- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
UC ANR held its annual advocacy day on April 10, meeting with state legislators to build awareness of how Californians are benefiting from its work across the state. The group, led by Vice President Glenda Humiston and Associate Vice President Brent Hales, met with Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria, Assemblymembers Vince Fong and Juan Alanis, and Senators John Laird, Bill Dodd and Anna Caballero.
They also met with the staff of President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senators Monica Limón, Steve Padilla, Roger Niello and Josh Becker, and Assemblymembers Bill Essayli, Cottie Petrie-Norris, Jesse Gabriel, Damon Connolly and Steve Bennett.
This year, Anne Megaro, government and community relations director, and Sheron Violini, associate director government and community relations, added a midday coffee break to showcase UC ANR's wildfire resiliency research and outreachand offer resources for legislative offices to share with their constituents in May, which is Wildfire Preparedness Month. Assemblymember Vince Fong sponsored the room in the Capitol for the briefing. Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network director, spoke about the importance of prescribed burns and forest management practices and associated job opportunities. Missy Gable, director of UC Master Gardener Program, described how UC ANR is helping communities become more resilient and prepared.
“Our knowledge and prepared outreach materials could be used by offices to help their constituents mitigate wildfire risk,” said Violini. “We garnered great interest from representatives of several caucuses and offices and we are already working with them to share information.”
In meetings with legislators and their staff, the UC ANR representatives shared a one-pager that included the new Luna UCR avocado, reducing food insecurity, and pest management in urban communities as well as on farms.
Humiston and Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, discussed the merits of CropManage, an app used by growers to reduce water and fertilizer inputs while harvesting the same crop yields. The decision-support tool developed by Michael Cahn, UCCE irrigation and water resources advisor, will be showcased at the UC Innovation Fair at the state Capitol on May 8.
Cindy Chen, UC Cooperative Extension woody biomass and forest products advisor in the Central Sierra, and Haris Gilani UCCE biomass and bioenergy advisor in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, described UC ANR's role in ARCHES, California's initiative to accelerate renewable hydrogen projects and the necessary infrastructure. The scientists are identifying ways to use biomass to provide energy and consumer products while creating job opportunities in rural areas.
To continue the learning relationship, they invited the legislators and staff to attend UC ANR events in their respective districts.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Vice President Glenda Humiston and UC ANR employees gave UC President Michael Drake, the UC ANR Governing Council and the President's Advisory Commission members a tour of the Salton Sea area and Desert Research and Extension Center in Holtville on April 25 and 26.
The tour started with visit to Aziz Farms in the Coachella Valley. At the date farm, they met Rita Clemons, director of UC Cooperative Extension for San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties; Philip Waisen, UCCE vegetable crops advisor; and Yu Meng, UCCE youth, family and community advisor. Grower Mark Tadros gave an overview of the benefits and challenges of operating a small farm.
At Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, Jim Turner, president of Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings, Inc., gave a talk about geothermal energy and lithium extraction. Hoori Ajami, UC Riverside associate professor and member of the Salton Sea Task Force, and Ali Montazar, UCCE irrigation and water management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties; described the area's ecological and agricultural challenges.
On the second day of the tour, Darren Haver, director for the REC System and interim South Coast REC director, gave the group an overview of the Research and Extension Center System.
Desert REC Director Jairo Diaz and the Desert REC team presented an overview of the community and youth education activities and field studies at Desert REC. The tour included drone and robotics demonstrations by Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, and Ali Pourreza, UCCE digital agriculture specialist at UC Davis.
Ricardo Vela, manager of News and Information Outreach in Spanish, explained how UC ANR is connecting Latinos in California with information.
To wrap up the tour, Oli Bachie, UCCE Imperial County director and agronomy and weed management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties, and Clemons described local UC Master Gardener, 4-H and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC programs.
The tour was coordinated by Kathy Eftekhari, chief of staff to the vice president, and the Program Support Unit.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
CSAC honors UCCE San Luis Obispo team
A representative of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) presented the County of San Luis Obispo with the 2023 CSDC Challenge Award during the Board of Supervisors meeting on April 9.
The annual award is presented to California counties to highlight innovative programs developed at the county level.
