Posts Tagged: Anne Megaro

UC ANR thanks legislators for supporting UC ANR research and extension

Representatives of UCANR visited the legislative building in Sacramento for UCANR Advocacy Day on April 18 and engaged with members of the Legislature and staff to advocate for UC's budget priorities. Attendees included Glenda Humiston, vice president; Deanne Meyer, interim associate vice president; Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations;Sheron Violini, associate director of government and community relations; and Lara Schröder, graduate student assistant. They were joined by UC Cooperative Extension advisors, statewide program representatives and two 4-H youth State Ambassadors .

The UC ANR team visited 16 legislative offices and were honored to meet directly with Assemblymember Vince Fong and Senator John Laird.

UC ANR representatives provided insights into how UC ANR delivers applicable research tools and knowledge and adds value to local communities. Zheng Wang, UCCE vegetable crops advisor, shared how farmers in Stanislaus County have been able to increase their profits by growing grafted watermelons using the same amount of water for a greater yield, while Susie Kocher, forestry and natural resources advisor, talked about her workshops for small forest landowners to prevent catastrophic wildfires and to help recover after a wildfire. 4-H State Ambassadors Megna and Sruthi told their stories of how the youth development leadership program has improved their personal skills and also how they engage with low-income schools and introduce STEM and agriculture to elementary school students.

Amira Resnick, statewide director of community nutrition and health, Stephanie Mar, associate organic waste management advisor, and Hanif Houston, associate director of communications and marketing for The VINE, also shared success stories and how UC ANR has made significant progress within the past year. 

Resnick and Mar explained how UC ANR's nutrition and organic waste management programs teach Californians about nutrient dense foods, food preservation and composting. Houston highlighted how robots and drones play an important role in agriculture production. The UC ANR representatives also invited the legislators and staff to visit UC ANR's Elkus Ranch Environmental Education Center and UC ANR Research and Extension Centers in members' districts.

This valuable work is achieved through supportive state funding. These visits underlined the importance of the 5% base budget increase as currently proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom for the upcoming fiscal year and asked staffers and members to support the proposal.

A special highlight of the day was a short tour of the State Capitol. Thanks to Sheron Violini, the group viewed the governors' portraits, peeked into the Senate Floor and learned the history of the Reagan statue. 

Several follow-up opportunities stemmed from these meetings, and Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris is already planning to visit South Coast REC, and Assemblymember Vince Fong doesn't want to wait for the December citrus tasting to visit Lindcove REC. The government and community relations team is looking forward to extending future invitations for members to visit UC facilities, and especially to a forest management and prescribed burning tour at the Blodgett Forest Research Station.

The UC ANR representatives also met with legislative staff for Senators Josh Becker, Nancy Skinner, Dave Min, Marie Alvarado-Gil, Anna Caballero, Melissa Hurtado and Steve Padilla, and Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Carlos Villapudua, Robert Rivas, Luz Rivas and Juan Alanis.

 

Annual report templates available for county offices

County report templates populated with 2021 data are available on the Government Relations templates web page. Check out examples of how some UCCE offices use the templates. These reports highlight key metrics and measured outcomes captured in UC ANR program information systems.

Use of the data is encouraged to help with the following:

• Advocacy - share with county government officials/staffers
• Accountability - can help meet local reporting requirements
• Communications - build understanding and support for UCCE programs

“These reports are fantastic – they are colorful, rich with imagery and fun to read. Most importantly, the content is easy to absorb by using infographics and photos,” said Anne Megaro, government and community relations director.

For help, please contact Christina Becker in UC ANR Program Planning and Evaluation at christina.becker@ucop.edu. There is also a recorded training at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--hQ55hLqpk.  

 

State adds 5% to UC ANR budget and more

Governor Newsom signed the first budget bill (SB 154) on June 27, and the second budget bill (AB 178) June 30. Together, these bills fund the core of the state budget. Provisions include: 

• 5% increase for UC ANR's budget (This allows UC ANR to adjust employee salaries effective July 1, 2022, as described in the May 20 UC ANR Update.) 
• $2.4 million in one-time funds for Nutrition Policy Institute to evaluate
•  “School Meals for All”
• $125 million in one-time funds for UC deferred maintenance, seismic mitigation and energy efficiency projects. 
• $185 million in one-time funds to support UC climate change research

“The state budget process is not finished and we expect several Budget Trailer Bills to be taken up in August after the Legislature returns from Summer Recess. Stay tuned!” said Anne Megaro, director of government relations.

See President Drake's comments about the state budget at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-statement-2022-23-california-budget-0.

Governor’s May Revise includes $2M for UC fire advisors

Governor Newsom released his May Revision budget proposal for 2022-23. Together with the funding proposed in the governor's January budget, the governor is proposing a total of $4.9 billion for the University of California. This total allocation represents a combined increase of $322.5 million, or 8.0%, in ongoing funding to the University's budget over 2021-22 levels, plus $607.9 million in one-time General Fund appropriations. The governor also announced a compact agreement between the governor and the university that proposes funding levels and articulates policy goals for the next five years. 

The proposal includes $2 million to support UC fire advisors, with a similar level of support intended in 2023-24.

See the UC Office of the President's story and read President Drake's statement to learn more. 

"I encourage people to invite members for tours, site visits and events," said Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations.

"Summer break is coming and they'll be in their districts in July (State Legislature) and August (Congress). Just this past week we had Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff meet with Lenya Quinn-Davidson and Matthew Shapero to learn about prescribed burns."

 

Delegation meets legislators for UC ANR Advocacy Day

A delegation of 12 UC ANR staff, academics, volunteers and stakeholders visited state legislators in Sacramento on April 19 for UC ANR Advocacy Day to share how UC ANR's work delivers local, place-based education, outreach and programming to serve communities throughout the state.

Anne Megaro, government and community relations director, and Christina Harrington, student assistant, UC Master Gardener and graduate of the UC California Naturalist Program, organized meetings with Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Senator John Laird, Assembly Member Devon Mathis, and staff members in many legislative offices.

The delegation thanked them for investing in ongoing funding in last year's state budget and shared their stories of serving community members, farmers, ranchers, youth and natural resource managers in their regions.

Vice President Glenda Humiston and Mark Bell, Vice Provost of Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs, led two teams, which included Sarah-Mae Nelson, UC Climate Stewards initiative academic coordinator; Kamal Khaira, director of CalFresh Healthy Living, UC; UCCE advisors Igor Lacan, Mae Culumber and Dorina Espinoza; 4-H Youth State Ambassadors Megna Nayar and Sara Tibbets; and Clio Tarazi, UC Master Gardener volunteer.

The teams urged legislators to support several key budget requests as part of Governor Newsom's proposed FY 2022-23 state budget. These budget commitments would support UC's much-needed capital projects at Research and Extension Centers and Elkus Ranch to expand capacity for research and programming, as well as investments for UC climate action and resiliency projects that will advance climate research and workforce development programs for students and community members. 

The UC ANR representatives invited the legislators to visit for tours and events to see UC ANR at work in their districts firsthand.

 

Read more