Cervantes joins NOS as broadcast communication specialist 

Diana Cervantes

Diana Cervantes joined UC ANR on Sept. 5 as the new broadcast communication specialist for News and Information Outreach in Spanish, or NOS.

Cervantes brings over 25 years of experience as a journalist serving the Spanish-speaking community in Southern California to help fulfill the NOS mission of disseminating information to California's Spanish-speaking community. 

Before joining NOS, Cervantes was an editor for El Latino, the most widely circulated Spanish-language newspaper in San Diego County. She participated in the creation of the El Latino website and spearheaded the newspaper's digital platform migration.

Her professional journey includes working as a reporter for La Opinión, the largest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the nation, as well as a reporter for La Prensa/The Press Enterprise in Riverside.

She is bicultural and bilingual, qualities that uniquely equips her to understand the needs and nuances of the immigrant community in this country. 

Cervantes holds a bachelor's degree in communication sciences with a minor in written journalism from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. 

"I am very happy for the opportunity to participate in the valuable work that UC ANR does to bring knowledge to the Hispanic community," Cervantes said.

Cervantes is based at the NOS office in Riverside and can be reached at diacervantes@ucanr.edu. 

De Guzman named first UCCE specialist at UCLA 

Edith de Guzman

Edith de Guzman joined UC ANR on Sept. 1 as a UC Cooperative Extension water equity and adaptation policy specialist. She is the first UCCE specialist to be based at UCLA.

Her work investigates best practices for the sustainable transformation of the Los Angeles region and beyond, and has included research, demonstration projects, public policy and planning in the areas of water management, climate adaptation, heat mitigation and urban forestry. She tackles these topics through the lenses of urban planning, public health, behavioral sciences, biophysical sciences and public policy. 

She co-founded and directs the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, a multisectoral partnership working to alleviate the public health risks of extreme heat. Their research has found that one in four lives currently lost to extreme heat could be saved if L.A.'s land cover had more trees and its built surfaces were more reflective, particularly where low-income communities and communities of color live and work.

From 2014 to 2020, de Guzman served as director of research at Los Angeles-based organization TreePeople. Her projects at the nonprofit included the City of Los Angeles Stormwater Capture Master Plan; facilitating the creation of a Greening Plan with the Inglewood and Lennox communities; bringing to fruition multiple urban water-management demonstration projects; and leading an extensive study tour of Australia's response to its historic Millennium Drought and gleaning lessons for California. She also produced the first interactive, high-resolution public map and spatial analysis of Los Angeles County's urban forest.

Having completed all of her studies at UCLA, de Guzman holds a Ph.D. in environment & sustainability, a master's degree in urban planning and a bachelor's degree in history and art history.

Learn more about her research advancing climate resilience and access to clean water and sustainable resources in a Q&A at https://innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/2023/07/31/welcome-to-our-new-water-equity-and-adaptation-policy-expert-edith-de-guzman.

De Guzman is based at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation in Los Angeles and can be reached at eb3@ucla.edu and @edithbdeguzman on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Tegura, Aceves, Vargas join CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE 

Sabine Tegura

Sabine Tegura joined UCCE in Alameda County on Aug. 29 as a CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE community education specialist. She will be focused on providing nutrition education directly to senior and adult community housing sites.

Tegura, who was born in Byumba, Rwanda, and grew up in small towns in Illinois, is a long-time educator who has primarily worked with youth. Most recently, she was a community educator for Superstar Health Education, teaching puberty and sex education workshops to fourth- to eighth-grade students in the Bay Area for four years.

She earned a bachelor's degree in social work from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.

Tegura is based in Hayward and can be reached at stegura@ucanr.edu.

Marcella Aceves

Aceves is a graduate of San Jose State University where she earned her bachelor's degree in public health. She has previously worked as a garden educator and as a gymnastics instructor and is passionate about working with children and helping her community. Aceves can be reached at mdaceves@ucanr.edu.

Alexandra Vargas

Alexandra Vargas also joined UCCE in San Mateo/San Francisco as a CalFresh Healthy Living , UCCE community education specialist on Sept. 5. Vargas recently earned a bachelor's degree in nutrition and dietetics and a minor in holistic health from San Francisco State University, where she also played on the soccer team for four years. In her spare time, she coaches the SFSU women's soccer team. 

Vargas is based in South San Francisco and can be reached at alrvargas@ucanr.edu.

Hill named weed science and agronomy advisor 

Ryan J. Hill

Ryan Hill joined UCCE on Aug. 14 as a weed science and agronomy advisor in Tehama, Shasta and Glenn counties.

In his new role, Hill will be exploring safe and effective weed-management options for a range of cropping systems in the northern Sacramento Valley. He also will be advising on production of agronomic crops to support growers who are looking for ways to diversify their farming operations.

When the UC Master Gardener Program gets established in Tehama County, Hill will provide academic oversight for the local program. 

“I have been very fortunate to have a wide background of experience in agricultural research and I intend to draw on that as much as I can as a UCCE advisor,” Hill said. “I also intend to draw on the diverse array of resources and expertise that UC ANR has to offer to support my research and extension programs as well as the Master Gardener program. I am looking forward to making consistent progress toward more sustainable food systems as a member of the UC ANR team.”

Before joining UC ANR, Hill worked for the Oregon State University Extension Service, the California processing tomato industry, and the Joint Genome Institute. At OSU, he managed research operations and field plantings at the research farm for 3.5 years, while learning weed science. He worked on weed control and herbicide safety projects in hazelnuts, hops, caneberries, cranberries, blueberries, ornamental trees and shrubs, apples, cherries, pears, wine grapes and Christmas trees.

