- Author: Mike Hsu
John Karlik, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County for environmental horticulture and environmental science, will retire July 1. Karlik began his work in Kern County in 1984 with an emphasis on the commercial rose plant industry and local horticulture outreach.
Karlik's teaching activities included five levels of 12- to 15-week horticulture education classes offered in three locations in Kern County, usually two or three classes held each year. For the past 25 years, he has collaborated with Darrell Feil, co-owner of Abate-a-Weed in Bakersfield, to hold landscape management seminars that connect community members with experts on a wide range of topics.
“What I love about John is a couple of things: first, his knowledge base is amazing – he's a treasure of Kern County, for what he's done education-wise,” Feil said. “And second, he has a very active mind – and so many people benefit from that in our community.”
Karlik expanded his teaching to include 10 horticulture study tours to gardens and landscapes of Europe and Asia, and the photographs from those visits enhanced his outreach and contributed to his chapters on landscape design in the Arizona and UC Master Gardener Handbooks.
He earned his B.S. in soil science from the University of Minnesota and M.S. in horticulture from Michigan State University.
Taking advantage of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' flexibility and sabbatical leave, he completed a doctorate at UCLA in Environmental Science and Engineering, and changed his research focus to air-quality-related projects. That led to a lecture series on atmospheric science and policy, including climate change, which Karlik offered annually for 15 years as a visiting professor at Central European University in Budapest, and resulting in a service award from that institution.
In recent years, he led four tours to study ecosystem response in the still-radioactive Exclusion Zone at Chernobyl, Ukraine, site of the world's worst nuclear accident.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Karlik shifted from in-person classes and offered 75 hour-long Zoom presentations on horticulture, landscape design, climate change and environmental science topics, finding an audience in California and in other states.
Karlik also has held a variety of positions in ANR committees, including Academic Assembly Council and the Communications Advisory Board.
“I especially appreciate the many collegial relationships I have within UCCE, ANR, and on several campuses,” Karlik said. “Authorship on many publications reflects those relationships.”
In retirement, Karlik expects to offer assistance at the UCCE office in Kern County and as an editor for a forthcoming ANR book. He intends to pursue interests in instrumental music and the study of languages.
“We've been really blessed to have a guy like John around,” Feil said.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
“The topic of addressing food access through community and school gardens has never been more relevant than in today's COVID and post-COVID environment,” said Kamal Khaira, director of the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program, at the November ANR town hall. “Today, we are highlighting work from Riverside County where our CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE team has made significant progress and contributions in fostering garden-enhanced nutrition education in three distinct communities – two urban settings and one rural Native American reservation.”
“This is one important aspect of our community work which brings all ages together in low-resource environments to learn, build and accomplish – delivering avenues for health and wellness both through work with the soil but also through connecting and sharing the harvested food together.”
Jackie Barahona, nutrition educator for CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside County, continued the presentation.
“As you can see from the video, our work with communities in planning and developing community gardens is one that enhances our overall CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE objectives of supporting health and wellness,” Barahona said.
“In 2013 the Riverside team began work with the Community Settlement Association in Riverside through a community grant that funded garden reinvigoration. During the pandemic, over 50 pounds of harvested produce from the garden have been donated to the local food pantry. Garden Club activities occurs twice a month and enhances educational work in the community.
“Our work with Riverside Faith Temple began in 2019. Food harvested from Riverside Faith Temple community garden is donated to parishioners and community members. Our team has continued to host monthly virtual garden club meetings in partnership with the UC Master Gardener Program in Riverside County. We plan to resume in-person garden activities this winter.
“Since 2013 CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside has fostered a growing relationship with the Torres Martinez Tribal Community in Thermal. Based on this long-standing relationship, in 2020 the CFHL, UCCE Riverside team worked with a group of three youth and six seniors from the Tribal community to establish a garden at their senior center. This community garden brought elders and youth together to plant and harvest fresh vegetables and herbs. As an intergenerational project, it was a great success. Since that time our team, with support from the CFHL State Office, has assisted Tribal Leadership in establishing a Community Wellness Committee, which consists of youth, elders, and tribal council members. We are working with this committee to inspire initiatives that will lead to sustained health outcomes through physical activity, garden-enhanced nutrition education, direct education and other activities.
“Altogether, learning experiences in the garden provide many benefits – physical activity, an area to socialize with others in the neighborhood, and a reinforcement of what we teach about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables being part of daily meals. Due to the garden work, our nutrition lessons are not only enhanced but harvested fresh food is available for community tables.”
For more information about the program, read “UCCE building oasis of health in ethnic urban communities” at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=46096.
