Announcements

UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz named Agricultural Experiment Station campuses

UC President Michael Drake announced during the UC Regents meeting Nov. 16 that UC will  designate UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced as Agricultural Experiment Station campuses.

The Agricultural Experiment Station is a network of campus-based scientists whose mission is to develop knowledge and technologies to address agricultural, natural resources and health issues. UC's AES faculty members conduct land-grant mission research and UC Cooperative Extension puts that knowledge in the hands of people who can apply it to improve their lives and businesses. The Hatch Act of 1887 established Agricultural Experiment Stations at land grant colleges in each state.

The AES, which is a component of UC ANR, currently includes the three agriculture and natural resources colleges at UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Riverside, and the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis.

“Both UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced have long conducted research on agricultural issues, so it is appropriate that these campuses also receive this designation and have their work recognized as contributing to the overall UC agricultural research portfolio,” Drake told the regents. “With the AES designation, Santa Cruz and Merced have the potential to receive additional funding from the University's budget for this research, and they will be able to make a stronger case for competitive grants in the larger agricultural research area.”

Vice President Glenda Humiston, who also serves as director of AES in California, congratulated our colleagues at UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz for joining the Agricultural Experiment Station and welcomed their collaboration. 

“The San Joaquin and Salinas valleys are critical agricultural regions in California so UC ANR already has UC Cooperative Extension specialists at both UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced conducting research on agriculture and food-related issues,” Humiston said. “Having these two campuses receive this AES designation expands UC's agricultural research portfolio, which will help us develop the solutions needed for the many challenges Californians face.”

UC Cooperative Extension specialists Tapan Pathak, Karina Diaz Rios, Safeeq Khan and Jackie Atim are based at UC Merced and UC Cooperative Extension specialist Joji Muramoto is based at UC Santa Cruz.

“Our campus has been working toward this designation for some time and I'm so pleased that the hard work of our faculty and staff has paid off,” said UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive.

Josh Viers, UC Merced professor of watershed science and associate dean for research, wrote on LinkedIn: “Not only does the official Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) designation for UCM and UCSC provide legitimacy among our peers nationwide, but importantly it recognizes our recent efforts to tackle the most difficult challenges we face to feed a planet under a rapidly changing climate. This designation makes us eligible for new opportunities and in so doing make further investments into our research infrastructure including our Experimental Smart Farm.” 

 

 

 

Apply for professional society meeting travel funds by Dec. 8

Academic Assembly Council's call for Professional Society Meeting Travel Funds requests closes Dec. 8, 2022.

These funds support travel to meetings with professional societies which are recognized organizations that hold regularly scheduled meetings primarily for the reporting and exchange of knowledge among members. They publish peer-referred journals and/or edit proceedings of meetings to promote professional growth.

Who can apply?

Cooperative Extension Advisors, Academic Coordinators and Specialists are eligible for one meeting approval per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).

How does the program work?

The AAC Program Committee approves up to $650 for travel expenses related to the event(s) on awarded applications. Within 30 days of completing your trip you must complete the Travel Reimbursement Form and submit your receipts in AggieExpense.

To apply, complete the Professional Society Meeting Travel Application at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=39355.

Calls for applications open twice a year and cover a six-month travel period.

For more information, contact Committee Chair Susie Kocher, UCCE Central Sierra forestry/natural resources advisor, at sdkocher@ucanr.edu or (530) 542-2571, or Leslie Lipman, Statewide Programs and RECs, at lalipman@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1254.

Winter curtailment dates set for 2022

Similar to previous years, UC ANR units – including research and extension centers, UCCE county offices, the Second Street Building in Davis and Franklin Building in Oakland – will be closed from Dec. 23, 2022, through Jan. 2, 2023, except for essential services. UC ANR offices will reopen on Jan. 3, 2023. 

