Posts Tagged: September 2020

Names in the News

Vollmer named UCCE nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor

Laura Vollmer joined UC Cooperative Extension in San Mateo, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties on Sept. 8, 2020, as a nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor.

For four years prior to becoming a UCCE advisor, Vollmer served as a policy analyst with the Nutrition Policy Institute. At NPI, she helped to provide strategic direction to the National Drinking Water Alliance, managed research, evaluation and policy advocacy efforts related to the charitable food assistance system and wrote policy briefs aimed at improving federal and state nutrition policy. She was a grant writer and institutional giving associate for City Harvest, an antihunger nonprofit in New York City, for two years.

She currently serves as a board member of Oakland-based Youth Outside, which works to ensure equitable access to the outdoors.

Vollmer is a registered dietitian and earned her Master of Public Health at UC Berkeley and Bachelor of Arts at Wesleyan University.

Vollmer is based in Half Moon Bay and can be reached at (650) 276-7429 and
lvollmer@ucanr.edu.

NEAFCS honors Blackburn with Hall of Fame award

Mary Blackburn, UCCE nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for Alameda County, received the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Hall of Fame Award on Sept. 14.

“Your dedication to NEAFCS has been exhibited through the educational resources and leadership you have provided to your community, state and across the nation throughout the years to help families improve their living conditions,” Roxie Price, NEAFCS president, wrote to Blackburn.

Blackburn, who has served with UC Cooperative Extension since 1990, is nationally renowned for her pioneering work delivering research-based nutrition and quality of life education to senior citizens, pregnant teens and other vulnerable groups. Collaborating with the UC CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program staff and UC Master Gardener volunteers, she recently launched a gardening project designed to improve the nutrition, physical activity and overall well-being of senior citizens living in affordable housing in Oakland, with special consideration for seniors with physical limitations.

“Mary Blackburn has really made a difference in the lives of Bay Area residents. Her work with local communities makes it easier for people to stay active and eat healthy food,” said Glenda Humiston, University of California vice president for agriculture and natural resources. “It's wonderful to see her receive national recognition from her peers.”

Read more about Blackburn's career at https://bit.ly/2ShbLUj. 

Tulare, Kings and Alameda nutrition teams win NEAFCS awards

UC ANR was well-represented at the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Virtual Annual Session awards Sept. 14.

Deepa Srivastava, UCCE nutrition family and consumer sciences advisor in Tulare and Kings counties, and her CalFresh Healthy Living, UC & EFNEP Team was the second-place Western Region winner of the SNAP-ED/EFNEP award. Program supervisor Teresa Rios-Spicer and nutrition educators Marina Aguilera, Alice Escalante, Grilda G. Gomez, Maria Gutierrez, Mariana Lopez, Eldon Bueno and Susan L Lafferty share in the SNAP-ED/EFNEP award.

The third-place Western Region winner of the Community Partnership award was the Alameda County Nutrition Action Partnership (CNAP). The partnership coordinates and cross-promote SNAP-Ed and other public, private, and community programs, to benefits low income and vulnerable populations. Mary Blackburn, UCCE nutrition family and consumer sciences advisor for Alameda County, has represented UCCE in CNAP since the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) providers organized in 2006.

UC CalFresh program supervisor Tuline Baykal, Marisa Neelon, UCCE nutrition family and consumer sciences advisor and Leah Sourbeer, nutrition program supervisor, share in the Community Partnership award.

Partners include Alameda County Area Agency on Aging, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Alameda County Nutrition Services, City Slicker Farmers, Project EAT Alameda County Office of Education, Oakland Unified School District Health Wellness and Nutrition, Alameda County Social Services Agency, All In To End Hunger, Fresh Approach, Inc., Healthy Oakland People and Environments, Mandela Marketplace, Oakland Food Policy Council, and Alameda County Women, Infant and Children.

 

Match.Graze matches livestock with land to reduce wildfire fuel

UCCE Sonoma County is excited to announce a new tool to match grazers with landowners: Match.Graze. The free online service that allows users to find their perfect grazing match, is now live.

