- Author: Jodi Azulai
Join us on Aug. 16 at 12 noon for “Putting Condition Changes to Work for Me.”
Understand ANR's new condition changes
- how they connect to Public Value Statements
- how you will use them in Project Board (website)
- other practical uses
- how ANR will use them
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/963167636
(646) 558-8656 or (669) 900-6833
Webinar ID: 963 167 636
Our presenters are:
- Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President ANR
- Mark Bell, Vice Provost Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs
- Katherine Webb-Martinez, Associate Director Program Planning & Evaluation
- Kit Alviz, Analyst, Program Planning & Evaluation Cooperative Extension
This webinar will be recorded and linked to the Café Thursday WebANR page.
UC Library Research Resources for UCCE
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 here.
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
- California Agriculture Resources Archive (CARA), a project to archive, preserve, and provide access to UC Cooperative Extension historic records
UC Berkeley
UC Merced
- California Agriculture Resources Archive (CARA), a project to archive, preserve, and provide access to UC Cooperative Extension historic records.
UC librarians are also in the process of developing webinars for UCCE staff on how to find and access information resources, as well as specialized subjects, such as citation management. To suggest a webinar topic, you would like us to cover, please email lrcabugos@ucdavis.edu.
Even experienced ANR people managers develop themselves
One of the ways ANR people managers have been developing themselves is by completing UC People Management Series Certificate modules and participating in monthly facilitated networking calls to review what they've learned, ask other supervisors for advice, and share successes. Participants enjoy scenario-based role playing, a fun and challenging group assignment, and networking.
Kim Delucchi, one of our participants was willing to share the following about her experience as a member of this year's cohort:
Why Participate in People Management Network Calls?
The perfect companion piece to the People Management Program are the monthly networking calls. They are a time to share and delve further into the skills learned from the modules and to discover real-life opportunities to use those skills. It is interesting to learn what your peers are dealing with as supervisors, brainstorm ideas on how to handle current situations, and find support in a confidential, caring, and nurturing environment. The networking calls provide lasting takeaways and are a chance to share your successes and challenges.
A new cohort will form in January 2019. If you are interested please fill out this survey.
Call for Applicants: Fall 2018 Pilot Staff Mentorship Program
ANR Learning & Development is delighted to announce a call for mentee applicants to ANR's first staff mentorship program.
This program will pair staff mentees who seek professional development with experienced professionals (mentors) from across UC ANR. See UC Mentors: Definition, Roles and Characteristics. The program will provide a supportive structure in which mentees can cultivate contacts, better understand ANR, gather information, explore challenges and enhance effectiveness as they design their personal growth and career paths.
The 9-month Mentorship Program (October 2018 – July 2019) will consist of
- Regular monthly meetings (conference video/calls) with your mentor, and
- Three in-person group sessions (Mentee orientation, Strength Finder session, Individual Development Plan/Celebration).
ANR Learning & Development will cover the cost of travel for the in-person sessions. Because this is a pilot, the program will be limited to 15 staff.
If you are interested, please fill out the survey by Aug. 14, 2018 https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=25281
In selecting mentees for the pilot program, we will consider each applicant's survey responses, length of time with ANR, and unit/location. Our goal is to include a broad range of participants from across the division.
Call for Presentation Proposals: 2018 NAEPSDP Annual Conference
The National Association of Extension Programs and Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) is soliciting proposals for presentations at the 2018 NAEPSDP Annual Conference. The conference will be held Dec. 10-13, 2018, at the Hilton in Old Town Alexandria, Va. The theme for the 2018 conference is Extension Excellence: Breaking down Barriers.
Presentation proposals will be accepted from NAEPSDP members and non-members alike for four different tracks and four different session types. Proposals from graduate student research or projects are encouraged.
Please read the 2018 Call for Proposals for all the details. To submit your abstract, click here. Submissions are due no later than Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018, at 9:59 PM Pacific time.
NOTE: All presenters that attend the conference must also register for the conference. For conference registration information, go to www.naepsdp.org.