Winter closure schedule: 
Dec. 23, 2022 – Holiday 
Dec. 26, 2022 – Holiday 
Dec. 27, 2022 – Curtailment (closure) 
Dec. 28, 2022 – Curtailment (closure) 
Dec. 29, 2022 – Curtailment (closure) 
Dec. 30, 2022 – Holiday 
Jan. 2, 2023 – Holiday 

Employees have the option of using accrued vacation, compensatory time off (CTO) or leave without pay for the curtailment days. In the event an employee has not accumulated a sufficient amount of vacation time before December to cover the three days, arrangements can be made with direct supervisors to allow those individuals to borrow against future vacation time.  

Some UCCE county offices and research and extension centers may need to adjust the closure schedule to accommodate local needs; this is at the discretion of the director and approval by UC ANR leadership. If you have a question about your local office schedule, please contact your unit director.  

Additional Information:

• Time reporting – TRS has shaded the curtailment dates in yellow for reference only. ANR employees are still able to enter leave or time worked per day as appropriate based on local need. Additionally, if borrowing against future vacation, usage should be entered on the timesheet as it will allow the balance to go into the negative and will be caught up with future accruals. Feel free to contact ANRPayroll@ucanr.edu for more details. 
• Systems access – Some systems access may be impacted during the curtailment dates. If you are approved to work, please contact UCANRIT@ucanr.edu to confirm you'll be able to access UC ANR systems during the closure.

Please contact humanresources@ucanr.edu for additional information or clarification.

UC ANR participates in California Economic Summit

UC ANR was well-represented at the California Economic Summit in Bakersfield on Oct. 27-28 to find new ideas and partners for economic development projects. The annual event is held to identify economic opportunities, improve state and regional competitiveness and generate jobs.

“This year's California Economic Summit really highlighted the need to invest in our working landscapes and harvest the huge opportunities for jobs and economic growth throughout the state if we do,” said Glenda Humiston, vice president. “I'm really excited to see state and regional leaders recognizing the critical role that UC ANR and UC Cooperative Extension can play in supporting those initiatives.”  

Humiston was joined at the event by Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations; Keith Taylor, UC Cooperative Extension community economic development specialist; Julia Van Soelen Kim, UCCE food systems advisor; Olivia Henry, UCCE food systems advisor; Cindy Chen, UCCE woody biomass and forest products advisor; Ashley Hooper, UCCE urban community resiliency advisor; Alec Dompka, UCCE rural community and economic development advisor; and Rita Clemons, director of UCCE for San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties. 

“We have too many people that are working every single day and they're not making it,” said Antonio Villaraigosa, infrastructure advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom, told attendees on the first day.

Another speaker, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers, called for equitable pay for farmworkers.

On the second day of the summit, Governor Newsom joined the event. He chatted on stage with Ashley Swearengin, former mayor of Fresno, noting that California is now the fourth largest economy in the world, surpassing Germany. He complimented the San Joaquin Valley for its economic development efforts.

The 2023 California Economic Summit Summit will be held in the Coachella and Imperial valleys.

Names in the News

Solins joins UC ANR as new environmental horticulture advisor 

Joanna Solins joined UC ANR on Oct. 3 as a UC Cooperative Extension environmental horticulture advisor for Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties.

Solins will focus on research and outreach related to urban plants, landscaping and climate change, while building relationships with county and municipal governments, nonprofits, landscape and tree care professionals, nursery growers and utilities, among others. She also will support the UC Master Gardener coordinators in her assigned counties, collaborating to extend knowledge and resources to community members.

“My core goals are to improve the climate suitability and ecological performance of urban landscaping and promote the equitable distribution of benefits from urban plants,” Solins said.

After attaining a bachelor's degree in environmental studies at Vassar College, Solins began her career leading outreach education programs for the New England Aquarium and writing for educational publishers. She also worked in communications at the Coral Reef Alliance in San Francisco before starting graduate school at UC Davis, which culminated in a master's in geography and Ph.D. in ecology.

Solins' research at UC Davis combined field studies and geographic information system analysis to investigate plant communities, tree canopy and soils along urban creeks in the Sacramento area. She also carried out postdoctoral research on green stormwater infrastructure, urban forest composition, and the water demand of urban vegetation across California, and contributed to projects examining residential landscaping and urban heat in Sacramento.

