- Author: Saoimanu Sope
UC ANR advisors, staff research methods in conserving highly perishable product
If you visited the greenhouse at the University of California South Coast Research and Extension Center in early fall, you would have smelled a sweet aroma with notes of lemon, pepper and licorice.
In one of the conservatories, a team of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and staff grew seven varieties of basil and by the end of October, the plants stretched nearly two feet tall with leaves large enough to warrant a closer look. The wonderful smell would soon become delightful tastes, as the team planned to turn the basil into pesto.
"The rationale was to provide a high-value crop and a value-added solution for urban horticulture, transforming a highly perishable product into something that can be conserved," said Gerardo "Gerry" Spinelli, UC Cooperative Extension production horticulture advisor for San Diego County, who initiated the passion project.
After noticing a sign at South Coast REC asking consumers to use produce grown onsite in their everyday cooking, Spinelli felt inspired. The sign also requested photos of homemade dishes be sent to South Coast REC's interim director, Lindsey Pedroncelli, to generate content for the REC's Instagram account.
Envisioning a "bigger picture" for this effort, Spinelli turned to Pedroncelli for support. The two agreed that the basil project demonstrates a viable pathway for urban growers who have limited space, and positions South Coast REC as an ideal partner for such endeavors. Uniquely located in urban Irvine, South Coast REC has nearly 200 acres of land reserved for agricultural research and is one of nine RECs housed under UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
"Urban growers are constantly looking for new ways to grow food and market their products. Growing plants using the Kratky hydroponic system is a low-input method that is simple to establish and easy to maintain," said Pedroncelli.
Aside from its research purposes, the project was the perfect opportunity to engage other advisors and staff at South Coast REC. The extra hands and taste buds that helped with this effort would later be known as the South Coast REC Pesto Task Force.
Growing in hydroponics
Given Spinelli and Pedroncelli's Italian ancestry, it was no question that the basil would be used to make pesto – a traditional sauce originating from Genoa, Italy that's commonly consumed on pasta. In just about two months, the following basil varieties flourished in a hydroponic system: cinnamon, Mrs. Burns' Lemon, Kapoor Tulsi, Thai Towers, Amethyst Improved, Red Rubin and the traditional Genovese. With these varieties, Spinelli and Pedroncelli were also interested in testing how taste and color affect the pesto.
Since learning about the Kratky method, a passive hydroponic technique developed by Bernard Kratky at the University of Hawai'i, Spinelli has championed it as an easy and affordable way to grow food. He has produced several videos in English and Spanish about the technique on his YouTube Channel and created a fact sheet that can be downloaded from his website.
Some of its advantages are the low initial capital investment, excellent water and nitrogen use efficiency, short cycle of production and the fact that it is modular and easy to set up, move and store – a major advantage for growers who only have access to space for a limited time and investments on immobile structures are not justifiable.
For the setup, eight 2'-by-3' tubs were used, and each was filled with 20 gallons of water before adding a fertilizer mix that contains one ounce of calcium nitrate, one ounce of magnesium sulfate or Epson salt and 0.6 ounces of lettuce formula. With the additional steps of seeding, drilling holes into the Styrofoam, and placing the net cups with seedlings into each hole, Spinelli estimated about 30 minutes of setup for each tub.
Estimating potential profit for urban growers
Although prices per quantity vary, he also estimated about $25 for the 20-gallon tub, a panel of Styrofoam and net baskets, which can all be reused. In addition, the fertilizer and propagation materials, including seeds and pellets, will cost roughly $68. When breaking these materials down according to the number of growing cycles, about one to two months each, the cost amounts to approximately $5 per tub for 25 cycles.
Using basil sold at Trader Joe's for reference, Spinelli estimated that each ounce of basil grown is worth about 70 cents. The "million-dollar question," as Spinelli puts it, is how much profit one can earn from this endeavor. Because the Amethyst Improved and Red Rubin varieties had the lowest yields of 12 and 18 ounces, they were combined to make 40 ounces of pesto. In contrast, Genovese had the highest yield of 51 ounces of basil – which produced 64 ounces of pesto.
Using a ratio of 0.7 to 0.9 ounces of basil for every liquid ounce of pesto, and calculating projected value based on Trader Joe's pricing, the Amethyst Improved and Red Rubin combined pesto had a projected value of $21, whereas Genovese had a projected value of $36. Without being combined with any other variety, however, the smallest projected value was the Kapoor Tulsi variety which had a yield of 22.5 ounces, making 28 ounces of pesto and resulting in a $16 projected value.
