- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Resnick named director for community nutrition and health 
Amira Resnick joined UC ANR as director for Community Nutrition and Health on Feb. 15.
"We look forward to Amira bringing her enthusiasm and experience to help continue the growth of our nutrition and health work across the state," said Associate Vice President Wendy Powers. "Our historical impact in these areas – and more recently the growing concerns around COVID-19 and food security – highlight the importance of and need for this work.”
Prior to joining UC ANR, Resnick was senior manager with Alliance for a Healthier Generation based in Los Angeles. In that position, she has spearheaded new, innovative multisectoral partnership development, secured funding opportunities, and implemented projects to advance environmental and systemic change toward whole child health. Previously, as Statewide Family Services coordinator with Telamon Corporation, she led program implementation across 17 Migrant Head Start sites with 500 employees, serving over 1,000 families.
Resnick holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Michigan.
“The position will further refine our vision for growth in the areas of nutrition and health and will oversee the network of nutrition and health work implemented across the state through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program; CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program; and UC Master Food Preserver program,” said Mark Bell, vice provost of strategic initiatives and statewide programs.
Resnick is based in the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at arresnick@ucanr.edu.
Roman named BOC associate director 
Tracy Roman joined UC ANR as associate director for the Business Operations Center on Feb. 15.
For the past 27 years, Roman worked for UC Davis Stores (Bookstore) in multiple positions, the last decade as the associate director of finance. She also was the bookstore's coordinator of commencement for students, served on the UC Student Health Insurance Plan committee and was a member of UC Davis' administrative management group called ADMAN.
During her tenure with the bookstore, Roman coordinated the student health vending machine, got SNAP accepted on campus, developed “Relax and Restore” (an event to help student de-stress during finals week), helped get an Amazon store located on campus, and served as project manager for Equitable Access.
Roman is based at the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at tlroberts@ucdavis.edu.
Fernandez named associate director of statewide programs operations and RECs 
Maru Fernandez joined ANR as associate director of statewide programs operations and research and extension centers on Jan. 24.
Fernandez, who has worked for UC since 2011, served as Financial Services Supervisor for the UC ANR Business Operations Center in 2020 and 2021. She has also worked in Contracts and Grants Accounting at UC Davis, as a fund manager.
She earned a B.S. in entrepreneurial management and marketing from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Fernandez is based at the UC ANR building in Davis and can be reached at mefernandez@ucanr.edu.
Waisen named UCCE vegetable crops and small farms advisor 
Philip Waisen joined UC Cooperative Extension as a vegetable crops and small farms advisor in Riverside and Imperial counties on Jan. 10.
He is developing research and extension programs focused on pest and disease management and plant nutrient management in vegetable agroecosystems.
Prior to joining UCCE, Waisen was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he worked on Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education-funded research projects on nematode and soil health management in tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits, asparagus, banana and brassicas. During 2021, Waisen served as a part-time lecturer teaching plant pathology, research methods, and horticultural sciences courses for his alma mater, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
He earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in plant pathology/nematology, plant and environmental protection sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a B.S. in agriculture and plant disease at Papua New Guinea University of Technology.
Waisen is based in Indio and can be reached at pwaisen@ucanr.edu and (760) 342-2467.
Levy named UCCE water specialist 
Natalie Levy joined UC Cooperative Extension on Jan. 3 as an associate specialist for water resources serving Orange County.
Levy will be designing and conducting water-related research and extension activities focused on the needs of both urban and agriculture systems. Based at the South Coast Research and Extension Center, she assists with the Climate Ready Landscape Plant irrigation trials, a collaborative Specialty Crops Multistate research project being conducted at several Western academic institutions. The data collected from the deficit irrigation trials are used to assess vigor and overall performance of landscape plants to identify low-water use plants that can be successfully grown in each climate and soil type.
Prior to becoming a UCCE specialist, Levy was a staff research associate at South Coast REC assisting with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's study of storm and non-storm runoff within urban landscapes in OC. Before joining UC ANR, she worked for ecko360 as terrestrial division director, developing custom aerial imaging and modeling solutions for plant production systems.
She earned a Ph.D. in agricultural and extension education and evaluation and an M.S. in agronomy, both from Louisiana State University, and a B.S. in environmental science from UC Berkeley.
Levy is headquartered at the South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine. She can be reached at nlevy@ucanr.edu.
