Posts Tagged: November 2020

Names in the News

Carvalho de Souza Dias named UCCE agronomy and weed management advisor

José Luiz Carvalho de Souza Dias joined UCCE on Nov. 2, 2020, as an area agronomy and weed management advisor in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. 

Prior to joining UCCE, Carvalho de Souza Dias was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he worked with Mark Renz and John Grabber on projects focused on identification of management practices and environmental factors to ensure successful establishment of alfalfa interseeded into corn silage; sustainable management of waterhemp in established alfalfa for dairy systems; and weed control, clover selectivity and resulting yield of grass-clover mixed swards treated with florpyrauxifen-benzyl + 2,4-D in Wisconsin.

Carvalho de Souza Dias earned a Ph.D. in agronomy with focus in weed science from the University of Florida and an M.S. in crop protection and B.S. in agronomy from São Paulo State University in Brazil. He is fluent in Portugese.

His Ph.D. research focused on developing and implementing integrated management practices to reduce giant smutgrass populations in bahiagrass pastures. His M.S. research focused on investigating the selectivity of several residual herbicides applied preplanting of prebudded seedlings of different sugarcane cultivars.

Based in Merced, Carvalho de Souza Dias can be reached at (209) 385-7403 and jdias@ucanr.edu.

Klisch named YFC academic coordinator II

Shannon Klisch has been promoted to youth, families and communities program academic coordinator II serving San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, effective Nov. 2, 2020.

Before assuming her current position, Klisch had been a community education supervisor since 2014 and led the expansion of 4-H programming across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties through the UC Garden Nutrition Extender program and the 4-H Student Nutrition Advisory Council youth engagement program. Prior to joining UC ANR, Klisch worked as a private consultant with the Center for Family Strengthening.

She earned a Master of Public Health in community health education at San Jose State University and B.A. degrees in anthropology and communication from UC San Diego. She holds credentials as a master community health education specialist and community health education specialist.

Klisch is headquartered in San Luis Obispo and can be reached at (805) 781-5951 and sklisch@ucanr.edu.

 

GivingTuesday is Dec. 1

On Dec. 1, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, UC ANR will join in #GivingTuesday, the global generosity movement, to ask the public to support our programs.

Please share ANR's donation link ucanr.edu/givingtuesday with your social network.

Gifts made online starting at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 1 are eligible to be matched until the matching funds are depleted. “That means stay up late on Nov. 30 to double the value of your gift,” said Emily Delk, director of annual giving.

Delk encourages everyone to share the link on social media.

“Social media algorithms prevent followers from seeing every post,” she said. “So you need to post often in order to increase the odds of visibility. Likes and shares help your content be seen by more people.”

Delk collaborated with Ricardo Vela, Miguel Sanchez and Evett Kilmartin to create the #PushPlayCA Giving Tuesday campaign video at https://youtu.be/0tm77mXGugo. The video opens with “COVID-19 put the world on pause. But our mission is moving forward!”

“We chose the #PushPlayCA theme to demonstrate how UC ANR programs have pivoted and continue to move forward during COVID-19,” Delk said.

Campaign in a box

Delk has compiled sample text, images for social media posts and more, including some specifically for UCCE counties, research and extension centers and the Master Gardener, Master Food Preserver, 4-H and California Naturalist programs.

Find your 2020 #GivingTuesday materials in Box folders at https://ucdavis.box.com/s/vy43x27u46kjd7wlsguf5kz6r46a1ym2.

Matching funds

The California 4-H Foundation will have a 1:1 match incentive for gifts made to 4-H programs/clubs/councils through the Foundation in the amount of $25,000.

UC ANR will have a 1:1 match incentive for gifts made to any ANR Program/REC/Cooperative Extension location in the amount of $15,000.

Both of these match pots are awarded on a first-give, first-get basis starting at midnight until the pot is depleted.

#GivingTuesday webinars

Want more information about how to participate in GivingTuesday? Recorded webinars are posted on YouTube:

• All ANR: https://youtu.be/7jkPO5R5s4s

• Master Gardeners: https://youtu.be/uxxFK_UQ540 
• 4-H: https://ucanr.zoom.us/rec/share/N91_s98mXQAejSvpGN_lNvIGIvqlty3i4K1kyoC2i1H4VTh50nkVNTWn7MKFVXI.tkVgLB2uS_u92qAq Passcode: X0S^H^#= 

If you have questions, contact Emily Delk at eddelk@ucanr.edu or (916) 564-4862.

