One of the reasons McGourty applied for the position, he explained in his written application, was because UC President Mark Yudof encouraged all UC faculty to reach out to K-12 education, "as the future depends on quality public schools in the state."
McGourty was also asked in the application about his knowledge of the Governor's budget and its impact to education.
"The present budget is abysmal," he responded. "We spend more on prisons than the combined budget of UC, CSU, and community college systems. Too many prisoners are high school drop outs. We cannot afford to have so many people outside of our economic mainstream. We need to have a school system that helps students who learn differently, are differently enabled and not simply focus on delivering a literal arts education for college-bound students. The immediate concern is that a challenging budget will negate many of the positive gains for K-12 education that were made in the previous two decades, such s classroom size reduction, tech education and electives that make school more appealing and interesting to students."
One of the topics of McGourty's research in his role with UCCE is biodynamic agricultural production, which was the focus of a ANR feature story.
Biodynamic farming is similar to organic production. As on organic farms, no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used. The farm is viewed as its own ecosystem and typically supports a diverse mix of crops and livestock, which are considered complimentary. Biodynamic farmers use unique preparations and compost. Planting, cultural operations and harvesting are guided by celestial events.
“Some people scoff or roll their eyes,” McGourty said. “I am interested in looking objectively at what a group of dedicated farmers take very, very seriously. More importantly, they are getting some very good results in their winegrapes and wines.”