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4-H & Families
Congressman Carbajal tours UCCE projects in SLO and Santa Barbara
The UCCE team in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties met with Congressman Salud Carbajal and his team twice in the past few weeks. On Aug. 20, Jeremy Tittle, the congressman's chief of staff, and Erin Sandler, the congressman's scheduler, visited. The congressional staff met with UCCE advisors, office manager, and director to learn more about UCCE research and programming.
UCCE advisor Ben Faber led a tour of research and education collaborations at Cal Poly, sharing research occurring on pomegranates, blueberries and other crops. In the afternoon, UCCE advisor Mark Battany led a tour at Wolff Vineyard, discussing research on how climate conditions relate to frost and water management.
The following week, Katherine Soule, UCCE director, met with Congressman Carbajal and project collaborators to discuss the outcomes and success of a USDA Community Food Project grant. On Sept. 5, the congressman visited with the project partners at the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County.
Community partners described their contributions to the project, including UCCE's efforts to reduce food waste, increase awareness of local food systems, and maximize limited food resources through the UC Master Food Preserver Program. For this project, UC Master Food Preservers teach low-cost, safe, home food preservation methods to clientele receiving food at food bank distribution sites. During this meeting, the partners also discussed the San Luis Obispo County CalFresh Alliance's objective to increase CalFresh participation in the county.
San Luis Obispo County currently has one of the lowest CalFresh participation rates in the state so the partners have been working together to identify and address barriers to participation. Carbajal shared his concerns about the low rates of participation and his commitment to working to address food insecurity in the region.
These successful visits led Carbajal's team to schedule a meeting with 4-H youth, families and volunteers in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties in the next few months.
Nansen calls for articles on remote sensing
Nansen, associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, is serving as the guest editor of the issue "Remote Sensing to Detect and Diagnose Organismal Responses." The journal (impact factor 4.118) is a leading outlet for research articles and reviews on all aspects related to remote sensing.
"I'm inviting authors to submit studies that go beyond the detection of an optical reflectance response and tie a thorough analysis of remote sensing data to other types of data (physiological, molecular, genetic, biochemical)," Nansen said. "In other words, the special issue will embrace a phenomics approach, in which the overall goal is to, at least partially, explain why and how organisms exhibit an optical reflectance response to stressors and/or treatments."
As the guest editor, Nansen said he is seeking articles describing "exciting applications of remote sensing technologies to detect and diagnose differences and/or stress across all kingdoms."
Contributions are due by March 2020. For more information, visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/rs4organismal_response.
Nansen may be reached at chrnansen@ucdavis.edu.
In memoriam: John Labavitch
After earning a Ph.D. from Stanford University, Labavitch began his faculty position in the Department of Pomology (now part of the Department of Plant Sciences) at UC Davis in 1976, working on cell walls and postharvest biology. He retired in 2014 as a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. His main subject areas were cell wall metabolism in relationship to aspects of fruit development and ripening, plant-pathogen interactions and biofuel production.
His lab group introduced the use of specific polysaccharide structural information to describe and understand changes in plant cell walls that occur as fruits ripen and/or are infected by pathogens. These studies led to the description of plant proteins that inhibit pathogen and insect cell wall-digesting enzymes and, thus, contribute to plant resistance to these crop "enemies."
In 2015, Labavitch received the Academic Senate's “Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching.” Over the course of his career, he developed and taught, with colleagues, several undergraduate and graduate courses, and the core courses of the Plant Biology, and the Horticulture and Agronomy graduate groups.
John Labavitch is survived by his wife, Frances Tennant, who earned a Ph.D. in genetics at UC Davis. Information is pending about a memorial service. In his retirement, Labavitch continued to work, traveled with his wife, and regularly challenged his dog to see who could walk farther. He will be missed by his many friends, colleagues and former students.
Read more about Labavitch at https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/news/john-labavitch-plant-sciences-professor-emeritus-uc-davis-passes-away.