For more information, contact Marina Denny (mdd269@msstate.edu or 662.325.1175), Mississippi State University, or Sarah Baughman (baughman@vt.edu or 540.231.7142), Virginia Tech.
Learn it on Lynda
This month Lynda.com features negotiation, cultivating positive environments and how to make the most of your LinkedIn account.
Negotiation Foundations
When it comes to negotiation, shifting your mindset from “a battle to be won” to a “problem solving conversation” can improve your results dramatically. In this course, leadership coach, negotiation expert, and author Lisa Gates demonstrates the core skills of interest-based negotiation to get win-win outcomes every time here.
Being Positive at Work
Hardships at work affecting you? Consider Brenda Bailey-Hughes' techniques for stopping negative thought patterns and cultivating positive environments, relationships and habits here.
Learning LinkedIn on Lynda.com
Harness the power of LinkedIn and discover how to make the most of your LinkedIn account. Follow Oliver Schinkten as he explains how to build a stellar LinkedIn profile and shares how to expand your network, look for new career opportunities, join groups, share updates and contribute your own thought leadership here.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The UC ANR Staff Assembly's new Wellness Committee is sponsoring its first activity on Healthy Snack Day, Aug. 29. Healthy Snack Day is a statewide day of action led by the Champions for Change Program of the California Department of Public Health.
Many UC Cooperative Extension food educators are planning activities with their clientele Aug. 29 to promote the benefits of eating nutritious foods at snack time, and the Wellness Committee is bringing the celebration to UC ANR staff by sponsoring a healthy competition.
Find out who your staff assembly ambassador is by visiting the UC ANR Staff Assembly website.
Members of the UC ANR Staff Assembly Wellness Committee are:
- Jeannette Warnert, chair
- Austin Cantrell
- Michelle Hammer Coffer
- Kaela Plank
- Alyssa Rodriguez
- Anne Schellman
- Shawnice Sellers
- Wylie Skillman
- Leah Sourbeer
- Christopher Gomez Wong
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Pledging to work together to solve water scarcity issues, Israel's Agricultural Research Organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis on July 16. The signing ceremony kicked off the 2018 Future of Water for Irrigation in California and Israel Workshop at the UC ANR building in Davis.
“Israel and California agriculture face similar challenges, including drought and climate change,” said Doug Parker, director of UC ANR's California Institute for Water Resources. “In the memorandum of understanding, Israel's Agricultural Research Organization, UC Davis and UC ANRpledge to work together more on research involving water, irrigation, technology and related topics that are important to both water-deficit countries.”
The agreement will enhance collaboration on research and extension for natural resources management in agriculture, with an emphasis on soil, irrigation and water resources, horticulture, food security and food safety.
“It's a huge pleasure for us to sign an MOU with the world leaders in agricultural research like UC Davis and UC ANR,” said Eli Feinerman, director of Agricultural Research Organization of Israel. “When good people, smart people collaborate the sky is the limit.”
Feinerman, Mark Bell, UC ANR vice provost, and Ermias Kebreab, UC Davis professor and associate vice provost of academic programs and global affairs, represented their respective institutions for the signing. Karen Ross, California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary, and Shlomi Kofman, Israel's consul general to the Pacific Northwest, joined in celebrating the partnership.
“The important thing is to keep working together and develop additional frameworks that can bring the people of California and Israel together as researchers,” Kofman said. “But also to work together to make the world a better place.”
Ross said, “It's so important for us to find ways and create forums to work together because water is the issue in this century and will continue to be.”
She noted that earlier this year the World Bank and United Nations reported that 40 percent of the world population is living with water scarcity. “Over 700,000 people are at risk of relocation due to water scarcity,” Ross said. “We're already seeing the refugee issues that are starting to happen because of drought, food insecurity and the lack of water.”
Ross touted the progress stemming from CDFA's Healthy Soils Program to promote healthy soils on California's farmlands and ranchlands and SWEEP, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, which has provided California farmers $62.7 million in grants for irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases and save water on agricultural operations.
“We need the answers of best practices that come from academia, through demonstration projects so that our farmers know what will really work,” Ross said.