There are a few costs that Spinelli and Pedroncelli could not account for, such as hypothetical transportation to the market for sale, and the various prices of ingredients used to make pesto – almonds and walnuts, for instance, could be used as a cheaper alternative to the traditional pine nuts.
"With a traditional recipe you spend $5 for the basil and $25 for the other ingredients to produce eight 8-ounce jars of pesto. If you can sell each jar for $10 at the farmers market, there are $50 for profit – maybe more if you can sell one jar for $15, or you can save with non-traditional ingredients," Spinelli explained.
An additional advantage, which may come with additional expenses, is that pesto can be conserved. The business model could be that the grower sells basil at the farmers market and transforms the unsold product into pesto before it goes bad.
"Getting involved in agriculture can be intimidating and costly, so researching and showcasing inexpensive methods that can easily be scaled to fit your needs is incredibly helpful for both new and seasoned growers," Pedroncelli said.
South Coast REC staff offer taste buds at ‘pesto party'
Following their harvests in October, Spinelli and Pedroncelli hosted two "pesto parties" for staff at South Coast REC. Although traditional pesto is made with Genovese basil, pine nuts, garlic, Pecorino cheese and olive oil, Spinelli and Pedroncelli experimented with different cheeses and nuts across the seven varieties of basil. Staff offered their taste buds and critical review of each pesto, advising the two chefs to add more or less of a particular ingredient.
Eager to share their progress and vision with UC ANR's senior leadership, Spinelli and Pedroncelli carefully preserved and packaged eight jars of homemade pesto and had it specially delivered to Vice President Glenda Humiston.
"This is a creative way to demonstrate innovation and a fantastic opportunity to support our urban communities. It's not just practical, but economically feasible," said Humiston, who was pleasantly surprised by the pesto delivery. "Plus, I love pesto!" she added.
What started out as a passion project quickly turned into an opportunity to show how a resource hub like South Coast REC can empower its urban clientele both educationally and economically. It was also the perfect opportunity to engage South Coast REC staff in an activity outside of their day-to-day responsibilities, making for excellent photo ops and social media posts.
Dear UC ANR Colleagues:
For everyone across UC ANR, 2024 has been an extraordinary year of research and extension activities that have made a true difference in so many lives. I can never thank you enough for everything you do for our communities – and for our colleagues! It is such a pleasure and inspiration to work alongside our outstanding statewide program and institute teams; our fantastic community educators; our phenomenal advisors, specialists and Agricultural Experiment Station faculty; and – of course – our amazing administrative and support staff who fuel our efforts.
Your work continues to raise the visibility of and respect for UC ANR within UC, throughout the state and beyond, bringing us new partners to achieve shared goals.
To all of you who bring such passion and energy to our mission: I wish you many opportunities to recharge during the break, with much warmth, cheer and joy alongside your family and friends!
Happy holidays and best wishes for an even better 2025,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
- Author: Jaki Hsieh Wojan
To comply with UC-wide policy to protect UC ANR and its employees' data, IT is taking steps to strengthen security for logins. The following changes to the Duo authentication process will go into effect on Jan. 13, 2025.
Please make sure to have your Duo Mobile application up-to-date.
What's changing
IT will be enabling Duo's Verified Push for UC ANR SSO logins. When you login using UC ANR SSO (Fig. 1), Verified Push will require that you enter a code into the Duo Mobile app.
After you enter your username and password, a three-digit code will be displayed in your browser (Fig 2).
Duo Mobile will prompt you to enter the code and select verify to continue (Fig. 3)
After your device is verified, you can choose "Yes, this is my device" (Fig. 4) to stay verified for 16 hours. During this time, Duo won't ask you to verify again as long as you're using the same browser.
Note: Applications using UC Davis SSO (Fig. 5) will not be impacted by this change.
Need help?
If you have problems logging in, contact the Help Desk at help@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1212.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Holtz receives Almond Technical Achievement Award 
Brent Holtz, UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems advisor, received the 2024 Almond Board of California's Almond Technical Achievement Award on Dec. 11 at the Almond Conference, held at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento.
Recognized as the "Grandfather of Whole Orchard Recycling," Holtz has revolutionized how almond growers approach orchard sustainability. As an alternative to field burning, the farm advisor for San Joaquin County researched shredding orchard prunings, finding multiple benefits. He has championed whole orchard recycling as a method to improve soil health by recycling entire orchards back into the soil before replanting.
