- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Wang, Bachie, Snell, Rethwisch receive National County Agents Association recognition
The National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA) held its 2024 annual meeting/ professional improvement conference in July in Dallas, Texas. Four California advisors were honored by their peers during the conference.
Zheng Wang, UC Cooperative Extension vegetable advisor inStanislaus County, was the California Achievement Award winner for extension professionals with less than 10 years of service.
Oli Bachie, UCCE agronomy and weed management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties and county director for Imperial County, was recognized as the California Distinguished Service award winner. Extension professionals with more than 10 years of service are eligible for this award.
Laura Snell, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor and county director in Modoc County, received an award for her fact sheet “Rapid User Guide:Postfire Grazing on California'sIntermountainRangelands“ as one of the top four national entries in this category.
Two other California communication entries were recognized as western regional finalists after first winning state competitions. Joy Hollingsworth, UCCE table grape advisor for Tulare and Kings counties, received recognition for her feature story “Improving Soil Health.” Philip Waisen, UCCE vegetable advisor for Riverside and Imperial counties, was recognized for his photo showing melon growth resulting from root leachate treatment. Waisen was also active at the convention both as a presenter and as a western regional committee chairman.
At the state level, “Key to the Phytoseiid Predatory Mites Found on California Crops” by David Haviland, UCCE entomology advisor in Kern County, was selected as the winning entry in the publication category. “Eastern Sierra School Gardens Trello Board” by Dustin Blakey, UCCE farm advisor and county director for Inyo and Mono counties, was the winning entry for the California learning module/notebook category.
‘Airblast Spray Advisor' web app wins educational aids award 
UCCE specialist Peter Ako Larbi received a 2024 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Educational Aids Blue Ribbon Award for his decision-support web app “Airblast Spray Advisor” during the 2024 Annual International Meeting (AIM) of the society in Anaheim on July 28-31.
The Educational Aids Blue Ribbon Awards Competition promotes excellence in informational materials that contribute to the understanding of agricultural and biological engineering subjects outside of the traditional classroom setting. Larbi received the award in the “Electronic” category under “Design or Decision Tools” and was recognized during the General Session Recognitions on July 29.
The complexity of spray application under field conditions often poses a challenge to applicators, limiting their ability to achieve high application efficiencies. Although the California Department of Pesticide Regulation requires individuals who use or supervise pesticide use to possess applicator certification, it does not guarantee that applicators will recognize or use best practices when faced with complex field conditions. As such, poor decisions can be made resulting in inefficiency, low productivity and negative environmental impact. Using Larbi's spray application decision-support app can help to remove or reduce the guesswork, thus enhancing decision-making to increase efficiency, productivity, accuracy and environmental soundness. The web app provides decision support for planning and evaluating airblast spray application. It is designed for citrus, with the addition of other perennial crops underway.
The app can be accessed at https://ucanr.edu/sites/Airblast_Spray_Advisor/.
Satomi named Field Forester of the Year 
The Society of American Foresters has named Ricky Satomi, UCCE area forestry and natural resources advisor, Field Forester of the Year for District 3.
The Society of American Foresters honored 11 individuals with the Presidential Field Forester award for 2024. Awarded to one member from each of the SAF voting districts, the Presidential Field Forester Award recognizes foresters who have dedicated their professional careers to the application of forestry on the ground using sound, scientific methods and adaptive management strategies.
Satomi, who serves Sutter, Yuba, Butte, Placer and Nevada counties, specializes in forest management, geographic information systems and biomass. Prior to joining UCCE in 2017 to serve Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou counties, Satomi worked as a research associate with the UC Wood Biomass Utilization Group, analyzing wood utilization capacity in California.
Lee elected ESA fellow
UC Riverside Professor Chow-Yang Lee has been elected fellow of the Entomological Society of America.
"I am truly honored to be elected as an ESA fellow,” Lee said. “This is the highest accolade the society can confer upon an entomologist, and I am humbled by the recognition from my peers for my contributions to urban entomology."
Lee, who serves as endowed presidential chair in the Urban Entomology Program, is internationally known for his research on the behavior, ecology and physiological adaptations of urban insect pests, including cockroaches, bed bugs, termites, ants and mosquitoes.