Solins is based in Sacramento and can be reached at jsolins@ucanr.edu or (916) 875-2409.

Mar named UCCE organic materials management advisor 

Stephanie Mar joined UC Cooperative Extension on Oct. 3 as the assistant organic materials management advisor serving Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Mar is responsible for investigating ways to divert organic wastes from landfills to alternative end markets, such as circular food economies, composting and wastewater reclamation.

“To me, waste doesn't have an end life, just a next life,” said Mar. “A lot of people don't know what happens to their waste after the garbage truck comes or they flush a toilet, so a part of my job is to understand what we are wasting and what happens to it.”

Mar attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned a master's degree in public health focused on environmental science and engineering, and a master's degree in city and regional planning focused on land use and environmental planning. She also has a bachelor's degree in public health from UC Berkeley.

Much of Mar's professional experience, like her time working for the City of Berkeley, is centered on community outreach and policy development, two strengths that she believes will serve her well in this new role.

Previously, Mar worked as a public health analyst for UC San Francisco and as a social research analyst with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services too. Both of which strengthened her understanding of policy and program development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

“Research gives us a lot of information, but then there's a need for translation from what we know to what it actually means,” she said. “There are a lot of people doing different things [to manage their waste], so there's a need for coordination and dispersal of information." 

Mar's background in policy development is something she'll rely on to operationalize the research being done by herself and her colleagues.

Behavioral change is one of Mar's anticipated challenges in this role. Even if research and policy efforts yield successful results, encouraging the community to adapt can be an uphill battle. 

“Sorting trash, for example, is more of a mental burden than a physical one,” she explained. “We know what the research says and what we need to do, it's just about developing the market to make it happen.”

Mar is based out of Irvine at the South Coast Research and Extension Center and can be reached at samar@ucanr.edu.

Dobbin named UCCE water justice policy and planning specialist 

Kristin Dobbin has joined UC ANR and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley as a UC Cooperative Extension specialist focused on water justice policy and planning. 

Originally from Utah, Dobbin comes to Rausser College from UC Los Angeles' Luskin Center for Innovation, where she was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow. Dobbin pairs her love for rural communities, community natural resource management and environmental justice organizing with a strong belief that research can and should play an important role in advancing policy. She hopes to leverage her new position, the first of its kind for UC, to uplift community water managers and impacted residents as leaders and experts in conversations surrounding water management and access.

“It's a dream and a responsibility to be assuming a role that so perfectly weds research and impact,” Dobbin tweeted about her new UC Cooperative Extension water justice policy and planning specialist role.

Dobbin earned her Ph.D. in ecology with an emphasis in environmental policy and human ecology from UC Davis and B.A. in environmental analysis from Pitzer College in Claremont. Prior to graduate school, she worked for the Community Water Center – a grassroots environmental justice organization that advances community-driven solutions for water justice in the Central Valley. 

Dobbin is based at UC Berkeley and can be reached at kbdobbin@berkeley.edu and on Twitter @kbdobbin.

Shive named UCCE forest and fuels management specialist 

Kristen Shive has joined UC ANR and the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley as a UC Cooperative Extension specialist focused on forest and fuels management.

Bringing more than 20 years of experience in conservation, forest and fire management, and ecology, her work broadly focuses on restoring fire to fire-adapted ecosystems, prioritizing areas for restoration, and understanding shifting fire regimes. Prior to joining UC ANR, Shive led the forest program science team for The Nature Conservancy's California Chapter and was the director of science for Save the Redwoods League. She also has worked for the National Park Service in Alaska, California and Wyoming, most recently as the fire ecologist for Yosemite National Park.

She earned her master's degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University and a Ph.D. in ecosystem science from UC Berkeley. 

Shive is based at UC Berkeley and can be reached at kshive@berkeley.edu and (630) 917-5170 and on Twitter @klshive.

Bacon joins NPI as policy analyst 

Kassandra Bacon joined the Nutrition Policy Institute on Oct. 12 as a project policy analyst.

