Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Posts Tagged: Climate
Eppele, Black named UC ANR’s UC Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellows
Eppele is a community development graduate student at UC Davis focusing on environmental education, STEAM, science communication and citizen/community science.
As a Reiss Fellow, she will work with Strategic Communications on communications campaigns to promote sustainable agriculture and food practices, writing blog posts, creating infographics, and contributing to social media campaigns.
“I am excited to connect the public with what is going on in the world of sustainable agriculture in order to help break the barrier between academia and the public,” she said. Eppele hopes to increase awareness of sustainable agricultural practices, helping California make greater progress towards mitigating climate change impacts.
“I am incredibly grateful to be a part of this fellowship and looks forward to the future of sustainable agriculture where there is a clear commitment to widespread education and community involvement,” Eppele added.
Black will work closely with the Nutrition Policy Institute's Farm to Corrections team. For his project, he will focus on food insecurity and access to sustainable food options for formerly incarcerated individuals in California as well as delving into the barriers that community-based organizations typically face around the issues of providing food assistance, alleviating food insecurity and encouraging sustainable consumption.
“It is pivotal that researchers have a clear understanding of how theories–specifically around these issues–influence policy and how they are implemented into practice, as it allows us to refine policies and better support our citizens,” Black said. “I am honored to be a part of a fellowship that emphasizes sustainable food options for marginalized populations as it is incredibly impactful though rare to find work.”
Black hopes that one day efforts like his will bring awareness for more sustainable food options, and that in doing so there will be new developments and initiatives recognized and supported on the federal level.
The UC President's Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellowship Program funds student-generated projects that support the UC system's climate action goals. It encompasses the former UC Global Food Initiative and Carbon Neutrality Initiative. All 10 UC campuses, five academic health centers, plus the UC Office of the President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory participate in the program.
The program, which began in spring 2015, is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, and administered at each location to ensure that student efforts align with local needs.
Workshop on helping producers manage climate extremes offered Oct. 16 in Salinas
An ag-climate workshop for UC Cooperative Extension, Resource Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service colleagues is being co-organized by UC ANR and USDA California Climate Hub.
The free workshop, “Managing Agriculture Under Climate and Weather Extremes,” will be held Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the UC Cooperative Extension office at 1432 Abbot St. in Salinas. Lunch will be provided.
Workshop participants will be introduced to:
- Foundational climate knowledge and the effects of climate change on California's agricultural systems
- Interactive web-based tools that can provide insights into the potential effects of climate change on producers in your area in the short- and long-term
- A resource for guiding climate-informed planning and a suite of strategies for responding to evolving environmental challenges
“Participants will have an opportunity to build connections among other professionals in the field,” said co-organizer Tapan Pathak, UCCE agricultural climate adaptation specialist based at UC Merced. “At this time we only have spots for 25 participants so people should sign up soon.”
Tentative agenda:
10 a.m. – Welcome, introductions and NIFA project description
10:30 a.m. – Climate change and extreme weather in agriculture
Learning objective: Increase understanding of climate change and extreme weather. Have a better understanding of climate change impacts on agriculture in the Central Coast
11 a.m. – Adaptation workbook activity and tool building using Cal-Adapt
Learning objective: Learn tools to better understand climate change impacts and how that can influence management plans
12:15 p.m. – Lunch
1 p.m. – Continue adaptation workbook activity
2:15 p.m. – Break
2:25 p.m. – Tool building tutorial on CalAgroClimate with Tapan Pathak
Learning objective: Understand how CalAgroClimate could support you
2:35 p.m. – Group Discussion
Learning objective: Learn from peers what they are doing in this space and what they might be struggling with.
3:15 p.m. – Resources, survey and adjourn
To register, visit https://forms.gle/3jJaDdNHCMsXXuoF7.
If you have any questions, or need help with travel, please reach out to Kimber Moreland of USDA California Climate Hub at kcmoreland@ucdavis.edu.
Extension professionals needed to help specialty crop growers adapt to climate change
The Climate Analogs Academy is recruiting 12 Cooperative Extension professionals from around the U.S. to engage in dialogue, workshops and get paid to visit specialty crop experts around the country throughout the 2025 calendar year.
“I participated in the 2024 academy and it was a great experience,” said Monica Cooper, UC Cooperative Extension director and viticulture advisor for Napa County.
The Climate Analogs Academy is a USDA NIFA Extension Climate Hub Partnerships Project (20236701339348) led by Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The academy is designed to empower Cooperative Extension professionals to lead regional climate-change adaptation in specialty crops. To overcome common pitfalls of climate change education, its strategy is to build dialogue around technical information and develop strategic relationships.
The academy focuses on U.S. Cooperative Extension professionals due to their unique position as trusted advisors with farmers, their investment in communication skills and their experience in learning from and partnering with diverse resources and organizations.
For more information about the program, eligibility and the application, visit https://csanr.wsu.edu/educational-opportunities/climate-analogs-academy/.
Applications accepted until Oct. 18.
Statewide study identifies needs and practices of farmers to adapt to climate change in California
“Climate Smart Agriculture: Assessing Needs and Perceptions of California's Farmers,” published on June 14, 2024, in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, is an article based on the results of statewide survey by UC ANR scientists and their collaborators. This effort is part of the USDA-NIFA Pathways to Climate-Smart Ag project. The survey was distributed statewide and 341 farmers responded.
