Posts Tagged: February 2020

ANR Governing Council tours South Coast REC

To gain a better understanding of UC ANR's work in communities and to see firsthand how UC's Agricultural Extension programs engage with the public in an urban setting, the UC ANR Governing Council toured the South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine on Feb. 19.

The tour group saw the power of UC ANR academics at work in partnership with growers, local municipalities and UC campuses to address topics such as strawberry diseases, weed control and the use of glyphosate, water conservation and quality, invasive pests in urban forestry, and coyote and rodent management. 

The UC ANR Governing Council, which is chaired by UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox, visited UCCE specialist Alex Putman and UC Riverside graduate student Lindsey Pedroncelli's strawberry disease study, UC IPM advisor Cheryl Wilen's herbicide demonstration, and the urban landscape demonstration site, where Darren Haver, South Coast REC director and UCCE water resources advisor, conducts water studies. Niamh Quinn, UCCE human-wildlife interaction advisor, described her research on vertebrate pests ranging from rats to coyotes, and Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann, UCCE urban forestry advisor, and John Kabashima, emeritus environmental horticulture advisor, showed the council members shot hole borers and other pests that attack trees.

The UC ANR academics were joined by public and private sector partners, including Mark Lopez from OC Produce who is also the Orange County Farm Bureau president; Bryan Thompson, owner of Pest Options; Jenna Voss, South Orange County watershed manager for Orange County Public Works; Dave Erickson, Wildland Resources Planner for Orange County Fire Authority; Jim Hartman, deputy agricultural commissioner for Los Angeles County; Laura Krueger Prelesnik, vector ecologist for the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District; and Rick Howard, Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District agency manager.

Foods grown at the center were incorporated in the lunch prepared by UC ANR culinary partners Andrea Machua of Culinary Underground, Kyle Manns of Taps Brewery and Lan Pham Zenti, owner of Jadetiger Tea.

“The day was both enjoyable and informative for all,” said Kathy Eftekhari, chief of staff to the vice president. 

 

 

Make your voice heard in the ANR@Work Survey

Another survey is about to land in your inbox, but this one is special. The ANR@Work Survey – which will be open from March 17 through April 3 – is the opportunity for all academics and staff to provide feedback about their experience working at UC ANR. 

The UC ANR community is founded on principles strengthened by common goals, shared interests, camaraderie and a passion for improving the quality of life in all communities. We all have the right to work in an environment that promotes fairness, trust, respect, and physical and emotional safety and security. Your anonymous survey responses will contribute to our efforts to create the best possible work environment for all of us.

On March 17, each academic and staff member will receive an email from “ANR satsurvey” containing a unique link to the survey. Please do not delete the emailed invitation, as it will be the only way to access the survey and cannot be replaced. 

To thank you for your time and to encourage participation, everyone who completes the survey will have the option to participate in a raffle for a $75 gift card. We will award 40 gift cards through random drawings during the survey period. 

The survey is being administered by UC San Diego; they have been administering a similar survey for more than 20 years on their campus.

We plan to repeat the survey annually for at least five years. The 2020 survey results will establish a baseline for continually assessing UC ANR's work environment.

If you have questions about the survey, please contact us at satsurvey@ucanr.edu.

UC ANR shares its programs and services at the World Ag Expo

Visitors to the UC ANR booth at the World Ag Expo were treated to citrus facts, gardening tips, nutrition advice and much more Feb. 11-13 in Tulare.

On the first evening of the expo, Vice President Glenda Humiston and UC Cooperative Extension scientists hosted a reception for about 100 UC ANR partners, agriculture reporters, employees and other stakeholders to celebrate recent advancements in agricultural production, as well as future initiatives. The event was held at the UC Cooperative Extension office in Tulare County.

Humiston thanked the guests for supporting UC ANR and said that research and extension relied on the cooperation of others to be successful.

Bob Hutmacher, West Side Research and Extension Center director and UCCE specialist, gave an update on his hemp research and Konrad Mathesius, UCCE agronomy advisor for the Capitol Corridor, discussed his research on malting barley for beer.

Nick Davis, a vineyard operations manager for The Wine Group, who collaborates with George Zhuang, UCCE viticulture advisor in Fresno County, discussed their mechanization project and said his company depends on UCCE research. A member of the UC ANR climate-smart agriculture technical advisory team, Shulamit Shroder, reported on the activities of the climate-smart farming partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Robert Johnson of IGIS answered questions about the use of drones in agricultural research, 4-H members Emily Karle, Mia Azevedo, Levi Goodman and Emily Karle displayed their projects, and UCCE advisor Ruth Dahlquist-Willard and Michael Yang, agricultural assistant, showed some of the specialty crops grown in Fresno County.