Bacon earned her Master's in Public Health with a concentration in public health nutrition and Graduate Certificate in Food Systems at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and B.S. in nutritional sciences from the University of New Hampshire, Durham. 

During her academic journey, she contributed to several research projects pertaining to sustainable food systems, program evaluation, and improvement of public nutrition policy. Additionally, her experience includes program coordination and evaluation, data analysis, and development of communication materials to advance equity-based public health solutions.

At NPI, Bacon will continue to support public health nutrition through policy and program evaluation. She will work on projects related to nutrition and increasing consumption of drinking water and in childcare and universal school meals. 

Bacon is based at UC Office of the President in Oakland and can be reached at kabacon@ucanr.edu.

Rodriguez joins 4-H as advisor in Northern California 

Matt Rodriguez joined UC Cooperative Extension on Sept. 5 as a 4-H youth development advisor for Nevada, Placer, Sutter and Yuba counties. As a 4-H advisor, Rodriguez implements extension education and applied research programs grounded in positive youth development theory. He also provides expertise to enhance volunteer engagement in 4-H youth development programs.

Rodriguez earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland's School of Public Health in the Department of Family Science. His dissertation, “Influence of Latinx Fathers' Behaviors, Cognitions, Affect, and Family Congruence on Youth Energy Balance-Related Health Outcomes,” investigated Latinx father involvement in the context of youth energy balance-related behaviors. During his doctoral training, Rodriguez also supported several USDA-funded research initiatives involving Latinx fathers and youth. His recent publication, "Predictors Associated with Fathers' Successful Completion of the FOCUS Program,” investigated a sample of fathers in Texas who participated in a child welfare parenting intervention.

Rodriguez currently co-chairs the Men in Families focus group at the National Council on Family Relations. He was also recently elected as Section Counselor for the American Public Health Association's Health Informatics Information Technology section.

Prior to his doctoral studies, Rodriguez was a professional web developer for several large nonprofits in the Midwest. Growing up in a multicultural family with ancestry deriving from Puerto Rico, Japan, Nigeria and England, he embraces the importance of cultural diversity and competency in his family science research.

Rodriguez is based in Auburn and can be reached at (530) 889-7391 and mrro@ucanr.edu and on social media @MattR_Rodriguez. 

Martinico named human-wildlife interactions advisor 

Breanna Martinico joined UC Cooperative Extension as a Human-Wildlife Interactions Advisor on July 5. She will work on issues that involve wildlife as agricultural pests and beneficial species. She will be conducting a needs assessment to learn about priority issues in Napa, Lake and Solano counties.  

Martinico is a wildlife biologist and ecologist, specializing in ornithology. Her past research addressed the role of birds on farms as pests and pest control agents. She has worked on projects investigating the important role farmland plays as habitat for California birds. In other work with the USDA Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, she investigated the implications of agricultural land-use and pest management practices on raptor ecology and conservation.

Martinico is a UC Davis graduate with a B.S. in wildlife fish and conservation biology, MS in avian sciences, and has nearly completed her Ph.D. in ecology.  

Martinico is compelled by the co-existence and mutual benefits of humans and wildlife in agroecosystems and is committed to working to find solutions that benefit both people and wildlife. She is excited to be part of UC ANR where she can develop a research and extension program that has the power to increase knowledge and adoption of management practices that promote ecological sustainability and increase farm viability in California.

Martinico is based in Napa and can be reached at bmartinico@ucanr.edu or (707) 253-4141.

Forest Stewardship Education Initiative wins award

UC ANR's Forest Stewardship Education Initiative received the national Family Forest Education Comprehensive Program Award from the National Woodland Owners Association and the National Association of University Forest Resources Programs.

The award is shared by the UC ANR forestry team which includes co-principal investigators: Susie Kocher, UCCE forest and natural resources advisor for the Central Sierra; Mike Jones, forestry advisor for Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma counties; and Kim Ingram, Forest Stewardship Education Initiative academic coordinator. 

