- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
For the first time, all UC ANR staff are invited to take the UC Maintain Don't Gain Challenge during the holiday season. The challenge, brought to you by the UC ANR Staff Assembly wellness committee, runs from Nov. 19 to Jan. 7.
The average American gains 1 to 5 pounds over the holidays and over time, the weight can add up. Don't wait for New Year's resolutions. Give yourself the gift of maintaining your pre-holiday weight. Join your UC ANR colleagues to take the Maintain Don't Gain Challenge.
Incentives and prizes make participation fun. And don't worry, there are no weigh-ins!
The first 100 UC ANR staff to sign up for the Maintain Don't Gain Challenge will receive an insulated grocery tote. Those who complete a brief survey (with no 'results' info) after the challenge will be entered to win a FitBit Alta.
You will receive weekly emails with hints and strategies for adopting healthy behaviors throughout the holidays. The program will provide tips and support for improving nutrition, physical activity and mental/emotional well-being.
To register, click here and complete the survey.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
People raising cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, swine, horses, llamas, alpacas, aquaculture species or other production-oriented animals in California who have experienced at least one wildfire on their property within the last 10 years are being asked to participate in a Fire Impact and Risk Evaluation (FIRE) survey.
“We will aim to quantify the impact of wildfires in different livestock production systems,” said Beatriz Martinez Lopez, director of the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “The idea is also to create a risk map showing areas more likely to experience wildfires with high economic impact in California.
“This economic and risk assessment, to the best of our knowledge, has not been done and we hope to identify potential actions that ranchers can take to reduce or mitigate their losses if their property is hit by wildfire.”
Martínez López, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine & Epidemiology at UC Davis, is teaming up with UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisors and wildfire specialists around the state to conduct the study.
The research team includes
- Matthew Shapero, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Ventura County
- Rebecca Ozeran, UCCE advisor in Fresno and Madera counties
- Stephanie Larson, UCCE livestock range management advisor in Sonoma and Marin counties
- Sheila Barry, UCCE livestock and natural resourcesadvisor, in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties
- Josh Davy, UCCE livestock, range and natural resources advisor in Tehama, Colusa and Glenn counties
- Max Moritz, UCCE wildfire specialist, UC Santa Barbara
- Luke Macaulay, UCCE rangeland planning and policy specialist at UC Berkeley
- Lenya Quinn-Davidson, UCCE wildfire advisor in Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity and Mendocino
- counties
“The idea came up in a conference in San Diego, just when we had several ongoing wildfires and we were discussing how poorly are some areas prepared for this and the need for better emergency planning, coordination and response when not only people, but also large animals are involved,” Martínez López said. “We hope this study will provide the foundation to advance in this direction.”
“Right now, we have no good estimate of the real cost of wildfire to livestock producers in California,” said Rebecca Ozeran, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for Fresno and Madera counties. “Existing UCCE forage loss worksheets cannot account for the many other ways that wildfire affects livestock farms and ranches. As such, we need producers' input to help us calculate the range of immediate and long-term costs of wildfire.”
Stephanie Larson, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and range management advisor for Sonoma and Marin counties, agreed, saying, “The more producers who participate, the more accurate and useful our results will be.”
“We hope the survey results will be used by producers across the state to prepare for wildfire,” said Matthew Shapero, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, “And by federal and private agencies to better allocate funds for postfire programs available to livestock producers.”
The survey is online at http://bit.ly/FIREsurvey. It takes 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of properties the participant has that have been affected by wildfire.
“Survey answers are completely confidential and the results will be released only as summaries in which no individual's answers can be identified,” said Martínez López. “This survey will provide critical information to create the foundation for future fire economic assessments and management decisions.”
The team would like your help in encouraging livestock producers who have experienced wildfire to participate in the FIRE survey.
- Author: Rose Hayden-Smith
Please share this message with your students to spread the word about this opportunity. The code "UCANR" on Eventbrite will allow for free registration.
The theme is “Growing the Food Movement.” The summit will bring together more than 30 experts, including business executives, government officials, policymakers, non-profit leaders, farmers, union leaders, chefs, and others dedicated to building a better food system. Expert journalists and food advocates will moderate each panel.
Summit speakers include ANR's own Rachel Surls, UCCE sustainable food systems advisor in Los Angeles County, and Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer.
Students will be among a curated audience of diverse and engaged food advocates. Panels are moderated by major food journalists, some past examples include journalists from National Public Radio, The New York Times, Vice, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, Fast Company, National Geographic, The Washington Post, and dozens more.
The summit will be held at Illumina Theater, The Alexandria at Torrey Pines, 10996 Torreyana Rd., San Diego, Calif.
The event is sponsored by Food Tank, the Berry Good Food Foundation, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the San Diego Bay Food and Wine Festival. For more information, visit https://foodtank.com/summit.
- Author: Elizabeth Sizensky
Did you know that you can borrow books or other material from any UC library via interlibrary loan or document delivery? Books can be mailed to your office, and shorter works can be scanned and emailed to you. More information is at https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/service/services-remote-users.
A great place to start your research is with UC Libraries' growing collection of subject guides, which provide an overview of key information services and resources relevant to researchers in a particular field.
UC Davis
- Information Resources for Cooperative Extension Staff (emphasis on agriculture, but provides an overview relevant to all users at remote sites)
- Food Science and Nutrition
- Community Development
UC Berkeley
UC Merced
The UC Cooperative Extension Archive at Merced has been named the “California Agriculture Resources Archive" (CARA) and the first documents are now available online. Check out the link below. If you would like more information about CARA, or if you have documents that you would like preserved in the archive, please contact jan.corlett@ucop.edu.
- California Agriculture Resources Archive (CARA), a project to archive, preserve, and provide access to UC Cooperative Extension historic records.
- The UC Cooperative Extension Archive team is starting a new video series covering how to use and search UC Cooperative Extension archival materials online. Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/kYYq89Tmes0
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
You can enroll in pet insurance any time of year, not just during Open Enrollment, and your coverage will be effective the day your application is approved by Nationwide. That means you can enroll beginning Oct. 25 for coverage in 2018, or you can enroll midyear when you welcome a new furry, feathered or scaly family member.
Plans are available for most house pets – dogs, cats, birds, small mammals, even exotic pets such as reptiles.
Animals categorized as livestock (including horses) are ineligible.
Beginning Oct. 25, learn more and enroll on the Nationwide website at http://petinsurance.com/uc, or call Nationwide at (877) 738-7874.