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Posts Tagged: Technology
Downing to lead Publishing and Production
Senuta joined UC ANR in 1994 after serving as an external member of the ad hoc review committee tasked to evaluate the future of publishing in the Division. She helped shape the Communication Services unit, which, in its early days, concentrated on publishing and gradually expanded to address the Division's growing information technology and strategic communications needs. With academics from the Communications Advisory Board, Senuta helped formulate all aspects of the ANR peer-review process, which ensures that ANR's education materials are accurate, useful and timely. With her staff, Senuta created a professional unit that produced, published, and marketed ANR research in awarding-winning books, online publications, California Agriculture journal, and provided attractive visual services of graphic design, photography and videography.
Senuta credits her creative staff, the committed scientists of ANR and her two supervisors – former CSIT executive director Bob Sams and AVP Tu Tran – for challenging and inspiring her. “When my son was little, he asked what I did at my job,” she said. “I told him that I help our scientists explain to Californians how to grow more food, use fewer chemicals, eat healthier and keep the land protected. That simplistic explanation has been my motivation for 24 years.”
In his new role, Downing will provide leadership of UC ANR publishing and advance Division strategic, business and operational objectives. Advised by the Communications Advisory Board, he will direct all phases of academic peer review, editorial planning and production for California Agriculture journal, print and electronic ANR publications, visual communications and, as appropriate, strategic communications materials. He will also manage the unit's professional staff, budget and physical resources.
Downing has served ANR for 3½ years as California Agriculture executive editor, steering the journal to its recent first-place award in the Periodicals category by the Association for Communications Excellence, the international professional association for agricultural communicators, educators and information technologists. Before joining UC ANR, Downing was the Sacramento Bee's agriculture, energy and climate reporter, and he produced publications on natural resources and agriculture for agency, NGO and corporate clients. He received a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from Cornell University and master's degrees in energy and resources and in environmental engineering, both from UC Berkeley.
ANR and State Fair to host 4th Apps for Ag Hackathon July 15-17
The 4th California Apps for Ag will be held July 15-17. The competitive hackathon to solve real problems in agriculture and food is being hosted by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the California State Fair.
Software developers, designers, entrepreneurs, farmers, farm consultants and others in the agricultural industry are encouraged to participate in the hackathon, which will be held at the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources building at 2801 Second Street in Davis, from 8 a.m. Friday, July 15 to 11 a.m. Sunday, July 17.
“We would really like to see participants come from all corners of the state,” said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR's chief information officer, “Let's see what happens when we mix developers from Silicon Valley and Southern California with agricultural experts from the Central Valley, coast and desert regions.”
People who work in agriculture should bring ideas for problems that technology may help solve.
“Apps for Ag Hackathons have already resulted in multiple startups and we want to see this momentum continue to grow,” said Robert Tse, USDA California Rural Development chief strategy officer for agriculture technology and innovation. “There is no better place than the State Fair in the Capitol to showcase the ingenuity of Caifornia's ag tech community.”
One startup that has resulted from a previous ag hackathon is Ag for Hire, which connects farm workers who need jobs with farmers who need workers.
“Hackathons are a great way to spur innovation in industry verticals where technology has not been fully adopted,” said Rob Trice, one of the judges and the founder of the Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures.
“All roads already point to the State Fair's competitions for other agricultural commodities,” said Jay Carlson, ag programs manager at the State Fair, “This makes the fair a showcase for agricultural innovations as well.”
For more information and to register, visit http://www.apps-for-ag.com. If you have questions or suggestions, contact Gabe Youtsey at gdyoutsey@ucanr.edu.
ANR to host ag hackathon July 15-17
ANR will host the Statewide Apps for Ag Hackathon at the UC ANR building in Davis July 15–17. The finals will be held at the California Exposition and State Fair in Sacramento on July 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Gabriel Youtsey, chief information officer, invites everyone to participate in the unique design-and-development competitive hackathon, which he hopes will lead to solutions to on-farm problems in agriculture and food.
“We would really like to see participants come from all corners of the state, including mixed teams of software developers, students, designers, entrepreneurs, and agricultural experts coming together to solve real problems for our farmers and communities with technology,” said Youtsey.
“We are open to a variety of ways for you to participate, including as panelists at the event, identifying a key challenge in some area of agriculture, a member of a team, an observer or perhaps even a judge,” said Youtsey. “We would very much appreciate if you can forward this to colleagues or students that might be interested in attending or sponsoring the event.”
More information can be found at http://www.apps-for-ag.com. The form for sponsors is at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/240840.pdf. A flyer for the event can be downloaded at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/240869.pdf.
If you have questions or would like to participate, contact Youtsey at (530) 750-1314 or gdyoutsey@ucanr.edu.
UC seeks applications for 2016 information technology awards
UC's Sautter Award program, honoring innovation in information technology, is now accepting 2016 nominations through May 6, 2016. The award recognizes innovative technology projects that advance UC's teaching, research, health care and public service missions.
The program is open to faculty and staff from all UC campuses and medical centers, the Office of the President, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC ANR. Teams or individuals who have implemented an innovative IT project at UC in the last three years are encouraged to submit an application for an award.
The program presents up to three Golden Awards, two Silver Awards and five honorable mentions.
The application deadline is 5 p.m. May 6. Award recipients will be announced July 12 at the UC Computing Services Conference at UC Santa Cruz.
For more details about the award and how to apply, visit the Sautter Award program website.
Named for UC Riverside's former associate vice chancellor for computing and communications, the award program is sponsored by the UC IT Leadership Council.
CSIT renews recharges for selected services
The work of Communication Services and Information Technology's Publishing group supports the extension mission of UC ANR. Peer-reviewed publications and California Agriculture journal provide a conduit for applied research and programmatic expertise to be disseminated to clientele and broader audiences. They also provide an opportunity for ANR authors to receive professional credit for their peer-reviewed, published work. The Division supports these core efforts for its academic programs, and no publishing-related work is billed to authors, clients or programs.
The CSIT publishing and production group also provides graphic design, editing, video recording and photography to ANR. These services have been used for promotional materials, conferences, policy efforts and other communications needs. As part of the strengthening of the unit's sustainability, to better ensure that programmatic communication needs are met and to be more transparent and consistent in its operations, CSIT has renewed its recharge process for these additional production services.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2015, all work developing and producing materials that promote the Division and its programs will be billed on an hourly basis to the account determined by the client. This includes
- External promotional materials for Division (such as billboards, signage)
- Promotional materials for programs (such as logo development, brochures)
- Event and conference materials
- Internal training materials
- Strategic Initiative communications materials (such as fact sheets, policy briefs)
- Strategic communications and advocacy materials (such as targeted materials for stakeholders)
- Production consultation, print cost estimates and freelance production management for the above
In addition, video production for educational projects and MediaSite lecture capture time is also billable to clients' programs.
An initial consultation about the project's scope and estimated cost is uncharged. ANR personnel are urged to go to http://anrcs.ucanr.edu/Production_Request to get this discussion underway. —Ann Senuta
CSIT's 2015-16 hourly recharge rates
(established by the Division's Rate and Recharge Committee)
- Graphic design and illustration services $87.30
- Video production, lecture capture and photography $81.47
- Editing, cost estimating and project management $75.60
- Web programming $90.90 (since January 1, 2015)
