Bill Evans

Professor, State Specialist

Office: (775) 784-7013
Fax: (775) 784-1990
Email: wevans@unr.edu
Building: William J. Raggio
Address: 1664 N. Virginia Street, Mail Stop 140, Reno, Nevada 89557
Department: HDFS
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Summary

As the State Specialist for Youth Development, he routinely assesses the educational needs of the state using multiple methods and provides leadership in the development, implementation, and evaluation of education/prevention programs that address critical youth needs. In this role, he has provided leadership or was an active team member for numerous community needs assessment and asset mapping projects statewide. He also has been involved nationally and statewide in the development of a number of education programs focused on youth and their families that have emphasized the enhancement of life skills for youth, the prevention of youth violence and suicide, and the reduction of risky behaviors and delinquency. In addition, he engages in the evaluation of community-based programs and has been the lead evaluator on numerous regional and national projects.

Dr. Evans currently has multiple federally-funded grant projects on evaluation and youth issues, including directing the national cluster evaluation of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) and developing and pilot testing a Text-enabled CVE Gatekeeper Help-line and Referral System. He also teaches in the HDFS program and for the Social Psychology Interdisciplinary Program. Recent topics have included Family Theories, Program Evaluation and Development, and Research Methods. His research interests include a variety of adolescent risk, resiliency, and developmental issues; and he has focused on youth worker issues, youth violence and suicide, adolescent risk and technology, adolescent sense of coherence, and the evaluation of community-based programs over the past several years.

Education

B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
M.A., California State University, Dominguez Hills
Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Programs

Heart & Hope: Building Resilient Families

Heart & Hope provides resources and skills to victims of domestic violence who have left the perpetrator and are building a new life for themselves and their family. Workshops help parent victims gain parenting skills and confidence, build resilience for themselves and their children, avoid becoming victims in future relationships, strengthen family relationships and envision hope for the future. Workshops help children build social and emotional skills to prevent them from becoming future victi

Accomplishments

As a developmental scientist and evaluation specialist, he has received over 5.5 million in extramural funding to support his research activities, has authored over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has over 100 presentations at national and international conferences. He has served on numerous national advisory committees, including the Federal Interagency Working Group on Youth, the Land Grant University National Evaluation Outcome Committee, and the National Advisory Committee of the CDC Suicide Prevention Center.

News & Journal Articles, Fact Sheets, Reports...

Fact Sheets
Stakeholder Engagement in Knowledge Co-Production for Climate Resilience SNOWPACS is a project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, aiming to optimize water policy for agriculture under changing snowpack and snowmelt conditions. The project engages stakeholders in research to co-produce knew knowledge to inform and support actionable change on the ground. Singletary, L., Koebele, E., Evans, W., Copp, C., Hockaday, S. and Rego, J.J. 2023, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, FS-23-28
Nevada 4-H Annual Survey Summary Report - 2020 Annual survey of Nevada youth regarding their 4-H experiences Maio, H., Chvilicek, S., Luckey, B., Evans, W., Stark, C., Chichester, L., Baker-Tingey, J. 2021, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, FS-21-94
Nevada 4-H Annual Survey Summary Report 2018 youth survey on their 4-H experiences J. Baker-Tingey, B. Luckey, W. Evans, C. Stark, S. Chvilicek, L. Chichester, A. Hernandez 2020, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno FS-20-31
Physical and Psychological Safety Promotes Youth Learning in 4-H This fact sheet explores youth development and associated skill sets by discussing critical indicators of quality youth development, volunteer 4-H leader skills, Life Skills, and more. Singletary, L., Smith, M., and Evans, W. 2004, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno, FS-04-32
Informational Publications
Let's Discover STEM: Five-Year Report 2017-2022 Nevada Sustainable Communities Project A seven-week workshop targeting children in at-risk communities in Las Vegas & Reno-Sparks to promote STEM topics and the results of said workshop. Weigel, D., Kim, Y., and Evans, B. 2022, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno, IP-22-01
Journals
Evaluating stakeholder engagement in collaborative research: co-producing knowledge for climate resilience. This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an initial stakeholder engagement experience designed to facilitate knowledge co-production. Singletary, L., Koebele, E., Evans, W., Copp, C., Hockaday, S., and Rego, J.J. 2022, Socio-Ecological Practice Research 4:235-249 (2022).
Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) Fire Science Exchange Network: A National Evaluation of Initiative Impacts The Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) Fire Science Exchange Network is composed of 15 Exchanges that act as boundary organizations tasked with improving fire science use within their respective regions. A survey conducted annually in 2011-2015 as part of a larger evaluation effort reveals significant impacts. Maletsky, L.D., Evans, W.P., Singletary, L., and Sicafuse, L. 2018, Journal of Forestry, 2018, 116(4): 328-335
Special Publications
Douglas County Needs Assessment The purpose of this study was to determine the needs of Douglas County citizens. The results then could serve as educational and programmatic foci in the years to come. This Douglas County Needs Assessment was conducted in conjunction with Carson City/Storey County. L. M. Chichester, L. K. Taylor, W. P. Evans, K. N. Russell 2022, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, SP-20-15
Nevada State Crop and Resource-Use Needs Assessment: Stakeholder Perspectives on Crop, Resource Use, Pest and General Agricultural Needs Needs Assessment special publication for the state of Nevada, on crops, resource use, pest control, and general agricultural needs. Walia, M., Snider, K., Evans, W., Weigel, D. 2021, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, SP-21-13
Douglas County Needs Assessment The purpose of this study was to determine the needs of Douglas County citizens. The results then could serve as educational and programmatic foci in the years to come. Chichester, L., Taylor, L., Evans, B., & Russell, K. 2020, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, SP-20-15
Needs Assessments Processes, Methods and Examples: Annotated Bibliography This needs assessment annotated bibliography is planned as a companion resource for regional and state level trainings on needs assessments for Extension professionals. The resources covered will help support new Extension faculty onboarding efforts and can be used by those planning to engage in needs assessment activities. V. Koundinya, W. Evans, C. Chiarella 2020, Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, SP-20-04
Family and Youth Services Detention Survey: A report of 2001 findings This fact sheet contains extensive information on the Family and Youth Services Detention Survey by learning about the demographics of Spring Mountain and CCDFYS detention. Learn through detailed tables that list the demographic and categories with percentages and n value. Letner, J., Brown, R., Killian, E., and Evans, B. 2001, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno, SP-02-01