- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
After academics complete fire science research, the results often end up gathering dust on a shelf. UC Cooperative Extension is now playing a significant role in bridging the gap between wildland fire science and wildland managers across the United States.
“It is a classic disconnect,” said Susie Kocher, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in the Central Sierra office. “That's why Cooperative Extension was formed almost 100 years ago. Policymakers could see that research advances weren't being implemented on farms. The same thing has happened in natural resource management.”
For example, Kocher said, scientists have known since the 1960s that systematic...
- Author: Katherine E. Kerlin
When a team of UC Davis students packs up its house and travels to Irvine next year for the U.S. Department of Energy's 2015 Solar Decathlon competition, its members will bring not only a desire to win, but also to make zero-net-energy homes more affordable.
After submitting an entry for the first time, UC Davis was one of 20 universities selected in February to compete in the Solar Decathlon. The competition draws students and scientists from universities across the nation — from Yale and Vanderbilt to CalPoly and Sacramento State — to design and build solar-powered homes that are energy efficient and attractive.
Meeting a competition...
- Author: Brad Hooker
One image has had every Californian cringing this year: the U.S. Drought Monitor map. Like a slice of molding bread, the drought began in the middle, grew darker and moved outward in concentric rings that gradually devoured the state. The reaction was shock. Yet what does such a large map mean to individual ranching operations? Where does this information come from? And how does it affect research and policy? With forecasts shaping up for yet another drought this fall and winter, serious ramifications may be coming for ranchers.
These concerns and more are being discussed at an upcoming meeting called “
- Author: Ann Brody Guy
The 1,600 species of wild bees that buzz their way to California gardens and green spaces get hungry, and there's a lot city dwellers and suburbanites can do to create an appealing buffet for the valuable pollinators. California Bees & Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists is a friendly new guidebook that shows readers how to make native bees thrive in an urban environment—and makes the case for why it's important to help them do so.
Home gardeners will want to post the chapter “Urban California's Best Bee Attractors” in their toolsheds for constant reference at...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ah, the joy of a fish pond.
Goldfish swimming lazily beneath pink waterlilies, doves splishing and splashing, frogs jumping and croaking, dragonflies darting and ambushing, and honey bees collecting water, trip after trip, for their colony.
Wonderful, right?
Not exactly. Not always.
Not when you operate a free sushi buffet for egrets. Free? The only “bill” around is the one they're using to snag your fish.
Last winter when the crape myrtle tree that shades our fish pond dropped its leaves, it was easy viewing and easy pickings for the egrets. Step up to the board walk, dip down and eat your fill. The main perpetrator was a Great Egret, about 3 to 4 feet tall,...
