- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
Takele honored for DEI achievements
The Agricultural & Applied Economics Association's Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics recognized Etaferahu Takele, UCCE area agricultural economics and farm management advisor in Southern California, for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion as a researcher, mentor and leader.
“Throughout Ms. Takele's life, before affirmative action, diversity, equity and inclusion were something to advocate for, she modeled and advocated for the underrepresented people in her community, at the university, within the county government and in her professional associations,” wrote a nominator.
From 2007 to 2020, Takele was director for UCCE in Riverside County, where she revived the 4-H Youth Development Program, expanded the Master Gardener Program and doubled the reach of the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) to underrepresented clientele in Riverside County.
In partnership with California State University San Bernardino, she received a $500,000 USDA grant for the Inland Empire Small Farm Initiative to provide risk management education to Hispanic minority growers and farm laborers with little or no experience with running their own farms in the United States. Takele worked with farmers to develop budgets and determine risks associated with production of various crops. To ensure the program was inclusive, it was delivered in Spanish. She provided minority farmers with regular financial counseling and helped them develop cost-benefit models of investing in minor crops.
Her work with small-scale and minority growers influenced the introduction and expansion of new specialty crops such as blueberries and cherimoya in the coastal and the desert regions of Southern California.
Read more about Takele's achievements at https://www.aaea.org/membership/sections/cwae/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-award/etaferahu-eta-takele.
AEOE honors Nelson with Lifetime Achievement Award
The Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education has recognized Sarah-Mae Nelson's career contributions to advancing environmental education with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The UC Climate Stewards Initiative academic coordinator for UC Environmental Stewards has over 28 years of experience as an educator, interpreter and climate communicator.
"Since the launching of the Climate Stewards program in 2020, Sarah-Mae's leadership has been instrumental in its remarkable growth and success,” wrote Nelson's nominator. “Under her guidance, 27 community-based organizations have conducted 80 courses, certifying nearly 1,000 Climate Stewards.
“In every endeavor she undertakes, Sarah-Mae approaches challenges with unparalleled determination and meticulousness. Her resilience in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to all who have the privilege of working alongside her."
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to those who have made a significant impact in environmental and outdoor education over the course of their career, both within their organization(s) and the field at large, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to equity and inclusion.
Nelson's contributions were celebrated on May 4 at AEOE's Annual Statewide Conference in Orange.
Rethwisch elected Sigma Xi member
Michael Rethwisch, UCCE field crops advisor for Riverside County, has been elected a full member into Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.
He joins top scholars in the society such as Albert Einstein, Gerty Cori, Linus Pauling, Julian Lewis, Rita Levi Montalcini and Sally Ride.
Rethwisch was nominated by Jamie Vernon, Sigma Xi executive director and CEO and publisher of American Scientist magazine, and Allen Thomas, Donald E. Fox Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Two of the journal articles that qualified Rethwisch for Sigma Xi membership are SY Wolf Winter Wheat Responses to RyzUp SmartGrass Application at Third Leaf Stage in East Central Nebraska and First Report of Western Trochanter Mealybug, Pseudococcus dysmicus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), in Nebraska and Observations from Soybean.
Vela named ACE Rising Star, five other communicators win awards
Six communicators won major awards from the international Association for Communication Excellence (ACE), a professional organization that supports and showcases science communication in agriculture, natural resources, and life and human sciences.
Ricardo Vela, manager of UC ANR News and Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS), won the ACE 2024 Rising Star Award, an annual award that "honors communicators, instructors and researchers who demonstrate exceptional leadership and technical skills in their communication field, to their institution and service to ACE."
Vela is a 35-year, two-time Emmy-winning broadcast journalism professional. As program manager of NOS, he supervises a Spanish-language expert team that disseminates news and research about agriculture, nutrition and natural resources to Spanish-speaking communities across California. Vela is an advocate for Latino and other ethnic groups, promoting their contributions to society and creating for the first time events for the UC ANR community to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and Cesar Chavez Day.