“It's like Tinder for livestock,” said Stephanie Larson, UCCE livestock and range management advisor and director for Sonoma County, who developed Match.Graze.

Match.Graze is an interactive database of California contract grazers and landowners. Property owners create profiles with information about land they have available for grazing while livestock owners enter specifics about their herds for hire. That information will be associated with a marker pinned on a map of California. Users will be able to search the markers to find a contract grazer or available acreage to suit their vegetation management needs. 

“Every property is different and requires thoughtful consideration of how it should best be grazed,” Larson said. “Put Match.Graze to work and let's prevent catastrophic fire while helping landowners and livestock owners.”

Larson would like your help getting the word out to livestock owners and landowners across the state who may want to participate.

To get started, they should go to https://matchgraze.com and create a pin.

“We recommend doing this on a computer rather than a phone,” said Karen Giovannini, UCCE agriculture ombudsman for Sonoma County.

To make it easy for you to share Match.Graze with your landowners and grazers, Giovannini has assembled a sample email message, videos that explain the program, sample social media posts, photos of grazing animals and more at http://ucanr.edu/MGpromo.

Strategic Initiative Brief: Small grants for 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.

Strategic issues Spotlight webinar series going strong

Building Resilient Food Systems

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 through at least November 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)

July | Webinar #1 - Food Safety and COVID-19 (video) Slides (PDF) Resource Kit (PDF)

July | Webinar #2 - California Food Systems: Partnerships and Resources (video) Slides (PDF) Resource Kit (PDF)

August | Webinar #3 - The Ins and Outs of Niche Marketing Meat (video) Slides (PDF) Resource Kit (PDF)

August | Webinar #4 - Beef Supply Chain and Market Disruptions (video) Slides (PDF) Resource Kit (PDF)

September | Webinar #5 - Thinking Inside the Box: Farm Boxes and Local Supply Chain Resilience During the Pandemic(video) Slides (PDF) Resource Kit (PDF)
September | Webinar #6 - Victory Gardens Then and Now (video) Slides (PDF)

Oct. 13, 2020 | Webinar #7 - Increasing Resiliency of Farmers' Markets and Equitable Access to Fresh, Local Produce  Register here

Oct. 27, 2020 | Webinar #8 - Re-imagining Food Systems: Emerging Strategies for Regional Food Systems Resulting from COVID-19  Register here
Nov. 10, 2020 | Webinar #9 - Farm Labor During the Pandemic: Critical links between Essential Work, Farmworker Health and Food System Resiliency  Register here

Nov. 24, 2020 | Webinar #10  Register here

Visit the Spotlight webinars page to see recordings. 

 

Managing Invasive Pests (in the pipeline) 

Invasive pests can affect almost all aspects of our lives - our gardens, our communities, our food systems, our natural ecosystems. The Endemic and Invasive Pest & Diseases SI (EIPD) is in the process of designing a multi-part webinar series to help us understand pest quarantine regulations and reporting processes, permit requirements for moving pests, and extension's role in working with regulators and clientele. Stay tuned to hear more. 

Contact: Jim Farrar 

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:  Funding opportunities

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

Other resources 

Online courses: Check out the recently developed Checklist: online course minimum standards

Video: Develop your "How-to" video making skills

Virtual Consultations: Get some Virtual consultation tips  

Webinars: 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. 

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 post-COVID tertiary education look like, and 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

 

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 is having us explore our virtual delivery options.

 

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)

 

 

 

World Ag Expo accepts applications for presenting 2021 seminars

The World Ag Expo is accepting proposals for seminars for its 2021 virtual event. The annual World Ag Expo that was scheduled to be held in Tulare Feb. 9 to 11, 2021, has been cancelled so the presentations will be delivered online.

World Ag Expo provides quality, educational content for its attendees. Since you are an expert in your field, you are invited to host a seminar to educate viewers. 

To apply, visit https://wae21-8580c5a.cm.mapyourshow.com/1_0/index.cfm/proposals:main.

Oct. 31, 2020, is the deadline for applications.