At the UC ANR booth on the expo grounds, UCCE specialist Beth Grafton-Caldwell and the Lindcove Research and Extension Center staff handed out mandarins and told visitors about the research they do on citrus at the part of the booth that featured UC ANR research and extension centers.

Visitors took part in an activity to match local commodities to ANR Research and Extension Centers. Those who tried won a prize.

 

 

Over the three days, EFNEP and CalFresh Healthy Living educators from Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties quizzed booth visitors about nutrition. Tulare County Master Gardener volunteers shared information about sustainable gardening and answered gardener questions.

SI Brief: Want video in your toolkit?

The Strategic Initiatives (SIs), Strategic Communication (Strat Comm) and the Communications Advisory Board (CAB) are teaming up to help UC ANR “own” YouTube (Yep - that's the big goal - at least for our educational content areas).

How can you get involved?

1. Decide. Is video right for your Extension tool-box

Is video the right tool for your extension needs? Are you interested in learning more about how to develop and use video in your extension program?  Much of the educational content throughout ANR could be extended effectively in video format, helping us better reach existing audiences, and potentially reach new ones.  

2. Prepare. Watch the webinars 

Pre-clinic webinar. Join us on March 2 at 10 a.m. for this one-hour webinar to learn about these resources and explore the important question - Is video right for your program and project? You will leave the webinar having learned the key steps in planning and producing an effective extension video. You will also learn how to access and use the resources ANR has coalesced supporting video production. This webinar (posted at https://youtu.be/yz-xaj8YjO0) is offered as both a stand-alone training, as well as pre-work for upcoming hands-on clinics (described below).    

A bonus webinar: Ricardo Vela of our News and Outreach in Spanish is giving a webinar on “Shooting videos with your iPhone” on April 8 from 11:30 a.m. to noon. 

Learn more about the webinars at:

https://ucanr.edu/sites/Professional_Development/Monthly_WebANRs/ 

3. Get Hands-on do-it-yourself experience at the clinics 

For those looking for a more complete and hands-on training to develop skills and knowledge to produce their own 3- to 5-minute extension videos, ANR is offering two hands-on clinics scheduled for April 15-16 and April 21-22 at Hopland REC and South Coast REC, respectively. 

More to follow soon, but a requisite to attending these clinic is to participate in the March 2 pre-clinic webinar discussed above. The pre-clinic webinar will be recorded for those interested in attending the clinics, but with schedule conflicts. 

4. Practice, practice, practice (Brand, brand, brand)

Whether you make it to the clinics or not, access our growing video and branding resources and just practice - individually or in teams. See our existing Learning & Development resources at https://ucanr.edu/sites/Professional_Development/Extension_-_Delivery/Video/.

In the pipeline: Dustin Blakey's online video course! (Due in summer)

Ready to upload? Contact Strat Comm!

5. Let's “own” Youtube - making our great educational content attractive and available. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1XPoOpK1xyLZqN9szc9A6A

For more on the SIs and their activities, contact

Jim Farrar: Pests EIPD

David Lile: Natural Ecosystems SNE

David Lewis: Water

Deanne Meyer: Food Systems SFS

Lynn Schmitt McQuitty: Families and Communities HFC

Mark Bell: Vice Provost SIs & SWPs

 

 

NPI study identifies efforts to address both food and housing insecurity in California

Californians are struggling to afford adequate housing and food, yet little is known about the intersection of individuals and families experiencing both housing and food insecurity. The Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI)'s 2018/2019 University of California (UC) Global Food Initiative fellow, Melanie Colvin, MPH, identified efforts to address both housing and food insecurity in California.

Her findings are detailed in the report, “Addressing food insecurity for families and individuals in California experiencing housing insecurity,” which provides definitions and prevalence rates for food insecurity and housing insecurity. In the report, Colvin summarizes assessment tools available for researches to measure food insecurity and housing insecurity. The report includes case studies of eight California organizations working to improve access to basic needs services for adults and families who struggle to afford the high cost of living in California.

With input from Danielle Lee, NPI policy analyst; Lorrene Ritchie, NPI director and UC Cooperative Extension specialist; Ken Hecht, NPI director of policy; Rachel Surls, UCCE sustainable food systems advisor in Los Angeles; and Tia Shimada, California Food Policy Advocates director of programs, Colvin provides policy, program and research and evaluation recommendations to support improved food security for those experiencing housing insecurity.

The authors also recommend ways UC ANR can engage with communities and organizations to improve the delivery of basic needs services for Californians.

Read the full report at https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/_files/gfi-npi-report-final-2020-02-13.pdf.

 

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