Strategic Initiative Brief: Crystal ball, SNE leader, webinars

Unify-Communicate-Advocate

The Strategic Initiatives offer a home for strategic thought, drawing on members of the wider UC ANR community and beyond to identify and address issues of current and emerging importance. 

1. Major Initiative Themes - Summary of Progress

The SI leaders have been pursuing topics of importance for the future of UC ANR. Drawing on the crystal ball paper, the SIs are linking to ongoing efforts and leaders within our UC ANR community to create spaces for conversation and explore opportunities. 

Existing 2 page concept notes are now available on the SI site. These papers are being used to work with interested partners to pursue funding. 

Fire: Concept Note Fire Advisors Network (draft). Kudos to Yana Valachovic and others for their work on this concept paper.

Food systems: Concept Note Food systems (draft). Concepts here are emerging in part from the Food Systems Spotlight Webinar series led by Deanne Meyer and Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty.

Urban extension/DEI: Concept Note Building California's Urban Community (draft). This and associated initiatives are benefiting from input by Keith Nathaniel and Frank McPherson.

Extension of the future: Concept Note Building California's Urban Community (draft) and Concept note working cross state and cross institute (draft). These are the latest as discussion evolves on opportunities to grow our presence throughout the state and across state lines. 

Feedback and suggestions welcome! 

2. Sustainable Natural Ecosystems SI Leader position opening

Want to make a difference at the policy level? Check out the opportunity as the Sustainable Natural Ecosystems Strategic Initiative leader.  

In transitioning the leadership, many thanks to David Lile for his commitment to our Sustainable Natural Resources work. David was the Strategic Initiative leader for 3 years.

3. Strategic Initiative Spotlight Webinar Series Continues Strong

3.1 Building Resilient Food System

The food systems series being coordinated by the Healthy Families and Communities and Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Initiatives continues to explore how to re-imagine our food systems. Sign up below and join us for the remaining webinars on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month to continue the discussion. Please let us know if you're interested in providing leadership or participating in a webinar for this series.

Contacts: Deanne Meyer (SFS SI leader) and Lynn Schmitt McQuitty (HFC SI leader). 

Visit the Spotlight webinars page to see recordings. 

3.2. Our virtual reach continues to grow. 

SI partial funding support for webinars: The SIs are offering partial webinar support (up to $200) for webinars on topics consistent with the major SI strategic themes. Learn more here. 

Ever wondered about adult learning principles and how they can help you in your job? Learn more here.

Other resources: 

• Check out the recently developed Checklist: online course minimum standards
• Develop your "How-to" video-making skills 
• Get some Virtual consultation tips  
• Pick up some pointers from the engaging webinars checklist or explore deeper to develop your webinar skills 
• Online on-demand programmatic Online Orientation materials 

Comments/feedback welcome

All these materials have been developed with input from many, many colleagues. Please let us know what skills or tips you found useful and what more you'd like to learn. 

4. In the pipeline

In the discussion pipeline, we have

• Remaining relevant; Extension of the future. How do we meet the needs of all Californians? How do we address urban and DEI needs? What could postpandemic tertiary education look like? What could be the role of UC ANR (re: working with community colleges, CSUs, UCs, internships …)? What other Funding & Incomes models are there?
• Disaster response. How to contribute and position ourselves for broader impact, recognizing the tremendous progress made by the Fire group. 
• Engaging Program Teams and the wider body of UC ANR

For more on the SIs and their activities, contact

• Jim Farrar (EIPD)
• David Lewis (Water)
• David Lile (SNE)
• Deanne Meyer (SFS)
• Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty (HFC)
• Mark Bell (Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs)

UC ANR Administrative Responsibilities Guide published

The Controller's office is pleased to announce the publication of the UC ANR Administrative Responsibilities Guide (ARG). 

The ARG provides general guidance and support for all personnel with administrative and/or financial oversight responsibilities. It is a guidebook to the expertise and assistance available from central administrative support, and is designed to define and clarify areas of accountability.  

The ARG is wide-ranging in nature, in contrast to UC ANR's Policy and Procedure Manual, which provides detailed information and instructions. 

Questions regarding the ARG may be directed to Catherine Montano at cmontano@ucanr.edu.

UCPath website down Dec. 9- Dec. 14

Starting Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 10 p.m. to Monday, Dec. 14 at 6 a.m., the UCPath system will be unavailable to all UC employees during the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cutover. 

During this outage, you will not have access to the UCPath system including applicants to UC ANR jobs, but UCPath Center phone access will be available as normal: 855-982-7284 (Mon - Fri: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.).

UCPath outage begins: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 10 p.m.

Resume time: Monday, Dec. 14, 6 a.m.

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