Please keep in mind the following:

• World Ag Expo provides seminar space free to speakers, and therefore does not reimburse for fees associated with the session
• Seminars must be educational, not a sales pitch
• The 2021 show will be online; seminars will need to be produced in a live or pre-recorded format (ex: Zoom, MP4, YouTube, etc.)
• Live chat will be available during the scheduled seminar session, the seminar recording and chat log will be available on-demand after the "premiere" of the session has finished
• Seminar materials can be included for download by viewers

Learning & Development: Unconscious bias, COVID-19 & farmworkers, affirmative action planning, end-of-year giving

Upcoming webinars
Past Webinar Recordings
Offering a webinar?
Want support to conduct your webinar?

Call for WebANR Topics and Presenters for 2021
Do you have a topic you would like to present or recommend for WebANR Cafe' Thursday (Third Thursdays @ Noon-12:30 pm)? Topics should cover one of these themes: Extension Delivery, Building Support, and Office & Team/Personal Management. We will consider adding your recommendation to our WebANR planning process and let you know if we will proceed with it. Please fill out this survey by Oct. 14, 2020, to share your suggestion(s).

Review future and past webinar recordings here.

Supercharge Your Projects and Programs at the Impact Collaborative Summit!
Oct. 13 - 14, 2020, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. PDT
Project and Program Teams from eXtension Member institutions.

The Impact Collaborative Summit is a team event. Community partners are encouraged to participate on teams. We highly recommend sending teams that include 3-8 individuals focused on a project or program aligned with state/institutional strategic priorities and/or community issues.

In 2019, teams that incubated with eXtension's Impact Collaborative program received $700K in federal grants and an additional $50K in grants directly through the Impact Collaborative. 40 project and program teams participated in two national Summits, and 92% of participants reported that they would recommend the experience to others. So far in 2020, teams that incubated with the Impact Collaborative have received $1.3 million in grants. Learn more at extension.org/success about teams that have participated in our Impact Collaborative program.

Hispanic Heritage Month (More information) Documentaries: The Chicano Moratorium & the Zoot Suit Riots
Oct. 2, 2020; 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Register here

The Chicano Moratorium (Video)
The Chicano Moratorium" against the Vietnam War was held on Aug. 29, 1970, in East L.A. Loyola-Marymount film student Tom Myrdahl shot this documentary, capturing the events that unfolded as law enforcement and protesters clashed in and around Laguna Park. This documentary was kept hidden from public view for almost 40 years. Myrdahl offers this historical film on the web as a tribute to the brave citizens of Eastern L.A. who came together 50 years ago to voice their dissent against the Vietnam War.

Zoot Suit Riots (Video)
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts on June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, which pitted American service members stationed in Southern California against Mexican American youths who were residents of the city. The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in what was then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos in Chicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New York City. The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for Chicanos during the Chicano Movement.

Covid-19 and Hispanics
Oct. 9, 2020; 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Register here

Join us and listen to two journalists from Univision and a farm worker's human rights activist. They will share their experiences with the pandemic, the impact of COVID-19 in the Hispanic community, and why they think Latinos have been the ethnic groups hit hard in the southern United States.

The COVID-19 Farmworker Study – Findings from California
Monday, Oct. 5, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. Registration is required in order to join.
Register Here
Event Page
Facebook Event Page

Please join us for our upcoming seminar with special guests, The COVID-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) team, and their presentation sponsored by the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS)

The COVID-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) brings together a collective of community-based organizations, researchers, and advocates to conduct surveys of farmworkers in California, Oregon, and Washington in an effort to learn more about farmworkers' abilities to protect themselves and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COFS team will discuss preliminary data gathered from this study and provide unique insights into the experience of these essential workers.  We look forward to seeing you there! Please feel free to share with interested parties! Contact Kara Schilli for more information @ kmschilli@ucdavis.edu

Unconscious Conscious: Understanding and Mitigating Bias (UC Davis)
Oct. 6, 2020; 1 p.m.–4 p.m.; Jan. 27, 2021, 9 a.m. –12 p.m.; April 29, 2021; 1 p.m.–4 p.m.
Register here

Participants will be introduced to theory and language in understanding implicit and explicit bias. Using personal reflection, experiential exercises and case studies, participants will gain greater awareness when they engage in bias and gain essential knowledge and skills (tools) in how they recognize and mitigate biases in both personal and professional domains.