He seeks to understand the biological characteristics that help these urban pests thrive, and he works with graduate students to develop and test new pest management strategies. Their activities have included a focus on insecticide resistance's underlying mechanisms.
His outreach activities are extensive, having authored more than 290 peer-reviewed journal papers, book chapters and books. Recently, he has co-authored several papers evaluating biodegradable boric acid gel baits meant to control Argentine ants, the potential use of an artificial sweetener against cockroaches and its impact on cockroach microbiome, and the effectiveness of a new compound with a novel mode of action against cockroaches.
Read more in this article by Jules Bernstein:
Ferris elected honorary member of Society of Nematologists 
UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Howard Ferris, internationally recognized for his “exceptional, wide-ranging and unparalleled contributions to nematology” over a 64-year career, is a newly elected Honorary Member of the Society of Nematologists, the international organization's highest award.
“His conceptual understanding of the ecological role of nematodes in plant agricultural systems established him as perhaps the premier IPM research nematologist of our time," said Frank Zalom, UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Entomology and Nematology and former director of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. "His fundamental and practical contributions to the science of nematology and to IPM are many and will have lasting impacts.”
Ferris received the award Aug. 8 at SON's 63rd annual conference, held in Park City, Utah.
Read more in this article by Kathy Keatley Garvey at https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/news/salute-internationally-recognized-nematologist-howard-ferris.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Postfire grazing fact sheet wins award
A group of UCCE natural resources experts received the National Association of County Agricultural Agents' National Finalist Award for the fact sheet “Rapid User Guide: Postfire Grazing on California's Intermountain Rangelands.” Co-authors Janyne Little, UC Cooperative Extension community education specialist in Lassen County; David Lile, UCCE livestock and natural resource advisor in Lassen County; Laura Snell, UCCE livestock and natural resource advisor in Modoc County; and Leslie Roche, UCCE specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis share the recognition.
The rapid user guide is designed for public and private land managers and livestock producers. It walks them through key considerations and timelines that should go into their decision-making process following wildfires on California's intermountain perennial rangelands. The fact sheet can be downloaded at https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8730.
On behalf of the team, Snell accepted the award on July 16 at the NACAA annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.
Legislators, congressman honor UC Master Gardeners of Napa County
UC Master Gardeners of Napa County were honored July 25 for their outstanding community service. Alex Pader, senior field representative for state Senator Bill Dodd, and Laura Elana Beltran, senior field representative for Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, presented the certificates. Congressman Mike Thompson also provided certificates.
The certificates acknowledged individuals who volunteered from 50 to over 300 hours of community service.
UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County win first place at fair
The UC Master Gardeners of Ventura County won first place at the Ventura County Fair for their garden display. As a result of this award, the volunteers helped bring in $550 in prize money for the program.
“The volunteers worked incredibly hard on this,” said Emma Volk, UC Cooperative Extension production horticulture advisor for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. “Everyone who attends the fair will get to enjoy the garden and identify all of the beautiful plants and see what's possible when you only have space for a small container garden. In addition, we have a separate booth with educational materials, including information about the invasive Asian citrus psyllid.”
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Gonzalves named UCCE director for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties 
David Gonzalves joined UC ANR on Feb. 1 as the new director for UCCE in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
As director, Gonzalves is responsible for the coordination and overall operation of UCCE programs in the three counties. He will provide administrative oversight of educational and applied research programs, maintain effective communication within UC and county government, maintain positive working relationships with partnering public and private agencies and expand collaborations.
Gonzalves brings experience working for county government and UC. Most recently, Gonzalves was a campus building official at UC Merced. He is well-versed in county government and the importance of following local requirements as a construction official.Beginning his career at the County of Merced as a fire inspector, Gonzalves worked his way up to supervising building inspector and eventually assistant development services director. Then, for the City of Merced, he filled the role of chief building official and ultimately director of development services, leading the city's Building, Planning and Engineering teams. For three years, he served as Tuolumne County's Community Resources Agency director.
The hiring of Gonzalves relieves former county directors Maria de la Fuente, Devii Rao and Mark Bolda of administrative duties so they may focus on their academic responsibilities.
Gonzalves is based at the UCCE Monterey County office in Salinas and can be reached at dgonzalves@ucanr.edu.
