- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
UC ANR team receives Excellence in Extension Evaluation Training Team Award
UC ANR's evaluation team received the Excellence in Extension Evaluation Training Team Award from the Extension Education Evaluation Topical Interest Group at the October 2024 American Evaluation Association Conference.
The team included Kit Alviz, Christina Becker, Jen Sedell and Katherine Webb-Martinez from Program Planning and Evaluation; Vikram Koundinya, UCCE evaluation specialist; Roshan Nayak, former UC 4-H evaluation coordinator; and David White in the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. This interdisciplinary team represents various units and position types, spanning administration and academics, which helps foster evaluative thinking and ensure consistency in definitions and expectations across the organization.
The award recognizes how their distinct trainings in the UCCE Program Development and Evaluation Capacity Building Training Series has grown from three in 2017 to 11 in 2024, delivering over 60 statewide evaluation trainings to more than 1,000 attendees.
They also provide one-on-one technical assistance with UCCE individuals, program teams, and statewide programs and institutes. Their approach focuses on practical approaches to evaluation for academics and program staff working in the field, integrating lecture with activities.
The team also furthers extension evaluation and capacity building outside of UCCE. For example, they have provided trainings with the national Extension Foundation, Washington State University Extension, Western Extension Leadership Development, and Oregon State University, as well as research papers. The UCCE Program Evaluation web pages share extension-relevant resources andUCCE examples.
Rao wins CalCAN researcher leadership award
This award recognizes Rao's leadership and contributions to climate and agriculture science, policy and practice. Her applied research at the nexus of livestock grazing, wildfire and climate change has filled critical research gaps, fostered regional collaborations like the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association, and influenced local and state climate policies. Rao joined CalCAN's Science Advisory Council in 2019 and provides expertise on legislation to advance prescribed grazing and prescribed fire. She has collaborated on studies on grazing to reduce wildfire fuels, created a website for oak research and led the development of prescribed burn associations.
This award is given to individuals who have collaborated with CalCAN on advancing sustainable agriculture and climate policy, and who demonstrate leadership and innovation on climate change related policy and practices.
Rao received the award at the Climate & Agriculture Summit at UC Davis on Oct. 30.
SJV Winegrowers Association to honor Williams' career Nov. 8
Williams is well-recognized by the grape industry for his remarkable work in irrigation and fertilizer management as a professor and plant physiologist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. Stationed at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in the San Joaquin Valley – the nation's epicenter of raisin, wine and table grape production – Williams helped growers determine nitrogen and potassium needs for all grape types and application timing.
His research guided wine grape growers in refining their deficit irrigation practices for improved wine quality and helped raisin and table grape growers understand the vines' water needs to maximize berry size and production.
"Professor Williams is best known for developing irrigation models for raisin, table and wine grapes. His pioneering work in the field has been verified and accepted around the world and underpinned ongoing technological developments that are making it easier than ever for growers to save water while optimizing yield and quality,” said Matthew Fidelibus, UCCE viticulture specialist and San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association viticultural advisor.
Over the course of his 36-year career, Williams has published over a hundred papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, co-authored several books, and delivered hundreds of talks on these subjects, proving a valuable asset to both viticultural research and extension.
Williams retired in 2018, but his work continues to bear much fruit.
“Growing grapes is difficult enough, but thanks to Professor Williams, we have been able to increase our quality and consistency with better technology,” commented Aarin Wilson, president of the San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association.
“Larry Williams has played an oversized role in educating growers around the Valley (and world), and the Association is very proud to add his name to the august group of recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Peter Vallis, executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association.
Previous recipients of this award include Kent Daane and Nat DiBuduo (2023), Deborah Golino and Andy Walker (2022), Jim Unti (2021), John Monnich (2020), Ron Brase (2019), Robert Markarian (2018), Walt Bentley, Doug Gubler & Ken Yonan (2016), Frank Saviez and Don Stanley (2015), Jim Duarte and George Leavitt (2014),Jack Farrior and Marko Zaninovich (2013), Pete Christensen, Ron Metzler and Gary Wilson (2012), Paul Dismukes and Luther Khachigian (2011), Frank Logoluso, Bob Loquaci and Frank Pantaleo (2010), Bob McInturf, Mike Nury and Vince Petrucci (2009), and Angelo Papagni (2007).
Vallis will present this special award to Williams at 12:30 p.m. in the Industrial Education Building at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds during Malcolm Media's Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo on Nov. 8. The Expo runs from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free to attend. The presentation will be accompanied with a tri-tip BBQ lunch and morning grower seminars offer continuing education credits. Growers and friends are welcome to arrive early and enjoy the full event. For more information, visit https://agexpo.biz.