Conducting a Needs Assessment
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020; 10 a.m. - Noon

Register for virtual interactive trainings highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of needs assessments basics (why, what, how, when)
• Understanding of how to write good needs assessment questions
• Understanding of how to use the findings to inform how you focus and develop your program
• A draft approach for needs assessment

Food Resiliency Spotlight Series Webinar #7:Increasing Resiliency of Farmers' Market & Equitable Access to Fresh, Local Produce
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020; 10 a.m.-11 a.m.
           Register to attend here

This webinar will explore how local partnerships can increase the resiliency of farmers' markets while improving access to local, fresh produce for low-income patrons. These multidisciplinary efforts support: 1) increasing access to healthy food choices; 2) job creation and local economic development, and 3) Increasing sustainability of farmers' markets through increasing income for small farmers selling at farmers markets. Participants will learn about practices and strategies that have led to successful practices in local and statewide efforts. Join Katherine Soule as she moderates a panel with:

• Miguel Diaz, Community Education Specialist 2, Lead Educator for Adult and Parent Education with CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. Lead focus groups with Spanish speakers in SLO County
• Emily Dimond, Community Education Specialist 2, Lead Educator for Outreach and Access to Farmers Markets with Low-Income Communities
• Shelby Wild, Director of Route 1 Farmers Market
• Shannon Klisch, CalFresh Nutrition Program Supervisor, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC, UCCE San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara counties

Defining Clientele & Affirmative Action Planning
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020; 10:00 a.m. - Noon

Register for virtual interactive trainings highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This eiight-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of how to define clientele groups (e.g., see PVA/PD, needs assessment) and strategies for collecting baseline data (e.g., observation, building relationships, Ag Census website, statewide program use of Census data)
• Understanding of affirmative action goal examples
• Hands-on experience adding or editing existing clientele group baselines in Project Board and using descriptive stats to track annual progress

Building Program Resources Despite Social Distancing (WebANR)
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020; Noon-12:30 p.m.

Please join Wendy Powers and Mark Bell for this webinar.

Objective: While Covid 19 has changed the way we work, it has not reduced needs. Needs for what and by whom? Increased need for resources by ANR personnel, increased need for our programs by Californians, or both? If anything, needs have increased. At the same time our traditional funding sources are more stretched than ever before. Join us as we explore some of the emerging opportunities and highlight the efforts of colleagues. Come with your questions and suggestions as together we seek to raise the support needed to help the people of California. This last clause suggests it is the first ‘need'. Zoom access:https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09  - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656  - Webinar ID: 751 701 428

Practical Methods to Measuring Outcomes
Tuesday, October 20, 2020; 10:00 a.m. - Noon

Register for virtual interactive trainings highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of how to define program theory and incorporate ANR's condition changes and public values
• Experience defining outcomes and measurable indicators
• Understanding of options for evaluation data collection methods to measure program participant outcomes
• A draft evaluation plan

Giving Tuesday and End-of-Year Giving
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020
10 a.m.-10:45 a.m.

Did you know 30% of all charitable giving happens in the last month of the year…10% in the last 3 days! Join Emily Delk, Mary Ciricillo and Tina Wikner to explore ways to maximize end-of-year giving using online tools as well as direct mail appeals and introduction of 2020 Giving Tuesday online giving campaign.

Zoom access:https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428?pwd=Q1ZrbUtoQVJwMXJVRkQydUlwNytJQT09 - 1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656 - Webinar ID: 751 701 428

Food Resiliency Spotlight Series Webinar #8: Re-imagining food systems: emerging strategies for regional food systems resulting from COVID-19
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020; 10 a.m.-11 a.m.
Register to attend here

UC SAREP is leading this webinar that will highlight strategic pivots made in our food system and supply chain in 2020.

