- Author: Wendy Powers
I took a 4-day trip last week to help someone move across the country. Two vehicles, two drivers, 4 dogs. It is not a trip I would recommend. However, I never tire of seeing the snow-covered mountains, whether it be the Sierra, the Wasatch, or the Rockies. Oddly, and perhaps fitting, this trip the best views seemed to be when I looked in the rear view mirror. The road trip took me through Iowa, past highway 169 that would take us to our house of many years ago and highway 69 that runs into campus. The next day, we drove past I-69 in Michigan, the road to Lansing. I have had the good fortune of spending time in great places, with great people. Eventually we made our way to the waters of the east coast, where we were greeted with 4 days of rain, followed by heat and humidity. A vastly different place, with its own endearing attributes.
While I was in the car, a lot of good things happened at UC ANR. Our retiring academics were busy putting together emeritus package requests. Program Council will review more emeritus requests when it meets next week. The Council of University of California Emeriti Associations (CUCEA) recently published UC emeriti activity equal to an 11th UC campus, survey finds on UCnet, featuring the highlights of A Virtual Eleventh Campus: The Tenth Inventory of University of California Emeriti Activity. The article confirms the substantial contributions of UC emeriti, including teaching, research, creative work, professional and community service, mentoring and more. While UC ANR emeriti are not considered part of CUCEA, we know well the value of emeriti contributions to Cooperative Extension and the work of UC ANR!
Congratulations to the California Let's Eat Healthy Leadership Award winners! Awardees include individuals and organizations, including the UC CalFresh program that is a partnership between UC Davis and UC ANR. Congratulations to the entire team and especially MaryAnn for her leadership of the program!
This week the UC ANR Governing Council meets in Hopland. I am looking forward to the in-person meeting, even if we need to take face covering protections. It is not often that the Governing Council meets in person and this will be the second meeting at a REC, having met at South Coast in February 2020.
I will spend most of Friday finishing up merit and promotion decisions and write-ups. For the most part, this year's process will be in the rear view mirror by this time next week. Time flies, particularly when you are not bored!
- 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
There is more good news for our nutrition programs. During the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) Virtual Annual Session team members were recognized for their outstanding contributions. Deepa Srivastava, and UCCE Tulare-Kings Nutrition Education Team placed second in the Western Region SNAP-ED/EFNEP award. This on the heels of a win last year! Mary and her CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Team in Alameda County are the 3rd Place Regional winner of the Community Partnership award. And, Mary Blackburn received the NEAFCS Hall of Fame Award! I've had to keep that one quiet for about a month now, but am so pleased to share the news! Congratulations to all! And, thanks to Katie for sharing the news!
Speaking of the UCCE Tulare office, they have quite the sense of humor. Take a look at their door sign. No doubt some are better able to estimate the length of a Holstein cow. Perhaps social distancing won't last long enough for all to learn that measure. It's hard to tell. Who would have guessed back in March that seasonal face coverings would be a fashion trend? Just to stay in practice for pre-COVID behaviors, I put on grown up clothes and sat in my real office today, downloading computer updates and grabbing some items to make life a bit easier in the garage. It was nice to be in the office for a brief visit before putting my face covering back on and moving into the rest of the day.
Glenda shared that she's been hearing great things about one of our 4-H projects focused on getting rural communities to fill out the census (https://ucanr.edu/sites/census/). “They've received kudos from county supervisors, farm bureau leaders and many others who saw the materials and really appreciated the help to make sure their communities were counted. This is a great 4-H civic engagement project”!! Let's hope everyone turns out to vote in November, too!
Strategic planning work is winding down, both for UC ANR as a whole and for the RECs. Last week the ANR planning team met to review and incorporate feedback from the August webinars. I have already finished my homework! Later this week the REC planning team meets and I am hoping to pass any homework assignments on to others. I will miss the Town Hall this week, but hope there is strong attendance to hear about all the great things Ricardo and his team are doing to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
I have almost completed my assignments for a national conference to be held next week so perhaps the weekend can focus on yard work. I think weed growth may be slowing a bit.
- Author: Wendy Powers
The widespread evacuations and associated air quality have certainly added to already challenging times. I know many across the state have ‘go bags' ready and are anxious about what every hour brings. Others have had to evacuate. And some of our UC ANR family have suffered significant losses. Fortunately, some had a brief, but welcomed, rain Sunday night/early Monday morning. In my part of the state, the rain arrived Monday night. This unusual August event brings me great hope!