Williams honored for lifetime achievement
Williams showed that vineyard water use (ETc) can be reliably estimated by multiplying reference evapotranspiration (ETo) by a crop coefficient. Reference ET can be obtained from private or public weather stations, such as the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS). The crop-coefficient (Kc) accounts for crop characteristics that differ from the reference crop, including the type of plant, growth stage and canopy architecture, and is usually determined experimentally.
Read more about Williams's research at https://www.growingproduce.com/fruits/grapes/learning-more-about-optimal-grape-growing-made-in-the-shade.
Linquist named Soil Science Society of America fellow 
The Soil Science Society of America named Bruce Linquist, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, a fellow of the society. The honor recognizes Linquist's leadership and research excellence in cultivation techniques that reduce water use and farmers' expenses in the water-intensive crop of rice. He was recognized at the society's international annual meeting on Nov. 11 in San Antonio, Texas.
Linquist studies sustainability of rice systems, including nutrient management and fertility, the quality of water leaving rice fields and greenhouse gas emissions.
One of Linquist's areas of focus is the benefits of reducing or eliminating the tilling of land. While tilling is a common practice, reduced tillage helps preserve the soil's natural structure, conserves organic matter, boosts beneficial organisms in the soil and makes it more resistant to erosion -- plus, it reduces soil compaction by farm equipment. In addition to reducing tillage costs, farmers can also use less water, an increasingly valuable resource.
“In the near future, I hope to explore no-till in rice systems as an opportunity to reduce water use and input costs,” Linquist said. “I am happy that the work from my lab and of many students is being developed into a recognized climate-smart practice for California rice farmers that could help them with their bottom line.”
Read more about Linquist's work at https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/news/linquist-sssa-fellow.
Spinelli honored with nursery research award
Gerardo “Gerry” Spinelli, UCCE production horticulture advisor for San Diego County, was recognized bythe Plant California Alliance at the UC Nursery and Floriculture Alliance Nursery Conference in Watsonville in October. Spinelli received the 2023 Research Award for his outstanding contributions to the California nursery industry.
His research focuses on water and nitrogen management in horticultural container production, hydroponics and greenhouses. He works with nursery growers to improve the efficiency of irrigation water application, water distribution uniformity and correct scheduling of irrigation events, along with irrigation runoff, storm water management, nitrate and sediment management and erosion control.
Learn more about Spinelli's research and extension program at https://bit.ly/3YReQ0j.
Niederholzer named Certified Crop Adviser of the Year 
Franz Niederholzer, UC Cooperative Extension orchard systems advisor for Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties, was named this year's Certified Crop Adviser of the Year by the Western Region Certified Crop Advisers. He received the award at the 2024 Crop Consultant Conference, hosted by JCS Marketing Inc. and Western Region Certified Crop Advisers on Sept. 25 and 26 in Visalia.
“It was a surprise and an honor to get that award from a great organization,” said Niederholzer, who specializes in prunes, almonds, pears, apples, cherries, olives, plums, citrus and pomegranates, and studies orchard mineral nutrition, rootstock evaluation, crop load management and airblast spray coverage and drift.
The Certified Crop Adviser of the Year award recognizes a certified crop adviser in the western region of the U.S. who has shown dedicated and exceptional performance as an adviser. The ideal candidate leads others to promote agricultural practices that benefit the farmers and environment in the western region.
Niederholzer served as a member of the WRCCA Board of Directors from 2006 to 2022. While on the board, he served on the WRCCA Testing and Continuing Education Committee, including 10 years as committee chair.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Berris to advise on water management, soil health in northern Bay Area 
Helaine Berris joined UC Agriculture and Natural Resources on Nov. 4 as the UC Cooperative Extension water and soil advisor for Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Mendocino counties. Berris will conduct research and extension activities that promote sustainable, innovative and economically viable on-farm water management.
“My program will be shaped around practices that help agricultural producers improve water efficiency and soil health, meet local regulations, and adapt to environmental extremes,” Berris explained. “This may include soil health practices to improve water holding capacity, irrigation management, research around soil-plant-water dynamics and more.”
Originally from northern Nevada, Berris attained her bachelor's degree in eco-hydrology from University of Nevada, Reno. She went on to earn a master's in hydrologic sciences – and another master's in international agricultural development – from UC Davis, where she studied farmer needs in water-stressed basins and soil-water dynamics in cover-cropped rice systems.
