- Author: Deanne Meyer
Ever wonder how Extension and Ag Experiment Directors share information? The Western Extension Directors Association (WEDA) and Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (WAAESD) met in Denver last week. Vice President Humiston attended and WAAESD meetings and I attended the WEDA meetings. It was an information filled week with much sharing of ideas and needs for the west. Yes, we all face similar challenges with crumbling facilities, fire, management of government owned lands, water scarcity, changing climate, mental health, the need for rural economic development, invasive pests, nutrition education, educating youth, and so much more. It's nice to talk with others to see how they manage resources to make work impactful. More information is available about the organizational structure of the Land Grant University System if you're interested. We had a fantastic presentation by Trent Teegerstrom, University of Arizona. He is Associate Director for Tribal Extension Programs and provided insightful lessons on how we can better serve to meet Tribal needs.
We were at the SPUR Center in Denver. The Center is by the old stockyards and SPUR literally got its name from a SPUR off the railroad. This new Center for Colorado State University system brings Fort Collins, Pueblo, and Global campuses to the people of Colorado. They have tours and activities daily. If you're in the neighborhood give it a look. We enjoyed a super tour including a virtual (3-D) animal anatomy experience. The buildings are topical: terra (land), hydro (water), and vita (life—animals).
Also attending the meetings were Keith Nathaniel one of two CA representatives on Western Program & Organizational Leadership Committee (WPOLC) and Vikram Koundinya Western Region Evaluation Network (WREN). Each of these are committees of WEDA. It was nice to have time to catch up with Keith and Vikram and know their time invested in the meetings will be useful here at home.
Meanwhile, Katherine Webb-Martinez and her team put the finishing touches on our annual report to USDA. There are some new due dates for next year's report. That translates to project board deadlines being sooner so Katherine and her team can pull information together.
Rounding out our remaining hires in February Katherine Kilbane transferred to Human Resources, Vanya Woodward is the Executive Assistant for Daniel Obrist and myself, and Harold Tabios and Jennifer Lewellen both promoted (Resource Planning and Management and Business Operations Center). Shelby Motley started at Lindcove REC as a Blank Assistant 2. We also hired students Adam Yandel and Alana Logie (Sutter/Yuba), and Rboert Vergara and Sophia Benefiel (IPM) as well as Christiana Spencer (internship). All total, we had 29 positions filled in February. THANK YOU everyone who served on search committees.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
What a whirlwind of a week. Over two weekends while people were trying to get into the portal to get documents for search committees, prepare for the Peer Review Committee meeting this week or otherwise access information on the ANR website our IT team was burning the midnight oil. They spent much of the weekend and early part of the week switching out some of our antiquated servers and then trouble shooting since the old and new pieces weren't talking with one another. THANK YOU Sree Mada, Jaki Hsieh Wojan and their teams who figured it all out so we could access all we need! Rest assured when we're having a challenge getting to web pages this group is trying to make things better.
Last Tuesday was Ag Day at the Capitol. UC ANR was there with 4-H, Master Gardeners, the VINE and a great citrus/avocado setup. The rain was minimal during setup and then the heaven opened. It rained and it poured. Our assembly and senate members walked through the crowd and popped under the tent to get out of the elements. Anne Megaro did a great job greeting our elected officials. Strategic Communications were out in full force with Miguel Sanchez, Ethan Ireland and Ricardo Vela with cameras and Pam Kan-Rice doing interviews. Dora Garay was on social media with the quickest thumbs around. Mike Hse, Linda Forbes, Evette Kilmartin and Lara Schroder greeted visitors in the booth and shared oranges or mandarins (thank you Ashraf El Kereamy and Lindcove REC) or talked about avocados (thank you Darren Haver and South Coast REC). The 4-Hers were wonderful! They had goats and rabbits which were crowd pleasers and did many interviews and discussions with elected officials. The VINE robot drew crowds. Numerous others helped make the day fabulous. Thank you all for your incredible energy, excitement and commitment on a very rainy day!
Speaking of rain, the number of people and animals in CA displaced by our winter weather continues to climb. ANR Advisors and CES will be helping people as they work through options. Emergency preparedness for livestock and humans is a must this winter. The amount of standing water on fields is bound to impair crop harvests. Not to mention some late season cold temperatures this week. That old saying "when it rains it pours" is definitely true this year.