As Parker opened the water workshop, sponsored by the U.S./Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Program, Israel Agricultural Research Organization and UC ANR, he told the scientists, “The goal of this workshop is really to be creating new partnerships, meeting new people, networking and finding ways to work together in California with Israel, in Israel, with other parts of the world as well.”
Drawing on current events, Bell told the attendees, “If you look at the World Cup, it's about effort, it's about teamwork, it's about diversity of skills, and I think that's what this event does. It brings together those things.”
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Farmers, food entrepreneurs, researchers and technology professionals can now find the resources they need to build, launch and grow agricultural innovations at the VINE's new website at https://thevine.io.
UC ANR created the Verde Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship, or the VINE, to accelerate the development and adoption of technologies that advance food, agriculture and natural resources in California.
The new website features links to accelerators, educational resources and places to test products and services. It also lists upcoming events for innovators to meet and network with people who can help advance their businesses.
The VINE recently co-sponsored FOOD IT, attended by more than 300 people at UC San Francisco. Panelists discussed the “digital full stack solution” – the physical layer, data, application and user interface/user experience. In 15 small groups, participants took a deeper dive into topics, ranging from financing alternatives for food/ag tech to bio-informatics and gene editing tech. Read more in the VINE blog at http://bit.ly/2v0zVWW.
On July 9, the VINE invited technology companies and farmers to the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier to learn how the installation of a wifi tower will enable researchers to collect real-time data with access to high-speed wireless internet in the fields.
“The VINE brings together academia across UC, the Cal-State University system, and community colleges with innovators in technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, indoor agriculture and others,” said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer. “We want to create rural testbeds to develop technology. UC ANR's research and extension centers are well set up to do that.”
The project grew from the partnership with the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) that brought ultra-fast (100Gbps) broadband capability to Kearney offices and laboratories two years ago. UC ANR collaborated with Orange Silicon Valley and BlueTown to extend the connectivity via wireless transmission to every corner of the research fields. Read more about the broadband expansion at http://ucanr.edu/?blogpost=27775&blogasset=99473.
Youtsey and the VINE partner John Selep, president of AgTech Innovation Alliance, are seeking more partners with expertise across the business spectrum.
For more information about the VINE, visit its website https://thevine.io.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
John Casida, 88, a world-renowned entomologist and toxicologist at UC Berkeley who died June 30 of a heart attack in his home, was a global authority on how pesticides work and their effect on humans.
A distinguished professor emeritus of environmental science, policy and management and of nutritional sciences and toxicology, Casida was the founding director of the campus's Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory.
When awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 1993, the Wolf Foundation lauded his “research on the mode of action of insecticides as a basis for the evaluation of the risks and benefits of pesticides and toxicants, essential to the development of safer, more effective pesticides for agricultural use,” according to a UC Berkeley News Service story. "His discoveries span much of the history of organic pesticides and account for several of the fundamental breakthroughs in the fields of entomology, neurobiology, toxicology and biochemistry.”
Casida opened multiple new fields ranging from fundamental cell biology through pharmaceutical discovery.
"He pioneered new technologies throughout his career, from being one of the first to use radioactive compounds for pesticide metabolism through studies with accelerator mass spectrometry, photoaffinity labeling and others," said Bruce Hammock, founding director of the UC Davis National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program and director of the UC Davis NIH/NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory.
"Yet the greatest impact of his career probably lives on in the numerous scientists he trained, now carrying on his traditions of excellence in science. These scientists are around the world in governmental, industrial and academic careers.”
“John continued his high productivity until his death with major reviews on pesticides in 2016, 2017, and 2018 in addition to numerous primary papers,” Hammock noted. “He was working on primary publications as well as revising his toxicology course for the fall semester at the time of his death. Pesticide science was the theme of his career, and we live in a world with far safer and more effective pest control agents because of his effort.”
Casida is survived by his wife, artist and sculptor Kati Casida, sons Mark and Eric Casida, and two grandchildren.
Read more about Casida's career at http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=27808.
