- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Who else deserves kudos? Share your good news by sending an email to contentpipeline@ucanr.edu.
Koundinya honored for early career achievement
Vikram Koundinya, UC Cooperative Extension evaluation specialist, received the 2023 Early Career Achievement Award from the National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals. The award was presented to him on Nov. 29 at the NAEPSDP conference in Salt Lake City.
Koundinya, who is based in the UC Davis Department of Human Ecology, specializes in program evaluation, needs assessment and mixed-methods evaluation and research.
Koundinya has made notable contributions to the field in extension teaching, research, professional competence and service, wrote his nominator and peers in support letters. He has provided several statewide trainings and one-on-one consultations with UC Cooperative Extension advisors, specialists, Agricultural Extension Station faculty and students. He has published research articles in several journals, including 12 of a total of 35 articles since starting at UC Davis. He also has shared his work at several professional conferences and served in leadership roles on NAEPSDP and American Evaluation Association professional committees.
Au wins nutrition and dietetics award
The award recognizes dietitians who were the lead author of a peer-reviewed article that made important contributions to the field of dietetics. The award is named for Mary Pascoe Huddleson, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics editor from 1927 to 1946.
The honored article, “A Qualitative Examination of California WIC Participants' and Local Agency Directors' Experiences during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic,” was co-authored by NPI researchers Christina Hecht, Marisa Tsai, Nicole Vital and NPI Director Lorrene Ritchie.
The study examines Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children participants' and agency directors' perceptions, practices and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Au's research is used to support nutrition policies and reduce disparities among low-income populations.
ANR dashboards make it easy to find data
In 2023, the Program Planning and Evaluation team is proud to have produced new dashboards that organize important data about UC ANR people and outputs. They make it easy to find facts such as the number of UCCE advisors employed by UC ANR from 2018 through 2023. The dashboards are found on the impact numbers and stories web page and are intended for internal use.
UC Master Gardeners teach Napa County residents to grow food
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County have been teaching year-round food gardening with two programs each month.
“Teaching through two methods, we covered different seasonal food growing topics in our one-hour Food Growing Forums by Zoom and in-person, hands-on family programs at the OLE Health Garden,” said Yvonne Rasmussen, UCCE volunteer program coordinator in Napa County.
David Key, UC Master Gardener volunteer, leads this project.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Margaret Lloyd, UCCE organic agriculture and small farms advisor for the Capitol Corridor, hosted a tour on Oct. 24 for about 40 Hmong and Iu-Mienh farmers to meet other farmers in Winters and Sacramento.
“This is a first of its kind – for us and probably these farmers,” said Lloyd, who organized the tour for the small-scale farmers.
The farmers met at the UCCE Sacramento County office, then traveled by bus to Winters to meet walnut grower Craig McNamara at Sierra Orchards, who talked about the benefits of hedgerows. Their second stop was Rainwater Farm, a flower farm owned by Lauren McNees, former UC ANR program and event specialist, and her husband Lee.
“After lunch we went to Tierra Firma Farms to look at farm equipment,” said Meaghan Donovan, small farms program manager. Then we visited Fiery Ginger Farm where we saw a bed weeder that helps control pathogens and weeds, small-scale leafy greens harvester, and a paperpot transplanter.
Lindsey Kelley, community education specialist, made a video of the tour: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFzaUl_5AA/9yNUVdHlTUTYmAlQFl_XZA/watch
- Author: Grace Dean
Through a brand-new application design, the Forest Stewardship team has made it easier to view forestry community stories
The Forest Stewardship team has revamped their Forest Stewardship Story Map, first published in summer 2023. The new application hosts a slew of new features, which provide a more user-friendly experience and allow users to learn about the forestry education programs offered by UC ANR.
The new application, built using ArcGIS Experience Builder, is live and can be viewed at https://bit.ly/ForestStoryMap.
Follow along as we go through the new Forest Stewardship Story Map, highlighting key new features, and giving voice to small forest landowners.
