UC ANR held a seminar for credentialed journalists on the first day of the World Ag Expo in Tulare. The Feb. 9 seminar featured 11 key UC ANR academics who serve as expert sources for the news media on hot topics.
The seminar was hosted by VP Glenda Humiston. Each of the UCCE advisors and specialists delivered a three-minute synopsis of his or her research and outreach efforts in California, such as the spread of Asian citrus psyllid, adapting to climate change in agriculture, GMOs and more. Afterwards, they fielded questions from the reporters.
“The Newsmakers Seminar was well-attended and well-received by reporters so we plan on hosting a similar event at next year's World Ag Expo,” said Jeannette Warnert, senior public information representative in Strategic Communications, who spearheaded the seminar. “In the fall, we will be looking for academics who are interested in building relationships with reporters to take part in the 2017 event.”
Agricultural trade reporters filed stories on several of the subjects and exchanged business cards with the scientists for future reference. The Kaweah Commonwealth newspaper published two stories by John Elliott about the seminar: On the cutting edge of agriculture: World Ag Expo's Newsmakers Seminar reveals current research and Newsmakers' Seminar reveals current research, Part 2.
The following academics participated in the seminar:
- Beth Grafton-Cardwell, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in citrus entomology and director of the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center
- Jeff Dahlberg, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in agronomic crops and director of the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center
- Bob Hutmacher, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in cotton and director of the UC West Side Research and Extension Center
- Lindsay Jordan – UC ANR Cooperative Extension viticulture advisor for Merced, Mariposa and Madera counties
- Rose Hayden-Smith, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor, editor of the UC Food Observer blog, part of UC President Janet Napolitano's Global Food Initiative
- Themis Michailides, Ph.D. – UC ANR pathology researcher, based at Kearney Ag REC
- Jeff Mitchell, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in conservation agriculture, based at Kearney Ag REC
- Toby O'Geen, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in soil resources, based at UC Davis
- Tapan Pathak, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in climate change adaptation in agriculture, based at UC Merced
- Maurice Pitesky, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in poultry food safety, based at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
- Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D. – UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist in animal biotechnology, based at UC Davis
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.