Best Practices for Developing Surveys & Basics of Sampling Methods
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020; 10 a.m. - Noon

Register for virtual interactive trainings highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of the best practices for designing paper and online surveys
• Hands-on experience developing good survey questions
• Understanding of different survey sampling methods and when to use them

Part 2: From Land-grab to Land Acknowledgment and Beyond (UC Berkeley)
Friday, Oct. 23, 2020; 9 a.m. - 12:30 pm

Due to high registration this event will be simultaneously live streamed. There is a 300 participant maximum, if you are unable to get into the event via the Zoom link, you may watch the live stream here (link is external).

• Current initiatives between UC system and California Indigenous communities
• Inspirations for accountability from land-grant university sibling
• Breakout sessions: Calls to action
• Synthesis and looking forward

For more information contact Rosalie Z. Fanshel at rzfanshel@berkeley.edu (link sends e-mail)

Becoming Arizona (Click here for podcast)
The Earth's climate is changing. Temperatures around the world are rising. Traditional weather patterns are shifting, and extreme weather events are happening more often. In Season 2 of Unfold, hosts Amy Quinton and Kat Kerlin will talk to researchers who believe this unprecedented crisis calls for unprecedented solutions, including projects that pull CO2 out of the air. From carbon farming to electric cars, we'll examine the best ways to transition to a low-carbon future. We'll travel from California to Kenya to examine how climate change is punishing the world's poor and how insurance might protect them when drought hits. We'll also examine what the coronavirus crisis is teaching us about the climate crisis.

Methods to Analyze Surveys: Part 1 Continuous Quantitative Data
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020; 10 a.m. - Noon

Register for virtual interactive trainings highlighting CE examples to build program planning and evaluation capacity. This 8-part series is being offered a la carte. Select whatever interests you! Participants will gain…

• Understanding of levels of quantitative data (e.g., nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio)
• Understanding of the different measures of central tendency and variability
• Hands-on experience analyzing and reporting frequency distribution in pre/post tests
• Hands-on experience running a paired samples t-test in Excel, interpreting the results,
  and reporting the findings

Your Library Resource Needs - Shields Library (UC Davis)
Need books, ebooks, journals, movies, music, government docs, or other media resources/literature for your research? Check out these resources at Shields Library:

• UC Davis Shields Library Drop-in Classes, Workshops, and Tours
• Search the HathiTrust Digital Library - HathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. The HathiTrust Digital Library is responding to the current emergency by providing members of our campus community with temporary access to books in their digital library that are also in the UC Libraries' physical collections, including those still under copyright. This online access includes nearly half the books in our collections, plus many books held at other UC campus libraries. For access, click LOG IN on the HathiTrust website and select “University of California, Davis.” Need help getting started? Watch this 4-minute how-to video.
• Search this list of free expanded access publishers are providing during the pandemic.

How to Talk to My Struggling Teen (Q&A Crucial Conversations - VitalSmarts)

I have an 11-year-old son who is struggling and I don't know what to do. We recently relocated overseas, far from home and family and friends. Then the COVID-19 restrictions hit. My boy's behavior changed significantly. He is always angry and frustrated. I've tried to keep him busy in sports and music, but he loses motivation. He used to be a good guitar player, now he rarely plays. When I take him to walk the dog, within a couple of minutes he heads back home on his own. And he doesn't want to talk. Click here to read more

Excel 2016 Essential Training (LinkedIn Learning)
Start mastering Excel, the world's most popular and powerful spreadsheet program, with Excel expert Dennis Taylor. Learn how to best enter and organize data, perform calculations with simple functions, work with multiple worksheets, format the appearance of your data and cells, and build charts and PivotTables. Other lessons cover the powerful IF, VLOOKUP, and COUNTIF family of functions; the Goal Seek, Solver, and other data analysis tools; and automating tasks with macros.

Credit: icons by icons8.com.

Everyone can learn something new.  

ANR Learning & Development
Find webinar announcements and recordings here
learninganddevelopment@ucanr.edu

Read more