- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The Informatics and Geographic Information System Program has announced its Fall 2023 Workshop Schedule. All workshops will be on Zoom and are free for the UC ANR community.
Workshops include
- Intro to ArcGIS Online on Friday, Sept. 22, 1-4 p.m.
- Intro to R Wednesdays workshop series Sept. 27, Oct. 4, 11 and 18 at 10 a.m.-noon
- Intro to ArcGIS Pro on Friday, Oct. 13, 1-4 p.m.
- Intro to Jupyter Notebooks in ArcGIS Pro on Friday, Nov. 17
- Intro to ArcGIS Story Maps on Friday, Dec. 15, 1-4 p.m.
Unfortunately ArcGIS Pro doesn't run on Macs, however ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Story Maps only require a browser. Mac users can still take the ArcGIS Pro workshop because the training will use a virtual machine that runs in a browser. After the workshop, Mac users will need to find another way to run it. Details and registration for the ArcGIS Pro workshop are at https://igis.ucanr.edu/Training/IntroArcPro_Oct_13_2023.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
In return, brand ambassadors will receive branded promotional items, eligibility for prize drawings and public recognition.
Employees in any role are welcome to participate. As Vice President Glenda Humiston often says, we don't want UC ANR to be UC's best-kept secret. Help make the UC ANR brand as strong and memorable as possible!
Brand ambassador activities include:
- Auditing your branding and your unit's branding and fixing any compliance issues
- Ensuring that your unit knows where to find branding information and templates
- Encouraging colleagues to use properly branded email signatures, letterhead, etc.
- Sharing branding information and resources at meetings
- Asking people who are wearing/using outdated logos to work with Strategic Communications to update their items
- Recognizing people who do a good job with brand compliance
- Keeping track of “bad branding” examples you run across (and sharing them with Strategic Communications if they can't be addressed with your guidance)
- Viewing and recommending brand training resources on LinkedIn Learning or elsewhere for inclusion in the communications toolkit
To become a UC ANR brand ambassador, attend an in-person brand training workshop or watch the recorded brand training sessions “Stewarding the UC ANR Brand” at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLjlfxpbNglZ1WUSs3127QrKDkkLEk5rT. Then, let Linda Forbes know you are interested in being a brand ambassador by sending her an email or adding a note to the post-workshop survey.
Participants must pass the Brand Ambassador Certification Test to demonstrate their understanding of effective branding.
For more information on becoming a UC ANR brand ambassador, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/communicationstoolkit/Branding/Brand_Ambassador_Program
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Educational seminars at World Ag Expo are included with the price of admission and feature some of the most knowledgeable professionals working in agriculture. Each year, seminar tracks include dairy and livestock, technology, irrigation and water, demonstrations and more.
Occurring each day of the show, educational seminars are held in the Seminar Center on the southeast side of the grounds. Sessions are either 25 or 55 minutes and include a Q&A session. Exhibitors, universities, government agencies and speakers share their expertise at no cost to help improve producer information and practices.
The seminar application is available at https://bit.ly/wae24seminarapp.
World Ag Expo provides seminar space and audiovisual equipment for each session. The seminar schedule and speaker information will be available online, in the show app, and in the printed show guide. The application deadline is Oct. 31, and speakers will start to be confirmed in November.
In 2023, the show saw 108,233 attendees from 49 states and 56 countries. With more than 1,200 exhibitors on 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, World Ag Expo provides a platform for networking, education and business in one of the most productive agricultural counties in the United States.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
California Women for Agriculture will host the American Agri-Women's 48th annual meeting in Sacramento on Nov. 1-5.
The event will be held at the Embassy Suites in Old Town Sacramento. Tours for attendees and guests will explore the diverse agriculture of Northern California.
The lineup of guest speakers, business sessions and informative workshops is designed to provide leadership and advocacy awareness training for members and guests.
Frank Mitloehner, UC Davis animal science professor and UC Cooperative Extension air quality specialist, will speak at 9 a.m. on Nov. 3.
Discounted registration is $330 for non-members before Sept. 15. Attendance by Zoom costs $50. Registration, schedule and hotel details can be found at https://americanagriwomen.org/national-convention.
AAW is the nation's largest coalition of women in agriculture, with members in 42 states. Since 1974, AAW members have worked together to educate consumers, advocate for agriculture and offer networking and professional development opportunities.
- Author: Saoimanu Sope
About 15 years ago, Mary Maser saw an ad in the classified section of her local newspaper for a job opening with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program serving San Diego County. As a community education specialist with EFNEP, she has provided nutrition lessons for thousands of Spanish-speaking residents until her retirement on July 1.
Maser, who is of Mexican descent and fluent in Spanish, enjoyed working with the Spanish-speaking community in San Diego because it kept her connected to her roots. Before joining University of California Cooperative Extension, Maser taught factory workers English and served as an interpreter in the medical field.
“I've had a lot of different jobs and being fluent in Spanish has helped me in my line of work tremendously,” she said.
“We offer the EFNEP courses in English and Spanish, but a majority of my students were Spanish speakers,” recalled Maser, who taught nutrition education and healthy living practices to adults. Making her students feel as comfortable as possible was important to Maser.
Based on her time with EFNEP, Maser said that she is most proud of her students' dedication.
“I was impressed with the number of students who showed up to every class, wanting to learn, even during the pandemic,” Maser said. When the COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandate hit California, Maser said she started teaching students over the phone.
“I had one student who was spending quality time with family in Tahoe, and I told her that it was okay for us to postpone class,” Maser said. “But she insisted and said she wanted to do it, so we did.”
Maser was the only community education specialist who worked in San Diego's North County. For years, she participated in community events like the Fallbrook Clinic Health Fair, promoting EFNEP and connecting with residents. In 2019, she was recognized by Senator Brian Jones for her work with EFNEP and continued efforts teaching healthy living.
“Many of my students didn't speak English well or at all and had varying levels of education. For some, it was the first class they ever took in their life,” said Maser. “There's a lot of fear and stress they deal with on a daily basis, but it never stopped them from coming to class,” she added, emphasizing how much she admires her students' tenacity to learn.
Shirley Salado, UCCE nutrition supervisor for EFNEP in San Diego County, described Maser as a positive, respectful and considerate teammate. “Mary loved to teach nutrition and fondly cared for the Hispanic community. She was so attentive to her participants, ensuring nutrition knowledge was clearly presented to help families make better healthy choices for their well-being,” Salado said.
In her retirement, Maser is looking forward to traveling and learning another language. “I think Italian would be the easiest for me to learn, and I know a little bit of Portuguese, but I'm also interested in French,” she said.
Maser will also be using retirement to practice what she has preached for so many years, by focusing on her health and wellness.