Other UC ANR forestry team members include Yana Valachovic, UCCE forest advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties; Ricky Satomi, forestry and natural resources advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Placer, Nevada and Butte counties; Ryan Tompkins, UCCE forest and natural resources advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties; Rob York, UCCE specialist and co-director of Berkeley Forests; Bill Stewart, UCCE specialist emeritus; Rachelle Hedges, Berkeley Forests project and policy analyst; and Ariel Roughton, Berkeley Forests research stations manager. 

The initiative – developed in 2019 as a project through input by the Forest Landowner Education and Outreach Working Group of the California Governor's Forest Management Task Force – is focused on educating private forest landowners to better understand, manage and protect their forests by developing a forest management plan, engaging with natural resource professionals, and taking advantage of cost-share opportunities that can help them meet their management goals.

The program was implemented using three-day forest stewardship workshops prior to COVID-19 and an educational construct involving self-study in advance of online sessions with resource educators during the pandemic. 

Currently the program involves nine weekly online sessions and one in-person field day. Completion of the workshop series entitles participants to an initial site visit by a resource professional. To date, 335 individuals attended, with 98% indicating improvement in the understanding of forest management planning, 89% planning to consult with a professional, and through May 2022, 49 participants have had site visits from professionals using the program's $800 stipend that supported the visit.

Evaluators felt that the sessions reflected “Excellent submission and programming,” and that it was “Highly complementary that personnel follow-up with participants AFTER the program to determine impacts cited.” Some were also impressed when recognizing the narrative that program managers would like to reach more private landowners about participating in the program using a benefit/barrier assessment.

One evaluator commented, “This is a very high-quality program. It easily rates very high in each of the criteria categories. The nomination package was thorough and it is evident that those involved in the development and delivery of these workshops are knowledgeable and passionate about landowner and professional education. Kudos to California!”

“Our funder CAL FIRE was so pleased with the program that they funded an expansion starting in 2022, which includes additional field days for people not in the workshops, and additional outreach to broad audiences across the state,” Kocher said. “We have funding for two community education specialists and a communications person, which are under recruitment.”

The award was presented on Sept. 22 at the 2022 Society of American Foresters national convention in Baltimore, Maryland.

Roche and multi-state team win NIFA Partnership Award 

Leslie Roche, UCCE rangeland management specialist, received on Oct. 6 the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Partnership Award for Multi-State Efforts on behalf of the National Connections Team for Forest and Rangeland Resources.

The certificate reads, “NIFA recognizes the National Connections Team for Forest and Rangeland Resources, based at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, for developing a webinar series around Renewable Resources and Extension Act critical issues. The team's goal for the webinar series was to strengthen RREA programming by increasing renewable resource Extension and outreach professionals' capacity to provide scientific and technologically relevant content. It showcased innovative programming developed by forest and range professionals from Land-grant universities across the nation. Evaluations showed the series had both national and global appeal. Additionally, the webinar series were influential with participants indicating that they had learned ways to enhance their own programming.”

The multi-state team was led by Mark Thorne (University of Hawaii-Manoa) and Barb Hutchinson (Rangelands Partnership/University of Arizona) and includes Kris Tiles (University of Wisconsin), Retta Bruegger (Colorado State University), Adam Downing (Virginia Tech), Sheila Merrigan (Rangelands Partnership/University of  Arizona), Martha Monroe (University of Florida), Dave Bogner (University of Arizona), Elise Gornish ( University of Arizona), and Roche.

The web-based conference series can be viewed at https://globalrangelands.org/rreasp/webinars.

4-H receives national recognition

At the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals annual conference, UCANR 4-H was recognized. Fe Moncloa, 4-H advisor for Santa Clara County; Martin Smith, UCCE specialist; Charles Go, former 4-H advisor for Contra Costa County; and Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, statewide 4-H Youth Development director and interim director of County Cooperative Extension, received awards for 25 years of service to the organization. JoLynn Miller, 4-H youth development advisor, received the distinguished service award for 7 to 15 years of service to NAE4-HYDP. Stephanie Barrett, 4-H community education supervisor for Southern California, received an achievement-is-service award for serving 3 to 7 years.

 

 

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