- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC ANR Day at the Capitol was held on March 26, 2019, to update California legislators and legislative staff on UC ANR's research and outreach projects. Vice President Glenda Humiston and a UC ANR delegation discussed a wide variety of topics during the legislative visits, including wildfire and forest health, water quality, youth development, nutrition and climate adaptation.
Every year, representatives from each UC campus gather in Sacramento for UC Day at the Capitol to educate lawmakers about the importance of research and higher education and their contributions to California's economy and progress. Although UC ANR participates in the annual Ag Day at the Capitol, this was the first UC ANR Day at the Capitol.
ANR's Global Food Initiative fellow Maci Mueller set up appointments with the policymakers and coordinated the UC ANR delegation to explain the value of investment in UC ANR research and outreach.
The UC ANR delegation consisted of two teams led by Humiston and Wendy Powers, associate vice president. The teams included Faith Kearns, California Institute for Water Resources academic coordinator; Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UC Cooperative Extension small farms advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties; Tracy Schohr, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resource advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Butte counties; Alena Pacheco, 4-H community education specialist in Fresno County; Bailey Butler, Oroville 4-H member; and El Dorado County 4-H Ambassadors Emily Ferrell, Josie Rothman and Isabella Veffredo, who were accompanied by El Dorado County 4-H program representatives Vera Bullard and Denise Veffredo.
“As a team, we were able to connect with every member or staffer that we met,” Powers wrote in her ANR Adventures blog. “Sometimes it was around the 4-H program, and what the program has done for our impressive team members, sometimes it was around fire or water, and other staffers or members were particularly interested in moringa. Either way, the goal was to make a connection so that each visit left an impression.”
“UC ANR Day was a terrific opportunity for 4-H members to practice their communication skills and get involved in advocacy at the state level,” Mueller said.
Oroville 4-H member Bailey described for legislators and their staff how she worked from Nov. 8 when the Camp Fire broke out until after Christmas with UC Cooperative Extension advisor Tracy Schohr and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine staff to care for 1,200 evacuated livestock and to train others to assist. Emily, a 4-H Ambassador in El Dorado County, said her 4-H experience with STEM activities and leadership training helped her get into the university of her choice – UC Santa Barbara.
Greeted warmly by each office, the teams shared examples of work being done by UC ANR in their districts, offered them assistance and thanked the legislators for their support. They left a copy of the UC ANR Snapshot, UC ANR map and overview, a 4-H fact sheet and UC at a Glance.
Legislators praised the 4-H members and UC ANR staff for the work they do for Californians.
“I look forward to making UC ANR Day at the Capitol an annual event,” Humiston said. “Telling people about the value of ANR's work is not only part of our mission, it is essential in educating others about all that we accomplish with the resources we have.”
A fact sheet showing the effects of shrinking public investment in the University of California and agricultural research can be downloaded at https://ucanr.edu/sites/Professional_Development/files/302896.pdf.
- Author: Maci Mueller
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Melanie Colvin, a graduate student at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, focuses on addressing nutrition-related diseases through preventative measures. As a GFI fellow, Colvin will work with Nutrition Policy Institute researchers to conduct a secondary analysis of the Healthy Communities Study, a six-year observational study that included more than 5,000 children and their families from 130 communities in the United States. The native of Chapel Hill, NC, will analyze the relationship between household food insecurity and physical activity. Colvin plans to pursue a Ph.D. with a goal of a career in public health research.
"The GFI fellowship allows me to experience many facets of developing meaningful research questions that I will address on my own one day as a principal investigator," Colvin said.
“I am excited to learn from the UC ANR's Strategic Communications team and for the opportunity as a GFI fellow to gain hands-on agricultural research communication experience,” Mueller said.
In addition to their individual projects, the 2018-19 GFI fellows are invited to participate in systemwide activities designed to enhance their leadership skills and enrich their understanding of the food system in California.
The UC Global Food Initiative was launched by UC President Janet Napolitano in 2014 with the aim of putting UC, California and the world on a pathway to sustainability. The GFI fellows are part of a group of approximately 50 UC graduate and undergraduate students working on food-related projects at all 10 UC campuses, UC Office of the President, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC ANR. Each participant receives a $4,000 award to help fund student-generated research, projects or internships that support the initiative's efforts to address the issue of how to sustainably and nutritiously feed a world population expected to reach 8 billion by 2025.
El enfoque de Melanie Colvin, estudiante de postgrado de la Facultad de Salud Pública de UC Berkeley, es abordar las enfermedades relacionadas con la alimentación a través de medidas preventivas. Como becaria de GFI, Colvin trabajará con investigadores del Instituto de Políticas sobre Nutrición para realizar un análisis secundario del Estudio de Comunidades Saludables (Healthy Communities Study), un estudio de observación de seis años que incluyó a más de cinco mil niños y sus familias de 130 comunidades en los Estados Unidos. La nativa de Chapel Hill, Carolina del Norte, analizará la relación que hay entre la inseguridad alimentaria en el hogar y la actividad física. Colvin planea obtener un doctorado con el objetivo de seguir la carrera de investigación de la salud pública.
"La beca de GFI me permite experimentar muchas facetas en el desarrollo de preguntas de investigación significativas que un día abordaré por mí cuenta como investigadora principal", manifestó Colvin.
“Estoy entusiasmada por aprender del equipo de Comunicaciones Estratégicas de UC ANR y por la oportunidad, como becaria de GFI, de obtener experiencia práctica sobre comunicación en el área de la investigación agrícola”, señaló Mueller.
Además de sus proyectos individuales, las becarias de GFI 2018-19 están invitadas a participar en actividades a nivel estatal diseñadas para mejorar sus habilidades de liderazgo y enriquecer su entendimiento acerca del sistema alimentario en California.
La Iniciativa Global Alimentaria fue lanzada por la presidenta de UC Janet Napolitano en el 2014 con el objetivo de colocar a UC, California y al mundo en vías hacia la sustentabilidad. Las becarias de GFI son parte de un grupo de aproximadamente 50 estudiantes de UC, incluyendo de postgrado, que trabajan en proyectos relacionados con los alimentos en todos los 10 campus de UC, la oficina del presidente de UC, el Laboratorio Nacional Lawrence Berkeley y UC ANR. Cada participante recibe una beca de cuatro mil dólares para ayudar a financiar la investigación y proyectos generados por estudiantes o pasantías que apoyan los esfuerzos de la iniciativa por abordar el tema sobre cómo alimentar a la población mundial, que se anticipa alcanzará los ocho mil millones para el año 2025, de una manera sustentable y nutritiva.