Lauren Au, Nutrition Policy Institute affiliated researcher and assistant professor of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, received the 2023 Huddelson award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. The award recognizes dietitians who were the lead author of a peer-reviewed article that made important contributions to the field of dietetics. The award is named for Mary Pascoe Huddleson, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics editor from 1927 to 1946. The honored article, “A Qualitative Examination of California WIC Participants and Local Agency Directors Experiences during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic,” was co-authored by NPI researchers Christina Hecht, Marisa Tsai, Nicole Vital and Lorrene Ritchie. It examines Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children participants' and agency directors' perceptions, practices, and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Au's research is used to support nutrition policies and reduce disparities among low-income populations.
Lorrene Ritchie, director of the Nutrition Policy Institute and University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources cooperative extension specialist, received the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Platinum Author Recognition Award in June 2023. The award recognizes authors with exceptional publication records in the Journal and for high frequency of publication of excellent manuscripts during the last 10 years. This is the fourth consecutive year Lorrene has received the award. Her more recent publications in the Journal highlight improving college student food security through campus food pantries and expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program access, the health benefits of the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the importance of engaged school nutrition leadership in improving school meal programs, the effectiveness of using online training to engage child care providers on serving healthy beverages, and the importance of the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program for improving the nutritional quality of meals, snacks and beverages served in child care across the US.
- Author: Eve Dowdell
The 2023 University of California 4-H Golden Clover Awards recognize outstanding achievements of members, volunteers, program staff, and groups within the UC 4-H Youth Development Program. This 4-H year, we offered Special Edition Golden Clover Awards in two categories, Robert Brownlee Science and Jack and Robert Clay Outdoor Adventure. We had four winners, two in each category, that demonstrated excellence in their corresponding category.
These youth and adult leaders were announced during the Closing Ceremonies at the 4-H State Leadership Conference. Here are your Special Edition awardees!
Robert Brownlee Science Golden Clover Award
The Robert Brownlee Science Award recognizes science inquiry and experiential learning in 4-H work to help youth increase knowledge, skills and competencies and improve their attitudes about science. This includes increasing science awareness and use in 4-H projects by testing predictions and making sense of observations. The Robert Brownlee Science Award is sponsored by the Robert Brownlee Foundation. In honor of the visionary, Robert Brownlee (1942-1991), the Foundation was established in 1987 to provide financial awards for creating and maintaining innovative programs for youth.
Hannah Perry, Sonoma County
Hannah Perry earned this award for her research and work writing a paper on the importance of beeswax and its uses by both bees and humans. Her outstanding essay titled, “The Importance of Beeswax”, demonstrates her knowledge of bees and how they rely on beeswax for the success or failure of their colony. Hannah explains in her essay that humans have been utilizing beeswax for thousands of years. From embalming in ancient Egypt to letter seals in Rome to perfecting beauty products in the USA, beeswax and humans have a long history together. Hannah's essay brought light to the cleverness of bees as well, pointing out that bees build their hexagonal combs close together to ensure they have enough room for food and to raise their young. Hannah went above and beyond with writing this essay. We will be sharing her full essay on this blog soon.
Liza Stefani, Placer County
Liza Stefani earned this award for her leadership of her club's Swine project for eight years. In addition to instilling a passion for swine, Liza helped her members have a close-up experience with raising swine. Her goal for each project was to teach the “why” behind the swine and the broader livestock industry. Furthermore, Liza advocated for more opportunities for youth in her community to experience the “behind the scenes” of the swine industry. Liza went above and beyond the basic swine school lesson for her youth, giving them a taste of what it is really like to pursue a career in swine. Through this, Liza inspires youth to find their own spark and use it to give back to their community.
Jack and Robert Clay Outdoor Adventure Golden Clover Award
The Jack and Robert Clay Outdoor Adventure Award recognizes outstanding achievement, leadership, and promotion of 4-H camping and outdoor adventures such as camping, fishing, hiking, climbing, GIS/GPS, among others. The Jack and Robert Clay Outdoor Adventure Award is sponsored by the Friends of Jack and Robert Clay. Following a tragic accident in 1987, this Memorial Award was established by the family and friends of Jack Clay and his son, Robert, who were enthusiastically involved in the 4-H camping and outdoor adventure projects as leader and junior leader in Alameda County.
Duarte Goncalves, Madera County
Duarte Goncalves earned this award for his longtime commitment to his county as a chaperone, project leader, and camp adult staffer. With a passion for 4-H Shooting Sports, Duarte became certified in rifle, shotgun, and archery to start his club's 4-H Shooting Sports project. This provided opportunities for youth to experience Shooting Sports and learn about gun safety and marksmanship. In addition, Duarte has been a great presence and influence at his county's summer camp. From hauling materials to camp, to leading Shooting Sports activities, to making campfire and dances safe and fun, Duarte's bright attitude ensures that each camper makes the best memories every year. In every area of his participation, Duarte goes out of his way to ensure members have a positive and beneficial 4-H experience.
