- Author: Wendy Powers
I took a 4-day trip last week to help someone move across the country. Two vehicles, two drivers, 4 dogs. It is not a trip I would recommend. However, I never tire of seeing the snow-covered mountains, whether it be the Sierra, the Wasatch, or the Rockies. Oddly, and perhaps fitting, this trip the best views seemed to be when I looked in the rear view mirror. The road trip took me through Iowa, past highway 169 that would take us to our house of many years ago and highway 69 that runs into campus. The next day, we drove past I-69 in Michigan, the road to Lansing. I have had the good fortune of spending time in great places, with great people. Eventually we made our way to the waters of the east coast, where we were greeted with 4 days of rain, followed by heat and humidity. A vastly different place, with its own endearing attributes.
While I was in the car, a lot of good things happened at UC ANR. Our retiring academics were busy putting together emeritus package requests. Program Council will review more emeritus requests when it meets next week. The Council of University of California Emeriti Associations (CUCEA) recently published UC emeriti activity equal to an 11th UC campus, survey finds on UCnet, featuring the highlights of A Virtual Eleventh Campus: The Tenth Inventory of University of California Emeriti Activity. The article confirms the substantial contributions of UC emeriti, including teaching, research, creative work, professional and community service, mentoring and more. While UC ANR emeriti are not considered part of CUCEA, we know well the value of emeriti contributions to Cooperative Extension and the work of UC ANR!
Congratulations to the California Let's Eat Healthy Leadership Award winners! Awardees include individuals and organizations, including the UC CalFresh program that is a partnership between UC Davis and UC ANR. Congratulations to the entire team and especially MaryAnn for her leadership of the program!
This week the UC ANR Governing Council meets in Hopland. I am looking forward to the in-person meeting, even if we need to take face covering protections. It is not often that the Governing Council meets in person and this will be the second meeting at a REC, having met at South Coast in February 2020.
I will spend most of Friday finishing up merit and promotion decisions and write-ups. For the most part, this year's process will be in the rear view mirror by this time next week. Time flies, particularly when you are not bored!
- Author: Wendy Powers
Welcome Luca Carmignani! Luca started this week as a CE Advisor, specializing in Wildland-Urban Interference. Luca is based at the South Coast REC. Please reach out to Luca and give a warm welcome!
Program Council met this week at Elkus Ranch. This was our first in-person meeting in over 2 years and the first ever in-person meeting for some of our Program Council members. Program Council took a tour of Elkus and heard from Frank and Keith about their vision to build urban programs for Cooperative Extension. While many think that Cooperative Extension is about agriculture, the intent of the Smith-Lever act was to build an evidence-based program to lift all the peoples of a state, hence the nutrition program being one of the first efforts by Cooperative Extension. It makes sense, then, that we seek opportunities to expand the footprint and impact in urban and inner city areas.
Earlier in the week I met virtually with the Academic Assembly Council. They have been working on a few big items. We talked about mentoring for new academics. During a call earlier today, the AAC Personnel Committee, in particular, came up as a key group that can help shape ideas for a multi-dimensional program that includes formal and informal mentoring components as well as peer mentoring and task training. Vice Provost Obrist will be a key contributor and leader of these conversations. We are so fortunate to have Dr. Obrist joining in mid-August.
The IPM team met in person this week in Davis! It was nice to see the Valley Rooms in use again. We didn't run short of things to discuss. As a result, I didn't have a chance to speak directly to some of the newer members of the team before I had to head to my next meeting. Hopefully there will be additional opportunities in the near future.
I have made my way through the first review of dossiers submitted for advancement actions. My next step is to begin reading supervisor, ad hoc committee, and peer review committee comments. I will start on those tomorrow. I have just over a month to complete decisions in early June. Time flies!
- Author: Wendy Powers
Last week flew by. Tu, David, and I spent a day at the South Coast REC talking about a new building project and envisioning a new educational center that could draw in the local community and serve as a central spot at the REC for researchers to convene and brainstorm. Then we spent the next day at Desert REC doing the same. The excitement of constructing a new facility was evident in both Jairo and Stacy. Let's all help them harness that enthusiasm to push through the hassles that come with construction. Both RECs are in need of the facilities and their programs will grow as a result.
The Orange County Farm Bureau (OCFB) has agreed to support a 5-year gift proposal at SCREC and UCCE Orange County in the amount of $690,000 paid out over a period of five-years (pledge), commencing in April 2023 and concluding in April 2027. A large portion of the funds are current-use funds to support the GROW program at SCREC. The balance of funds supports the Forever 4-H endowment in Orange County and the local 4-H program. Congratulations to Darren and team, Scott Brayton, and Mary Ciricillo for the work on securing this gift!
