- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
![Surendra Dara, UC Cooperative Extension advisor, explores innovative options to control pests using microbials as biological controls.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/59399small.jpg)
Western Innovator: Putting biologicals to work
(Capital Press) Padma Nagappan, March 11
Early in life, Surendra Dara decided that no matter which field he chose, he needed to make an impact on it. Always interested in science, he chose agriculture and specialized in entomology.
“It attracted me because it dealt with arthropods and there are a lot of physiological similarities to the human world,” Dara said. “It was also critical for growing food and feeding humans.”
Dara is now an entomopathologist with the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources in San Luis Obispo, and has an...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![From left, UC Davis plant sciences professor Ken Shackel speaks with research project partners UC Davis professor Helen Dahlke (in the purple jacket) and Roger Duncan, UC ANR Cooperative Extension advisor, at the flooding site.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/34190small.jpg)
A drought recovery demonstration Jan. 19 at an almond orchard in Modesto generated significant news coverage. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) researchers based at UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension advisors are collaborating on a study aimed at recharging the aquifer by flooding farm fields during the winter. In many areas if the state, the aquifer has been depleted by farmers trying to cope with years of drought.
UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist Toby O'Geen was the lead author of research published in California...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
![UC researchers Helen Dahlke, left, and Toby O'Geen. (Photo: Diane Nelson)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/anrnews/blogfiles/33164small.jpg)
With rain falling, interest in UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) research on groundwater banking has been high. In California Agriculture journal, UC ANR Cooperative Extension specialist Toby O'Geen and 13 co-authors shared research on California soils that showed which areas in the state were best suited for water to be percolated down into an aquifer.
The article included a map of California with color coded areas indicating areas that were excellent for groundwater banking down to poor. The story was picked up...