Her career path included some time at an agricultural technology company and four years as a teacher in China and Spain. Most recently Berris worked as a soil conservationist for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service in Seattle.
“I love working on applied projects that have tangible outcomes and working with passionate people,” Berris said. “I'm constantly inspired by the many incredible scientists, partners and producers working in this space – and it's a great feeling when we can all combine our strengths for a common goal.”
Berris said she looks forward to developing collaborations with clientele and community members to solve challenges across Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Mendocino counties.
“My main career goal is that my work is relevant to the local community; for me, that's what being an advisor is all about – to live and work in a few counties, where I can focus my energy on really understanding the nitty-gritty of the water-agriculture challenges at a local scale,” Berris said. “These challenges will be continuously changing, which will require me to be constantly learning and adapting – but that's the fun of the job.”
Based in Santa Rosa at the UCCE office for Sonoma County, Berris can be reached at hmberris@ucanr.edu or (707) 565-2621.
Swain joins UC ANR as climate scientist 
Daniel Swain joined UC ANR on Nov. 1 as a climate scientist (associate professional researcher) in the California Institute for Water Resources. Swain studies the changing character, causes and impacts of extreme weather and climate events on a warming planet – with a particular focus on the physical processes leading to droughts, floods and wildfires.
Swain is known for his exceptional science communication skills, explaining weather and climate in terms easily understood by the public, and looks forward to sharing public communication strategies with UC ANR colleagues.
“I spend a great deal of time engaging directly with the public in California and beyond on weather, climate and disaster-related topics, so I'm thrilled to be joining UC ANR—where broad dissemination of research-based information is a key part of the mission,” Swain said. “I'm grateful for ANR's support for my unusual hybrid climate research and science communication role, and look forward to helping fulfill ANR's ‘21st-century extension' goals in the years to come.”
The “Weather Whisperer” fields hundreds of calls from reporters every year and has been the single most-quoted expert in recent years at UCLA, where he was a climate scientist in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Last year, when Swain was seeking institutional support that would allow him to do science communication as well as research, a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote, “I certainly rely on Swain and other scientists to tell environmental stories.”
The “Weather whisperer” fields hundred calls from reporters every year and has been the single most quoted expert at UCLA in recent years, according to a profile in UCOP Link. Last year, when Swain was seeking institutional support that would allow him to do science communication as well as research, a Los Angeles Times columnist wrote, “I certainly rely on Swain and other scientists to tell environmental stories.”
The term "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" was coined in 2013 by Swain on his Weather West blog to describe the large, formidable high-pressure mass that persisted over the West Coast during winter and diverted storms away from California, contributing to the state's 2013-2017 drought.
In 2023, he spoke to the UC Regents Public Engagement and Development Committee about the importance of how scientists communicate with the public and policymakers about the complex topic of climate change.
In November, Swain was named one of Vox's Future Perfect 50 – “the thinkers, activists and scholars working on solutions to today's (and tomorrow's) biggest problems.” Vox wrote: “Our communities and institutions are largely unequipped to fully understand, let alone deal with, the impacts of climate change. That's where climate experts should, theoretically, come in. But knowing the science is one thing – being able to effectively communicate it is a whole other ballpark. Climate scientist Daniel Swain is that desperately needed liaison.”
Before joining UC ANR, Swain, who grew up in the Bay Area, was at UCLA and held a concurrent appointment as a research fellow in the Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research since 2018. While holding a 100% appointment with UC ANR, he will maintain his associations with UCLA and NSF NCAR.
Swain holds a Ph.D. in Earth system science from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from UC Davis.
Samuel Sandoval Solís met Swain when Swain was a student at UC Davis. “I am very excited to work with Daniel Swain, he is not only a great scientist, but also an amazing communicator and a great person,” said Sandoval, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in water resources at UC Davis. “I look forward to collaborating and working side-by-side with Daniel."
Swain will be the keynote speaker at the California Irrigation Institute's annual conference on Jan. 27 in Sacramento. His talk is titled “Drier and Wetter in 21st Century California? Managing Increasing Hydroclimate Whiplash in a Warming World.”
Swain is headquartered in the California Institute for Water Resources and can be reached at dlswain@ucanr.edu. In addition to posting on his blog at weatherwest.com, Swain is also on Twitter/X https://x.com/Weather_West, Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/weatherwest.bsky.social… YouTube https://youtube.com/@weatherwest, Threads https://threads.net/@weather.west and Mastodon https://mastodon.social/@weatherwest.