Hill earned a master's degree in plant breeding and genetics from Oregon State University, where he studied the genetics of self-incompatibility in hazelnuts. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. 

“I was born and raised in Stanislaus County,” Hill said, “and I am happy to be back in the Central Valley after spending the last six years in Oregon.” 

Hill is based in Red Bluff and can be reached at (530) 527-3101 and rjahill@ucanr.edu.

Ramirez Bonilla named pesticide safety education program coordinator 

Jasmin Ramirez Bonilla

Jasmin Ramirez Bonilla joined the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program on July 10 as a pesticide-safety education program coordinator. She is working on projects promoting pesticide safety. 

Prior to joining UC ANR, she worked for the CDFA Plant Pest Diagnostics Branch as a lab technician for the molecular lab, analyzing and processing crop samples for nematode identification.

Ramirez Bonilla earned a master's degree in entomology from UC Davis and bachelor's degree in Earth systems science from UC Merced. At UC Davis, she worked under the supervision of Ian Grettenberger, UCCE specialist, on IPM in forages and vegetable crops. For her thesis, Ramirez Bonilla researched the efficacy of an experimental aggregation pheromone for the management of cucumber beetles, key pests of fresh market melons in California.

Ramirez Bonilla is based at the ANR building in Davis and can be reached at jramirezbonilla@ucanr.edu.

Van Cleave-Hunt named UCCE nutrition, health and food security advisor 

Veronica Van Cleave-Hunt

Veronica Van Cleave-Hunt began a new position within UC ANR on July 5 as the UC Cooperative Extension community nutrition, health and food security advisor serving Butte, Colusa, Glen, Sutter and Yuba counties.

Before beginning her current position, Van Cleave-Hunt served for four years as a community education specialist for the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program before becoming the program supervisor serving the same counties. 

“Luckily, I already have my finger on the pulse of the community in these five counties just through my experience with CalFresh. I've been able to build rapport and connections with a lot of community partners and stakeholders,” said Van Cleave-Hunt.

As an advisor, Van Cleave-Hunt will focus on nutrition, education and healthy living efforts for people who are at a disadvantage. For example, those living in food deserts and/or experiencing food insecurity – a term used to describe the societal and environmental barriers to access and manage food.

“Food security is about environment and access, but also skills related to food,” Van Cleave-Hunt said. “For instance… budgeting, even things like gardening, cooking and knowing how to prepare food so that you don't always have to buy ready-made food, or how to store things properly so that they last as long as possible.” 

According to Van Cleave-Hunt, food security includes skills that will help you get the most out of the food that you have.

Currently, Van Cleave-Hunt is compiling secondary data to conduct a needs assessment. Other than engaging stakeholders such as resident service coordinators at low-income housing units or community organizations, she is also working with the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to develop healthy living trainings and curricula that will benefit communities in her counties. 

Van Cleave-Hunt said that her time with UC Cooperative Extension has been a “full-circle journey” since she studied human behavior and health in school. She started her undergraduate career at Santa Rosa Junior College before transferring to California State University, Chico where she earned a bachelor's in nutrition and a master's degree in nutrition education.

Chelsey Slattery, former UCCE area nutrition, family, and consumer sciences advisor for Butte County, recruited Van Cleave-Hunt right out of college to be a UC Cooperative Extension community education specialist. Today, Van Cleave-Hunt holds the position that Slattery once did.

Van Cleave-Hunt can be reached at vvancleavehunt@ucanr.edu and is based in Oroville.

NEAFCS honors Meng with New Professional Award 

Yu Meng, receives the NEAFCS New Professional Award from Western Region President Dianne Christensen.

Yu Meng, UCCE youth family and community advisor for Riverside, Imperial and San Bernardino counties, received the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Past Presidents' New Professional Award on Sept. 12 in Providence, Rhode Island.  

This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments of NEAFCS members within the first five years from date of original employment with Cooperative Extension. Recipients are judged for applying their research to strengthen Extension teaching and program development to address critical concerns.

Meng, who joined UC ANR in 2019 in Imperial County, now oversees the CalFresh Healthy Living, UC, 4-H Youth Development, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and Master Food Preserver programs in three counties and Farm Smart at the UC Desert Research and Extension Center.

“Yu Meng is resourceful, creative, and a highly motivated applied research and extension advisor,” wrote Oli Bachie, UCCE Imperial County director, in his letter of support for her nomination.

In Imperial County, almost half of county residents are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and 74% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. To connect school district food service directors, teachers and food pantry staff with local growers, she secured grants to host a Farm to School Conference and Imperial Valley Agriculture Tour for teachers. 

According to her post-conference survey, 96% of participants know where to find resources for building school gardens; 84% feel confident in engaging and facilitating farm-to-school activities; 88% say they plan to start to integrate what they learned to their work; 66% say they plan to apply for a farm-to-school grant; 87% are familiar with and understand local agriculture more after the tour.

Elkins named Lake County Agriculturalist of the Year 

Rachel Elkins

Rachel Elkins, emeritus UCCE pomology farm advisor in Lake and Mendocino Counties, received the Lake County Farm Bureau's 2023 Agriculturalist of the Year. The award was given at their Centennial Celebration on June 24, at which they also honored centennial farming families.

Elkins, who retired in 2020, was on academic recall until March to provide pear and walnut growers with advice.