Woodward to assist Meyer, Obrist 
Vanya Woodward joined UC ANR on Feb. 1 as an executive assistant to Deanne Meyer, interim associate vice president for programs and strategic initiatives, and Daniel Obrist, vice provost for academic personnel.
Anyone who wants to get in touch with Meyer or Obrist should copy vwoodward@ucanr.edu on emails, which may be seen more quickly by Woodward, who can help resolve issues or flag it for their attention. To set up meetings with Meyer or Obrist, contact Woodward.
Before joining UC ANR, Woodward worked in the private sector for Tactical Marketing, Philips and SearcherMagnet. She earned a bachelor's degree in English with a focus on creative writing from American River College.
Woodward is located on the second floor of the ANR building at 2nd Street in Davis in cubicle 208b. She can be reached at vwoodward@ucanr.edu and (530) 271-9296.
Baddorf joins SAREP 
Alicia Baddorf joined the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program on Feb. 1 as the new sustainable supply chain coordinator. She succeeds Gwenael Engelskirchen, who is now SAREP's sustainable food and farming coordinator.
Baddorf brings over 10 years of sustainable agriculture and regional food systems experience to UC SAREP. Her research broadly aims to support farmers and ranchers in adopting more sustainable agricultural practices and assist communities in building equitable and healthy regional food systems.
She has experience with farms and food hubs, including educational program development, farming and the management of sales, community-supported agriculture programs, and marketing. With the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, she advised small-scale farmers finding right-fit technologies to expand their marketing opportunities.
She holds dual bachelor's degrees in sociology and French studies from the University of Delaware and is currently pursuing a master's degree in community development from UC Davis.
Baddorf is based at the UC ANR 2nd Street building and can be reached at akbaddorf@ucanr.edu.
Oker named soils and irrigation advisor for Kern County 
Tobias Oker joined UCCE on Jan. 3 as a soils and irrigation advisor for Kern County.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Oker was an irrigation research engineer at the University of Georgia, Tifton campus for close to four years. At UGA, he collaborated with the state Natural Resources Conservation Service to update the Georgia Irrigation Guide. He also worked on a research project to develop crop water-use curves for apples, peaches, pecans and a grapefruit variety called muscadine.
Oker earned a Ph.D. from Kansas State University, where his doctoral research focused on Mobile Drip Irrigation, a novel technology with a demonstrated potential to improve irrigation efficiency in center pivot systems, the main irrigation method used in the Midwest.
Before attending K-State, he worked in Uganda at the National Agricultural Research Organization as a water management research and extension scientist for three years, and before that as a research assistant for two years.
He earned a M.S. in water science and engineering from IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands and a B.S. in agricultural engineering from Makerere University in Uganda.
Oker is based at the UCCE office in Bakersfield and can be reached at teoker@ucanr.edu and (661) 868-6218 and on Twitter @TobiasOker.
Andrews named specialty crops advisor 
Ellie Andrews joined UCCE on Jan. 3 as a specialty crops advisor for Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.
Andrews enjoys the interdisciplinary nature of applied agricultural sciences and is excited to assist specialty crop growers with nutrient management, irrigation and integrated pest management. She can provide support for growers who want to implement practices that build soil health, such as organic matter amendment application, cover cropping, and strategies for reducing soil disturbance. She also can assist with variety selection, diversification, crop planning, and climate adaptation strategies.
Originally from Ohio, Andrews earned her bachelor's degree in field ecology with a focus on plant biology. During and after college, she worked on several small-scale certified organic farms where she gained experience with specialty crops such as mixed vegetables, greens, cut flowers, herbs, microgreens and culinary mushrooms.
While working directly with growers for Ohio State Extension, Andrews earned a master's degree in plant health management from Ohio State University, where the applied interdisciplinary degree taught her about integrated pest management, plant pathology and soil fertility.
She earned a Ph.D. in horticulture and agronomy at UC Davis. Her doctoral research focused on using organic matter amendments to improve nutrient cycling, soil-plant water dynamics, and soil microbial communities.
Andrews is based at the UCCE office in Santa Rosa and can be reached at eandrews@ucanr.edu.
Benítez joins BFI, UC ANR as project scientist 
Francisco Benítez Altuna joined UC ANR and Berkeley Food Institute on Jan. 3 as a project scientist.
