ANR Employees

Chief Innovation Officer Gabe Youtsey will focus on developing The Plant while expanding efforts to build partnerships and innovation coalitions. Helle Petersen will transition into the role of Interim Director of the UC ANR Innovate statewide program.

April 24, 2026, is the deadline for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. By now, all new digital posts must be compliant with the new guidelines. Any content posted after March 15 that is not compliant will be unpublished.

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) invites applications for the Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program (SLSNCGP) for fiscal year (FY) 2026. This program supports innovative, education-based Extension approaches to strengthen disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and…

Enthusiasm, excitement and curiosity were in abundance during the first Tea Day, held on March 19 at UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier.

Summer Cortez, Ben Baldi, Lauren Hale, Carrie Brown and Evan Talmage joined UC ANR or took new positions within UC ANR recently.

Steve Fennimore and Kassim Al-Khatib were honored by the California Weed Science Society, Mary Blackburn is among the amazing women featured in a new mural at UC Berkeley, and more than 10,000 adults and children attended the North Bay Science Discovery Day.

UC ANR Foundation Board members convened March 16–17 in Davis and Fair Oaks for their second annual in-person board meeting, blending field-based learning with strategic conversations about philanthropy and partnership in support of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Following the state’s legislative action, the University of California has renamed César Chávez Day to Farmworkers Day.

This month’s learning highlights focus on building practical skills that strengthen your impact – from designing engaging online courses for adult learners to navigating key systems and planning for fiscal and program success.

Yana Valachovic, UC Cooperative Extension forest advisor, shared her research-based ideas of how to protect homes from wildfire during a panel discussion at a screening of the documentary “Weathered: After the LA Firestorms” in Sacramento.

UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center (SFREC) is soliciting proposals from April 1 to May 15, 2026, to support new and continuing research.

This February, the CALE team co-organized a workshop with L.A. Food Policy Council at Alma Backyard Farms, an urban farm in Compton. The event focused on making agritourism accessible to urban growers, ensuring resources reach smaller-scale and lower-resourced operations.

Nominations are being accepted until April 20 for the 2026 ANR Distinguished Service Awards, which are sponsored by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Academic Assembly Council.

Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) 2026 Research and Education (R&E) Grant Program This grant program involves scientists, agricultural producers, and others using interdisciplinary approaches to advance sustainable agriculture at local and regional levels. With the…

UC Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations and Students (PACAOS) 100.00 and PACAOS-Appendix H.

USDA NIFA has announced the FY 2026 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) funding opportunity. This program supports projects that address key challenges in U.S. organic agriculture through the combined efforts of research, education, and extension/outreach.The OREI program has three…

CAL FIRE is now accepting applications for the Forest Health Program Grants for Fiscal Year 25–26. This program supports landscape-scale forest management projects designed to improve forest resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and enhance long-term climate and watershed benefits across California’s…

 Dear Colleagues,I am pleased to announce that Jaki Hsieh Wojan accepted the position of Chief Information Officer for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, effective March 1, 2026.Jaki joined UC ANR as Chief Information Security Officer in 2022 and was appointed Deputy CIO in 2024 and then Interim…