Posts Tagged: November 2024

California congressional members voice support for ag research

As Congress negotiated the Farm Bill, Vice President Glenda Humiston recently visited Washington, D.C. to meet with California congressional members and their staff to discuss agricultural research and Cooperative Extension programs.

“During this time of change and transition, I was gladdened to hear that many legislators – on both sides of the aisle – remain fully supportive of agricultural research and Cooperative Extension programs,” Humiston said.

She was joined on the trip by Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations, and Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, and colleagues from UC Riverside, including Peter Atkinson, interim dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Kathy Eiler, director of federal relations; and Elia Scudiero, associate research agronomist in the Department of Environmental Sciences.

The UC delegation visited staff from both Senate offices, 14 congressional offices and some committees. They were honored to meet personally with Rep. Ami Bera and Rep. John Garamendi.

The group shared UC's agricultural appropriations and Farm Bill priorities, and voiced support for Cooperative Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture competitive grant funding, as well as the House's $2.5 billion proposal for agricultural research facilities.

“I was pleased to hear that our lawmakers shared our desire to increase funding for Cooperative Extension and pass a Farm Bill with robust support for ag research,” Humiston said.

Celebration Corner

4-H Horticulture team finishes first in NJHA contest

Michael Rethwisch, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor for Riverside County coached the California 4-H Horticulture team to first place at the 2024 National Junior Horticultural Association (NJHA) contest in Lincoln, Nebraska.

In the contest, the teams had to identify 100 horticultural specimens – 25 from four categories. The categories were flowers and indoor plants; landscape ornamentals; fruits, nuts and berries; and vegetables. They also answered 80 questions on a written test and completed eight sets of judging. Some of the specimens included dahlia and snapdragon seeds, a hawthorn twig, lilac flowers, maple leaves, eggplant seeds, coffee leaves and guava fruit. The California 4-H team scored more than 100 points ahead of the second-place team. A perfect team score would be 1,320 points.

“California was the only team to break 1,000 points this year (including the open class and FFA teams competing in other divisions),” said Rethwisch, who coached the team via Zoom and only met with them in person at the competition. 

Four individuals on the California 4-H Horticulture team also earned placings. Maya Krishaswamy of Santa Clara County took first place; Jolene Junge of Tehama County placed second; Noemi Nejedli of Santa Clara County placed fifth; and Lucas Gribi of Alameda County placed 11th.

Rethwisch praised the dedication and personal efforts of the members to learn the specimen details.

Koundinya receives Extension Excellence in Staff Development Award

Vikram Koundinya received the 'Extension Excellence in Staff Development Award' from the National Association of Extension Program and Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) at their annual conference on Nov. 14.

NAEPSDP's Extension Excellence in Staff Development Award recognizes individuals who use creativity, innovation and evidence to develop and deliver staff development initiatives that strengthen the employee capacity of Cooperative Extension systems.

Koundinya received this award for 2024 for his trainings, one-on-one consultations and publications aimed at building the capacity of California Cooperative Extension academics and programmatic staff in evaluation through extension teaching.

He was also elected president-elect of NAEPSDP.

 

$5,000 matching campaign for Forever 4-H Endowment in Santa Barbara County ends on Dec. 4

The 4-H Youth Development Program in Santa Barbara County believes that true leaders are not born, they're grown. With the support of its generous donors, strong volunteer base, and community support, the 4-H Program in Santa Barbara County successfully equips and empowers young leaders to develop essential leadership skills; build confidence and skills in healthy living, science, technology, engineering and math; and explore college and career pathways.

Recognizing its significant impact in the community, the Edwin and Jeanne Woods Foundation committed a $5,000 matching incentive to the Forever 4-H Endowment of Santa Barbara County. As longtime supporters of 4-H, the Edwin and Jeanne Woods Foundation believes in the program's mission and vision to engage youth in reaching their fullest potential while providing meaningful opportunities for all youth and adults to learn, grow and work together as catalysts for positive change.

“I was able to learn more about how I can improve myself in order to help improve my community. From becoming more confident in my knowledge and abilities to my ability to connect with people of all ages,” said a 4-H youth participant regarding their overall experience in the program.

4-H Club based projects focus on animal science, career and leadership, civic engagement, healthy living and nutrition, outdoor education, and STEM. Currently there are twelve 4-H community clubs located throughout Santa Barbara County in Carpinteria, Lompoc, Santa Ynez, Santa Maria, Orcutt, and Solvang. In addition, there are five school-based clubs at elementary schools located in Santa Maria with a focus on leadership in health and nutrition.

Established in June 2019, the Santa Barbara County Forever 4-H Endowment's market value as of October 31, 2024, was $242,265. The payout from this endowment will provide a sustainable revenue source contributing to the program's continued efforts in providing hands-on learning and leadership opportunities, and empowering youth to excel academically, socially, and personally well into the future.

Consider doubling your impact with a gift to the Santa Barbara County Forever 4-H Endowment during this year's Giving Tuesday Campaign, Dec. 3 by making a donation at the link found here https://give4h.ucanr.edu/forms/SantaBarbara-4H.

UC ANR welcomes AES faculty at UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz

Since President Drake announced the expansion of the UC Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), we have partnered with UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz leadership to integrate these two campuses into our UC ANR network.