User-directed story map
The Forest Stewardship Story Map homepage hosts the user-directed story map and directional information. The page offers background on the Forest Stewardship workshop series, and users can click through to view directions on how to use the map. Scrolling down will reveal the map.
This new interface allows users to select stories via two methods: based on county locations or the story map list. The new story map list also hosts the ability to filter stories by landowner, professional, and county – making it easier to spotlight each interviewee's distinct relationship with California forestland.
Scroll to the top to click on the brand-new page “Educational Programs.”
Educational Programs
The new Educational Programs page provides background and information on the Forest Stewardship Education Program and the Post-Fire Forest Resilience Program. Both workshop programs are designed for California landowners who are seeking management information for pre- and post-fire forestland. Readers will be able to distinguish the differences between the two programs in both mission and implementation through viewing the impacts of each program.
The Story Map also hosts upcoming event information for both Forest Stewardship and Post-Fire Forest Resilience programs, giving users opportunities to engage with UC ANR. It is important to Kim Ingram, forest stewardship academic coordinator, and Katie Reidy, post-fire forest resilience academic coordinator, that Story Map visitors are able to access information that has aided the landowners who shared their stories with us.
“Forest landowners express to us a huge need for forest management education and outreach,” said Ingram. “However, knowing where to start can often be confusing. Our hope is through the Story Map, landowners can see themselves in the stories of others, and take that all-important first step.”
Users can also connect with forestry professionals highlighted on the Story Map by clicking on the tab titled “Connect with a Professional.”
Connect with a professional
Introducing workshop participants to their local natural resource professionals is a hallmark of both the Forest Stewardship Education and Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshops. Each program facilitates knowledge sharing between landowners and professionals at weekly online workshop meetings and in-person field days. Now, the Story Map provides another avenue for landowners to connect with their local forestry professionals.
Landowners are able to contact professionals who provided their stories via email on the “Connect with a Professional” page. Users can also visit the website for each professional's organization and use the “Find Your UCCE Office'” tool to locate their county's UC Cooperative Extension Office.
Looking to the future
As the Forest Stewardship Education Initiative and the Post-Fire Forest Resilience programs expand to new areas in 2024, more stories from community members will be spotlighted. The new Story Map has added stories from Santa Cruz County forest landowners, UC ANR fire advisors and Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshop participants.
Though the application's shell has been altered, the mission of the Story Map remains the same: to showcase stories that will inspire landowners to take management action and connect with a statewide network of forestry resources, including UC ANR's Forest Stewardship Education and Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshop programs. Join us and share your story!
Registration is open for the next Forest Stewardship Education workshop in Fresno and Madera counties. Sign up at ucanr.edu/forestryworskhopregistration.
Registration is open for the next Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshop in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Sign up at https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/Post-fire_Forest_Resilience/Post-fire_Forest_Resilience_Workshops/.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Lindcove Research and Extension Center invites the public to their citrus fruit display and tasting. On Dec. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon, they will be hosting their annual free event where visitors can taste and see more than 100 citrus varieties grown at the center.
Citrus enthusiasts can have their citrus variety, horticulture and pest management questions answered by UC Master Gardener volunteers and UC Cooperative Extension experts.
Bags of freshly picked citrus will be available for $5. Visitors can choose from cara caras, navels, mandarins or assorted citrus from four bins.
Lindcove Research and Extension Center is located at 22963 Carson Ave in Exeter.
Lindcove REC fosters research, education and outreach programs focused primarily on citrus, but also has projects on avocado, olive and pomegranate. It supports research projects by University of California academics as well as local and regional partners that address critical needs in horticulture, pests and diseases and breeding new varieties.
For more information, contact Jasmin Del Toro, (559) 592-2408 Ext 1151 or jzdeltoro@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Jodi Azulai
UC ANR Learning & Development
Landing page | Archived webinars | Learning platforms
Extension Methods & Delivery
Building Support
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
Office, Team, & Personal Management
Virtual Primer for UC Davis Library Resources and Services
December 12, 2023
2:30-3:30 p.m.