Before joining UC ANR in 2017, Vela worked as a national news correspondent for Univision and CNN in Texas and Los Angeles. He started his journalism career at the Chicago Tribune and Univision in Chicago. While in Chicago, he collaborated with several Latino community organizations, always promoting equity and inclusion. He served as Univision's main news anchor in San Diego for 17 years and hosted a morning talk radio show, “Voces Hispanas,” for 10 years. He has served as news director and anchor at Entravisión (a Univisión affiliate) in Palm Springs and as a news anchor at Telemundo in El Paso, Texas. In 2006, Hispanic Magazine listed him as among the 100 most influential Latinos in the country.
Vice President Glenda Humiston appointed Vela as a founding member of the UC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
Five other UC ANR communicators won gold (first place), silver (second place), or a bronze (third place) award.
- Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and author of the Bug Squad blog, won a gold award for “best feature photo." Her image of a honey bee buzzing over a zinnia earned an award in the feature photo category, for "one image that effectively tells a story."
- Michael Hsu, senior public information representative; Ethan Ireland, senior videographer; and Evett Kilmartin, photographer, won a silver award for their “Farm-to-Corrections Project" video about a Nutrition Policy Institute partnership with Impact Justice, ChangeLab Solutions, Spork and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
- Social media strategist Doralicia Garay won a bronze award for the social media campaign “Improving Lives in California,” designed to showcase UC ANR research and those who deliver it.
The awards will be presented at the annual ACE conference, June 23-25, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Read more about the awards in Bug Squad at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=59843.
ANR thanks Larson for 41 years of service
Stephanie Larson, UCCE director and livestock range management advisor for Sonoma County, was honored for her 41 years of service at the county directors meeting on May 23. Vice President Glenda Humiston and Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, director of county Cooperative Extension, thanked Larson for her four decades of service.
- Author: Pamela S Kan-Rice
CSAC honors UCCE San Luis Obispo team
A representative of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) presented the County of San Luis Obispo with the 2023 CSDC Challenge Award during the Board of Supervisors meeting on April 9.
The annual award is presented to California counties to highlight innovative programs developed at the county level.
CSAC CEO Graham Knaus presented the CSAC Challenge Award for the Cross-Sector Partnerships for Food and Nutrition Security program to Jen Miller, County of San Luis Obispo health promotion division manager; Shannon Klisch, County of San Luis Obispo department head and director of UC Cooperative Extension in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties; and Mishelle Costa, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC community education supervisor.
The team developed partnerships with multiple organizations to ensure that fresh produce is more available in the surrounding community. They collaborated to increase the number of markets that accept CalFresh and offer Market Match, provide a more consistent and welcoming experience for CalFresh customers across markets, and increase the visibility of farmers market nutrition incentives.
Together, they have increased equitable access to healthy food and support for local farmers.
According to the County of San Luis Obispo, 8.4% of all residents and 9.7% of all children countywide are defined as food insecure, or "lacking consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life."
Battany honored with ASEV Extension Distinction Award
Mark Battany, UCCE water management and biometeorology advisor in San Luis Obispo and Sant Barbara counties, has been selected for the 2024 American Society for Enology and Viticulture Extension's Distinction Award.
The ASEV Extension Distinction Award is given to a current ASEV member and extension educator based on their contributions to enology or viticulture through their extension program, or the translation of novel research findings into commercially applicable tools for enologists or viticulturists.
Battany will present “Flipping dimensions: A vertical weather view helps illuminate vineyard challenges,” at the 75th ASEV National Conference in Portland, Oregon, on June 19.
CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside and partners win health equity award
CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE Riverside, CFHL, UC Davis and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Community Wellness Committee Partnership are being honored with the first National Cooperative Extension health equity award.
The 2024 National Cooperative Extension Priester Health Equity Award recognizes extraordinary programs and professionals that are modeling next-generation work in the area of health and well-being.
The project includes nutrition, garden and physical activity education with the Torres Martinez community. The overarching goal is to foster greater health and well-being through activities that engage the participants with culturally relevant materials and work to restore traditional food systems.
