EAST LANSING -- Lucia Patritto has joined Michigan State University Extension in Gogebic County as county extension director effective Thursday.

Patritto will be responsible for the overall planning, development, implementation, reporting and evaluation for the Gogebic County Extension program. She will work on a variety of programs in her major focus area, children, youth and families.

These may include parenting, family financial management, and nutrition among a host of others. Her responsibilities will include networking and facilitation of programming efforts in economic development and natural resources as appropriate.

Before joining MSUE, Patritto worked with University of Wisconsin Extension in Iron County as a family development agent and nutrition education coordinator, and as director of DOVE Inc., the local domestic abuse shelter.

She received an associate degree in general and applied business from Gogebic Community College, a bachelor's degree in psychology/sociology from Northland College in Ashland, Wis. and her master's degree in business management from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., in 2003.

MSU Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical needs, issues and opportunities in regard to agriculture and natural resources around Michigan. The organization serves all 83 Michigan counties. For more information about MSU Extension, visit the Web site at www.msue.msu.edu. or call 906-663-4045.