Announcements

In memoriam: Donald May

Donald May, UC Cooperative Extension advisor emeritus, passed away on Dec. 3, 2020, in Fresno. He was 86.

May, who was raised on an alfalfa and livestock farm in Utah, belonged to 4-H and FFA and showed beef, sheep and hogs at the county fair. After earning a B.S. in 1957 and M.S. in 1958 in agronomy at Utah State University, he was hired in 1958 as a UCCE agronomist farm advisor in Los Angeles County.

After seven years in Los Angeles County as an agronomy advisor, he was chosen in 1965 to become the first full-time UCCE vegetable crop farm advisor in Fresno County on the basis of his strong research program in Los Angeles and his introduction of new agronomy crops to the farmers of the Antelope Valley.

His research focused on profitable and sustainable vegetable crop production for processing tomatoes, melons, onions and garlic. Developing varieties of tomatoes for hot temperatures was major focus of his extensive trials.

“Don May was a very active, applied field researcher working on tomatoes and other vegetable crops,” said Gene Miyao, UCCE advisor emeritus. “Don demonstrated that while processing California tomato yields doubled to over 50 tons per acre in the present day, applied-water need remained nearly the same. Don was a friend and mentor to many.” 

Other early 1970s research by May persuaded melon packers to switch from 80-pound wood crates to 40-pound paper cartons, which substantially reduced costs. May introduced the use of virus-free sweet potatoes and garlic seed to growers that doubled yields and improved fruit quality.

A proponent of integrated pest management, May promoted practices that led to greatly reduced pesticide use. His research from 1970 to 1990 developed the processing tomato irrigation scheduling program to maximize yield and percent solids, which is used worldwide for both furrow and drip irrigation.

“Don was an amazing example and model of hard work, effort and accomplishment,” said UCCE specialist Jeff Mitchell, who got a summer job working for May at the UC West Side Field Station prior to starting his master's degree studies at UC Davis. Later, as a UC Davis graduate student, Mitchell established his field project at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center under the guidance of May, who became a member of his thesis committee. 

In 1998, May retired from his 40-year career as a UCCE farm advisor, but continued research on water issues with UCCE specialist Blaine Hanson. In a speech at the 2012 California Soil and Plant Conference where he was honored, May said, “I have enjoyed the challenges for 52 years of conducting applied research and education of agronomy.”

Over his career, May published 95 peer-reviewed papers. His professional awards include the 1990 Distinguished Service Award from Fresno County Farm Bureau for 25 years of service to Fresno County's vegetable industry. In 1996, he was recognized by the 2nd Worldwide Congress on Processing Tomatoes for publishing the most scientific papers since their inception in 1989. In 2004, California Melon Research Board presented him with an appreciation award for many years of outstanding contributions to the California melon industry. In 2009, the California Tomato Processing Growers Association honored May for his research on drip irrigation.

May is survived by his wife of 64 years Peggy, daughter Annette and sons Jeffrey and Alex, and 11 grandchildren. Son Craig and daughter Janet preceded him in death.

In memoriam: Vonny Barlow

Vonny Barlow, former UC Cooperative Extension entomology and crop production advisor in Riverside County, passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 9 from a massive heart attack after being transported to a Palm Springs hospital. He was 55.

Barlow, a native of Mountain View, joined UC ANR in 2009 as an entomology and crop production advisor. He worked mostly in alfalfa, cotton, melons, lettuce and broccoli. For many years, he served as an affiliate integrated pest management advisor, the Entomology Workgroup co-chair and as an entomology project leader for 4-H in Riverside County.

Barlow volunteered with Winrock International, a non-profit organization that administers the Asia Farmer-to-Farmer Program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Under this program, he conducted training on ‘Improved Knowledge in Safe and Judicious Use and Handling of Pesticides' for agro-input retailers, input company and association representatives, and USAID-funded Agro-Inputs Project staff in five different locations, namely Barisal, Faridpur, Khulna, Dhaka and Jessore in Bangladesh,” said Sonia Rios, UCCE subtropical horticulture advisor for Riverside and San Diego counties.

