- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
I am pleased to announce the new 2023-24 Call for UC Cooperative Extension (CE) Advisor and Specialist positions. Building on the more than 100 CE positions released over the last couple of years, we continue to prioritize growing our academic footprint to provide the expertise needed to improve the lives of all Californians and address emerging and future needs. We plan to release 20 new priority CE Advisor positions and 10 new priority CE Specialist positions.
There are several phases with the same timeline for CE Advisor and CE Specialist positions:
- Identifying priority positions/connecting interested groups – until Dec. 18, 2023
- Proposal co-creation and submission – by Feb. 19, 2024
- Program Council reviews and develops recommendations – March 2024
- UC ANR Vice President makes final decision and releases positions – May/June 2024
Please see the 2023-24 CE Position Call webpage for more detailed process information and important documents, such as the required proposal template.
The processes for new CE Advisor and CE Specialist positions take a similar approach, but have different groups working together and submitting. As always, UC ANR strongly encourages engaging both internal and external stakeholders in identifying and developing proposals for priority positions. The process has been improved in response to feedback. The UC ANR Program Teams have an important role given they engage and represent the CE and AES (Agricultural Experiment Station) network including statewide programs and institutes.
- For CE Advisor positions, County Directors and the Research and Extension (REC) System will prioritize in their regional teams and work closely with UC ANR Program Teams.
- For CE Specialist positions, UC ANR Program Teams and the REC system will identity their top priority needs and campuses will select the position ideas that align with their academic planning. Working together, they will develop the proposals.
I look forward to seeing the proposals developed through this collaborative prioritization.
Regards,
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
- Author: Mike Hsu
Reposted from UC ANR News
UC ANR hires more fire advisors to address growing threat to California communities
Bringing more expertise to more places across the state, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources continues to hire fire advisors to help communities prepare for one of the most devastating climate-fueled threats.
With wildfires a constant danger as drought grips California, three highly skilled UC Cooperative Extension advisors have joined the organization since early May: Luca Carmignani, serving Los Angeles and Orange counties; Barb Satink Wolfson, serving Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties; and Tori Norville, serving Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties.
These positions – as well as other recent additions in agriculture and natural resources fields – are made possible by California's commitment, as reflected in the state budget, to improve the lives of residents in the face of a changing climate.
Two more fire advisors are slated to be announced in the coming weeks, further broadening the knowledge and practical advice that UC ANR academics can share on a wide range of topics, including fire hazard mitigation, fire ecology, prescribed fire, wildland fire research, forest and wildlife management, and climate change effects. Together, they form a robust team of fire experts.
Although their specific areas of expertise vary, all the new fire advisors are dedicated to helping residents and community groups across California become more fire-aware, adapted and resilient. They share vital information on how Californians can prepare homes, landscapes and property for wildfire.
Luca Carmignani
Luca Carmignani joined UCCE as a fire advisor for Orange and Los Angeles counties May 2. His research interests include image analysis, computer programming and scientific outreach.
Prior to joining UC ANR, Carmignani was a postdoctoral researcher in the Berkeley Fire Research Lab at UC Berkeley. His research has focused on fire and combustion applications, from wildland fires to material flammability.
He earned his Ph.D. in engineering sciences from the joint doctoral program between UC San Diego and San Diego State University after obtaining his bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Pisa in Italy.
Carmignani is based at South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine and can be reached at carmignani@ucanr.edu and (949) 237-2956. Follow him on Twitter @l_carmignani.
Barb Satink Wolfson
Barb Satink Wolfson began in her role as UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties on June 30.
Her primary responsibilities include wildland fire-related research and outreach for the Central Coast region, while building trust, strong partnerships and collaborative relationships within both professional and non-professional communities.
Satink Wolfson earned her B.S. and M.S. in forestry from Northern Arizona University, and brings to UC ANR more than 20 years of fire-research and outreach experience in Arizona. Her favorite job, though, was working as a backcountry ranger in Yosemite National Park during her undergraduate years.
In her new role, Satink Wolfson hopes to address some of the questions behind the use of prescribed fire in a variety of ecosystems (such as coastal prairies and oak woodlands), and help all Central Coast communities build resilience to wildland fire so residents can live safely within fire-adapted landscapes.
Satink Wolfson, based at the UCCE office in Hollister, can be reached at bsatinkwolfson@ucanr.edu.
Tori Norville
Tori Norville started on Aug. 1 as the new UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties.
In this capacity, Norville will work with residents and organizations within the wildland-urban interface to encourage and cultivate fire-adapted communities. She aims to provide education and outreach on home hardening, defensible space and the importance of forest and fuel management on the landscape.
