- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Patton named UC IPM advisor for Central Sierra 
Mackenzie Patton joined UCCE on Dec. 4 as an area integrated pest management advisor for the Central Sierra. She serves El Dorado, Amador, Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.
She earned a master's degree in plant pathology and phytopathology at UC Davis and a bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Texas at Tyler.
At UT Tyler, Patton was exposed to the world of plant and insect research, which directed her career aspirations. She became a Master Gardener of Smith County in Texas while finishing up her degree.
Raised in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, Patton moved to California for graduate school at UC Davis, where she studied plant viruses in solanaceous crops such as tomatoes. Following graduation, she worked in the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology Department.
She later moved to Southern California to take a job as a plant pathologist for a private company and enjoyed working with a wide array of plants and clients, from agricultural companies to ornamental and backyard gardeners.
“In Orange County, I found my love for outreach and extension, which motivated me to join UC ANR as a community educator,” Patton said. In April, she joined UC ANR's Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program to raise awareness about invasive species.
“I am very excited to work with the diverse audiences and needs of the residents of the foothills,” she said.
Patton is based at the UCCE office in Placerville and can be reached at mfpatton@ucanr.edu and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ipm_gal.
Pushies joins UC Master Gardener communications 
Barbra Pushies joined the UC Master Gardener Program on Dec. 4 as the statewide communications specialist. Pushies will be coordinating and overseeing statewide internal and external communications strategies for the UC Master Gardener Program. She succeeds Melissa Womack, who was promoted to assistant director of impact and communication for the program.
Among her duties, Pushies will be managing the program's social media channels on Facebook, X (Twitter) and YouTube.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Pushies was the communications, outreach and event planning analyst for Sacramento State's College of Arts and Letters.
A native Californian raised in the Central Valley, Pushies earned her degree in entertainment studies from California State University, Fullerton, while working at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Her career took an exciting turn when she landed a role in production management at Walt Disney Feature Animation, contributing to the films “Tangled,” “Winnie the Pooh,” and “Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast” at Disneytoon Studios.
In 2012, she opened the Yarnover Truck, the nation's first mobile yarn store, which she and her business partner operated across California until 2018. Since then, she has delved into marketing and social media consulting and served as the executive director of a small arts education organization.
Pushies is based in the UC ANR Second Street building in Davis and can be reached at bpushies@ucanr.edu.
Singh named irrigated grass systems area advisor 
Simarjeet Singh joined UCCE on Nov. 6 as the irrigated grass systems area advisor for in Modoc, Lassen and Shasta counties.
He will be working on issues related to irrigated pasture systems such as improving water use efficiency, resource conservation, identifying new phenotypes to adapt to changing climatic conditions, and increasing sustainability and profitability of farm operations.
Singh plans to partner with ranchers, growers, certified crop advisers, industry groups, regulatory agencies and other agriculture community members to provide resources and address concerns related to irrigation nitrogen, soil-plant water relations, cultural practices for pasture production and regulations.
Prior to joining UCCE, Singh worked in the private agricultural sector on soil amendments and nitrogen management plans for pasture farms in Merced, Sacramento and Solano counties.
Singh is originally from Punjab state – the “Land of Five Rivers” – located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Growing up in an agricultural community, he earned his bachelor's degree in agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
A desire to explore agriculture's wide diversity inspired him to continue with his academic journey in California, where he completed his master's degree in plant science at Fresno State. Singh's graduate research work focused on the evaluation of alfalfa cultivars for their performance under saline-sodic irrigation through subsurface drip and characterization of spatial and temporal variability of soil salinity within the field at UC West Side Research and Extension Center.
Singh is based in Alturas and can be reached at (530) 233-6400 and ssmsingh@ucanr.edu and on LinkedIn @Simarjeet-UCCE.
Wilcher joins UCCE as economic development advisor for Inyo, Mono and Eastern Kern counties
Aaron Wilcher joined UC Cooperative Extension on Oct. 2 as a community economic development advisor for Inyo, Mono and Eastern Kern counties. Wilcher is developing an applied research and education program that will promote small business, economic diversification and workforce development in key priority sectors the region has recently outlined in its planning efforts. He will be working with regional planning organizations and business associations to build partnerships and collaborate on technical assistance.
He is looking forward to working with community members throughout the area.
"I've spent my career as a program manager and technical assistance provider working on partnerships that involved research and data, community partnerships and program development,” Wilcher said. “I was looking to support a community that thrives on its relationship to the outdoors and the environment, a ‘working landscape' you might say, so this was – in all ways shapes and forms – a position that looked tailor-made for me."
Before joining UCCE, Wilcher directed an applied economics research program for Sacramento regional community colleges and workforce stakeholders, advising on talent development strategy. In that role, he worked with numerous partners on regional initiatives for a range of topics including early childhood education, public sector workforce pathways, economic impact analysis for the wine industry, manufacturing industry market studies, regional workforce and economic development plans, and fact sheets and marketing materials.
Prior to working in the Sacramento region, Wilcher was a faculty program manager for clean energy workforce development programs in the San Francisco Bay Area community college system, where he led federal, state and private grant programs. He worked with public-private partnerships and faculty teams to create new courses that trained hundreds of students.
In the past, Wilcher served for four years on the steering committee of the California Studies Association, a group of writers, teachers, elected officials, journalists, and public scholars who produced an annual conference on politics and culture. For more than a decade, he was a mountain bike athlete and competed throughout North America and Europe.
“I am excited to be working in the UC system since I am a graduate of two UC campuses,” Wilcher said.
He earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish from UCLA and a master's degree in city planning, community and economic development from UC Berkeley. He also has a master's degree in American studies from Saint Louis University in Missouri. He is certified as an economic research professional by the Council for Community and Economic Research.
Wilcher is based at the UCCE county office in Bishop and can be reached at awilcher@ucanr.edu.