Anne Iaccopucci and Katherine Soule are busy these days preparing for a 4-H Academy on Youth Mental Health coming up May 10 - 12. Their colleagues from around the country have made special note of their contributions. Congratulations also go out to JoLynn for her garden project work with a local juvenile detention facility that became a feature story for My Motherlode. Way to go JoLynn!
I returned to the Oakland office last week, for the first time since February 2020. We moved up a floor – part of the fire drill fitness plan, I suspect. It was a great feeling to be back in that building. I was a bit surprised to see how many people on the street were still wearing masks. Better safe than sorry. I elected to avoid the BART and bear the traffic instead. It was a long drive home. It seems the roads are full again. I believe my trip to Davis on Friday was perhaps the heaviest traffic I have ever seen at 5 AM and then again at 5 PM. I don't know what to make of this.
Merit and promotion packages are almost complete with first review. Following, I go back and read supervisor comments, external reviewer comments, and internal reviewer comments from ad hoc reviewers and the Peer Review Committee. I always learn more about the work and impact of UC ANR as I read through the packages. The number of packages with strong impact statements continues to grow; particularly from some of our recent hires!
Word is out of my pending departure. A tremendously difficult decision to make as I don't feel that my work here is done. The change is a growth opportunity, one I couldn't pass by. In the meantime, there are many more ANR Adventures to be had.
- Author: Wendy Powers
This is a bit of a sad time of year, when I learn of all the pending departures due to retirement. Don't get me wrong, I fully recognize the excitement associated with retirement. Bill, Lorna, and others keep me well aware of the advantages. I can't help but feel a bit sad about the exodus of talent and the possibility of not interacting with those who are moving on. Fortunately, we have this ‘recall' mechanism to prevent many from really ever getting too far away.
I heard from one of our emeriti, Rose, today. She alerted us that Mike Hsu and Pam Kan-Rice offered a webinar today for Extension Foundation about using Twitter and social media for media relations. Rose said it was “absolutely wonderful and nearly two dozen Extension professionals from around the nation participated. The UCANR team is so skilled at social media use, and really models positive things for other Extension organizations.” Thanks Pam and Mike for providing that training!
This is also the time of year when I am deep into reading merit and promotion packages. I have 8 remaining to read for my first review! Following, I start going through the supervisor comments, evaluator letters, ad hoc committee reviews, and Peer Review Committee recommendations. This first read through is my favorite part – hearing about the wonderful accomplishments, the aspirations, and the impact of those who have worked so hard to make a difference. Every year, I believe I share with you how nice it would be to share the narrative highlights with you. At least our Federal partners have the opportunity when they receive our annual impact highlights that is compiled by the Program Planning and Evaluation Team.
In other good news, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) announced the recipients of the 2021 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award, an award granted to early career scientists supporting research in one of FFAR's Challenge Areas. Congratulations to Ellen Bruno, one of the recipients: Meeting future food needs requires effectively managing scarce groundwater. California is addressing this problem through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which ensures better groundwater use and management. Bruno's research is using the act as a case study to identify policies that enhance water sustainability and minimize regulation costs. No doubt important impacts will result!
Congratulations to Linda Forbes and team! They just received word that the team won three Association for Communication Excellence awards:
- Bronze award in organic social media campaign (CA wildfire campaign)
- Gold award in electronic media and audio for targeted audiences (vaccine campaign to Latino and indigenous communities)
- Outstanding Professional Skill award in electronic media and audio for targeted audiences (vaccine campaign to Latino and indigenous communities)
Next week I spend a couple of days at South Coast REC and at Desert REC. It truly is wonderful to get out of the garage.
- Author: Wendy Powers
Welcome to Kirsten Pearsons who started a career with UC ANR last week as an Assistant Cooperative Extension Small Farms Advisor, based in San Luis Obispo! It is exciting to be welcoming new members. Please take the time to send your own welcome to Kristen.
Next time you are looking for a podcast, be sure to tune into Selina Wang's interview for Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness. What a great venue to recognize Selina and the food safety research and outreach. Selina is clearly a natural for these interviews!
The Second Street office is bustling! One hears voices around and chairs are returning. After the last two years almost becoming normal, I didn't expect to be so glad to return. It has been a nice surprise. This morning there were others coming in early with me. I haven't seen that in a long time. Quickly things are changing! On Friday, occupants of the Second Street office have the first team meeting held in a long time.
As we approach the March mid-point, I remain just over a third of the way through my first read of merit and promotion packages. Thank goodness for an upcoming holiday/meeting-free day! In between I have AEs to read and AE meetings to hold. Now it is time for staff reviews. Didn't we just do all this last week? Time flies when one isn't bored.
The horrific madness overseas continues. Let's keep all those impacted in our thoughts as we conduct our daily work. How fortunate we are to worry about hectic schedules and high gas prices.