While pursuing her bachelor's degree in forestry and natural resources at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Norville became interested in “disturbance ecology” – how factors such as disease, insects and fire affect landscapes and environments.
“Many of the forest health problems we are seeing are stemming from a lack of disturbance, which traditionally was fire,” Norville said.
Her understanding of fire and its effects deepened during her master's degree studies in forestry science (also at Cal Poly SLO), as well as through her seven years with CAL FIRE at the Jackson Demonstration State Forest in Mendocino County. She worked as the Registered Professional Forester for its Timber Sales Program, and then the Research and Demonstration Program.
Norville's firsthand experiences from the past few fire seasons have helped shape her goals and approach. She hopes to “work holistically with disturbances” – specifically fire – on the landscape to foster healthy forests and ecosystems that are adaptable and resilient, while also researching the environmental and social aspects of fuel-reduction projects and prescribed fire.
“Hopefully, I can begin to change the perception of fire from something we need to fear, to something we respect,” she said.
Norville, based at the UCCE office in Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, can be reached at trnorville@ucanr.edu.
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- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
From Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Modoc counties south through San Diego and Imperial counties, Californians will be seeing more University of California Cooperative Extension advisors in their communities.
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources has released 48 more UCCE Advisor positions for recruitment over the next 12 months thanks to increased 2021-22 state funding. This brings the total to 89 new UCCE Advisor positions since July 2021 when Gov. Newsom and the state Legislature provided a historic budget boost for UC ANR. During the last six months of 2021, UC ANR released 41 other UCCE positions that have been filled or are under recruitment. The full list of UCCE positions is posted online at https://bit.ly/CEpositions2021-22.
Additional UC Cooperative Extension Specialist positions will be announced for recruitment in early April 2022.
“We appreciate the people across the state who worked with UCANR to develop the UC Cooperative Extension advisor position proposals,” said Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “Input from community members and partnering agencies and organizations was critical to informing the prioritization of these UCCE positions. Now we hope our supporters will help us recruit the best scientists to work with California's communities.”
The new UCCE advisors will be providing research-based information to residents about nutrition, community development, crop production, forestry, pest management, water management, youth development, landscape management and wildfire.
In addition to traditional issues, some of the new UCCE advisors will be focusing on climate adaptation for Indigenous farmers, cultural burning and Indigenous land stewardship, repurposing green waste, and community development with Californians who are Black, Indigenous or speak English as a second language.
The following UCCE Advisor positions will be staged for recruitment to avoid overwhelming UC ANR's Human Resources colleagues:
- 4-H Community Engagement & Development Youth Area Advisor for Tulare, Fresno and Kings counties
- 4-H Animal Science Youth Advisor for San Benito, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties
- 4-H Youth Development Area Advisor for San Diego and Orange counties
- Agronomy and Weed Management Area Advisor for Merced County
- Agronomy and Weed Science Area Advisor for Tehama, Glenn and Shasta counties
- Climate Resilient Indigenous Farming and Food Sovereignty Area Advisor for San Diego and Riverside counties
- Community Development BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other people of color) Advisor for Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and San Francisco counties
- Community Health and Nutrition Advisor for San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties
- Community Health and Nutrition Advisor for Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties
- Community Health, Nutrition and Food Security Area Advisor for Butte, Glenn, Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties
- Community Health, Nutrition and Food Systems Area Advisor for Siskiyou, Modoc and Lassen counties
- Community Health and Nutrition Older Adult Area Advisor for Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties
- Cultural Burning and Indigenous Land Stewardship Advisor for Mendocino and Lake counties
- Dairy Area Advisor for Tulare and Kern counties
- Entomology Area Advisor for Ventura and Los Angeles counties
- Environmental Horticulture Area Advisor for Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties
- Environmental Horticulture and Forestry Area Advisor for Placer and Nevada counties
- Environmental Horticulture and Water Resource Management Area Advisor for Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties
- Food Safety and Organic Production Area Advisor for Imperial and Riverside counties
- Forestry Area Advisor for Santa Cruz, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties
- Forestry Area Advisor for Shasta, Trinity and Siskiyou counties
- Fruit and Almond Area Advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties
- Horticulture and Specialty Crops Advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties
- Indigenous Disaster Resilience Planning and Policy Area Advisor for Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and El Dorado counties
- IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Area Advisor for Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and El Dorado counties
- IPM Entomology Area Advisor based at Kearney Research and Extension Center