Benítez will work with a stakeholder advisory group and collaborate on research with BFI-associated faculty on agroecological research and extension programs.
During his academic career, Benítez has developed a strong multidisciplinary background in food value chains. He is interested in understanding the challenges farmers face and the complex interactions between socioeconomic and context characteristics that shape the transition towards sustainable food value chains.
Benítez earned a Ph.D. at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands and master's degrees in agribusiness and rural development from the Georg-August University of Göttingen in Germany and the University of Talca in Chile.He earned an engineering degree in agro-industry from the National Polytechnic School in his hometown of Quito, Ecuador.
Benítez is based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier and can be reached at fjbenitez@ucanr.edu.
Snell wins Young Range Professional Award 
Laura Snell, UCCE director and livestock and natural resources advisor for Modoc County, received the Young Range Professional Award on Feb. 15 at the Society for Range Management conference in Boise.
“When Laura first came to California, she had not worked west of the Rocky Mountains, yet she swiftly gained and in-depth knowledge of the rangeland systems in Modoc County,” wrote David Lile, UCCE director and livestock and natural resources advisor for Lassen County in his nomination letter.
“The programmatic issues that have confronted Laura in Modoc County are not easy, they are not simple to solve, and are not for the timid,” Lile wrote. “Questions relating to wild horses, post-wildfire grazing on public land, groundwater management/policy, drought mitigation, and predators are defined by widely divergent views which are often emotionally charged. Despite this Laura has not wavered in her work to bring a science-based perspective to these topics and has not been dissuaded by those who might criticize applied science to promote their own agenda. Most importantly the science-based information that she provides is locally relevant and based on local/regional information that she has often been involved in collecting.”
Lile added, “Although she is the youngest (substantially) among the County Directors of the 11 northern region counties, at our request, she was appointed to serve as our regional representative to the statewide County Director Executive Committee.”
He noted that Snell also promoted a culture of professional collaboration by organizing the lntermountain Workgroup meeting and co-chairing a joint meeting of Cooperative Extension advisors and agents from California and Nevada.
FFA honors UC Farm Smart 
The State FFA Executive Committee for the California Association of Future Farmers of America recently voted UC Farm Smart as a recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. The award is reserved for those who provide assistance of an outstanding nature to FFA, thus distinguishing the recipient from others who provide routine assistance to the FFA.
Farm Smart, an outreach program focused on agricultural literacy at UC ANR's Desert Research and Extension Center, has educated more than 168,000 people in the Imperial Valley and surrounding areas since its inception in 2001. Through the community-supported program, K-12 students and retirees who visit the desert in the winter are invited to tour Desert REC and learn about agriculture.
Stacey Amparano, Farm Smart program manager, will be presented the award at the 95th annual State FFA Leadership Conference on March 18 in Ontario.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
The Alturas Sunrise Rotary donated $5000 towards the Modoc County Forever 4-H Endowment.
This endowment, established in 2018 amid state budget constraints, is intended to support the 4-H program in Modoc County for generations to come. Over 30% of the youth in Modoc County were served by 4-H programs in 2018.
Donations and memorial gifts are still being accepted for Modoc County Forever 4-H Endowment and will be matched until a goal of $20,000 is met.
“We are just over halfway, $10,935 and have a match for up to $20,000 so we will keep working on it this winter and spring,” said Laura Snell, UCCE Modoc County director.
A couple of months ago, the Principles of Community Committee unveiled a draft of the Principles of Community document at the May 20 town hall meeting.
The committee thought that a survey would be helpful in soliciting your feedback so that we may capture your thoughts, comments and suggestions into the final version.
Please read the draft document at http://ucanr.edu/About_ANR/Principles_of_Community.
We'll give you a few weeks to share your thoughts then the POC Committee will compile your comments and suggestions before we reconvene to revise our document.
Please submit your ideas through the ANR portal at http://ucanr.edu/About_ANR/Principles_of_Community/Comments_and_questions_are_welcome_648/ by Aug. 31, 2016. We welcome all your comments and suggestions.
Thank you in advance,
The UC ANR Principles of Community Committee
Mary Blackburn
Emily LaRue
Chris Martinez
Laura Snell
Katherine Soule
Erin Thompson
Jeff Tibayan
Terri White