Members of UC ANR have actively engaged in assisting those negatively impacted by the fires. JoLynn Miller (@JoLynn_Miller) has been busy volunteering with a non-profit in response to the fires. She's been picking up donkeys, chickens, pigs, and alpacas and finding temporary homes for them. Thanks, JoLynn! Scott Stephens was on KQED talking about the need for a fire extension program statewide. Yana, Scott, and Lenya have been working hard to secure new resources to do exactly that - expand the network of UC ANR fire resources that are desperately needed. Let's all send good thoughts to them for their success.
In the good news department, it sounds like Kamal has secured an increase in CalFresh support for programming in Los Angeles and Sacramento Counties! Kamal's near $1M success will make a huge difference for families in those counties. Congratulations to Kamal and the entire nutrition program!
The Department of Pesticide Regulation has made research awards to three UC researchers, including Mark Hoddle and David Haviland, whose research teams were each awarded $500,000 to study chlorpyrifos alternatives. Excellent work, and good luck carrying out the research objectives. Let's hope the researchers identify sound chlorpyrifos alternatives!
Mark Bell found and shared this article that outlines the history of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) and the modern-day relevance of CES in meeting community needs, noting the method of distribution for federal funds among states. An interesting read if you aren't familiar with the CES background.
I read an interesting article in Nature that has me thinking about what we can do to ensure that those across UC ANR who conduct our essential work, feel safe doing so. We want to do all that we can to encourage science and Extension as career options for youth. I suspect the article triggered, in part, other thoughts.
As I watched the ash floating in my pool, just shortly after the filter had ceased its morning cycle, I realized that I am angry. My anger stems from the COVID environment that has me homebound for months, unable to travel and see our programs in action, watching the impact of limited socialization on others, all while some have no concern about the risks they impose. Compounding the quarantine is the election circus, coupled with law enforcement behavior that ceases to learn any lessons, the long-run economic impact of the pandemic and the toll that will take on getting our important work out to those who need it most, and now the fires. I don't know anyone who has tested positive for COVID, lost their job due to the pandemic, or lost their home due to the recent fires. I can go for a walk without worry that my skin color puts me in danger. Yet, I want to scream, "Give us a break!" When I boil it down, the anger is due to helplessness, that I cannot 'fix it' for those who check any of the boxes for the conditions I outlined above. I can't even imagine how difficult life is right now for so many, many people and I feel for all. The situation weighs heavily, even on those who are not directly impacted.
I won't scream, because it won't get the work done. Work that continues, by all of us, to the benefit of all California. A thick haze won't stop us.
- Author: Wendy Powers
4-H week ended on a high note. I received the photo, below, from Steven Worker. Notice the enrollment statistics for the program with overall growth by 141% and a 290% increase in Latino youth enrollment over the previous year! Congratulations, Sonoma County UCCE! Steven is noticeably absent from the photo; he must have been running the camera. Seeing Diego in the picture reminded me of my visit to the 4-H program in Sonoma County, where the youth were learning about the four forces of flight. It's no wonder the program is growing when you learn things like that.
I received an article last week claiming victory for Fresno County as the top ag producing county in the U.S. Congratulations, Fresno County! Kern closely followed Fresno County, then Tulare Counties, so a shout out to them as well. The article quoted the Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO as pointing out that almost all of the top 10 agricultural counties are in California. The rankings may be no surprise to us, but it is nice to know others across the country hear the news.
Last week the VP Council (Vice President's Council) met. This Council is made up of the statewide program and institute directors, business unit directors, vice provosts, and the associate vice presidents. The group meets quarterly to talk about issues of importance to the division. Last week, much of the meeting was about the results from the recent Staff Engagement Survey and moving forward to address some of the findings. The report is long, and in addition to positive outcomes, there is always room for improvement.
Kamal Khaira attended the VP Council meeting, just back from a trip to Bora Bora. I have to admit that I am a bit jealous. I lose track of time, but it's hard to believe that Kamal has been leading the UC CalFresh program for just over a year now. If you haven't had a chance to meet Kamal, take a look at the new UC Davis alumni feature and learn more about her background and what drives her. Then, be sure to find the time to connect with Kamal. Be sure to read the ‘Making A Difference' story on page 18, too. It is truly inspiring.
Later today, I head down to San Diego for the Western Region Administrative Officers Meeting. I don't usually attend this meeting. However, California is hosting the conference this year. I have a chance to welcome the group and thank them. The administrative officers and their teams provide tremendous support to the programs of UC ANR and its equivalents around the region.
It is a short week for me. I am taking Friday off as part of a long weekend to celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary. It will be far from a trip to Bora Bora but still better than the honeymoon, where we spent the night at a hotel near campus. The next morning we fed my anaerobic digesters before heading back to say farewell to out-of-town family and friends. Yep, we've come a long way.