We are excited to share that their founding AES faculty have started new AES projects as of this federal fiscal year, which started Oct. 1. See list below.

Please join us in welcoming them to the UC ANR network and reach out to grow our collaborations.

For more information about UC AES, visit https://ucanr.edu/UC_AES.

Name	Dept./Campus	AES Project
Michael Loik	Environmental Studies, UCSC	Measurement / Control of Resources in Controlled Environment Agriculture
Greg Gilbert	Environmental Studies, UCSC	Fungi and Fire in Central Coast Forests
Hannah Waterhouse	Environmental Studies, UCSC	Building Soil Health to Help Farmers and Communities Adapt to Climate and Regulatory Realities While Protecting Water Quality
Matt Sparke	Politics, UCSC	Farmworker Community Training Innovations for Climate Resilience
Colleen Josephson	Electrical & Computer Engineering, UCSC	Open-source hardware and software to democratize agricultural and ecological sensor networks
Rebecca Ryals	Life & Environmental Science, UCSC	Coupling Organic Waste Streams with Agricultural Health
Reza Ehsani	Mechanical Engineering, UCM	Automation, Sensing, and AI for Climate-Resilient Specialty Crop Production in Central Valley
Safeeq Khan	Civil & Environmental Engineering, UCM	Assessment and Modeling of Climate Change and Human Interventions Impact on California's Water Resources, Agriculture, and Dependent Ecosystem Services
Josue Medellin-Azuara	Civil & Environmental Engineering, UCM	An Agro-economic and Water Supply Framework to Quantify Economic Impacts of Climate and Management Adaptation

 

 

 

Canva now available to UC users

We're excited to announce our partnership with Canva, the all-in-one graphic design platform with leading-edge visual communication and design tools.

UC ANR staff can purchase Canva Pro subscriptions to enhance their design capabilities.

Cost

• The UC-negotiated annual rate is $94 per user license recharged to the department (regular rate = $120/year).
• Licenses purchased in July will run through the FY 2025.
• Orders placed after July will be prorated to the fiscal year.
• Users purchasing a license will have the option to renew each July.

How to order

To request a Canva license, take the following steps:

• Contact CDWG at Scott.Mueller@cdwg.com for a quote. Include your department's name and the number of seats requested.
• If you are requesting licenses for multiple users, you may attach a spreadsheet listing the members' names. We encourage departments to purchase seats in bulk in order to facilitate the process.
• After receiving a quote, contact your business manager to make the purchase.
• Once UC ANR Canva administrators receive notification of a seat new purchase, we will place the buyer in the corresponding Canva Team and Group.

Teams

Users will be added to one of two UC ANR Canva Teams. The UC ANR Communications Team will include staff from our statewide programs. Each program will be assigned a group that can easily share content with users in other groups.

The UC ANR General Team has been set up for users in all other departments/units.

Additional important information

What if I already have a current UC-paid Canva account?

Existing users won't automatically be added to the new UC contract and teams. They can still access Canva how they did previously. However, they are strongly encouraged to sign up for a new account at the lower user rate of $94/user/year.

If you join the new UC Canva account, Canva will refund the remainder of prepaid Pro licenses, but those users will have to move their designs over to the new account using these instructions.

Anyone with an existing paid Canva license will still have access to the teams they had access to before switching over to a new UC account.

What is the turnaround time between placing an order for Canva Enterprise and account activation?

Canva & CDWG are aiming for a two-day (2-day) provisioning window, but this timeframe may be slightly longer during the initial months due to order volume. This timing may improve after the first few months as the volume of orders evens out.

How do I access my new Canva account?

With their license purchase, staff users will access Canva using their Single-Sign-On (SSO) credentials. New users will receive a welcome email.

What if I already have a current UC-paid Canva account?

Existing users won't automatically be redirected to SSO, but can still access Canva the way they did previously. However, they are strongly encouraged to sign up for a new Canva Enterprise account at the lower user rate of $94/user/year. Current Canva users on UC-paid accounts will be given a grace period to purchase a new license.

Canva will refund the remainder of prepaid Pro licenses, but those users will have to move their designs over to the new account using these instructions.

Anyone with an existing paid Canva license will still have access to the teams they had access to before switching over to a new UC account.

What if I already have a “5-for-1” Canva license?

Canva is phasing out 5-for-1 licenses as of November 2024. Users with these accounts can keep them until they phase out, but as of November 2024, they will need to purchase a new Canva Enterprise account at the $94/user/year rate (prorated to their purchase date).

Existing 5-for-1 account holders will not be able to use SSO for sign-in and have fewer features than Canva Enterprise accounts.

Can existing UC Canva users transfer their designs?

Yes, existing UC Canva users will be able to seamlessly transfer designs over from one team to another using these instructions.

What level of data is Canva approved for?

Canva is approved for P1 and P2 data only. For more information, see Data Classifications.

Canva will not have the ability to detect or block P3 or P4 data. Please ensure that you are not including this level of data when using Canva.

Have the Canva AI features been approved at the system level?

All AI features have been disabled and may be enabled in the future when they are reviewed.

Where can I get help?

See Canva's robust help resources.

Who are the main contacts at UC ANR if I have additional questions?

Doralicia Garay, Social Media Strategist, dgaray@ucanr.edu

 

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