Last Wednesday we held Administrative Orientation in the Valley Rooms. What excitement to see so many new members of the ANR family. A big shout out to Human Resources and Program Support Unit for all their efforts to make the day enjoyable and memorable. Many tables were set up for people to meet and greet members working in different units. It was fun and informative! Speaking of new people, eight new Community Education Specialists started in February: Roxana Price, Riverside; Alfonso Mota, Central Sierra Nevada; Hannah Meyer, Nevada Placer; Kenia Estrada and Jo Reynolds, Sutter/Yuba; Elizabeth Reikowski, Statewide program operations; Mavrick Farnam, Modoc; and Reyna Yagi, Alameda County.
Here's hoping your week has sunshine!
- Author: Deanne Meyer
It's only been a week since our CARET group met in DC. THANK YOU to our CARET representatives Ismael Herrera and Mike Mellano for making time to travel to DC, walk up and down the halls of the House of Representatives as well as the Senate to meet with staff of our representatives and senators. Also joining our group were select UC employees. We visited 24 offices including the Senate and House Ag Committees. We shared our priorities for this year's appropriations as well as Farm Bill items. The conversations were filled with how valuable ANR is to communities. We discussed impacts from trained citizen scientists to identify spotted lanternfly and the importance of prescribed burn associations. It was easy to share examples of Advisors, Specialists and Community Educators helping to assess damage from fire, floods or other disasters. Impacts from statewide programs to improve lives of Californians (Master Gardener, 4-H, Community Nutrition and Health, Integrated Pest Management, etc.) were shared. After visiting two offices I sent links to the great Small Farms website with a map of California and staffing delivery footprint as well as languages served. We do incredible work that truly impacts the lives of Californians!
CARET is the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching. Some 300 people from US Universities participated. Sunday afternoon was a heart-warming tribute to Jean-Mari Peltier (may we all remember her with fondness) who received the lifetime CARET achievement award. Jean-Mari set the gold standard as an advocate for research, collaboration, joint funding of projects, use of science to answer questions, engagement, UC ANR and so much more. The Jean-Mari Peltier Endowment in support of UC ANR Strategic Priorities was established to carry-on Jean-Mari's commitment to UC ANR, science and solving problems.
Other members not included in this office visit included Divisional Dean Isgouhi Kaloshian, UCR; Government Relations, UCR Kathy Eiler; Government Relations, UCSC Loressa Uson; and Ryan Tompkins Forester and Natural Resources Advisor for Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties.
Thursday, Missy Gable shared with the UC Regents the impact of capacity funds (Federal dollars) in delivery of the Master Gardener Program. She zoomed into the meeting from UC DC. It was thrilling to watch Missy present right after we had visited with our representatives about the importance of capacity funds (Hatch, Smith-Lever, and McIntire Stennis).
Meanwhile, back home Anne Megaro prepared for our Ag Day at the Capitol (coming up this Tuesday).
Switching gears, let's give a warm welcome to our some of our February hires-- David Gonzalves, Area Director (Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito), Advisors Patricia Laxicki (Capitol Corridor) and Manpreet Singh (Kearney REC), Junior Specialist Alexander Mendenhall, and SRAs Margaret Gallagher, Elle Overs, and Cristian Burgos (all Orange County), Rito Medina Fresno Madera MCP, and Andrea Northup-Warner Sierra Foothill REC. We look forward to seeing your great impacts for Californians.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
This last week had its peaks and valleys. We are closely watching weather updates and predictions as more rain is heading our way.
Many heard the news that Richard (Dick) Rosenberg passed away at 92 years strong. His philanthropy will forever be remembered. For ANR, the Rosenberg International Forum serves to reduce conflict and promote cooperation in management of water resources. The endowment supporting this work began in 1996. As one article said his "attention to details, drove change and made a huge difference". The same article quoted his son Peter “He always said no matter what success you have in life, you can never enjoy it unless you're using that success to help others.” Dick's mission of making the world a better place is inspirational. I highly recommend a quick internet search to learn more about this amazing man and see similarities between all of us at ANR and his life's mission.
