Can you reuse beekeeping equipment? What’s this weird bug? What should a high schooler eat to build endurance in cross-country training? Do you need permission to sell eggs at the end of your driveway?
These are just a few of the thousands of real questions people have submitted to Michigan State University Extension’s Ask Extension service, a digital doorway to trusted answers from real experts.
“In a world where technology’s quickly evolving, it’s hard to distinguish facts from fiction,” said Quentin Tyler, MSU Extension director, in a recent video explaining the service. “I know I often ask when I see statements about issues or certain images online, ‘Is this real?’ or ‘Is this even true?’”
In a digital landscape flooded with misinformation and artificial intelligence–generated content, Ask Extension offers something that’s in increasingly high demand these days: trusted human expertise.
The Extension Foundation launched the service as “Ask an Expert” in 2006 and delivered it to land-grant universities, like MSU, across the nation to operate on a local level.
Behind the screen is an extensive network of MSU Extension staff and Master Gardener volunteers trained in subjects including agriculture, youth development, financial literacy, food safety and much more.
To date, the service has compiled over 500,000 questions answered by more than 7,000 Extension experts. Answered questions, which range from the everyday to the complex, become part of a publicly searchable archive called the Knowledgebase.
And because the service is part of Michigan State University’s land-grant mission, it’s completely free.
“We’re not bots, and we’re not influencers. We’re your neighbors,” Tyler said. “We’re also researchers, educators and professionals with decades of expertise who you can rely on for help when you need it.”
MSU Extension land use educator Mary Reilly is one of those smart, reliable people behind the Ask Extension service.
Reilly has more than 20 years of experience in planning and zoning issues, including 14 years as a zoning and building director in Mason County, Michigan. Certified through the American Institute of Certified Planners, she has extensive knowledge in everything from floodplain verification to wind turbine issues.
Reilly has lent her expertise to the Ask Extension service ever since she began working at MSU seven years ago.
“When I get an Ask Extension email in my inbox, I actually get really excited,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Ooh, what’s it going to be this time?’”
Land use — Reilly’s domain — is one of the more popular categories of questions received. And those issues are often layered and complex.
“AI isn’t really able to consistently grasp the nuance of people’s issues,” she said. “That’s where Ask Extension comes in.”
Over the years, Reilly has tackled countless conundrums for Michiganders via Ask Extension, from helping homeowners navigate issues with homestead properties to guiding new zoning administrators on how to manage property ownership changes with boundary conflicts.
Questions submitted through the platform also help MSU Extension, the community outreach arm of the university, spot emerging trends and better understand community needs.
“It really keeps us on our toes,” she said. “We hear from all parts of our state.”
And if experts like Reilly can’t answer questions directly, they have plenty of other tools at their disposal.
“You may not realize this when you use Ask Extension, but you’re not necessarily asking one person sometimes — you have access to a full team,” she said. “MSU Extension also has a ton of resources and articles. Or we might know of something from a state agency, a nonprofit or professional association.
"People who work at MSU Extension are passionate about what they do, so we stay current on our fields and other resources we can point people to.”
So, if you’re wondering what’s growing in your backyard or how to plan for retirement, MSU Extension invites all Michiganders to do what communities have done for more than a century: just ask.
Learn more or submit your own question at extension.msu.edu/ask.
