- Author: Jodi Azulai
Upcoming webinars
Past Webinar Recordings
Offering a webinar?
Food Resiliency Spotlight Series Webinar #5 - Farm boxes and food hubs: Building local food system resilience during COVID-19
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020
10 a.m.-11 a.m.
Register to attend here.
This webinar will address both small farm support/viability and meeting the needs of food insecure populations.
Please fund my program! Developing your case for support for donors
Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020
10 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
Whether you are seeking gift or grant funding, connecting your work with a donor's own goals, values and interests is essential to ensure a successful outcome. Join Development Services team members Kelly Scott and Andrea Ambrose for a practical and straightforward approach to developing your case statement. This session will walk you through the process and will provide resources to help you to tell the story of your impact and define what needs your work will address – especially valuable during challenging times. Participants will:
- learn how a clearly defined case for support can enhance their fundraising efforts and increase their chance for success.
- be introduced to a simple process for identifying the key impacts of their work including the needs/problems it addresses/solves.
- have easy to use templates to assist in articulating their unique case statement
- better understand how Development Services can provide practical resources and training opportunities
Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428
Black Farming: Beyond "40 Acres and a Mule."
Sept. 11-12, 2020
This event is FREE and open to the public.
Register here.
This conference will be discussing the influential history of black farmers in Ohio with an emphasis on the strength of community, preparing the next generation of underrepresented farmers for the future, and cultivating the cooperative business model to promote healthy farming and sustainable businesses. There will be keynote addresses, breakout sessions, networking, a resource fair and more! Click to read more.
Navigating conflict & tough conversations in agriculture
Sept. 14, 2020; 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.
Register here.
In this series of five engaging 30-minute sessions, you'll learn tips and strategies for having constructive interactions that can lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. You will also learn precautions to keep yourself safe in highly charged situations. These online sessions are an adaptation of a three-hour workshop we offered in 2019. Whether the content is new to you or you simply want a refresher, we hope you'll participate and share the opportunity with colleagues. Read more here.
Volunteer professional development and skills: What do CA 4-H volunteers want?
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020
11 a.m. – Noon
Join presenters Dorina Espinoza, Car Mun Kok, Liliana Vega and Steven Worker, who will share research findings on the skill areas and competencies that are important to 4-H volunteers and the professional development opportunities through which they want to build those skills. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in discussions on how they would apply this information to inform volunteer professional development in order to meet their needs and develop their capacity to be effective volunteers.
We anticipate that participants in our session would gain understanding in the skill areas that 4-H volunteers view as important and the professional development opportunities that volunteers want and need. Our session will inform participants on the topic areas that volunteers felt are important for them to develop in order to become more competent 4-H volunteers. We will also inform participants on the process or delivery modes for skill learning and professional development, as reported by volunteers. We anticipate that participants would be able to use the information in their 4-H volunteer development efforts. Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428
Digital Technology eFieldbook Webinar
Sept. 16, 2020 11 a.m.- Noon
Click for more information
Learn key takeaways and findings of the project Using Digital Technology eFieldbook. The eFieldbook was created by the eXtension Foundation as part of a 1-year agreement between the USDA-NIFA and eXtension's New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE). Many Cooperative Extension professionals from around the country contributed to this eFieldbook which contains:
- Perspective pieces with a future focus
- Discussion about Connect Extension and Instagram
- Curated resources in areas including:
-Science communications
-Web accessibility
-Leveraging content
Content for the eFieldbook was informed in part by a survey with more than 300 respondents, and the COVID-19 crisis, which increased demand for social media content and training relating to our work in Cooperative Extension.
Inclusive content: Best practices for creating engaging online content & improving accessibility for individuals with disabilities (eXtension)
Sept. 17, 2020 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Click here to register
Cooperative Extension professionals are increasingly using social media to reach audiences we serve, including those with disabilities. Content that is accessible and inclusive benefits everyone. While no social media platform is 100% accessible, there are many things that we can do to improve accessibility for individuals with disabilities. In this webinar hosted by eXtension Foundation, you'll learn about:
- The components of social media accessibility;
- How to include image descriptions in your posts;
- The importance of using contrast in color choices;
- Using descriptive links;
- Video captioning;
- Best practices for using hashtags and emojis;
- Tips for using the accessibility features on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube;
- How YouTube can be used as a tool to generate .srt files to use in videos for other platforms like Twitter and Instagram;
- What to avoid; and
- Where to go for additional information.
