UC ANR expanding role and reach of SAREP

I am pleased to announce that UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) will be welcoming the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) back to being administered by UC ANR effective July 1, 2020. This change in management will enable closer collaboration between SAREP and the other statewide programs and institutes administered by UC ANR while also expanding our current affiliation with the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) to other campuses and partners.

Since 1986, SAREP has supported scientific research and education to advance agricultural and food systems that are economically viable, sustain beneficial ecosystem services, and enhance the quality of life in local communities. Moving forward, our farms and food systems face an ever-larger set of challenges: shifting consumer demands,invasive pests, climate change, additional regulations, lack of access to labor, and more. The need for new technologies, better systems and effective problem-solving is greater than ever.

UC ANR envisions positioning SAREP to serve as a much broader umbrella of sustainability, addressing all aspects of the triple-bottom-line: People, Planet and Prosperity. To accomplish this, SAREP will provide leadership and/or support to several promising initiatives and will facilitate our ability to capture synergies among them. Those include agritourism, ecosystem services, Climate Smart Agriculture, regional food systems, community and economic development and more.

Our sincere thanks go to UC Davis CAES and Dr. Tom Tomich, who has served as Director for SAREP for the past several years, for their leadership and support of the program since 2007. 

As part of the transition, the SAREP team will relocate to the UC ANR building at 2801 Second Street in Davis, California. The move is planned to be completed by July 1, although timing may be impacted by ongoing shelter-in-place orders.

I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Gail Feenstra, who has been serving as acting director since October 2019, has been appointed director of SAREP effective July 1, 2020. Please join me in welcoming SAREP into our UC ANR building and offering Gail and her team best wishes for the future success of the program.

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

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