- Author: Wendy Powers
Happy New Year everyone! I have become accustomed to and accepting of the winter curtailment, but I continue to find it difficult to get my head back into work after a complete shut down for a week or so. I must not be alone because this week is quite light on meetings. I suspect a fair number of people have taken an additional week. Maybe some are spending it listening to the water. Hopefully all are safe from the travel challenges of the last two weeks. I have a flight scheduled late next week but remain unconvinced the airlines will be caught up by then.
Congratulations to Chutima and team! Their work was selected by NIFA to be showcased as one of the SNAP-Ed (CalFresh Healthy Living) success stories! Be sure to congratulate the team. What great news to start of the new year!
My in-person meetings this week have largely converted to Zoom. Tomorrow is the annual meeting with the Davis CE Specialists. We were so optimistic about an in-person meeting, but will make do with remote. Either way, it is always nice to meet with the CE Specialists as a group. I have a number of meetings related to ECOP again this week. Friday finishes out with a monthly ECOP meeting for directors. Fortunately, my responsibilities for the meeting are minimal, giving me more time to prep for next week.
Program Council meets next week to review the CE Advisor position proposals. The multi-day meeting promises to be a lively discussion with the work made easier by all of the effort already put into the process by directors and program teams. Program teams continue their work by reviewing the CE Specialist proposals over the next month. It is an exciting time and likely the only time in my career that we will have the opportunity to fill so many positions!
Another nice problem to have is all of the recent precipitation! I suspect many of you might have had weather-related travel challenges over the break, but nothing compared to the backup on I-95 in Virginia. I am having water challenges in the back yard. We look like a water fowl preserve. The dogs have lost the yard, but gained some excitement in trying to scare off herons, ducks, egrets, and the occasional sandhill crane. Hard to believe our area is still considered in ‘extreme drought'.
- Author: Wendy Powers
New case numbers in California remain more than 10-fold higher than they were at this time last year. I hope the numbers continue to decline, and we don't see an upward trend such as Oregon is observing at the moment.
We have done quite a bit to help others through this time, and that work continues. The News and Outreach in Spanish team uses radio and television to reach underserved Spanish-speaking communities. And, I learned the following from Project Board and Federal reporting data.
- Sixteen small-scale strawberry farmers from Southeast Asian communities implemented use of UC ANR-provided personal protective equipment and displayed the signs, also provided by UC ANR, at their farm stands. Farmers reported that “posting the signs helped a lot, it kept customers from touching produce and they wore masks" and “customers were able to read the signs ahead, and understand what needed to be done and was expected at the fruit stand. While the customers were waiting in a single-file line, they were all six feet apart."
- UCCE in Santa Clara County distributed over 80 COVID-kits to farmers from socially disadvantaged communities to ensure worker safety. Observations during farm visits showed that farm workers were wearing masks when working. Interviews revealed that they were washing their hands more often.
I know there are many more examples out there. Keep up the good work, everyone! We are so close to our new normal if we can just continue safe practices!
More fires are popping up around the state; it is far too soon for this! This year's Federal report shares that Andrew Gray, an AES researcher at UC Riverside, studies the aftermath of fire and storm events to understand debris flows. The findings will help the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works personnel modify their approach to assessing debris flow risk after fires to better mitigate danger during post-fire storms. UC Davis AES scientist, Rahel Sollman, completed an intensive study of the plants, invertebrates, mammals, birds, bats, pollinators, and flowering plants within the burn perimeter of the 2014 King Fire. The goal was to map and understand the food web networks and assess species vulnerabilities. These baseline data provide critical information for forest managers to evaluate recovery and species declines.
This is Program Council week. The Program Council meetings conflicted with Asian Pacific Heritage Month activities, but I hope many others were able to participate. There are many meetings this week. Perhaps next week with bring a lighter schedule, no new fires, and fewer new COVID cases.
- Author: Wendy Powers
And the UC ANR nominees for the WEDA Award of Excellence are: Loren Oki, Karrie Reid, Darren Haver, and Jared Sisneroz for UC Landscape Plant Irrigation Trials Program and Deanne Meyer, Betsy Karle, Jennifer Heguy, David Lewis, Jeffery Stackhouse, Nicholas Clark, Randi Black, Daniela Bruno, and D. Denise Mullinax for California Dairy Quality Assurance Program- Environmental Stewardship: A Public Private Partnership. The two teams were selected for nomination to the Western Extension Directors Association awards program. The winner at the regional level will provide an overview of the program at the virtual WEDA Summer Meeting in June. We'll know more in a few months if either team is successful, but they are both winners with UC ANR. Congratulations to the teams for their outstanding work!
I am reminded that winter isn't quite over, yet. Laura shared that she had quite a bit of snow in Modoc County earlier this week. And, Mark saw ice on the lake over the weekend! No wonder why my garage remains cold.
