Posts Tagged: grants

Contracts & Grants Director Nolan to retire

Dear Colleagues:

It is with mixed emotions that I inform you of the upcoming retirement of Kathleen (Kathy) Nolan, director of ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OGC), effective June 27, 2024.  There's no doubt that Kathy's retirement is well deserved, after 24 years of service to the University of California, the last 11 years serving UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

I have had the privilege of working with Kathy throughout her years with ANR, and found her to be a pillar of strength, competence, dedication, and of service for the division.  Kathy is recognized for her commitment to providing exceptional leadership to her OGC team. Under Kathy's leadership, the OCG team has reached a high-level of professionalism and expertise in Research Administration in ANR and has played a critical role in promoting and enabling the growth of ANR's research enterprise.

When Kathy joined ANR, the volume of contract and grants was less than $30M annually. That portfolio has today grown to over $100M. Kathy led the team that helped ANR achieve this level, while providing our academics with outstanding and exemplary customer service, as consistently evidenced in our customer service surveys.  

Please join me in congratulating Kathy on her upcoming retirement. She will be greatly missed as a friend and a colleague. I will update you with our progress of filling this important vacancy in the near future. Kimberly Lamar, associate director, has agreed to serve as interim director until the position is filled. 

Best regards,

Tu M. Tran
Associate Vice President, Business Operations

Renewable resources grants available for projects, interns

The UC ANR Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) Statewide Program is soliciting proposals for projects that will develop and/or support new or existing UC Cooperative Extension projects and/or activities that address the educational and extension needs in the management of California's valuable renewable resources on forest and rangeland. The primary purpose of this program is to promote proper management of these resources, especially on private lands, and to provide the information, education and training needed by Extension personnel, landowners, land managers and natural resource professionals. Maximum award is $15,000 per project.

RREA is also accepting proposals that will use the services and talents of student interns. Internships are open to undergraduate or graduate students from any institution of higher education in California, particularly the University of California and the California State Universities. Principal Investigators will not be granted additional RREA funds to pay for supplemental costs associated with the project. Student interns are expected to work on projects or activities that address educational and extension needs in the management of California's renewable resources. Intern proposals must demonstrate the connection to UC Cooperative Extension (county or campus office). Interns will be funded up to $6,000.

Submission deadline is July 1, 2022. For details and to apply, log into the ANR portal and visit https://ucanr.edu/urs/propstart.cfm?authorgrantnumber=280.

Four projects receive Hrdy funding

Thanks to the generosity of the Hrdy family, we are pleased to announce that four proposals have been selected for funding through The Daniel & Sarah Hrdy Fund for UC Cooperative Extension Research.

The Hrdy fund, which allows UC ANR to spend up to $100,000 per year, will provide seed funding for the following early-stage research projects:

• Effect of spring no-tillage on the dynamics of rice pests (Whitney Brim-DeForest, Luis Espino, Bruce Linquist)
• Effectiveness and efficiency of targeted livestock grazing to reduce fuel loads in California's wildland urban interface (Tracy Schohr, Dan Macon, Ricky Satomi, Roselle Busch)
• Management strategies for California's oak woodland: a meta-analysis and scaling of ecological conditions (Safeeq Khan, David Lewis, Yana Valachovic, Leslie Roche, Rebecca Ozeran, Dan Macon, Devii Rao, Mike Jones)
• Supporting sustainable meat supply chains and direct-market ranching operations (Grace Woodmansee, Morgan Doran, Vince Trotter, Patrick Huber, UC Davis project scientist with the Food Systems Lab, and Michael Dimock, director of Roots of Change)

To identify Hrdy-funded projects, proposals were submitted by individuals or teams. Proposal reviewers ranked the 19 submissions, giving priority to outstanding proposals submitted by early to mid-career level (assistant to associate level) UC ANR academics. The projects will receive three to five years of funding, with up to $25,000 per year. Funds will next be available for proposal submission in 2024.