Sung-Jereczek named UCCE's first beneficial burning and tribal land stewardship advisor 
Ally Sung-Jereczek joined UC Cooperative Extension on Oct. 1 as UC ANR's first beneficial burning and tribal land stewardship advisor. She will be serving in Mendocino and Lake counties.
In this new role, Sung-Jereczek will be working alongside tribes to help identify needs and build capacity towards long-term sustainable land stewardship goals that align with the tribes cultural, social, and economic priorities. She is currently working on connecting and listening to each of the tribes throughout the region and hoping to build relationships to provide tools, resources and funding opportunities for partnerships among tribes, state agencies, private landowners, organizations and policymakers to support beneficial burning, climate adaptation planning and resiliency projects.
Born and raised on Muwekma Ohlone land in the East Bay Area, Sung-Jereczek always had an interest in humans and their connections to place and the environment. She earned a bachelor's degree in geography and conservation biology at UCLA.
Following graduation, she worked as an environmental planner and wildlife biologist. “I began to notice how our personal connections to the land shape our perspectives and define our decisionmaking,” she said.
Sung-Jereczek earned her master's degree at the University of Michigan, working on an interdisciplinary degree at the School for Environment and Sustainability specializing in environmental justice, behavior change, communication and ecosystem science management. Her graduate research primarily focused on community-based participatory research and strengthening university and tribal partnerships alongside the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, facilitating listening circles and developing an ecological assessment that would support the priorities of the tribe for stewardship of the Chase Osborn Preserve (~3,000 acres of hemiboreal forest) located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She also worked on the Western Forest Fire Initiative at Michigan studying the relationship between wildfire, forests and communities in a changing climate as a social-ecological system.
“I am looking forward to going beyond checking the regulatory box set by federal and state regulators and working towards building reciprocal relationships rooted in cultural humility, respect and responsibility,” Sung-Jereczek said. “Although I understand the current fear and trauma of fire that climate change and fire suppression regimes have caused, I also hope to empower communities and shift the ways in which we currently think, interact and live with fire in the future.”
She will also be working alongside the UCANR Fire Network supporting the use of fire as a tool for land managers and climate resilience.
Sung-Jereczek is based out of the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center on ancestral and unceded Shóqowa (Sho-Ka-Wah) territory and can be reached at asungjereczek@ucanr.edu.
Miller joins UC ANR as UCCE director for Alameda, Contra Costa counties 
Andrew Miller joined UC Cooperative Extension on Sept. 16 as the area director for Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
While Miller grew up in the East Bay, he spent the greater part of the last 15 years overseas where, most recently, he co-founded a series of social businesses in Guatemala around tropical landscape restoration, in particular, Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood products and organic cocoa bean production. One project involved a large investment from LUSH Cosmetics to restore over 1,000 acres of degraded cattle pasture with agroforestry systems designed to feed LUSH's supply chain with cocoa butter and aromatic oils.
Previously, he worked in Panama on the management of large-scale tropical forestry and renewable energy projects. “I am particularly curious about bringing environmental finance and innovative technology to bear on seemingly intractable problems of deforestation, climate change, emigration and food systems,” Miller said. “I believe firmly in the importance of aligning social, environmental and economic interests to ensure long-term, sustainable outcomes.”
Before shifting to social entrepreneurship, Miller worked in international development in the areas of food security, maternal and child health, and natural resources management. He served as a Leland Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center and was assigned a monitoring and evaluation role on U.S. Agency for International Development-sponsored food security programs across Latin America and Africa. Before USAID, he worked as a consultant at a strategic planning firm in the San Francisco Bay Area, helping cities, counties and public universities to develop and carry out participatory planning initiatives.
As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, he continues to celebrate the friendships formed during his service in a predominantly Mayan-speaking region of Guatemala's highlands.
Miller is an avid gardener and looks forward to absorbing know-how from his counties' UC Master Gardener programs and swapping experiences on orchard crops and urban landscapes with the local UCCE advisors.
He holds dual master's degrees in public and international affairs as well as urban and regional planning from Princeton University, an MBA from IE Business School in Madrid with the support of a Fulbright Fellowship, and degree in international development studies from Brown University.
Miller is based at the UCCE offices in Concord and Hayward and can be reached at ammil@ucanr.edu.