The findings showed that 67% of the farmers agree that climate change is happening, and 53.1% agreed that actions are required. Significantly, historically underrepresented farmers were “very concerned” about climate change-related impacts related to water resources, temperatures and natural disasters.
The study found that some farmers are currently implementing adaptation practices related to water resources management, soil health and renewable energy and are also seeking insurance and government assistance programs to enhance their resilience to climate change. Farmers also expressed “interest” and “high need” for more information on those adaptation practices to manage various challenges of farming in the current and future variable climates.
The study identified that more than half of the farmers believe the most “significant barriers” to adaptation are mainly government regulations (53.1%), followed by high input cost (46.9%), labor access/cost (35.2%), access to water (33.5%), and access to investment capital/funds (32.4%).
The needs assessment also established that farmers use climate decision-support tools (47.5%), mostly weather stations; and 51.9% indicated their interest in using online tools designed to translate climate information into forms that support production decision-making. On extension education and information access, farmers responded that they will likely attend workshops to learn about adaptation practices (60.8%).
The findings of this needs assessment are being used to develop and deliver climate smart agriculture programs for farmers and ranchers in California.
The project is led by Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in climate adaptation in agriculture based at UC Merced, as the project director. Steven Ostoja, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture California Climate Hub, and Vikram Koundinya, UCCE evaluation specialist, serve as co-PDs, with support from Leslie Roche, UCCE rangeland management specialist; Daniele Zaccaria, UC Davis associate professor and UCCE agricultural water management specialist; and Mark Cooper, UC Davis assistant professor in community and regional development.
The article was written by a team with diverse expertise in climate and agricultural sciences, social sciences, and extension academics and evaluation experts. Authors include Samuel Ikendi, Natalia Pinzon, Koundinya, Namah Taku-Forchu, Roche, Ostoja, Lauren Parker, Zaccaria, Cooper, Jairo Diaz-Ramirez, Sonja Brodt, Mark Battany, Jhalendra Rijal and Pathak.
Reference
Ikendi, S., Pinzon, N., Koundinya, V., Taku-Forchu, N, Roche, L., Ostoja, S., Parker, L., Zaccaria, D., Cooper, M., Diaz-Ramirez, J., Brodt, S., Battany, M., Rijal, J., & Pathak, T. (2024). Climate smart agriculture: Assessing needs and perceptions of California's farmers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8, 1395547. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1395547
Why become a certified California Naturalist?
I recently came across a national forum thread on iNaturalist where someone was curious to know more about the value of becoming a “certified” naturalist. Not surprisingly there were a wide range of opinions. These ranged from supportive to skeptical to cynical. Because many of the responses came from people who have not taken a course themselves, I thought it might be valuable to share some data from people who actually completed a course – in this case the UC California Naturalist course offered by over 60 different organizations around the state, in partnership with UC ANR's Environmental Stewards program.
To summarize the forum discussion, the believers – commonly people who actually have taken a course – found that taking a course was useful for people who were new to an area, had no previous science background, or were looking for ways to connect and engage in volunteer service locally. The skeptics often cited the improbability of becoming a “master” or expert in anything after just taking a short course or the fact that a degree in many science fields would render certification unnecessary. Finally, the more cynical views suggested that certification was just another ploy to separate people from their money.
In California, our end-of-course evaluation provides some useful insight on the reasons why people pursue naturalist certification, as well as their level of satisfaction with the course. The five most commonly cited reasons for pursuing naturalist certification from over 1,000 respondents were 1) to learn more about the local environment, 2) learn about conservation issues, 3) spend time outside, 4) career development, and 5) meet people with similar interests. Securing the certification itself ranks sixth out of 10 choices and rarely is the driving factor for taking the course.
Regardless of their rationale for taking the course, 72% of those who completed the course were very satisfied with their experience and 93% were either very or somewhat satisfied. In terms of putting their experience to use, 95% of the respondents indicated that participation in the course improved their capacity to do their volunteer service and the majority indicated they plan to do more volunteer service in the coming year.
Increasing numbers of participants are looking at the course as a form of professional development and about 93% indicated that participation in the course improved their capacity to do their work or the work they would like to do in the future. Anecdotally, we find the social learning component of our program and our efforts to create an inclusive community of naturalists to be essential to the high levels of satisfaction and an important factor in sustained engagement.
It's also important to address the skeptical views and challenge the more cynical views of certification. First, no reputable naturalist certification program claims to make expert naturalists in a matter of a dozen weeks. The use of the term “master” naturalist is problematic for that and other reasons, which is why it's not used in our program in California. We all agree that expertise is gained over time – often a lifetime – and our program is happy to simply inspire, support or reinforce that pursuit.
Finally, while we live in a time full of scams, cons and frauds, the suggestion that certification is just a way to separate you from your money really reinforces my view of the debilitating nature of cynicism. Most naturalist certification programs are run on a shoestring budget. Statewide program costs are often supported by land-grant universities, nonprofits or state agencies. The registration fees of a typical course are barely enough to cover the costs of the educators who deliver them. State and local programs regularly pursue grants, constantly writing proposals to ensure that cost isn't barrier to participation. Having worked in this field for several decades now, I can safely say that the course instructors are driven not by profits but by their values and deep sense of purpose.
So, when someone asks you about California Naturalists or Climate Stewards, let them know what certification really means. Embrace their interest, address their skepticism, redirect their cynicism and invite them to join our community and transform the way they see their environment and their role in protecting it.