Program Council met this week. We had a full agenda. The meeting left me a bit brain dead, making it difficult to do much evening catch up on emails or evaluation reviews. I don't seem to be progressing on those very quickly. However, I think I am more than half way through annual calls to review progress on goals. I enjoy the calls, but get behind on everything else. I am making some progress wrapping up agreements. I have a couple yet to be completed before spending some time connecting with partners.
I spend the next two weeks in virtual conferences. One nice thing about the virtual approach is that the meeting time is reduced, though there seems to be more homework to prepare for conversations. I guess it keeps me out of trouble.
- Author: Wendy Powers
I hope everyone has power restored. At least we don't have the temperatures to accompany the winter storm that those along the Eastern Seaboard are facing.
We presented the updated strategic plan to President Drake this week. I believe it was well received by him. He asked about the ‘so what' of our plan. The question immediately transformed me in time to a meeting where the then Governor posed the same question to me as I defended against eliminating our budget. I stumbled for the response because we lacked the evidence to make a case. After the meeting, I sat in my car, still storming about the situation, and realized that it is on us to overtly convey our ‘so what'. This time, we were well prepared for the response, but it doesn't mean we become complacent. Now, it is time to get to work making the goals happen. I have some interesting partnership discussions underway to increase our programmatic footprint. This is in addition to the good things outlined in the Governor's January budget release.
Program Council met this week. We completed presentations and discussions with Statewide Program Directors. The presentations were very informative, giving Program Council a chance to hear from the Directors what they are thinking as far as opportunities for the future. I will meet with the Statewide Program Directors later this week to brainstorm a bit about future collaborations. I met as part of a group early this week to brainstorm specifically about the 4-H program. I felt that was a great conversation.
I have had several meetings with members of NIFA lately. Last week as few of us met with the new NIFA director, Dr. Carrie Castille. She is no stranger to Cooperative Extension and specifically called out the 4-H at Home efforts as particularly important during this time. In a separate meeting this week, a small group discussed with NIFA leadership direction for the Cooperative Extension System and evolution of our partnership with NIFA.
It is time for me to get started reviewing dossiers and annual evaluation documents. In between, I look forward to reading about our programs from sources outside of California. Check out this post that shares how one of our Master Food Preservers helped prevent widespread sharing of poor canning practices. Way to go, Colleen! And California was featured as an example for reporting practices by NIFA. That should feel good for all who have been getting their program information and outcomes into Project Board!
The First Friday is here. That means a day of Zoom calls for standing meetings. In addition to REC, CD, and ECOP calls, this month I have a meeting with a newly formed systemwide group to explore transparency in animal research. That promises to be interesting and another important aspect of the ‘so what'.
- Author: Wendy Powers
In a year that continues to take unpleasant twists and turns, there continue to be bright spots along the way! Please welcome Douglas Amaral to UC ANR. Douglas started on October 1, 2020 as the CE Pomology and Water/Soils Area Advisor, based in Hanford, California, with programmatic responsibilities in Kings and Tulare Counties. I look forward to meeting Douglas.
This year's recipient of the National Diversity in Extension Award that recognizes significant contributions and accomplishments in achieving and sustaining diversity and pluralism has a UC ANR connection. The University of Missouri's 4-H Center for Youth Development is the recipient in 2020. We knew Lupita Fabergas would do great things in her role at the University of Missouri, here' one piece of evidence! USDA-NIFA and Cooperative Extension have sponsored the awards since 1991. The award will be presented virtually on October 28. If you have remained in touch with Lupita, please send her a note of congratulations!
Thanks to Sara Garcia Figuera and team, there is a new resource available that summarizes HLB research. Working with Beth Grafton-Cardwell, Monique Rivera, and Neil McRoberts, Sara compiled and summarized research data to update an important brochure for citrus growers. Take a look! It is always exciting to see graduate students excited about Cooperative Extension. Hopefully, Sara continues such outreach efforts throughout her promising career.
It is hard to believe that this is Program Council week again already! This month's meeting focused on ways to creatively reduce our reliance on traditional funding sources. The goal is to stay ahead of the COVID-related economic challenges that are upon us and will likely have multi-year impacts. Fortunately, if we are proactive, we can use the value of and need for our programs to move us forward. Listening to the Governor's call late Wednesday where he laid out his plan for the Executive Order related to agriculture, I see many, many opportunities for us.
The Vice President's Council meets on Thursday. The business unit directors and statewide program/institute directors will hear about the tools and guidance developed to help all of us identify and implement opportunities for cost recovery and income generation. We will talk about efforts in specific programs to advance diversity, inclusion, and equity within the program. During the VP Council we will have a brief update on the strategic planning efforts. The drafts for both the division and the RECs are out for review. If you can make the time for review, we would appreciate your feedback!