Names in the News

Schilder named director for UCCE Ventura and Hansen REC

Annemiek Schilder joined ANR on Aug. 1, 2018, as director of UCCE Ventura County and Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center. She hails from the Netherlands, where she grew up in an extended family of dairy and field crop farmers. Her grandfather, who farmed well into his 90s, inspired her to follow a career in agriculture.

Schilder studies small fruit pathology, mycology, applied virology, plant disease diagnostics, integrated pest management and organic and sustainable disease management.

She joins UC ANR from Michigan State University, where she was associate professor from 2006 to 2018 and an assistant professor from 1998 to 2005 in the Department of Plant Pathology and Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. At MSU, Schilder was responsible for research, extension and teaching of sustainable disease management in small fruit crops, such as grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cranberries. She studied the diagnosis, epidemiology and integrated control methods for major fungal and viral diseases of these crops, and worked closely with entomologists, horticulturists, plant breeders, agricultural economists, extension educators, and growers to develop a holistic approach to plant health. Schilder also holds an adjunct faculty appointment in the Department of Plant, Food and Environmental Sciences at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

From 1994 to 1997, Schilder was a postdoctoral fellow at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria, researching legume and cassava diseases, seed health, and plant quarantine issues, and gaining an appreciation for the challenges faced by African farmers.

Schilder earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in plant pathology (cereal diseases) from Cornell University and a B.S. in agronomy from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She also studied plant sciences for a year at Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands.

Schilder is based in Ventura and can be reached at (805) 662-6943 and amschilder@ucanr.edu.

Humiston named 2018 California Steward Leader

Vice President Glenda Humiston received the 2018 California Steward Leader Award at the California Economic Summit Nov. 16. She currently serves on the 2018 Economic Summit Steering Committee, and is the Action Team co-lead for Working Landscapes and co-chair of the Elevate Rural California initiative.

“I was really involved in the 1990s in trying to figure out how agriculture and environmental interests find common ground, as well as building bridges between rural and urban sectors," Humiston said. "In the 2000s, I started focusing on economic development and sustainability. In my current job, I'm bringing all of those together around the reality that sustainability truly has to be a triple bottom line. We've got to develop ways for people, the planet and prosperity to all thrive and enhance the synergies between them."

In nominating Humiston for the award, Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore wrote, “Glenda is a powerful and relentless advocate for triple bottom line prosperity. She has championed and delivered in every position I have seen her in. As one of the co-chairs/Steering Committee for the Economic Summit, she has ensured that working landscapes remains a driver for rural prosperity.”

“Glenda embodies what CA Forward and the California Stewardship Network are all about: empowering regional hubs to own their own future,” added Gore, who served with Humiston at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as presidential appointees under President Obama.

As co-chair of Elevate Rural California, Humiston is working on three main areas: biomass, rural broadband and water infrastructure. “We identified those issues at last year's summit and worked this year to identify where the opportunities were as well as options to pursue,” she said. “We're bringing that information to the summit this year to get people to really rally around those three issues and move forward working on implementation.”

CAPCA honors Koike

Steve Koike, emeritus UCCE advisor in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties and current lab director of TriCal Diagnostics, has been awarded the 2018 Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award from the California Association of Pest Control Advisers (CAPCA).  

CAPCA gives the prestigious award to people who have made a meaningful difference in support of California agriculture.  

“This honor recognizes the plant pathology research and problem-solving expertise that Steve provides to growers, PCAs and others in the agricultural industry,” said Mike Stanghellini, TriCal research director. “Steve's priorities, previously with UC Cooperative Extension and now with TriCal Diagnostics, are to be scientifically and technically correct in the lab as well as practical and useful in the field. He is pleased to continue to provide diagnostic services to the agricultural industry in California and other states, and he remains engaged in plant pathology research and investigations.”

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