Morris joins UCCE Santa Clara as agricultural liaison 
Julie Morris joined UCCE in Santa Clara County as agricultural liaison, a new UCCE position supported by the county Agricultural Division and UC ANR, on Jan. 3. Morris will facilitate and expedite agricultural projects in Santa Clara County.
“Julie will advance our mission to support economic and community development of local farms and ranches by coordinating across county departments and community groups to enhance food access and public health,” said Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner Joe Deviney.
Morris will help agricultural producers navigate the complex regulations and coordinate efforts for policy change and regulatory simplification. By working closely with a variety of partners, including farms and ranches, landowners, policy advocates, decisionmakers, community stakeholders and others, she will be instrumental in developing and administering new systems, policies, processes and programs supporting healthy food systems.
A longtime rancher and co-founder of T.O. Cattle Company, Morris is an advocate of local food systems. Her family's ranch direct markets grass-fed beef to customers throughout California. She was communications and government affairs manager at Earthbound Farm and has experience with federal and state agriculture policy, food access issues, and regulatory and compliance standards. She is also the former executive director of Community Vision San Benito County, part of the Community Foundation of San Benito County.
Morris holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from San Diego State University and is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership program, a two-year fellowship focusing on community involvement and leadership.
Morris is based in San Jose and can be reached at (408) 201-0674 and jfmorris@ucanr.edu.
Clemons named UCCE director for Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties 
Rita Clemons joined UC ANR as UCCE director in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties on Dec. 1, 2021. By assuming administrative responsibilities for the three counties, Clemons' hiring allows Darren Haver, Janet Hartin, Chris McDonald and Stephanie Barrett to focus on their research and extension.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Clemons was the regional center director for Cambridge College-Southern California, creating visibility for the college by developing strong partnerships and relationships with local community organizations. She managed day-to-day operations; recruited, interviewed and recommended faculty; supervised faculty and staff; resolved complaints from constituents; represented the college at events; assessed academic and student service needs; recommended new programs and developed agreements to market the college.
The Pomona native began her corporate career working in human resources for law firms in Los Angeles. She moved to higher education, first as a recruiter for Claremont Graduate University's School of Politics and Economics, and eventually becoming a program administrator for the School of Information Systems and Technology.
Clemons earned a degree in paralegal studies at the Southern California College of Business and Law, bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Phoenix, and a master's degree in management with a concentration in leadership at Claremont Graduate University.
Clemons is based in Moreno Valley and can be reached at rlclemons@ucanr.edu.
Urban IPM team wins CDPR IPM Achievement Award
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation presented a 2021 IPM Achievement Award to Karey Windbiel-Rojas, associate director for Urban & Community IPM, and fellow UCCE advisors Andrew Sutherland, Niamh Quinn and Siavash Taravati for their integrated pest management work in urban settings.
The advisors play important roles in encouraging IPM implementation in urban settings throughout California. As urban IPM advisors, they conduct research, provide training and publish resources to promote IPM adoption. Their research topics include urban IPM, organic herbicides, bait-only cockroach management programs, bedbugs, rodent and coyote management in the wildland-urban interface, red imported fire ants, and municipal IPM.
They received the award during a virtual meeting on Feb. 22.
WeedCUT wins CDPR IPM Achievement Award
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation also presented a 2021 IPM Achievement Award to the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) and members of the UC Integrated Pest Management Program for science-based tools and resources to control invasive weeds in California.
With funding from the DPR Alliance Grants Program, Cal-IPC and Tunyalee Martin, associate director for communications, Chinh Lam, IT supervisor and lead programmer, and Cheryl Wilen, emeritus IPM advisor, published the “Best Management Practices for Non-Chemical Weed Control” manual and released an interactive online tool called WeedCUT, which helps users make informed decisions about managing weeds without using chemicals.
“We're very fortunate that DPR has funded version 2 of WeedCUT to add herbicide information,” Martin said. “This will make the tool a complete, one-stop shop for natural areas weedy plant management.”
Tate honored by Society for Range Management 
Ken Tate received the Society for Range Management's 2022 W.R. Chapline Land Stewardship Award on Jan. 10 during the society's annual meeting in Albuquerque. The award recognizes exceptional accomplishments and contributions in range management.
Tate, professor and Rustici Endowed Specialist in Rangeland Watershed Sciences with UC Cooperative Extension and UC Davis, has contributed to the conservation of California's rangelands over the past three decades. His research and extension focus on natural resources and sustainable agricultural enterprises. Recommendations from his work have had significant impacts in guiding ranchers and state and federal land management agencies.