Oct. 8 is 4-H Spirit Day
During National 4-H Week 2019, Oct. 8 is 4-H Spirit Day. Nationwide, everyone is encouraged to wear their 4-H shirt, a clover or green to show support for 4-H youth.
If you are a California Tractor Supply customer, you can also participate in the 2019 Fall Paper Clover campaign by purchasing paper clovers for $1 or more at checkout Oct. 9–20.
"We are excited to partner with Tractor Supply on this annual fundraising campaign," said Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty
Statewide 4-H Youth Development Program director. "The paper clover campaign raises approximately $140,000 annually to support California 4-H leadership and camp activities. The funds raised will benefit California 4-H members who wish to attend 4-H camps and leadership conferences across the country."
Since it began in 2010, the partnership between Tractor Supply and 4-H has generated more than $11 million in essential funding nationwide.
UCCE advisor Patti Wooten Swanson, who championed 'San Diego Saves,' retires
Patti Wooten Swanson, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor in San Diego County, retired July 1, 2019. Wooten Swanson, who joined UC ANR in 2001, focused on family financial management to help Californians establish and maintain economic security and on nutrition education for healthy, active living.
Melinda Opperman has worked with Wooten Swanson on several campaigns promoting financial wellness that received proclamations from the San Diego City Council, mayor and board of supervisors.
“She was instrumental in improving people's financial lives and promoting the common purpose of financial wellness. Her work was critical,” said Opperman, executive vice president of Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management in National City.
In 2005, Wooten Swanson launched the annual San Diego Saves, part of the America Saves campaign, to encourage San Diegans to improve their financial security.
“The basic message is to encourage people to build wealth through systematic savings over an extended time, with an emphasis on saving and paying down debt,” Wooten Swanson said at the time. She persuaded consumer advocates, credit unions, banks and other local businesses to offer savers' clubs and money-management workshops. As part of San Diego Saves, several financial institutions offered savings accounts that could be opened with as little as $5 and no fees for 12 months.
In her research, the UCCE nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor found that people were more successful at building their savings if they wrote down a goal, such as buying a car. She also encouraged saving through payroll or checking account deductions, saying, “You won't miss what you can't see.”
In her blog Small Steps To Health And Wealth, Wooten Swanson provided practical tips for consumers to eat healthfully, avoid foodborne illness and save money.
She also authored UC ANR's Financial Caregiving Series for adult children of aging parents. Recently Wooten Swanson co-chaired the Money Talks workgroup that developed “Living on Your Own” guidebooks, currently in production. The guidebooks outline living expenses low-income youth and young adults should consider before moving to their own apartments. As UC Cooperative Extension advisor emeritus, she plans to promote the Living on My Own program at professional society meetings.
An active community member, Wooten Swanson served on the San Diego County Food System Initiative leadership team and as a research partner with a volunteer gleaning program that provides fresh produce to food insecure families. She also trained social workers to give their clients just-in-time money management information.
Her contributions to the field of family and consumer sciences were recognized with the 2018 Leader Award from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences' California affiliate. The National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences honored Wooten Swanson with its 2018 Excellence in MultiState Collaboration Award (Eastern Region) for her contributions to a NIFA Extension Project, and its 2017 Continued Excellence Award for her leadership and promotion of the professional development of others.
Within UC ANR, she served on the Communications Advisory Board, the 2018 ANR Statewide Conference Steering Committee and other committees.
Wooten Swanson earned her Ph.D. in consumer science at Texas Woman's University, an M.Ed. in vocational education at North Texas State University and B.S. in home economics at Texas Christian University.
After a busy 44-year career in education, Wooten Swanson is enjoying spending more time with her husband, Jerry, at their lake view home in San Diego and traveling. Once Quicken, her English springer spaniel, gets certified as a pet therapy dog, she plans to volunteer to cheer patients at Scripps Mercy Hospital. She also continues to represent UC ANR as a member of the Consumer Federation of America.
