focused on building public trust in the food and agriculture system; operates nationally with broader funding base from industry, with similar science-communication and public-permissions research remit.

Emerging players

• Food Tank: Non-profit focused on food and agriculture public issues through research, reporting, and events; similar public-issues framing with a more media/advocacy-oriented delivery model.

Direct peers

• Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health & Safety (SCCAHS): Multi-institutional ag health/safety center whose communications function is housed at the PIE Center; operates in the same Southeastern geography with overlapping faculty, audience, and federal (NIEHS/CDC) funding base.
• Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement (CREE): Co-founded by PIE Center faculty member Lauri Baker at Kansas State University; focuses on rural marketing and enterprise engagement research — directly comparable mission, faculty connections, and joint research activity on regional food supply chains.
• Kansas State University Research and Extension: Land-grant partner institution that leads the USDA SCRI citrus greening project involving the PIE Center; directly comparable research-and-extension model with overlapping faculty through CREE.
• Purdue University Center for Food Security: University-based research center addressing food safety/security public issues through stakeholder engagement and applied research — comparable audience, funding sources, and extension-style dissemination.
• UC Davis Agricultural Issues Center: University of California research center focused on agricultural policy and public issues; operates in the same land-grant university extension system with comparable research and stakeholder engagement mission.
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Land-grant extension service that contracted the PIE Center for a year-long statewide needs assessment; directly comparable extension model, audience, and social-science research engagement.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/thepiecenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/thePIECenter
• Instagraminstagram.com/uf_piecenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ufpiecenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education