Tate has led multiple teams to develop research, education and extension programs to proactively address concerns about fecal microbial pollution from rangeland cattle.
Early in his career, he worked to inform public interest groups on the risk of pathogenic contamination of San Francisco's drinking water supply. Working with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Tate helped stakeholder groups identify management practices to reduce risks of drinking water supplies being contaminated by livestock-borne Cryptosporidium parvum, allowing ranching families to continue sustainable grazing practices on Bay Area watersheds. Since then, he has led numerous collaborations to examine the movement of other pathogens; bacterial indicators of water quality such as fecal coliforms and Enterococci; and hormones and pharmaceutical products common in rangeland cattle production.
Tate has published 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and secured over $14 million in research and extension grants. His scientific leadership and expertise in the livestock grazing-environmental quality-human health nexus have been sought out nationally and internationally. Most importantly, Tate has become a trusted source of information through his work with private landowners, public land managers, conservation groups, regulatory agency staff and policymakers to support science-based decision-making.
Sanden honored by American Society of Agronomy 
Blake Sanden, emeritus UCCE farm advisor, received an Honoree Award from the California Chapter of the American Society of Agronomy.
As a result of Sanden's research, many almond growers started to put more water on their trees. And average Kern County almond yields increased by 65% between 2002 and 2011 compared to the previous 15 years, the Almond Board of California wrote in a story on its website.
Sanden retired in 2018 from his 26-year UCCE career.
“He was a champion on re-evaluating the water requirements for almond trees, which prior to his investigation was too little,” said Bob Curtis, the retired former director of agricultural affairs for the Almond Board of California.
“While there is no doubt that Blake had a big impact on California growers, he also had an impact on new farm advisors, including myself, as he was always there to help and transfer his knowledge and experiences to us as we started our new job as farm advisors,” said Mohammad Yaghmour, UCCE orchards advisor in Kern County.
Sanden received the award during the American Society of Agronomy's convention held via Zoom Feb. 1-3.
Scow and Sperling elected to National Academy of Engineering 
Kate Scow and Daniel Sperling, UC Davis professors, have been elected as members of the National Academy of Engineering.
Kate Scow is a distinguished professor emeritus of soil microbial ecology in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. The academy honored her for “elucidating the role of soil microbial communities in polluted ecosystems and their responses to agricultural management practices,” according to an NAE statement.
The newly elected class will be formally inducted during the NAE's annual meeting on Oct. 2.
Ronald wins Wolf Prize in Agriculture 
Pam Ronald, UC Davis plant geneticist, has been named the recipient of the 2022 International Wolf Prize in Agriculture, given by the Jerusalem-based Wolf Foundation in recognition of her “pioneering work on disease resistance and environmental stress tolerance in rice.”
Ronald is a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, having joined the faculty in 1972, and is also affiliated with the UC Davis Genome Center and the Physical Biosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The Wolf Foundation noted her work isolating a gene that allows rice to survive two weeks of flooding and increases yield by 60% compared to conventional varieties. “Her discoveries show an advanced understanding of fundamental biological processes and enhance sustainable agriculture and food security,” the foundation said in its announcement of her prize.
Flood-tolerant rice varieties are now grown by more than 6 million subsistence farmers in India and Bangladesh. The committee noted that those two countries lose more than 4 million tons of rice each year to flooding, enough to feed 30 million people.
Ronald founded the UC Davis Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy to provide the next generation of scientists with the training they need to become effective communicators. She and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer who retired in 2020 as the market garden coordinator for the UC Davis Student Farm, are the authors of Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food.
The foundation has been giving its $100,000 prizes in agriculture and other disciplines since 1978, honoring scientists and artists from around the world “for their achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations amongst peoples.” – Kat Kerlin
Getts, Haviland, Nobua-Behrmann appointed to CISAC
UC Cooperative Extension advisors Tom Getts, David Haviland and Bea Nobua-Behrmann have been selected to serve on the California Invasive Species Advisory Committee.
This group advises the Invasive Species Council of California, which is composed of the secretaries of California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, California Health and Human Services Agency, and the Office of Emergency Services.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Winners of the 2020-21 ANR Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) program were announced June 17.
The outstanding contributions of 18 individual UC ANR staff members and six teams were recognized and celebrated at an online town hall. The honored staff members will receive plaques and cash awards for their exceptional performance, creativity, organizational abilities, work success and teamwork.
The STAR winners are named below, followed by a quote from their nominator.
