- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The New Year's Eve storm ushered in 2023 and took out the bridge crossing Purisima Creek to Elkus Ranch Environmental Education Center. On June 1, Elkus Ranch reopened to the public with a new bridge.
Igor Lacan, interim director of UC Cooperative Extension in San Mateo and San Francisco counties and UCCE Bay Area environmental horticulture and urban forestry advisor, is grateful to everyone involved in getting Elkus Ranch's bridge replaced.
“Our construction office folks – Jeff Couture, Luzanne Martin and Alexander Cain – were hands-on from the first day to the bridge opening,” Lacan said. “I think they are now familiar with every square inch of our bridge, every pipe connection in our water system, and every idiosyncratic little detail of Elkus!”
For the five months until the bridge was completed, Elkus Ranch staff had to ride a bucket lift daily to get into the ranch to feed Sassy the donkey, the goats, sheep, rabbits, cats and other animals that live at Elkus Ranch, as well as do their other work.
“Our two ranch maintenance staffers, Augustine Aguilar and Bruno Acosta, waded the stream, cleared debris, carried water and hay bales for the animals, and in general did everything that needed to be done in order to both keep our animals alive AND to get everything ready for construction,” Lacan said.
“Our educators Beth Loof, Terri Pacheco, Holly Bono and Doug Meyer, and ranch manager Leslie Jensen ensured that both the animals were cared for and that our school clients were up-to-date on our repair progress.”
While the bridge was out, the local schoolchildren couldn't visit Elkus Ranch. Led by ranch educator Beth Loof with support from 4-H youth development advisor Sally Neas, the educators took their show on the road directly to the schools.
“Our office manager, Kathleen Stewart, kept everyone apprised of the situation, day-to-day, and ensured everyone's safety,” Lacan said.
In addition, Brian Oatman and David Alamillo in Environmental Health and Safety were instrumental in liaising with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies to secure support for repairs.
Tu Tran, associate vice president for business operations, stepped in several times not only to facilitate high-level discussion and ensure funding, but also to help resolve some unexpected issues on the ground, Lacan said.
On June 10, the team welcomed visitors to the annual Sheep to Shawl at Elkus Ranch to see sheep being sheared, watch wool spinning and try dying wool.
Coastside Magazine interviewed Jensen and other Elkus Ranch employees about the reopening: https://www.hmbreview.com/coastside_magazine/page-m-001/page_6437e17a-0a55-59d6-b468-1b27bb09ade5.html.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Congressman Mike Thompson presented a check for $1.2 million to Anita Oberholster, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, on Aug. 30 for smoke exposure research. Thompson secured these research funds in the 2023 federal appropriations government funding bill.
“I worked to secure this funding for researchers at UC Davis to investigate how smoke exposure changes the composition ofwinegrapes and other products,” said Thompson, whose district includes all or parts of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
The $1,205,966 will enable Oberholster to purchase two pieces of equipment: a gas chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometer and an ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometer. These are essential for smoke exposure research.
Oberholster was joined by Edward “Ned” Spang, director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, and David Block, chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology, as she accepted the check.
- Author: Emily Delk, Director of Annual Giving and Donor Stewardship
It seems we are always in pursuit of the “shiny new thing.” In the world of fundraising, that often translates to the quest for new donors and new dollars.
While engaging new support is important, prospecting for those gifts alone might cause us to miss the real treasure right in front of us: our returning donors.
Nonprofits with a high donor-retention rate have long-term supporters who come back year after year. Nonprofits with a low donor retention rate need to continually acquire new donors or larger gifts to keep up. Donor retention ensures that nonprofits don't waste the hard effort it took to bring in new donors and that financial support continues to come into the organization.
Thanks to stewarding relationships with our donors and sharing the great impact UC ANR demonstrates in communities across the state, our donor retention rate is at 44.6% over the last five years. This stands up well against the national average of 40-45%.
With a higher retention rate, we raise our reputation among donors. Because more people want to repeat donations to our organization, we show we have an important role to play that people believe in. This type of reputation can naturally increase new donors and the number of retained givers.
Like the most precious nuggets found when panning for gold, returning donors are the true treasure of our organization. By cultivating our relationships with them over time, this can lead to transformational gifts and even stronger ties to our mission. During FY2022-23, our donors provided more than $5.2 million, which is the highest total in the past five years. If we can retain these donors, our future remains bright.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
A new online ergonomic assessment tool is now available to ANR staff from Risk & Safety Solutions.
The online self-assessment tool evaluates each employee's workstation ergonomics and provides virtual guidelines on improvements that could be made. Using the information from the online assessment, ANR Environmental Health & Safety specialists can provide an ergonomic evaluation as well, both in-person and remotely.
To access the module, go to https://app.riskandsafety.com. Please use your UC ANR email/login credentials for access.
After you log in, you'll see the tool on the upper right corner of the main page. Once you complete the Ergonomic Assessment Training, it will lead you to the questionnaires about your workstation situation.
As you answer the questions, you will notice that it will provide feedback with some answer choices. Do not correct your answers. To conduct ergonomic adjustments and evaluations as well as apply for the Be Smart About Safety funding for ergonomic support purchases, EH&S will need the full details of your assessment report.
When employees complete the self-assessment, Duwon Choi, UC ANR Environmental Health and Safety specialist, will contact them to discuss their concerns and provide ergonomic adjustment and evaluation if needed.
For further instruction on navigating the self-assessment tool, please go to https://safety.ucanr.edu/Programs/Ergonomics/Ergonomic_Assessment.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The GROW (Generating Research Opportunities Workshop) Urban Agriculture Conference strives to enhance urban agriculture and food systems through developing collaborative proposals that tackle critical issues.
The GROW Urban Agriculture virtual conference is designed to engage researchers, Cooperative Extension professionals, educators, industry representatives and community collaborators in the development of integrated urban agriculture funding proposals.
During this conference, interdisciplinary teams will collaborate to produce creative and effective proposals rather than spend resources competing against one another.
This conference will occur in three phases:
Phase I: Nov. 1-3, will focus on developing teams.
Phase II: Nov. 4 to Jan. 16, 2024, will be a time for teams to work together on proposals at their own pace.
Phase III: Jan. 17-19, 2024, will include an opportunity for teams to present their proposals to a mock grant review panel and have time to incorporate and refine their proposals.
Registration is required, but there is no cost to participate. This conference is supported by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant.
For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/msu.edu/grow-uaconf/home.