Posts Tagged: Helene Dillard

PAC discusses innovation and advocacy

Kicking off the meeting by expressing sympathy for everyone affected by wildfires – including the ANR members and Master Gardener volunteers who lost their homes – UC President Janet Napolitano met with the President's Advisory Commission (PAC) at their biannual meeting Dec. 13 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Emeryville.

President Napolitano focused her remarks on the challenges that remain with our food system, saying that she sees endless possibilities for ANR to bring food and ag together with science and technology for agricultural innovation. She also praised ANR for expanding access to its programs and achieving parity in participation of Latino youth in 4-H activities.

Asked about UC's role in production of the state's newly legal crop, Napolitano asked for a report from a systemwide group studying how UC can get involved in cannabis research without running afoul of federal law. VP Chief of Staff Jan Corlett, who represents ANR in that group, offered to relay the PAC's comments at their next meeting.

Napolitano invited the PAC members to join the UC Advocacy Network, or UCAN, to keep informed about state and federal issues that impact the university.

VP Glenda Humiston introduced Anne Megaro, governmental and community relations director. Megaro, who has a Ph.D. in animal science and was the California State Senate Committee on Agriculture's consultant for five years, spoke about her background and discussed how she is working with academics to cultivate relationships with elected officials by sharing stories about their work.

“Every legislator should know ANR because we're in their district,” Megaro said.

“How can I help you talk about ANR?” she asked the PAC members, who responded positively.

Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, described how the Internet of Things, data analysis, robotics, artificial intelligence, drones and plant biotechnology are helping farmers cope with challenges, including workforce shortages, water scarcity and pest pressure. The Apps for Ag hackathons have produced useful tools, but poor rural connectivity is limiting the benefits. 

“If we don't solve rural connectivity,” Youtsey warned, “We'll have ag brick instead of ag tech because it won't work.”

He also described the recently launched The VINE, which is designed to catalyze a statewide system to support innovation, entrepreneurship, expand economic opportunities and develop new technology for agriculture, natural resources and rural communities. Youtsey said food and agriculture need “patient capital” investors because venture capitalists desire a fast return on their investment.

Associate Vice President Wendy Powers briefed the commission on ANR's strategic plan. Our “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” is for every Californian to recognize the positive impact ANR has in their lives. The actions will be guided by UCANR's core values: excellence, community, innovation, inclusion, collaboration and integrity. Public value statements are being developed to shape our efforts and “they will give us the elevator speech to articulate who we are and what we do,” Powers said.

Powers also updated the PAC on recent successes, including boosting Giving Tuesday donations by 24 percent over 2016. She announced that 4-H increased its statewide youth enrollment by 18 percent and number of 4-H volunteers by 15 percent and that ANR has completed a salary equity program for staff and advisors and continues to improve internet speeds in county and REC facilities.

In the deans' updates, Keith Gilless announced that in June he will be stepping down as dean of the College of Natural Resources after 11 years to return to his academic work in fire research. Deans Helene Dillard of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kathryn Uhrich of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Michael Lairmore of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Gilless shared news of awards and large grants received and major projects underway in their respective colleges and school.

In wrapping up the meeting, Humiston announced that Mike Mellano, Dina Moore and Jean Marie Peltier will represent California in Washington D.C. for the CARET (Council on Agriculture Research, Extension and Teaching) meeting in March to advocate for agricultural research and the Farm Bill.

She invited the PAC members to meet next in April in Ontario, in conjunction with the ANR statewide meeting.

UC connects FOOD IT to research and education

More than 300 people crowded into the Computer History Museum in Mountain View for The Mixing Bowl's FOOD IT: Fork to Farm event on June 27. 

Food producers, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, venture capitalists, industry executives, researchers and nonprofit representatives gathered to explore the different ways in which information technology is being applied to a broad range of food and agriculture challenges. 

A panel of university deans, including Helene Dillard from UC Davis, Andrew Thulin from Cal Poly and Wendy Wintersteen from Iowa State, discussed a range of food and agriculture topics with VP Glenda Humiston moderating. The deans discussed science literacy and noted that about seven out of ten of their agriculture students come from urban areas.

At the event, which was co-sponsored by UC ANR, Humiston announced that UC ANR is launching The VINE, or The Verde Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship, to cultivate regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in rural communities. Led by Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer, The VINE aims to bring together resources such as small business development centers, community colleges, county Cooperative Extension offices, makers labs, incubators and accelerators to help people commercialize their ideas.

Dillard noted that UC Davis's InnovationAccess also helps people bring their products to market.

Humiston and Dillard were interviewed by The Cube about how the university is changing to address ag tech issues. Broadband access to the internet in rural areas is a limiting factor for agricultural technology, Humiston told The Cube's Jeff Frick. The agricultural industry is using satellite imagery, drones and soil sensors, she said. “If you've got thousands of sensors zapping information back and forth, you can fill up that pipeline pretty fast.”

The interview with Humiston and Dillard and others from FOOD IT are posted at http://www.siliconangle.tv/food-it-june-27-2017-mountain-view-ca.  

Read more about the FOOD IT at http://ucanr.edu/?blogpost=24534&blogasset=52096.

UC SAREP opens its doors on campus

The UC ANR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program is officially open for business on the UC Davis campus.  The statewide program, which renovated and moved into the Robbins Hall Annex in September 2014, recently hosted an open house and ribbon cutting to warm its new space.

UC ANR Associate Vice President Bill Frost and UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Dean Helene Dillard cut the ribbon together, and welcomed the 29-year-old program onto campus.

“Now more than ever, it is important that we maintain strong integration of our research and extension efforts,” said Dean Dillard. “Having the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program located on campus is a great opportunity to model a collaborative approach and show a tangible bridge between campus-based activities and statewide extension.”

The UC SAREP program is co-housed at UC ANR and the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis. UC SAREP's campus location provides opportunity for campus faculty and students to actively engage with ANR activities and continue to improve the links between researchers and community stakeholders. 

 

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