UC Berkeley receives $13 million to advance seaweed use
The UC Berkeley Energy & Biosciences Institute (EBI) has received nearly $13 million to establish a center aimed at advancing the use of seaweed in the global supply chain.
Named the International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center (IBMC) at UC Berkeley, the Center will address the need for foundational knowledge, technological approaches, supply chain designs, policy frameworks, community engagement, and educational materials for businesses and consumers to build sustainable macroalgal-based bioeconomies.
The IBMC will launch officially in January 2025. John Coates, EBI director and a professor in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology will co-lead the center with David Zilberman, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Alexandra Hill, an assistant professor of Cooperative Extension in ARE, and Dan Okamoto, an assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology.
An overarching theme of the IBMC is stakeholder engagement and workforce education and training. This aspect will be led by Hill, who brings extensive workforce development experience, particularly in U.S. agriculture, and community outreach and engagement, working with U.S. farmers and ranchers, government representatives, farmworkers, environmental, and agricultural industry advocacy organizations.
Hill will oversee stakeholder engagement, outreach and workforce education and training. She will take the lead on organizing annual workshops, designing the center's website, assembling the advisory board and working groups, compile outreach and educational materials, and coordinating site and field visits for scientists, students and stakeholders.
The funding was announced by the National Science Foundation and partner agencies in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Finland, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United Kingdom as a part of the Global Centers competition. The program is awarding nearly $82 million to fund six centers that will advance the bioeconomy to solve global challenges.
Other Global Centers will focus on innovative recycling and waste management, increasing crop resilience and water use efficiency, approaches for using waste biomass for bioplastics, and paving the way for biofoundries to scale-up applications of biotechnology for societal benefit. All centers will integrate education and social sciences, public engagement and workforce development, paying close attention to impacts on communities.
In addition to the nearly $5 million grant from the NSF, IBMC will be supported by three partner countries, with additional commitments from the United Kingdom, Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; and the ROK Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Culumber student wins national FFA agriscience award
A Hanford High School student being mentored by Mae Culumber has won the Reserve National FFA Agriscience Fair Champion award.
In 2023, Culumber, UCCE nut crops advisor for Fresno and Kings counties, began working with Hanford High student Ayden Coelho on a project investigating the effects of whole orchard recycling on soil biodiversity and soil health.
Hanford High School science teacher Jason Ferreria has been integrating the FFA agriscience fair into his curriculum for the last few years. To facilitate the design and implementation of small science projects for his students, he requests the help of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and researchers from other institutions and within the agricultural industry. The students compete on a local, regional, state and national level.
Through this project, Ayden learned the basics of the scientific method, field experimental design, sample collection and data processing. Ayden used a rapid test kit MicroBIOMETER and a phone app to determine the fungal and bacterial microbial biomass within the soil when treated with either wood chips or an untreated control. He also looked at total nitrogen in the soil to understand how the soil nutrients respond to the treatment.
The MicroBIOMETER is an innovative tool that provides rapid, accurate results, which can be used in the field by researchers, students and farmers to assess soil health impacts from farming practices. Ayden's results showed a higher abundance of fungal microbes and higher total nitrogen in the soil treated with wood chips, results indicative of improved soil quality conditions over time. Ayden went all the way to the National FFA Agriscience Fair Championship in Washington D.C. last week, winning the Reserve National FFA Agriscience Fair Champion award in the division of Environmental Services and Natural Resources.
The high school junior told FFA that he plans to expand his project.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Warner becomes UCCE livestock and natural resources area advisor 
Andrea Northup-Warner started working as a UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources area advisor for Placer, Nevada, Yuba and Sutter counties on Oct. 1.
Excited to serve the community in which she grew up, Warner will help ranchers solve their most pressing issues. Currently, small ranchers with up to 15 cows, for reference, need support establishing their operation. Commercial ranchers, however, are interested in technology and developing research that will help improve health and nutrition of their cattle.
“If a rancher's animals aren't healthy, they can't make money,” she said. “If they can't make money, they can't support their family or their business.”
Despite profitability being “priority zero” for consumers, Warner said that staying in business and/or expanding business operations is a primary goal for many ranchers. As an advisor, she's excited to not only support ranchers' endeavors to increase profits, but challenge consumers' perspectives on the matter, too.
Although a new advisor, Warner has worked for UC Cooperative Extension since 2022. First hired as a staff research associate at the Sierra Foothills Research and Extension Center in Yuba County, her research focused on nutrition and health of beef cattle, oak regeneration and rangeland management.