Diane McLoughlin, Placer County
Diane McLoughlin earned this award for her efforts and outstanding leadership in addressing and raising awareness in 4-H Shooting Sports and outdoor adventure. Her time as the Penngrove 4-H Club Project Leader for the Shooting Sports – Archery, Outdoor Adventure, and Gardening projects has fostered a collaborative culture for her members and inspired them to embrace knowledge, passion, and advocacy in each project area. Whether she was demonstrating Archery techniques at 4-H events, transporting youth to 4-H competitions, or leading youth through outdoor adventures, Diane consistently motivates youth and guides them as they achieve their goals. With her many accomplishments and involvement in 4-H activities, she embodies the mission of 4-H, engaging youth to reach their fullest potential.
CONGRATULATIONS again to all of our 2023 winners! We celebrate each of you for all you do to help young people reach their full potential and thrive.
Check out our other Golden Clover Award winners.
Applications Open until September 11, 2023
Golden Clover Awards are open to 4-H members, volunteers, groups and staff. Be sure to apply for a Golden Clover Award before September 11th, 2023. There are many types of Golden Clovers you can earn. Learn more about the different awards on our Golden Clover Awards page.
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- Author: Danielle L. Lee
- Editor: Lorrene Ritchie
Nutrition Policy Institute researcher Wendi Gosliner received the Susie Nanney Culture of Health Champion Award in recognition of her work on improving nutrition for marginalized populations and promoting a culture of health in the design and implementation of food assistance programs. She was honored with the award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows Program—of which Wendi is a 2013-2014 alumna—which was presented to her at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine building in Washington, DC, on Oct. 14, 2022 during their annual meeting. Wendi is the principal investigator or co-principal investigator of several collaborative research projects that exemplify her award, including but not limited to: a California Department of Agriculture-funded project to increase access to and consumption of California-grown specialty crops in the California corrections system, a California state-funded evaluation of California's universal school meals program, and two RWJF-funded projects to explore perceptions and take up of the earned-income tax credit and other safety net supports among young California families with low-income.
- Author: Deanne Meyer
We all had the opportunity to enjoy the equinox this last week. This marked the official end of summer and reminded us that cooler days are on their way. Davis had more than 3.5 inches of rain with our first storm of the season. Although rain was welcomed by those fighting the Mosquito and other fires, it wasn't as welcomed by some growers with crops remaining in the field (tomatoes, grapes, almonds, etc.). As with many other things in life, things come with degrees of goodness.
Here's a shout out to Yu Meng our Youth, Family, and Community Advisor in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Teams she works with received awards from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences for Communication Video ( Garden Video Project “Grow Healthy Foods, Harvest Healthy Families” (“Cultiva Alimentos Saludables, Cosecha Familias Saludables”) and Family Health and Wellness. Videos are in English and Spanish. For more information contact Yu directly.
The CalFresh Healthy Living, UC and Farm Smart teams delivered garden kits to preschools. From left, Yu Meng, UCCE Youth Family and Community Advisor; Stacey Amparano, Farm Smart Manager; Stephanie Collins, Farm Smart Outreach Assistant; Chris Gomez Wong, CalFresh Community Education Supervisor II; Vincent (contract gardener), Paul Tabarez, CalFresh Community Education Supervisor II; Rigo Ponce, Community Education Specialist II-CalFresh; and Martha Lopez, CalFresh Community Education Specialist II.
A bit ago, VP Council met. This group includes directors of each unit within ANR as well as our statewide program directors. We meet quarterly to provide input to the Vice President. It was a jammed packed meeting. I'll just cover a few take-aways from the day. Kathy Nolan reported out on the UC ANR Customer Satisfaction Survey. For those new to ANR this is a recent annual opportunity for us to identify areas for improvement in operational services within the organization. Great improvements have occurred as a result of the findings of the first survey. It's exciting to work for an organization seeking continued improvement.
We focused one session on onboarding. With all our new hires this is an essential activity. Jodi Azulai and Jona Pressman (Butte County Nutrition Education Program Manager) shared best practices to help onboard new employees. Do plan ahead and be prepared to spend time with your new hire on their first days! Human Resources is working on a great to-do list to aid in onboarding new employees. Do make time to introduce them around and make them feel welcome. Be sure the workstation and equipment needed are set up and ready. We're excited to be growing our ANR family and we want people to stay for a career!
Please extend a warm ANR welcome to our new colleagues! There were a few limited hires for camp counselors including Klacey Worthington, Glenn; and Norman Alberti, San Joaquin; student hires included Granville Goza, Santa Clara; Cedric Renaudin, Megan Cross, Nutrition Family and Consumer Science; and Evelyn Mandujano Capitol Corridor MCP; and staff research associates Efrain Barrera, Fresno Madera MCP and Daylin Wade, Central Sierra Nevada. We are happy you've joined the ANR family.
We are ANR. Together, we effect positive change in California.