The team includes Claudia Carlos, CFHL, UCCE Riverside supervisor; the Coachella Valley team of community nutrition educators Esmeralda Nunez, Vianca Nunez and Jackie Velarde; Andra Nicoli, CFHL, UC Davis project policy analyst; and Chutima Ganthavorn, UCCE nutrition, families and consumer sciences advisor emeritus.
UCCE Riverside County farm advisor Philip Waisen, through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant titled ACORNS, pairs lesson activities with farm and nutritional health webinars. UCCE Riverside Master Gardener Brad Hardison offers garden support, resources and education.
Tribal Council Vice Chairman Joseph Mirelez and Community Wellness Committee members anchor health-education initiative activities in local tradition and events for sustained effectiveness.
The award will be presented at the National Health Outreach and Engagement Conference on May 13-15 in Greenville, South Carolina.
Kudos for Rose, Casseer
Kendra Rose, senior contracts and grants officer and Dilshan Casseer, proposal development coordinator, earned gratitude from Whitney Brim-DeForest, UCCE director in Sutter and Yuba counties and rice and wild rice advisor.
“I would like to shout out Kendra Rose and Dilshan Casseer for their incredible help in preparing a grant for submission!” said Brim-DeForest. “They have both gone above and beyond, assisting in editing and writing, helping me and my co-PIs prepare draft documents for submission. Their guidance, preparation and timely meetings have made this process incredibly easy for my colleagues and me. Thank you so much to both of them!”
Larson receives ASI Bradford-Rominger Leadership Award
Larson has spent more than 40 years working for UC Cooperative Extension to address opportunities and issues that California ranchers face in their agricultural businesses. Her interdisciplinary approach to issues facing livestock producers, rangeland owners and managers, and the public aims to maintain and increase the sustainability of agriculture systems and the environment, with a particular focus on ecosystem services in counties under threat from encroachment by urban development.
“Stephanie is the gold standard of what a UC ANR advisor should be – she has a robust, relevant county program, provides leadership and vision for statewide programs; she offers her service to professional societies and she is highly regarded by all who work with her,” said Theresa Becchetti, UC Cooperative Extension livestock advisor, one of the 20 UCCE peers who nominated Larson for the award.
Larson and Main will receive their awards at a ceremony featuring distinguished speaker Hannah Wittman, interim co-director of the University of British Columbia Centre for Climate Justice, on Wednesday, May 15, 4–7 p.m. To register for the event, visit https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/1137.
The Bradford-Rominger award recognizes and honors individuals who exhibit the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist. The annual award was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and these will be the first awards given since 2020.
- Author: Mike Hsu
The pandemic has brought more people into nearby parks and public lands for hiking, biking and other recreational activities. In areas like the East Bay Regional Parks – a San Francisco Bay Area park system totaling more than 120,000 acres where about 65% of the land is grazed by livestock – visitors might see goats, sheep and, most likely, cattle.
Those encounters with animals (or their manure) represent a prime opportunity for members of the public to learn about agriculture and the ecological benefits of rangelands, according to Larry Forero, a UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor.
As livestock grazing (mostly by beef cattle) constitutes a significant portion of land use across the state, Forero – along with fellow UCCE advisors Sheila Barry and Stephanie Larson – recently authored a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources publication summarizing the mechanics of cattle production.
“Beef Cattle on California Annual Grasslands: Production Cycle and Economics,” published in October and available as a free download on the UC ANR Catalog, describes the seasonal phases of cattle production and the factors that impact ranchers' financial calculations and management decisions.
“This concise publication walks through annual stock flows and calendar of operations and gives tables for estimating costs, return over cash, and gross income under various scenarios,” said Forero.
“Even if only a relatively small percentage of park goers are interested, you still touch a lot of people with a document like this,” Forero explained.
He said he hopes park signage and QR codes will direct visitors to the publication for more information about the cattle and their seasonal movements.
“People often wonder where the cattle go when they leave the park and when they will return,” co-author Sheila Barry said. “The cattle may go to grass or feed yards in other places in California or even out of state.”
