UC ANR annual report shows impacts that benefit every Californian

These are the types of UC ANR outcomes summarized in the recently completed, 16-page 2019 Annual Report, Working for the Benefit of All Californians, produced by UC ANR's office of Program Planning and Evaluation.

“As we pulled this together, we realized that UC ANR research and extension branch out widely, reaching much further than is obvious on the surface,” said PPE director Katherine Webb-Martinez. “If you eat food grown in California, enjoy the outdoors, care about the state's less fortunate residents and find hope in the future of our state under the leadership of today's youth, UC ANR enhances your life.”

The new publication provides 60 examples of the hundreds of research and extension projects conducted in 2019 by UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists, and researchers who are part of the campus-based Agricultural Experiment Station.

Among the stories in the annual report is the work of UCCE nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Mary Blackburn to teach Alameda County senior citizens how to make simple, healthy meals on a budget. Her classes resulted in 92% improvement in understanding food advertisements.

In Santa Clara County, UCCE 4-H advisor Fe Moncloa provided training for teenaged teachers and afterschool staff in delivering computer science programs to young children. All of the 52 teens reported increased teaching confidence and most of the 35 staff members increased their understanding of the material.

UCCE specialist Dan Putnam and UC Agricultural Experiment Station researcher Charles Brummer at UC Davis tested alfalfa and forage grasses from around the world to select species and varieties farmers can use now and in the future, when climate change will likely require them to produce crops under warmer, drier conditions.

With only 75 native giant sequoia groves still gracing the Sierra Nevada, UCCE specialist Rob York developed a management plan to protect a grove owned by the Save the Redwoods League from high-severity fire in the future.

While there are many additional research and extension achievements recounted in the annual report, the work is not done.

“Despite such success stories, problems remain and the issues grow more complicated,” said UC ANR vice president Glenda Humiston. “The future will hold situations we have never seen before.”

PPE invites UC ANR staff and academics to share the PDF version of the annual report widely to clientele, contacts, political leaders and other stakeholders. A limited number of printed copies are available. Email katherine.webb-martinez@ucop.edu to request paper copies.

UC ANR's 2019 annual report is now available online.

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