We have important and exciting news regarding changes to our UC ANR Innovate leadership team. Thanks to significant growth of our innovation activities, establishment of UC ANR Innovate as a statewide program, and several new initiatives, our organizational needs have required us to reimagine the structure of the Innovation function across UC ANR. In addition to leading the new California AgTech Alliance – a $15 million statewide collaboration funded by CA Jobs First – we are now fully engaged with the new UC system’s Intellectual Property Management System (IPMS) and enjoying an increasing number of joint research projects with international partners.
To ensure ongoing growth and success for ANR’s innovation activities, we have refined the duties of our Chief Innovation Officer, Gabe Youtsey, to focus on developing The Plant while expanding efforts to build partnerships and innovation coalitions across the state and beyond. He will now report to AVP Darren Haver.
To allow Gabe to focus more of his attention on those initiatives, Helle Petersen will transition into the role of Interim Director of the UC ANR Innovate statewide program and will take over day-to-day management of all personnel, grants and activity related to the program. She will report to Vice Provost Erin Marnocha.
Independent contractors working with Gabe on The Plant will continue to work with him as the sponsor of that project. All other contractors and ANR employees who have been working on innovation projects will now report into Helle. To consolidate our efforts and improve clarity, all activities previously operated by The VINE, will now be delivered by UC ANR Innovate. Our websites and materials will soon reflect these changes.
For those of you who haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with Helle, she joined UC ANR in 2023 as the regional director for our Local Farm and Food Innovation initiative, known publicly as F3Local. She came to us with over 12 years of experience at Fresno State’s Water, Energy and Technology (WET) Center, where she served first as project manager for Water and Energy Ventures and then as the center’s director.
Helle has successfully managed F3Local for the past two years and has worked closely with Gabe on the creation and management of our innovation activity in the Central Valley. She is very familiar with program development and post-award grant management, and is a very strong administrator who understands the vision of “innovation” within UC ANR.
Gabe and Helle will be working with Erin and Darren over the coming few weeks to more fully identify activities, personnel and related funding sources that will transition under the UC ANR Innovate umbrella.
We are grateful to both Gabe and Helle for their willingness to serve in these changing roles and are happy to have their knowledge and experience to guide us smoothly through this transition!
Sincerely,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President