Warner earned a master's degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University and a bachelor's in animal science from California State University, Chico. While her academic training will certainly be useful, Warner said that the mentorship she's received from colleagues has been instrumental during her transition.
She succeeds Dan Macon, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor, who transferred to UCCE in Calaveras County.
Warner is based at the UCCE Placer-Nevada counties office in Auburn and can be reached at alnwarner@ucanr.edu.
Rao moving to Sonoma and Marin counties 
After nearly 10 years working as the UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, Devii Rao will be moving north to become a UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Sonoma and Marin counties as of Jan. 1, 2025.
“It is very much a bitter-sweet move for me,” Rao wrote in a Livestock & Range blog post. “I have made great friends here and have been able to work with so many wonderful ranchers and agency people. But, now I have the opportunity to move home.”
Rao, who was born and raised in Marin County, still has family there. “So this is an opportunity for me to continue doing the kind of work I love, and to do it closer to my family,” she wrote.
She plans to continue working in the Hollister office through Dec. 11, then take the rest of the month to move.
Rao will continue to use the same email address drorao@ucanr.edu.
Vyas joins IGIS 
Priyanka Vyas joined the Informatics and GIS Statewide Program as a GIS analyst in May. She brings a strong background in applying geospatial tools in public health, urban planning and policy. In her role at IGIS, she focuses on developing capacity for ANR programs and researchers in using GIS-based tools across different program areas and scaling up existing use of geospatial tools and technology.
“I am really excited because this position allows me to weave my prior research and teaching experience and work on topics that cut across different program areas,” Vyas said.
To develop her program support work, she has been cultivating partnerships with program teams such as the Community Economic Development Advisors, Community Nutrition and Health Network, and institutes such as the Nutrition Policy Institute. Through these and other meetings, she came to realize that many ANR programs and researchers are not fully aware of the latest GIS resources available to them.
“There is a plethora of tools that are freely available to UC ANR staff such as Business Analyst for doing needs assessment, ArcGIS Hub for developing program specific websites, ArcGIS for Excel among others. I am eager to work with county offices and advisors to increase the use of these resources,” she said.
Story Maps is another tool that has great potential for advisors and programs to communicate their impact and help their education and outreach activities. Story map websites are growing in popularity because they are easy to build and engage viewers with a broad range of multimedia content. Within UC ANR, they have been used to highlight program impacts, educate clientele, and even provide technical training. They are not always easy to discover however, so Vyas built an ANR "Story Map of Story Maps." Other ANR programs interested in Story Maps are encouraged to get in touch.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Vyas worked at multiple academic institutions in teaching, research, and consulting in the San Francisco Bay Area including San Jose State University, California State University East Bay, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford School of Medicine.
She started her career as a business journalist in New Delhi before moving to the U.S. for further education. She has a master's degree in public administration and policy from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in public policy and political economy from the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas, Dallas. She did a postdoctoral fellowship in UC San Francisco's School of Medicine.
Vyas is based at Mulford Hall at UC Berkeley and can be reached at pdvyas@ucanr.edu.
Laura Snell joined UCCE on March 2 as a livestock and natural resources advisor in Modoc County.
Prior to joining UCCE, Snell worked as a recruitment coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Agriculture Education where she provided recruitment, retention and advising services to future and current students. She also organized the World Food Prize Nebraska Youth Institute and arranged logistics for domestic and international student trips. In 2013, she collaborated with UNL and The Nature Conservancy as an undergraduate intern coordinator for summer undergraduate research projects at the Niobrara Valley preserve, a cattle and bison ranch in northcentral Nebraska. From 2010 to 2013, Snell was a graduate research assistant/laboratory instructor/publications coordinator, conducting research in cattle grazing, nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emission in pasture ecosystems. She taught the introduction range and forage class and published journal articles on her master's research. Prior to working in Nebraska, Snell was an environmental educator at the University of Georgia, teaching forest ecology, hiking, canoeing, navigation, anthropology, high ropes and team building to children grades 3-12 and adults at 4-H camp.
She earned a B.S. in water science and a M.S. in agronomy at UNL.
Snell is based in Alturas and can be reached at (530) 233-6328 and lksnell@ucanr.edu.
Lindsay Jordan joined UCCE on February 17, 2015 as a viticulture area advisor in Madera, Merced & Mariposa counties.
Jordan's viticulture experience began as an undergraduate at UC Davis, where she majored in viticulture and enology and participated in undergraduate research investigating the hydraulic conductivity of Vitis xylem vessels. For her master's degree research, she led trials in Riesling vineyards in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York that evaluated the effects of under-vine groundcovers on vine growth and fruit and wine quality to promote sustainable vineyard floor management. Jordan was the recipient of the Cornell Fredrick Dreer Award, which enabled her to travel to New Zealand and be a part of an under-vine management study lead by the Eastern Institute of Technology in Marlborough for the 2014 growing season. Jordan has worked at several commercial wineries for harvest in vineyard and lab technician positions, including Pernod Ricard Winemakers in Blenheim, New Zealand, and Mumm Napa and Quintessa in the Napa Valley before joining UC ANR.