Tuesday was a super mentoring event for both staff and academics held in the Valley rooms. It was exciting to greet everyone and welcome them to their ANR family. We had a wonderful mix of mentors and mentees. Thank you to everyone who took part in the event. The energy in the room could have powered the building all day! The group met together and then split for more detailed information specific to staff or academics. A huge shout out to retired advisors John Karlik and Glenn McGourty for participating as mentors. As a reminder to everyone working in ANR—please remember to put you on your calendar! No matter your role in ANR, carve out time each week or month to reflect on accomplishments; what went well; and where improvements can be made. Make a habit of reflection so you see your value regularly. Set aside time for professional growth. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of work. File articles that look interesting, intriguing news pieces, a UC training, a TED talk, or any other opportunity to grow. Make time to dig in and learn at least monthly.
March 3rd was the first day for Elizabeth Moon, Director of Workplace Inclusion and Belonging. Director Moon is busy mapping out ANR. She's excited about our mission and encouraged by all the work being done within ANR surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. Please introduce yourself to Elizabeth. Her office is in Davis at 2nd Street.
Internal submissions are sought for the National Extension Awards. Three awards exist: Extension Diversity, Individual Excellence in Extension and Team Excellence in Extension. The application process isn't painful. We have incredibly strong programs in California and should have strong applicants in all three categories if people take time to complete the survey.
Welcome new hires in January: Grace Dean (Comm Specialist, Central Sierra Nevada MCP), Adolfo Limon (Financial Analyst, Resource Planning and Management) and Agron Kllogjri (General Accountant, Financial Services); students Jayla Pollard and Yasmeen Castro Guillen, Sutter/Yuba; Gema Gutierrez, Desert REC; Liam Gravvat, Human Resources; and Giovanna Bavaro, Riverside County.
The California CARET (Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching) members and the Administrative Heads Section (AHS) of the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities (APLU) meets Sunday and Monday in D.C. This year's theme is Ag is the Answer: Building Land-grant Solutions for Global Food, Agriculture, and Resource Challenges. After the meetings, our delegation will do hill visits and meet with elected officials' staff. It will be an an exciting week.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
Yet another incredible week of weather! Blizzards last week in southern California and the Sierra Nevada mountain range made for tough travels and snow bound families. More winter weather this weekend and early in the week has many peoples' patience worn thin. Here are good thoughts for the temps to hold out for months to allow slow melting of snow. For anyone traveling please remember to pack a double helping of patience, water and plenty of supplies. Winter survival kits are critical given all our snow pack.
Believe it or not, baseball season opening day is a month away! I can already taste the peanuts and look forward to a trip to the ballpark. Speaking of which, that's one of the activities during the All ANR Conference. Register for the conference and meet the new members of the ANR family! The agenda looks fantastic and we're starting our visioning process.
This week was very exciting with our Technical Assistance rollout webinar for those working on conservation. As mentioned previously, the Memorandum of Agreement for the California Conservation Partnership Planning (C2P2) was signed last year. Tuesday was our first meeting of the partner agency staff. CDFA, NRCS, CA RCD and UC ANR presented their areas of contribution to the agreement. UC ANR provides extension education and engagement, technical assistance (trough Climate Smart and Small Farms CES and academics), outreach, implementation, evaluation and impact analysis. Additionally, all members of the partnership can relay questions about practices back to UC for additional research. Basic and applied research will be identified and done (by UC ANR, Ag Experiment Station faculty, others at UC and through NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants). This provides a phenomenal feedback loop from asking driving questions to analyzing implementation to determine if practices meet desired goals and if they are cost effective. This is a terrific opportunity for staff at all agencies to understand each agency's superpower and identify who is better qualified to efficiently deliver technical services. It's possible that multiple agencies should participate in technical assistance.
This last week part 2 of programmatic orientation concluded. Thank you to all those who helped share information with our new colleagues: Igor Lacan, Rebecca Ozeran, Mark Hoddle, Kelly D Scott, Kathy Nolan, Jim Farrar, Nicole Marshall, Kate Lyn Sutherland, Darren Haver, Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, Katherine Webb-Martinez,Fadzayi Mashiri, Yana Valachovic, JoLynn Miller, Aparna Gazula, Julia Kalik aand Vikram Koundinya. Kudos to Greg Ira, Daniel Obrist, Sherry Cooper and Julia for all your efforts to organize and deploy orientation.
I look forward to the week ahead where mentors and mentees will be meeting in Davis to kick off academic mentoring.