Valerie Borel, horticulture and Master Gardener Program coordinator, UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County
“With recommendations from the task force, Valerie significantly overhauled our process for selecting Master Gardeners. This included significantly updating the application and including a diverse committee of Master Gardeners in the review and selection process. This process, while time consuming for Valerie as our Master Gardener coordinator, led to recruitment and selection of Master Gardener trainees that are more diverse than in prior years.”
“She has shown exceptional creativity and success this year during the COVID-19 stay at home order. She was the first EFNEP educator across our two-county team to recruit and deliver a completely virtual nutrition class series. Guadalupe also identified needs in the community and creatively addressed them by making her own recipe and food safety videos. To make her online classes engaging, she has conducted live online cooking demonstrations and incorporated activities to include youth who are learning at home with their parents.”
Vanity Campbell, proposal development coordinator 
“Vanity developed an innovative two-day format for the 2020 Grant Essentials Summit that capitalized on academic engagement with state agencies to facilitate building relationships with programs while increasing grant- seeking capacity to identify and successfully apply for funding. In 2021, Vanity is expanding the program in collaboration with UC Merced to promote research and extension collaborations across the two institutions through presentation of agency grant programs and faculty research interests and needs.”
“Kim quickly established expectations and guidelines to transition staff for the remote work environment in order to successfully continue to process proposals, award and subawards without interruption of service and workflow.”
Katie Churchill, administrative officer and financial manager, UCCE Capitol Corridor
“Her work this year was transformative with guiding our office through challenging times and ensuring our programs were having high impact on making our communities great places to live and work.”
“Darrin successfully managed 30 demanding research projects. Under a normal year this a huge accomplishment, but Darrin was forced to find innovative ways of completing the fieldwork in a manner that fit COVID-19 safety guidelines and frequent staff absences due to family and childcare needs. Even more impressive was that IREC staff completed the projects under budget and on schedule… The 2020 growing season at IREC was particularly challenging due to a water shortage and wildfire smoke.”
Maru Fernandez, UCCE business partner team supervisor
“One year ago, the two Business Operation Center Locations were consolidated. Maru has been instrumental in building the team of 9 new members since last July, many of whom have never met each other. She has taken on additional responsibilities of the vacant Budget Analyst position, and has demonstrated a commitment above and beyond what would be expected of her as Supervisor of Business Partner Teams 1-4.”
“Without Laurie's diligence and support the move could have been disastrous! Laurie was a key point of contact over the course of three county directors with Madera County and she helped with design, layout and setup of the new office.”
Elaine Lander, urban & community IPM educator, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
“In the last year, she has continuously put effort into making ANR a more equitable and inclusive organization. She has served on the DEI advisory committee, is a founding member of the DEI council, contributed to the establishment of Employee Resource Groups, and served on the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month planning committee. She has participated in multiple trainings through ANR and is now pursuing training on the Intercultural Development Inventory to build intercultural competence within her IPM program and our larger organization.”
“Julie not only rapidly transitioned to providing nutrition education online, she also found ways to move our policy systems and environmental change work forward, despite the fact that many of our settings effectively did not exist during the pandemic. Her cafeĢ promo videos, which encourage children to try new fruits and vegetables, have been recognized statewide.”
Brian Oatman, Risk & Safety Services director 
“Throughout his career with ANR this candidate has sought to find creative solutions for complex problems… Early in the pandemic when cleaning and disinfecting supplies were low, he worked with his staff to sort out what material county offices needed. He acquired these materials from a variety of sources and shipped them directly to county offices, so staff had cleaning supplies in a time when they were not available locally.”
Carmela Padilla
“She immediately recognized the need to support staff capacity to facilitate virtual education, and she has provided training on dozens of topics and new tools. Carmela also led the development of educational videos by the whole team, including an entire nutrition curriculum. She developed a YouTube channel that now hosts over 50 educational videos, which have been viewed more than 1,250 times in all. Carmela was involved in determining the content, reviewing, and sharing each of these videos, although they also represent the collective efforts of the entire talented team”.
Rita Palmer, community education supervisor 2, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC, UCCE Butte County
“Rita's proactive approach to continue programming as stay at home orders were issued resulted in new program partnerships, the hosting of a large virtual Student Agricultural Field Day event and CFHL, UC staff with new communication skillsets and abilities to engage others in their work. The day after stay-at-home orders were issued, Rita was delivering a Zoom presentation to food service staff in one of the largest school districts in the Butte Cluster region.”