The webinar will include an interactive portion, enabling participants to see best practices in action. You'll come away with tips, techniques, resources and a wealth of practical knowledge.
Leading in time of crisis and beyond – Relational Connection WebANR
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Noon-12:30 p.m.
Join Frank McPherson, Director SF Bay Area Cooperative Extension to learn how to build a relational connection to your teams times of crisis and remote work using tools of listening, empathy, resilience, and agility.
Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428
Utah's rural online initiative: connecting rural communities with remote work
Wednesday September 23, 2020
Noon – 1 p.m.
Register here
Join Paul Hill, Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development, Utah State University. He will present USU's new program to help people in rural communities prepare for the future. This program assists people in developing skills needed for remote work. The purpose of the Rural Online Initiative program is to provide Utah's rural workforce with education, training, and services for online opportunities in remote employment, freelance work and e-commerce.
The University of California Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land
Widescale U.S. higher education began in 1862 when the Morrill Act provided each state with “public” lands to sell for the establishment of university endowments. The public land-grant university movement is lauded as the first major federal funding for higher education and for making liberal and practical education accessible to Americans of average means. However hidden beneath the oft-told land-grant narrative is the land itself: the nearly 11 million acres of land sold through the Morrill Act was expropriated from tribal nations. This two-part forum examines the 150,000 acres of Indigenous land that funded the University of California, how this expropriation is intricately tied to California's unique history of Native dispossession and genocide, and how UC continues to benefit from this wealth accumulation today. We will then explore current university initiatives with tribes and engage in a community dialogue on actions the University of California can take to address their responsibility to California Indigenous communities.
Part 1: Unearthing indigenous land dispossession in the founding of the University of California
Friday, Sept. 25, 9 a.m. – Noon
Register here.
Preliminary schedule
Moderator: Phenocia Bauerle (Apsaálooke) Director, Native American Student Development, UC Berkeley
Land-Grab Universities and the Morrill Act
- Robert Lee, University Lecturer in American History, University of Cambridge
Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa), Editor-in-Chief, Texas Observer
The University of California as a Land-Grab Institution
- Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley), PhD Student, UC Davis
- Kat Whiteley (Wiyot): Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley
- Beth Rose Middleton, Professor and Chair of Native American Studies, UC Davis
Part 2: From Land-grab to land acknowledgment and beyond
Friday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m.– Noon
Register here.
Preliminary schedule
Moderator: Rosalie Z. Fanshel, Ph.D. student, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and program manager, Berkeley Food Institute, UC Berkeley
- Current initiatives between UC system and California Indigenous communities
- Moderator: Clifford Trafzer (Wyandot), Distinguished Professor of History and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs, UC Riverside
- Valentin Lopez (Amah Mutsun), Chairman, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
- Jennifer Sowerwine, Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley
- Beth Rose Middleton, Professor and Chair of Native American Studies, UC Davis
- Inspirations for accountability from land-grant university siblings
- Moderator: Christina Snider, Tribal Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom and Executive Secretary of the Native American Heritage Commission
- Christie M. Poitra, Interim Director, Native American Institute, Michigan State University
- Breakout sessions: Call to action (moderated by 6 Native American graduate students and staff at UC Berkeley)
- Teaching/pedagogy
- Student experience/development
- Research
- Land acknowledgments
- Field stations/UC land
- Cooperative Extension
- Closing remarks: Margaret Nash, Professor Emerita of Education, UC Riverside
For more information about the forum contact Rosalie Z. Fanshel at rzfanshel@berkeley.edu
Field trials, material transfer agreements, and non-disclosure agreements
Wednesday, Sept. 30
9:30 a.m.-10:30 am
Receiving or sending data, tangible items, or confidential information from another entity? Conducting a field trial paid for by a sponsor? Tune in to learn more about field trial, material transfer and non-disclosure contracts. With Kathy Nolan and Kimberly Lamar. Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428
Contributions and consequences of volunteering in the 4-H Youth Development Program
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, 11 a.m. - Noon
Join presenters Dorina Espinoza, Car Mun Kok, Liliana Vega, and Steven Worker to learn about their research on 4-H volunteers.