Learn about UC Davis Library resources and services including: the UCD Library VPN; searching the UCD Library catalog and delivery services; key research tools, including for data management; and library guides for specific disciplines. We will review/use the following UCCE guide during this workshop: https://guides.library.ucdavis.edu/uc-cooperative-extension
Zoom Meeting
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/92102107681?pwd=R281ZitGS3NIZTZNWTVSM3o4c0p0dz09
Meeting ID: 921 0210 7681
Passcode: 183726
December 15, 2023
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Details & Registration.
This workshop is designed for participants with little to no GIS or web mapping experience. Following a brief lecture, the workshop will include an interactive exercise that will have you load and stylize spatial data online, to create Story Maps within ArcGIS Online and the new ArcGIS Story Map Builder. This exercise will conclude with you exploring some of the numerous story map template options and advanced features for publishing your content online. Image credit: https://svgrepo.com/svg/399293/story-map
Using Data to Tell Your Extension Story (Connect Extension)
December 14, 2023
11:00 a.m. -Noon PT
Details & Registration.
Discover the art of telling a compelling an Extension story! Join the Extension Foundation publication team and as they share valuable insights and tips on creating impactful data visualizations with writing techniques, accompanied by real-life examples. The session will also feature Extension projects that has effectively disseminating publications and conveying project impacts through storytelling!
Building support at UC ANR means many things such as engaging government officials and community stakeholders,
developing a public relations strategy, working with the media, raising funds through grants and fundraisers. Use the following information, training resources, and templates to help you with your work.
Public Relations training
Writing Op-eds
UC ANR handouts
Annual report templates
Contracts & Grants
In order to be a UC ANR Brand steward, review this Communication Toolkit training page.
Image credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Intercultural Communication and Competence (Virtual, UC Learning Center)
January 31, 2024
9:00-11:30 a.m.
Registration.
Cultural Competence has been defined as a set of skills and attitudes that allow individuals to effectively and appropriately communicate with people who are different from themselves. A culturally competent organization effectively and appropriately serves a diverse clientele and meets the varied needs of its diverse staff. This program will explore how individuals and organizations can become more culturally competent. Self and organizational assessment models will be presented and the various components of each stage of competence will be discussed.
March 5, 2024
9:00 -11:30 a.m.
Registration.
Managers are challenged to understand and develop skills to respond to the needs of a multicultural workforce. In the important task of hiring the best candidate for a job, managers must be aware of how culture affects the way people communicate throughout the selection process. This course will help managers assess their own cultural values and explore how they affect the recruitment, interviewing and selection processes.
Image credit:Oleg Gapeenko at Vecteezy.
New Employee Welcome (Virtual, UC ANR)
December 12, 2023
9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Register here to participate in a concise welcome to ANR! Meet our Leadership team, get to know your colleagues, and learn a bit about ANR and how your role connects to the larger ANR mission.
Who Should Attend: All UC ANR employees (academics, staff and affiliated staff on campuses, counties and RECs) who have not yet participated in a monthly New Employee Welcome meeting.
Course link. Learning objectives
*New direction for influencer marketing
*Managing private groups
*Social shopping
*Using stories effectively on social media
*Brand activism on social issues
*Advanced social media attribution
*Creating shows and series on social media
*Showcasing employees across channels
*Embracing short- and long-form video
Request your account from UC ANR IT @ help@ucanr.edu
Image by Sabine Kroschel from Pixabay
Writing Effective E-mails and Instant Messages (Online, UC Learning Center)
Course link. Email has become an indispensable communication tool for organizations, and plays a vital role in how they conduct business and maintain their operations. As a result, one of the most important communication skills to have in the workplace today is email etiquette. It can help ensure you get messages across quickly, appropriately, and concisely. In this course, you'll learn some tried and tested guidelines for writing emails. You'll explore the fundamental elements of written communication that every email should contain, and the importance of keeping emails concise. The course also covers the etiquette associated with using instant messaging programs as an extension of email.
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay.
Everyone can learn something new
UC ANR Learning & Development