“We have nominated Stephanie for a STAR award because of her work during the past year to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion to the forefront within UC IPM and ANR on top of her current role and duties. In ANR, she has been the voice for people who felt their voices weren't being heard. For UC IPM, Stephanie is instrumental in operationalizing our diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives, and getting us closer to achieving our overall goal to be an equitable organization.”
Jodi Rosenbaum, ER business consultant
“Jodi is the primary person to receive reports when an employee is diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19. Jodi's work to track cases, employee leave, and return to work has been outstanding and is vital to keeping ANR operational. Jodi developed new processes to receive private medical information, store it securely, and track employee status. This often requires urgent response at all hours and on off days.”
“Vince is being recognized for his leadership and contributions that underpinned the formation of the Bay Area Rancher Cooperative, known as BAR-C. He has been the primary coordinator and facilitator, resourceful in recruiting allies and partners like the California Center for Cooperative Development and Conservation Works, and organized the business plan development, including a confidential peer review process.”
Ricardo Vela, News & Outreach in Spanish (NOS) manager
“During the pandemic, he conceived of and spearheaded three events for ANR employees that had never been done before. Ricardo and his NOS team put together a series of well-attended educational online events for Hispanic Heritage Month September-October. Ricardo produced a video of ANR colleagues and 4-H members sharing how they were affected by COVID-19. On Cesar Chavez's birthday, Ricardo hosted a webinar about the life of the civil rights icon.”
“Early into the shutdown, Nancy brought forth various opportunities and ideas to expand our program reach by leveraging relationships so that we could continue to serve our community… Additionally, Nancy volunteered to participate in state-level workgroups. She chaired one of the workgroups and made valuable suggestions on the equity and access challenges faced by the population we serve.”
COVID-19 Hands-on Operational Support Team: David Alamillo, Barbara Bellieu, Alan Chavez, Tammie Erhard, Melissa Figueroa, Veronica Geiger, David Hatter, Brian Oatman, Bart Sapeta, Kathryn Stein, Ron Walker, Rhett Woerly and Michael Zwahlen
When most UC ANR employees transitioned to working remotely, the COVID-19 Hands-on Operational Support Team ensured that employees had necessary equipment and that ANR business operations continued to function.
Alameda/Contra Costa Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program Team: Nelly Camacho, Jennifer Ferreira, Eli Figueroa, Santo Lopez, Carla Moore, Jesus Osoria, Molica Sim and Leah Sourbeer
“Despite the challenges imposed by the pandemic, they collectively exhibited resilience, creativity, teamwork, and exceptional performance to execute the mission of EFNEP through virtual programming.”
Financial System Implementation at UCOP: Connie Tadesse and Jin Yu
“This past year, UCOP partnered with UCSD and UCM to undertake a major high risk business systems implementation replacing their legacy business systems and infrastructure with Oracle Cloud Financials. UCOP and the two campuses were the first, systemwide, at UC to take on something this broad in scope and magnitude for a business system transformation. Working with the Huron consultants, and the UCOP project team, their efforts ensured that UC ANR requirements were met.”
CalNat CES Team: Sarah Angulo, Eliot Freutel and Brook Gamble
“The California Naturalist Program's three Community Education Specialists not only adjusted to the changing conditions, but made structural changes to the program that actually put it in a stronger position moving forward. Specifically, they made investments in online delivery, shared the best practices throughout our diverse network, diversified our delivery model to include direct delivery, and remained focused on maintaining a strong service orientation and building community among our clientele.”
UC West Side REC Team: Merf Solorio and Mark Strole
“We acknowledge the exceptional service, teamwork, and creativity of Rafael “Merf” Solorio, Superintendent, and Mark Strole, Chief Mechanic, of the ANR's West Side Research and Extension Center. Time and time again, they both go well beyond the routine demands and expectations of their respective job classifications in ways that are uncommon and greatly appreciated by all who work at the West Side. On behalf of the many ANR researchers who work at the West Side REC, register our sincere thanks to both Merf and Mark for their forward vision, skills, and attention to detail in getting things done in support of our efforts.”
Office of Contracts and Grants Team: Kim Lamar, Vanity Campbell, Andrea Davis, Heidi von Geldern, Kendra Rose and Suzanne Burton.
“This team processed a record-breaking FY2020 award total of over $46 million, an increase of almost $11 million, or 30% from the prior year. This was possible because this team is a solid and cohesive group of extremely remarkable research administration professionals.”