Volunteers are essential for the delivery of the California 4-H Youth Development program. In order to better understand volunteer needs, our research explored the skill areas that volunteers felt are important for their role and the professional development opportunities that they want. In this session, we will share our findings on the skill areas and competencies that are important to 4-H volunteers and the professional development opportunities through which they want to build those skills. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in discussions on how they would apply this information to inform volunteer professional development in order to meet their needs and develop their capacity to be effective volunteers.
Volunteers are integral to the delivery of 4-H programs. Our study explored consequences of volunteering on the 4-H program and on the volunteers themselves. We collected 1,245 responses from California 4-H volunteers and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.
We anticipate that workshop participants will improve their awareness and understanding of the consequences of volunteering in 4-H on the organization and on the volunteers themselves. Two primary knowledge outcomes will be that participants are able to communicate: (a) the value of 4-H volunteers beyond economic worth, and instead, discuss volunteer's contributions to make a significant, innovative, or lasting impact on the organization; (b) the benefits to volunteer's own personal development, including developing skills, improving well-being and social development. Ultimately, we expect participants to be able to use this information to improve their 4-H volunteer recruitment efforts, training and retention. Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428
We actively avoid information that can help us (Harvard Business Review)
Emily Ho of Northwestern University and two co-researchers asked more than 2,300 survey participants whether they would like to get various kinds of information that could be useful to them, including how their retirement accounts stacked up against their peers', what listeners thought of a speech they'd recently given, and how coworkers rated their strengths and weaknesses. The team found that the respondents opted out 32% of the time, on average. The conclusion: We actively avoid information that can help us. Click to read more.
Overwhelmed (eXtension)
When things get tight it seems we always are expected to do more with less...not less with less. This can lead to that uncomfortable feeling of being overwhelmed. While this one post won't be able to address the cause, here are a couple things to help. Click to read more.
2020 ESP National Conference (Extension Professional's Organization Epsilon Sigma Phi ESP)
Oct. 6-8, 2020; Starting time each day at 8:30 a.m.
Click for more information
Sign up online. Regular registration pricing ends on Sept. 7. Payment can be made online or mailed with invoice.
The 2020 ESP National Conference hosted by the New York Lambda Chapter is all about professional development for all Extension professionals. In addition to seminar, ignite and poster presentations, this virtual conference will headline with an outstanding speaker each of the three days. Learn more about all three of these individuals at ESP Conference Speakers.
Planning and Evaluation capacity building trainings
October & November | Every Tuesday 10 a.m.- Noon
Click to register
Hosted by UC ANR Program Planning and Evaluation, the CE Evaluation Specialist, and the 4-H Evaluation Coordinator. Online interactive trainings highlighting UCCE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte, select whichever interests you! Who should attend? CE academics, community educator specialists and other program staff. New employees are highly encouraged.
Embracing Allyship Leadercamp (Skillsoft)
Click for recording here
If you missed this interactive and thought-provoking hour, "Embracing Allyship" you can still find it in the recording. It provides expert guidance to help you take the next step. You'll have the information and insight you need to become a thoughtful and productive ally for underrepresented groups in your workplace and community.
UC ANR 21-day Racial Equity Challenge
Welcome to ANR's 21-Day Anti-Racism Challenge! ucanr.edu/21days
ANR employees, along with other UC locations and thousands of other people across the U.S. and beyond, are committing to deepening understanding of, and willingness to confront, racism for twenty-one consecutive days.
Diversity scholar Eddie Moore, Jr. created the 21-Day Challenge to encourage a deeper understanding of race, privilege, supremacy, power, and oppression. Why 21 days? Some say it takes 21 days to create a habit. The intention of this initiative is to support ANR employees in developing “effective social justice habits” to effect meaningful change.
People at Food Solutions New England Sustainability Institute FSNE were inspired by his work and the work of Debby Irving and Marguerite Pennick-Parks to adapt the 21-Day Habit-Building Challenge to their food system network. FSNE has been organizing and hosting the Challenge every year since 2015.