CSAC CEO Graham Knaus presented the CSAC Challenge Award for the Cross-Sector Partnerships for Food and Nutrition Security program to Jen Miller, County of San Luis Obispo health promotion division manager; Shannon Klisch, County of San Luis Obispo department head and director of UC Cooperative Extension in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties; and Mishelle Costa, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC community education supervisor.
The team developed partnerships with multiple organizations to ensure that fresh produce is more available in the surrounding community. They collaborated to increase the number of markets that accept CalFresh and offer Market Match, provide a more consistent and welcoming experience for CalFresh customers across markets, and increase the visibility of farmers market nutrition incentives.
Together, they have increased equitable access to healthy food and support for local farmers.
According to the County of San Luis Obispo, 8.4% of all residents and 9.7% of all children countywide are defined as food insecure, or "lacking consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life."
Battany honored with ASEV Extension Distinction Award
Mark Battany, UCCE water management and biometeorology advisor in San Luis Obispo and Sant Barbara counties, has been selected for the 2024 American Society for Enology and Viticulture Extension's Distinction Award.
The ASEV Extension Distinction Award is given to a current ASEV member and extension educator based on their contributions to enology or viticulture through their extension program, or the translation of novel research findings into commercially applicable tools for enologists or viticulturists.
Battany will present “Flipping dimensions: A vertical weather view helps illuminate vineyard challenges,” at the 75th ASEV National Conference in Portland, Oregon, on June 19.
CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside and partners win health equity award
CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside, CFHL, UC Davis and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Community Wellness Committee Partnership are being honored with the first National Cooperative Extension health equity award.
The 2024 National Cooperative Extension Priester Health Equity Award recognizes extraordinary programs and professionals that are modeling next-generation work in the area of health and well-being.
The project includes nutrition, garden and physical activity education with the Torres Martinez community. The overarching goal is to foster greater health and well-being through activities that engage the participants with culturally relevant materials and work to restore traditional food systems.
The team includes Claudia Carlos, CFHL, UCCE Riverside supervisor; the Coachella Valley team of community nutrition educators Esmeralda Nunez, Vianca Nunez and Jackie Velarde; Andra Nicoli, CFHL, UC Davis project policy analyst; and Chutima Ganthavorn, UCCE nutrition, families and consumer sciences advisor emeritus.
UCCE Riverside County farm advisor Philip Waisen, through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant titled ACORNS, pairs lesson activities with farm and nutritional health webinars. UCCE Riverside Master Gardener Brad Hardison offers garden support, resources and education.
Tribal Council Vice Chairman Joseph Mirelez and Community Wellness Committee members anchor health-education initiative activities in local tradition and events for sustained effectiveness.
The award will be presented at the National Health Outreach and Engagement Conference on May 13-15 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Kudos for Rose, Casseer
Kendra Rose, senior contracts and grants officer and Dilshan Casseer, proposal development coordinator, earned gratitude from Whitney Brim-DeForest, UCCE director in Sutter and Yuba counties and rice and wild rice advisor.
“I would like to shout out Kendra Rose and Dilshan Casseer for their incredible help in preparing a grant for submission!” said Brim-DeForest. “They have both gone above and beyond, assisting in editing and writing, helping me and my co-PIs prepare draft documents for submission. Their guidance, preparation and timely meetings have made this process incredibly easy for my colleagues and me. Thank you so much to both of them!”
Larson receives ASI Bradford-Rominger Leadership Award
Larson has spent more than 40 years working for UC Cooperative Extension to address opportunities and issues that California ranchers face in their agricultural businesses. Her interdisciplinary approach to issues facing livestock producers, rangeland owners and managers, and the public aims to maintain and increase the sustainability of agriculture systems and the environment, with a particular focus on ecosystem services in counties under threat from encroachment by urban development.
“Stephanie is the gold standard of what a UC ANR advisor should be – she has a robust, relevant county program, provides leadership and vision for statewide programs; she offers her service to professional societies and she is highly regarded by all who work with her,” said Theresa Becchetti, UC Cooperative Extension livestock advisor, one of the 20 UCCE peers who nominated Larson for the award.
Larson and Main will receive their awards at a ceremony featuring distinguished speaker Hannah Wittman, interim co-director of the University of British Columbia Centre for Climate Justice, on Wednesday, May 15, 4–7 p.m. To register for the event, visit https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/1137.
The Bradford-Rominger award recognizes and honors individuals who exhibit the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist. The annual award was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and these will be the first awards given since 2020.