In 2016, Barlow left UCCE Riverside County to conduct research with UCCE specialist Larry Godfrey, under whom he had studied as a UC Davis graduate student. He then started his own consulting business in Blythe.

“He was known well by growers for his expertise and friendliness," Rios said.

Prior to UC ANR, Barlow was a post-doctorate researcher at North Carolina State University evaluating the “whole-farm” approach to mating disruption used in apple orchards to manage codling moth and oriental fruit moth.

He earned a B.S. in biological sciences with special emphasis in entomology from California State University, San Jose, an M.S. in plant protection and pest management from UC Davis, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. 

Barlow is survived by his mother Janice Barlow of San Jose and brother Cary Barlow, also of San Jose.

Funeral services will be held Dec. 28 in Palm Springs and are limited to five people due to public health orders for coronavirus reduction. If you would like to send condolences to Barlow's family, contact Rios at sirios@ucanr.edu.

Read more about Barlow's career at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=44483.

Jan. 15 last day to update tax information

UCPath begins processing W-2s in late January. To ensure the information on your W-2 is complete, accurate and reaches you, please take the following steps by Jan. 15, 2021. 

• Verify your personal email and home address in UCPath online. Even if you opt for a digital W-2, it's important that UC can reach you.
• Verify your dependents. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires UC to make reasonable efforts to obtain Social Security numbers for employees, their spouses/domestic partners and dependents. To review or update your information, log in to UCPath online, then select Employee Actions > Health and Welfare > Dependent Coverage.
• Opt-in to an electronic W-2. Online W-2s are easy, secure and oh-so-convenient! To sign up, log in to UCPath online, then select Employee Actions > Income and Taxes > Enroll to Receive Online W-2.
• International workers: Verify your GLACIER account information. International employees may receive a W-2 or 1042-S (Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding). To ensure your tax information is sent correctly, verify that your personal email and home addresses match exactly in UCPath online and the GLACIER tax database. You may also opt to have an electronic 1042-S through GLACIER. Learn more about Form 1042-S.

Important security reminder
UC does not send W-2 statements by email or text. If you receive an email or text with a link or an attachment for viewing a W-2, it is a phishing scam designed to gain your private information. Do not open attachments or click email links that claim to provide access to your W-2. To access your electronic W-2, always go to UCPath online using a safe/known link. 

For information on the Federal and State Earned Income Tax Credit and claiming exemption from withholding, visit the UCPath website.

Photos documenting farmworkers in the 1960s archived by UC Merced

In 1959, Ernest Lowe joined the staff of Pacifica radio station KPFA and almost immediately began documenting the lives of migrant farmworkers. Last year, UC Merced hosted an exhibition of some of those photographs, and now has acquired the complete collection - which the university has made available for free to the public online at https://calisphere.org/collections/27647. Nearly 3,000 photos are in the collection.

Mario Sifuentez, director of the UC Merced's Center for the Humanities and associate professor of history, as well as Emily Lin, head of digital curation and scholarship, were interviewed by KVPR about the photographs. Listen at https://www.kvpr.org/post/uc-merced-acquires-photo-collection-documenting-farmworkers-1960s#stream/0

Academic professional society meeting travel fund requests due Jan. 11

The Academic Assembly Council (AAC) travel fund supports professional societies that are recognized organizations holding regularly scheduled meetings primarily for the reporting and exchange of knowledge among members. The societies publish peer-refereed journals and/or edited proceedings of meetings to promote professional growth.

UC Cooperative Extension advisors, academic coordinators and specialists are eligible for one meeting approval per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). AAC Program Committee approval is only for expense reimbursement from the Professional Society Meeting Fund. Leave with pay to attend the meeting must be approved by your immediate supervisor.

If you do not use the funds and do not notify Michelle Hammer Coffer (mahammer@ucanr.edu), you will be ineligible for funds for two years.

For guidelines for travel reimbursement, see https://ucanr.edu/sites/UCAAC/files/340495.pdf.  

Requests are due Monday, Jan. 11 at 5 p.m.

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