ANR has adapted FSNE's February 2020 21-Day Equity Challenge titled “Beyond Words: to Action and Resiliency” to make it easy for employees to independently dive into their own examination of the program or to create a cohort of ANR employees with whom to share the experience. More information at ucanr.edu/21days
I am very pleased to announce that with a $20 million award from the National Science Foundation and several federal agencies, UC ANR is collaborating with UC Davis and other institutions to create a new artificial intelligence institute for next-generation food systems.
The farming/food industry is experiencing a technology revolution. Digital, biological and mechanical innovations are being applied to solve long-standing challenges such as the impacts of climate change, ensuring food and nutrition security, and sustainable and profitable crop production. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to most of these innovations, as they all have one common attribute: they produce and consume large amounts of data. AI is a way to put the large amount of data we have to work for us, making computers and machines smarter and more effective.
The USDA-NSF AI for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS) puts UC ANR in a leading role with UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Cornell in developing AI-based technology for the food system, but,perhaps more importantly, in applying them in real-world situations, training a next-generation workforce, and engaging the public in their value.
UC ANR staff and academics will have the opportunity to engage with AIFS through virtual and live events, research, extension and commercialization projects, workforce development activities and more. In many ways, AIFS will be a new support center for UC ANR staff and academics, helping to provide the latest training and tools for UC ANR's Cooperative Extension and outreach activities in California and beyond.
Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer and Maggi Kelly, director of UC ANR's Informatics and GIS program, will be the primary UC ANR contacts for AIFS. In the coming weeks, AIFS will provide further information about events and ways to engage. Please reach out to gdyoutsey@ucanr.edu to express your interest in getting more information as AIFS is launched.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The Using Digital Technology in Extension Education eFieldbook is now available from eXtension. As part of eXtension's New Technologies for Agricultural Extension Cooperative Agreement with USDA-NIFA, Rose Hayden-Smith, UCCE advisor emeritus, has been serving as the Technology in Extension Education Fellow to help extension colleagues leverage technology for outreach. She created the first in a series of eFieldbooks.
The eXtension eFieldbook series provides a digital platform for aggregating content, tools, and engagement, and is available to all professionals in Cooperative Extension.
"It was wonderful to be able to work with valued ANR colleagues to share expertise in social media with Cooperative Extension colleagues across the nation,” Hayden-Smith said. “I am so grateful for all those who contributed content and ideas. Cynthia Kintigh and Liz Sizensky contributed, as did Dan Macon! Cal Nat is featured. Dave Krause wrote a piece and so did Mark Lubell! Jim Downing was a peer reviewer!"
This eFieldbook aims to help Cooperative Extension professionals consider the role of technology in their work, and perhaps increase the adoption of technology, particularly social media. The eFieldbook provides both food for thought and practical information that will enable people to apply what they've learned and to take action.
“One of my favorite historians referred to the Progressive Era as ‘prophetic and particular,'" Hayden-Smith said. “That's how I feel about this eFieldbook. There are these soaring, forward-looking perspective essays by CE colleagues, including Dave Krause, and yet there are also highly actionable pieces, including the leveraging content checklist I worked on with Cynthia Kintigh and Liz Sizensky. I think it's a useful piece of work. The eXtension Foundation also has loads of social media webinars and blog posts that partner with this eFieldbook to create a real guide to social media use in extension."
Topics include:
- A series of perspective essays that explore the nature of technology in Cooperative Extension work and what the future may hold;
- An exploration of two featured technologies with case studies, including a newly created social intranet/audience engagement platform designed for Cooperative Extension, and a popular social media platform (Instagram);
- A section on leveraging the digital information - content - we already produce using technology, including resources about search engine optimization;
- Suggested resources that will support your work; and
- An ongoing series of blog posts to provide additional information to help you stay abreast of technology topics.
The Using Digital Technology in Extension Education eFieldbook is available on the eFieldbook bookshelf at efieldbooks.extension.org, or can be found on the main navigation at connect.extension.org.
A LinkedIn login is required to access the eFieldbooks, instead of setting up an account via email. If you do not have a LinkedIn account, you can register for one free here. The purpose of the LinkedIn login is to provide an encrypted ID to the eFieldbook so users can securely interact with that eFieldbook, take notes and make contributions. The eXtension Foundation is not collecting personal information. To receive notice updates from eXtension, you are invited to opt-in the first time you log in to an eFieldbook by providing your email address.
