- Author: Saoimanu Sope
![A family photo with a wife, husband and daughter.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/106808small.jpg)
UCCE specialist's research prevents water pollution, reduces water use
When interviewed to become a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist in environmental horticulture, Lorence “Loren” Oki was asked what kind of research he wanted to conduct.
In response, he showed the hiring committee a photo of a residential gutter. “Water is a big concern, and I found very little research on runoff from homes,” said Oki, explaining that studying residential runoff is what “started his career”...
/span>/h3>- Author: Bradley Hooker
![Junior Brinton Parker joined the Flower Power class to learn more about floriculture and to fill a science requirement.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/17626small.jpg)
At the front of the class students pluck choice flowers from a line of buckets. They trim the stems and clip the leaves, bunch a few together, arrange and rearrange them. Anthony Neve, biting his lip, places the last snapdragon in his bouquet. A graduating senior, Neve found his way into the Environmental Horticulture and Urban Forestry major and into this class as a result of his family business, Neve Brothers Wholesale Cut Flowers, which he hopes to help continue after college.
“It’s everything I’m interested in,” he admits, maintaining his focus on the ebullient bouquet before him. He lowers his head and cranes his neck, studying the arrangement from several angles. “Every day’s...