Names in the News

Armstrong joins 4-H as program representative for Tuolumne County

Erika Armstrong has joined the UCCE Central Sierra team as 4-H Program Representative for Tuolumne County.

Armstrong, who has spent her career working with nonprofit agencies and managing volunteer programs, worked with United Way Monterey County and the Alliance on Aging. She also was a campaign manager for a candidate for the Board of Supervisors of Monterey County. Her most recent job was stay-at-home mother for herdaughters. 

She holds a bachelor's degree in collaborative health and human communication from California State University Monterey Bay.

Armstrong is based at the Tuolumne office and can be reached at (209) 533-6990 and elarmstrong@ucanr.edu.

Hsieh Wojan named chief information security officer 

Jacqueline (Jaki) Hsieh Wojan joined ANR as chief information security officer (CISO) on March 28. As CISO, she will be responsible for cybersecurity functions, policies and procedures, including statewide management and protection of ANR's institutional information and information technology resources.

Hsieh Wojan brings over 10 years of experience in computer operations and cybersecurity risk management. She is a certified Project Manager, a Certified Scrum Master, and an experienced CISO. In her previous position as CISO at Matica Corp., a computer software design and development company, she oversaw the IT infrastructure, deployed complex systems, vetted third-party vendors, and most recently, relocated their on-premises IT server room to a data center.

She earned an M.S. in computer information systems from Boston University and a B.A. in East Asian Studies (Cum Laude) from Union College in Schenectady, New York.

Hsieh Wojan is based at the ANR Building in Davis and can be reached at jhsiehw@ucanr.edu.

UC scientists dominate entomology society awards 

The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America gave out 10 professional awards for 2022. UC scientists took home six of the awards – five went to Riverside and one to Davis.

Mark Hoddle, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and UC Riverside Center for Invasive Species research director, won the C.W. Woodworth Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field over the last 10 years. He develops biological controls for invasive pests including Asian citrus psyllid, spotted lantern fly and glassy-winged sharpshooter. 

Jessica Purcell, UCR assistant professor of entomology, won the Distinction in Student Mentoring Award. Purcell studies social behaviors in insects including ants, invasive wasps and spiders.

Dong-Hwan Choe, UC Cooperative Extension specialist and a UCR associate professor of entomology, won the Distinguished Achievement in Extension Award. He is developing new management programs for ants and bed bugs.

Erin Wilson-Rankin, a UCR associate professor, won the Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award. Her research focuses on food webs, understanding which insects and animals are predators, which ones are prey, and how these roles affect the environment around them.

Kerry Mauck, UCR assistant professor of entomology, won the Plant-Insect Ecosystems Award.  She studies plant viruses, vectors such as aphids and psyllids, and the biochemical mechanisms that allow them to function.

Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis medical entomologist-geneticist, won the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology Award. Attardo monitors the dynamics of vector insects at the levels of physiology, population genetics and environmental interactions and is renowned for his groundbreaking work on tsetse flies. Read more about Attardo's work at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=51750.

Read more about the UCR award recipients at https://insideucr.ucr.edu/awards/2022/03/21/uc-riverside-scientists-dominate-entomology-society-awards.

EcoFarm honors Smith with ‘Sustie' award

The Ecological Farming Association (EcoFarm) awarded Richard Smith, UCCE vegetable crops and weed science farm advisor for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, the Steward of Sustainable Agriculture award, or “Sustie.”

EcoFarm developed the Sustie to honor people who have been actively and critically involved in ecologically sustainable agriculture and have demonstrated their long-term, significant contributions to the well-being of agriculture and the planet.

Smith has enthusiastically researched nutrient and pest management in organic crop production. He worked tirelessly to assist growers, from small- to large-scale farmers, in solving production problems and developing practices to improve crop and soil quality. Smith has been actively involved with EcoFarm and, starting in 1990, he served for many years as a co-facilitator of the annual Bus Tour.

He has been an unflagging advocate for increasing the use of cover crops and worked with growers on evaluating varieties and novel ways of including them in production systems. He was editor of the UC ANR publication “Cover Crops for Vegetable Production.”

 

 

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