But, as this new UC ANR publication explains, the cattle production cycle turns over anew.
“There will be more cattle next fall, I promise,” Barry said.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
On the four-year anniversary of the devastating Tubbs and Nuns fires in Sonoma County, the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) and Pepperwood Preserve are launching the Wildfire Fuel Mapper, a comprehensive toolkit to assist landowners in managing vegetation that may fuel wildfires.
The October 2017 fires, which destroyed nearly 7,000 buildings and left 25 people dead, underscored the importance of wildfire mitigation, community safety and long-term resilience. To prepare for wildfire, the Wildfire Fuel Mapper toolkit connects Sonoma County landowners with resources, professionals, specialists and funding opportunities to subsidize fuel reduction projects.
The only mapping tool available at a parcel scale for the county, the Wildfire Fuel Mapper contains detailed maps of vegetation types and landscape elements that help users assess fire hazards and tailor a plan to manage those fuels.
The tool can be accessed directly by residents and used to map parcels greater than three acres. Wildfire professionals and vegetation management specialists also can use the Wildfire Fuel Mapper to better support their clients.
“When we're working in Sonoma County, we start every project by using the Wildfire Fuel Mapper tool,” said Joel Holland, president of Wildfire Services. “This invaluable tool provides a vital starting point from which to engage and educate property owners.”
To access a custom map report, available for download at either a parcel or watershed scale, visit www.wildfirefuelmapper.org.
“The Wildfire Fuel Mapper is designed for Sonoma County, but other counties could create a similar set of resources to help their residents prepare for wildfire,” said Stephanie Larson, director of UC Cooperative Extension in Sonoma County.
The Wildfire Fuel Mapper is part of a coordinated effort in Sonoma County to better provide the public with accessible maps and prioritization tools to reduce wildfire risk. UCCE is currently collaborating with Sonoma Water to develop a decision support framework – an integrated set of tools, including the Wildfire Fuel Mapper, that will expand to operate at the landscape scale, enabling landowners to make strategic investments in fuel load reduction, vegetation management and climate resilience.
“This project helps address the critical regional approach we need to assist landowners, watersheds, and agencies to design and implement better vegetation management,” North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire said. “Our county will be more fire safe thanks to UC Cooperative Extension's efforts.”
This project is a collaboration between University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), Pepperwood and Tukman Geospatial, with support from PG&E, the Thornton Foundation and CAL FIRE.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Matchmaking grazing animals with grass and rangelands
Professional grazing of overgrown rangelands, pastures and parcels is proven to reduce the spread of dangerous and costly wildfires.
Do you have land but no livestock and feel concerned about fire fuels on your property? Or are you a livestock owner that can provide a grazing service and/or need land and forage for your animals? Match.Graze can help.
Match.Graze is a free online platform connecting landowners statewide who want grazing animals to livestock owners with animals that can provide vegetation management services, created by UC Cooperative Extension.
From small semi-rural communities to large open spaces, grazing can provide an affordable solution to the inevitable accumulation of fire fuels. Grazing can be more cost-effective for reducing fuels on landscapes that are too steep, rocky or remote for mowing or chemical treatment, or in the wildland-urban interface where burning is not an option.
“I've noticed on several fires, including extreme fires, the fence lines where the fire just stopped. And the one variable, the one difference, was grazing,” said Marshall Turbeville, CAL FIRE battalion chief.
Cattle, sheep, goats and other grazing animals all have different roles to play in grazing for fire fuel reduction. If you want to use livestock to help reduce fire risk in your area, visit MatchGraze.com.
“Every property is different and requires thoughtful consideration of how it should best be grazed,” said Stephanie Larson, director of UCCE in Sonoma County, UCCE livestock and range management advisor and co-creator of the livestock-land matchmaking service. “UC Cooperative Extension is here to serve, put Match.Graze to work and let's prevent catastrophic fire while helping landowners and agriculture.”
To find a local grazing partner, visit MatchGraze.com, set up a free account, create a pin on the map and make a match.