Wendy Powers
Associate Vice President

Almond spray research funds offered by Almond Board and UC ANR

In partnership with the Almond Board of California, UC ANR requests proposals to fund research aimed at improving spray application practices in almonds. Up to $70,000 is available to fund one or more proposals.

Areas of focus considered in the request for proposals include

• Improving spray coverage and efficacy. One priority is hullsplit sprays for navel orangeworm - getting active ingredient to the opening sutures of almond fruit that is splitting. Sufficient deposition above 12 feet in the tree canopy is another priority.
• Minimizing off-target drift beyond tree canopies and the orchard perimeter.
• Developing spray drift data to refine the spray drift assumptions used in developing pesticide regulations for airblast sprayers in perennial cropping systems.

Proposals may be part of a comprehensive program that leverages funding from other sources.

To submit a proposal, please complete the application, using the provided format, and submit it though your ANR Portal no later than September 6, 2019. The application and the RFP are available for download here; and if you do not have a ucanr.edu email address for the submission site, please contact Melanie Caruso for access to the system.

Proposals will be selected for funding no later than Sept. 30, 2019. All funds must be expended by June 30, 2020. Funds will be available upon notification of a successful proposal. No extensions will be granted.

For details, see the RFP attached and at https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Divisionwide_Programs/2017_Funding_Opportunities_Grants/Almond_Board_California_UC_ANR_Spray_Technology_Grants/

Datasets help define stakeholder needs and significance of research, education and extension

Community-based demographic, environmental, economic, social and health data can help us better understand the 40 million people we serve. Whether you are drafting technical reports or applying for grant funding, you may find datasets useful to define stakeholder need and significance of research, education and extension impacts when communicating with potential partners, sponsors and advocates.

Rural County Representatives of California recently released Rural County Representatives of California, Economic and Demographic Profiles. These data sources provide demographic, environmental, economic, social and industry data by county.

County-level profiles can also inform decisions on how best to develop programs and initiatives that benefit farmers and ranchers, strengthen regional food systems and protect natural resources.

The following are just a few more examples of county-level profile datasets that may support your efforts as UC ANR academics and programmatic staff: 

• California Department of Education - DataQuest
  Data on school performance, test results, school staffing, graduation and dropout rates.

• California Department of Finance County Profiles
  Economic, social, and demographic data at the state and county level.

• California Department of Public Health - County Health Status Profiles
  Data for selected health indicators and California's leading causes of death.

• California Department of Public Health – Local Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Community Profiles
  County profiles designed to provide data on the health and environment (community, home and school) of California mothers, babies, children and teens.

• California Department of Public Health – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program County Profiles
  Data on CalFresh eligibility demographics, food insecurity rates, and nutrition.

• California Employment Development, Labor Market Information Demographic Profile - California and Counties
  Profile data including age, race/ethnicity, sex, household type and relationship, housing occupancy, and social and economic data, such as income, poverty and labor force.

• California Environmental Public Health Tracking
  A variety of health and environmental data.

• California Food Policy Advocates Nutrition & Food Insecurity Profile
  Data on County-level poverty rates and food insecurity.

• California Healthy Communities Data and Indicators Project
  Demographic and community health data to support planning healthy communities and evaluating the impact of plans, projects, policy, and environmental changes on community health.

• Data.gov
  Managed by U.S. General Services Administration, Technology Transformation Service, datasets provide access to agriculture, climate, consumer, ecosystem, education, energy, finance, health and local government data.

• Data USA, by Deloitte, Datawheel MIT Media Lab
  Data on economy, education, housing, health and safety, diversity for a specific city, metro area or county location.

• National Agricultural Statistics Service
  Commodity and industry data by county and region. 

• University of Washington, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
  County-level data for life expectancy, mortality rates, obesity prevalence and recommended physical activity levels. 

Vanity Campbell
Proposal Development Coordinator
Contracts & Grants

 

View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.

This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

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