Jordan earned a B.S. in viticulture and enology from UC Davis in 2011 and a M.S. in horticulture from Cornell University in 2014.
Jordan is based in Madera and can be reached at (559) 675-7879, Ext. 7209 and lmjordan@ucanr.edu.
Devii Rao joined UCCE on Feb. 23 as an area livestock and natural resources advisor for San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
Prior to joining UCCE, Rao had worked as a rangeland management specialist for Point Reyes National Seashore since 2012. She worked closely with 24 ranching families to identify priority issues and developed science-based solutions that allowed for both economically viable ranching operations and conservation of natural resources. Her outreach and education efforts for the Seashore have included presentations, coordination of conferences, and field tours. From 2008 to 2012, the Marin County native worked as a private consultant in range management conducting rangeland research; preparing grazing management, manure management, and monitoring plans for conservation lands with special resources; as well as outreach and education in the form of individual consultations with ranchers, presentations at conferences, and peer-reviewed publications.
She earned a B.A. in environmental studies with a minor in economics from UC Santa Cruz and an M.S. in range management from UC Berkeley.
Rao is based in Hollister and can be reached at (831) 637-5346, Ext. 14 and drorao@ucanr.edu.
The American Society for Enology and Viticulture has named Matthew Fidelibus, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, as the recipient of the 2015 ASEV Extension Distinction Award. Fidelibus will receive the award at the 66th ASEV National Conference in Portland, Ore., in June after delivering his presentation “Increasing Scope and Engagement in Extension.”
Fidelibus, who is based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, conducts research aimed at reducing production costs and improving yields and quality for raisin, table, and wine grapes. His research interests include environmental physiology, plant growth regulation, and cultivar and clone selection. In addition to publishing more than 30 papers, his list of accomplishments includes serving as past-president of the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America and director of ASEV. He is presently an associate editor of the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture and PLOS ONE.
Fidelibus actively shares his research findings through on-farm visits, field days, seminars, articles in academic and trade journals, and through social networking media Facebook and Twitter.
The ASEV Extension Distinction Award recognizes outstanding contribution of enology or viticulture information through an extension program or the translation of novel research findings into commercially applicable tools for enologists or viticulturists.
Ariel Dinar, professor of environmental economics and policy at UC Riverside, has been named a 2015 Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), the organization's most prestigious honor.
“Ariel Dinar is known internationally as an expert on the economics of water, and his recognition by the AAEA is well-deserved,” said Anil Deolalikar, founding dean of the UCR School of Public Policy. “His research on water pricing, water institutions, water quality control, water management modeling, agriculture and climate change, agricultural extension, and regional cooperation in water management has influenced policy changes at the local, state and national levels. We are delighted that the AAEA has recognized him for this well-deserved honor.”
Dinar said the ultimate goal of his research is to better understand the tradeoff between various policy interventions and which societal objectives could be achieved at the expense of others.
“In the field of water economics, we are just starting to understand the relationships between the different water consuming sectors, and the direct and indirect effects of various water and non-water policies on the entire economy,” he said. “However, understanding economy-wide effects of water scarcity and policies to address it are still a challenge left to be achieved.”
According to the AAEA, the primary consideration for the selection of Fellows is “continuous contribution to the advancement of agricultural or applied economics as defined by the Vision Statement. Achievements may be in research, teaching, extension, administration, and/or other contributions to public or private sector decision-making.”
Read the entire UCR press release at http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/27414.
Master Gardeners win international award
The UC Master Gardener Program in Sonoma County was recently recognized with the International Master Gardener Search for Excellence award for their Garden Sense program. The project placed first in the Community Service category in the program recognizing Extension Master Gardener volunteer work in the United States, Canada and South Korea.
Garden Sense, a partnership developed between the Master Gardeners and the Sonoma County Water Agency in 2013, trains consultants in lawn conversion, landscape water management, irrigation systems, site assessment, low-water-use plants and sustainable garden practices. The volunteer consultants visit Sonoma County homeowners to show them how to conserve water by creating a climate-appropriate garden that is healthy, sustainable and environmentally sound.
“In our first year of operation we estimate water savings as a result of the program at 6 acre feet,” wrote Mimi Enright, Master Gardener Program coordinator in Sonoma County, in her blog post about the award.