On Sept. 16 at 11 a.m., Hayden-Smith will host a panel discussion about the eFieldbook. To register, visit https://connect.extension.org/event/digital-technology-efieldbook-webinar.
- Author: Ethan Auyeung
- Editor: Evelyn Rumsby
- Editor: Steven M. Worker
The California 4-H Computer Science Pathways team hosted a 5-day virtual code camp, July 27 to 31. Attendees included 50 youth and 30 volunteers (some from out-of-state and one from Canada!).
The camp consisted of multiple computer science topics including: CS First with Scratch, Virtual Robotics, and Python. We focused on coding and STEM and made it as fun and camp-like as possible.
Each day began with fun icebreakers, such as scavenger hunts and Pictionary. Then the campers were split into their coding sessions with at least two teen leaders and two adult volunteers to teach and facilitate different coding activities.
In the Python track, we used codecademy.com to teach the basics of Python and inspire youth to learn more about computer science. In the Virtual Robotics track, we used roboblockly.com to teach the basics of block coding and then gave each camper a Sphero Mini to program!
To wrap up each day, we led a sharing activity where campers had the ability to share their projects and what they had accomplished or learned. We had a few guest speakers, “Get to Know a Googler,” where Google employees spoke about their job and experiences in computer science.
“We accomplished our goal of spreading computer science and STEM throughout 4-H and the country and we hope to continue to lead virtual projects and camps in the future.”
– Ethan, teen volunteer, 4-H Computer Science Pathway
Growing a 4-H Computer Science Pathway for California's Youth was funded by the National 4-H Council and Google 2019-2021. The project was led by Fe Moncloa, UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor for Santa Clara County, and Steven Worker, UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor for Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
To support the health and well-being of UC students, faculty and staff and our communities, the University of California, in consultation with UC Health leadership, has issued a systemwide executive order requiring all members of the UC community to receive an influenza immunization before Nov. 1, 2020.
The executive order is an important proactive measure to help protect members of the UC community — and the public at large — and to ameliorate the severe burdens on health care systems anticipated during the coming fall and winter from influenza and COVID-19 illnesses.
In addition to protecting those on campuses and the surrounding communities, this requirement is designed to avoid a surge of flu cases at health care facilities across the state during the unprecedented public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), flu vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent millions of illnesses and thousands of related medical visits every year. In recent years, flu vaccinations have reduced the risk of flu-associated hospitalizations among older adults on average by about 40%. Flu vaccinations also protect those around us, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness.
The executive order requires the vaccination for all faculty and staff who are working at a UC location. The university already has a clear policy on immunizations for students, and this action adds influenza to existing vaccination requirements for them, and extends the requirement to faculty and staff beyond those which presently exist for all UC health care workers.
A process will be put in place for faculty and staff to request medical exemptions. Requests for disability or religious accommodations will be handled through the interactive process consistent with existing location policies and procedures.
All UC medical plans which cover faculty, staff and students include coverage for flu vaccinations at no cost to those covered by the plan. In addition, for those without group health care coverage, all ACA-compliant health plans also cover flu vaccinations as part of a preventive care package that includes no copay.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the best source for information on this year's flu vaccinations and when it would be available.
Flu vaccine FAQs
UCOP has published frequently asked questions concerning the 2020-21 UC influenza vaccination order at https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/coronavirus/frequently-asked-questions-for-employees-about-the-2020-21-uc-influenza-vaccination-order.html.
More information about the implementation of UC's requirement, and when the flu vaccination for 2020-21 is available, will be shared in the coming weeks.
Unauthorized survey
UCOP Communications has learned that an outside market research firm, Consumer Evaluation & Insights, recently sent a survey about UC's flu vaccination policy to a number of UC faculty and staff with the subject line “Share your opinion on the UC Flu Vaccine requirement.” Please be aware this survey was not authorized or commissioned by UC, and you are under no obligation to complete it.
Additionally, because data from this survey is being collected by an external organization, UC cannot make any assurances regarding the use, privacy or security of any information you provide.