- IPM Entomology Farm Area Advisor for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties
- Intermountain Irrigated Grass Systems Area Advisor for Modoc, Shasta and Lassen counties
- Irrigation and Soils Area Advisor for Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties
- Livestock and Natural Resources Area Advisor for Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne and El Dorado counties
- Orchard Systems and Weed Ecology Area Advisor for Glenn, Tehama and Colusa counties
- Organic Materials Management Area Advisor for Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties
- Organic Materials Management and Agri-Food System Area Advisor for Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and San Francisco counties
- Pathology Area Advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties
- Production Horticulture Area Advisor for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties
- Restoration Ecology and Weed Science Area Advisor for Kern, Tulare and Kings counties
- Rice Farming Systems Area Advisor for Colusa and Yolo counties
- Sustainable Agriculture Systems Area Advisor for Mariposa, Merced and Stanislaus counties
- Sustainable Orchard Systems Area Advisor for Sutter, Yuba, Butte and Placer counties
- Urban Agriculture Food Systems and Environmental Issues Advisor for San Diego and Orange counties
- Urban IPM Area Advisor for Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties
- Urban Watershed Resilience Area Advisor for Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties
- Vegetable Crops Area Advisor for Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties
- Water and Soil Resources Area Advisor for Sonoma, Marin, Napa and Mendocino counties
- Water Management Area Advisor for Tulare, Fresno, Kings and Madera counties
- Water Quality-Quantity-Climate Change Area Advisor for Mendocino and Lake counties
- Weed Ecology and Management Area Advisor for Fresno, Tulare and Kings counties
- Youth, Families and Communities Area Advisor for Kern, Inyo and Mono counties
- Author: Wendy Powers
My mind is full. The result of taking on some additional responsibilities while we try to fill some vacancies is that my calendar is running me. Last week was packed. From arriving in DC on Saturday and all-day meetings Sunday and Monday, to flying back on Tuesday just in time for a few brief minutes at the New Administrator Orientation followed by a 3+-hour meeting with R&E Council that was idea-rich, to the night drive to Visalia so I could meet with the REC directors, business officers, and superintendents all day Thursday into the evening then half-day Friday before driving back, I didn't have a chance to sort thoughts and even now haven't fully processed things.
In between there have been conversations about moving forward with the Public Value Statements now that Condition Changes are complete, and reviewing documents to prepare for both Strategic Plan updates and accountability against our goals as well as documents and talking points to prepare for a deep dive on UC ANR's budget.
All of these things position us for continued success, as success rarely just happens. However, I could use a timeout to provide some quiet time so that I can process everything. I'm sure most of us have taken a Myers-Briggs Type Instrument assessment. Surprisingly, and following an expanded version of the assessment tool, I learned that I land close to the middle in all categories but one. But because the intent is to type each participant, I am typed as an INTJ. {For reference, it is the “T” (vs “F”) where I am clearly a “T”.} Perhaps the commute this upcoming week will give me some time to work through what I heard, saw, and learned last week.
UC ANR welcomes a number of new faces, including Mary Bonaparte- Saller who is a Youth Development Advisor in Orange County. Mary started October 9th and I have had the opportunity to meet her at the New Employee Orientation last month. I haven't had a chance to meet either of the 2 Advisors who joined UC ANR most recently. Please welcome Kari Arnold, Advisor in Area Orchard and Vineyard Systems, based in Modesto with programmatic responsibilities in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties and Michael Rethwisch, Advisor in Crop Production and Entomology, headquartered in Blythe (Palo Verde Valley), with programmatic responsibilities in Riverside County. Michael has returned to UC ANR, to the same office where he was located previously. We are pleased to have Mary, Kari and Michael on board!
New faces are exciting for UC ANR! At a time when there are many changes going on, welcoming new colleagues/friends/peers is one of perhaps few ‘changes' that is always welcome. There seems to be no shortage of change going on, from policies, to reports and training needs, to budget accommodations, and insufficient hands on deck, change is challenging and a source for stress. I think many could use a time out right now. Fortunately we have a bit of a break coming up – time to renew and refresh our outlook.
ANR will be making additional travel support available for UC Cooperative Extension specialists to collaborate with UCCE advisors in FY 2016/17. With the level of funds available, each specialist may apply for up to $2,500 for FY 2016/17 (funds must be expended by June 30, 2017). These travel funds must be utilized by the UCCE specialists only and cannot be used for out-of-state travel.
Completing a short online survey is the only step in accessing these funds.
A brief survey form will be accessible from your ANR Portal. The survey will ask
- Name and title of specialist requesting support
- Project/Program name
- Brief project description (one paragraph)
- Collaborating advisors
While there is no deadline for applications for these travel funds, they must be expended in the current fiscal year. We are pleased that we are able to take this step to assist in meeting an identified need.
UCCE specialists may apply for funds directly at http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=18400.
Wendy Powers
Associate Vice President
View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.
This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.