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4-H & Families
UC ANR staff: Snack healthy on Aug. 29 and win a prize for your office
The UC ANR Staff Assembly's new Wellness Committee is sponsoring its first activity on Healthy Snack Day, Aug. 29. Healthy Snack Day is a statewide day of action led by the Champions for Change Program of the California Department of Public Health.
Many UC Cooperative Extension food educators are planning activities with their clientele Aug. 29 to promote the benefits of eating nutritious foods at snack time, and the Wellness Committee is bringing the celebration to UC ANR staff by sponsoring a healthy competition.
Find out who your staff assembly ambassador is by visiting the UC ANR Staff Assembly website.
Members of the UC ANR Staff Assembly Wellness Committee are:
- Jeannette Warnert, chair
- Austin Cantrell
- Michelle Hammer Coffer
- Kaela Plank
- Alyssa Rodriguez
- Anne Schellman
- Shawnice Sellers
- Wylie Skillman
- Leah Sourbeer
- Christopher Gomez Wong
UC and Israel sign agricultural research agreement
Pledging to work together to solve water scarcity issues, Israel's Agricultural Research Organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis on July 16. The signing ceremony kicked off the 2018 Future of Water for Irrigation in California and Israel Workshop at the UC ANR building in Davis.
“Israel and California agriculture face similar challenges, including drought and climate change,” said Doug Parker, director of UC ANR's California Institute for Water Resources. “In the memorandum of understanding, Israel's Agricultural Research Organization, UC Davis and UC ANRpledge to work together more on research involving water, irrigation, technology and related topics that are important to both water-deficit countries.”
The agreement will enhance collaboration on research and extension for natural resources management in agriculture, with an emphasis on soil, irrigation and water resources, horticulture, food security and food safety.
“It's a huge pleasure for us to sign an MOU with the world leaders in agricultural research like UC Davis and UC ANR,” said Eli Feinerman, director of Agricultural Research Organization of Israel. “When good people, smart people collaborate the sky is the limit.”
Feinerman, Mark Bell, UC ANR vice provost, and Ermias Kebreab, UC Davis professor and associate vice provost of academic programs and global affairs, represented their respective institutions for the signing. Karen Ross, California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary, and Shlomi Kofman, Israel's consul general to the Pacific Northwest, joined in celebrating the partnership.
“The important thing is to keep working together and develop additional frameworks that can bring the people of California and Israel together as researchers,” Kofman said. “But also to work together to make the world a better place.”
Ross said, “It's so important for us to find ways and create forums to work together because water is the issue in this century and will continue to be.”
She noted that earlier this year the World Bank and United Nations reported that 40 percent of the world population is living with water scarcity. “Over 700,000 people are at risk of relocation due to water scarcity,” Ross said. “We're already seeing the refugee issues that are starting to happen because of drought, food insecurity and the lack of water.”
Ross touted the progress stemming from CDFA's Healthy Soils Program to promote healthy soils on California's farmlands and ranchlands and SWEEP, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, which has provided California farmers $62.7 million in grants for irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases and save water on agricultural operations.
“We need the answers of best practices that come from academia, through demonstration projects so that our farmers know what will really work,” Ross said.
As Parker opened the water workshop, sponsored by the U.S./Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Program, Israel Agricultural Research Organization and UC ANR, he told the scientists, “The goal of this workshop is really to be creating new partnerships, meeting new people, networking and finding ways to work together in California with Israel, in Israel, with other parts of the world as well.”
Drawing on current events, Bell told the attendees, “If you look at the World Cup, it's about effort, it's about teamwork, it's about diversity of skills, and I think that's what this event does. It brings together those things.”
The VINE launches website, co-sponsors tech events
Farmers, food entrepreneurs, researchers and technology professionals can now find the resources they need to build, launch and grow agricultural innovations at the VINE's new website at https://thevine.io.
UC ANR created the Verde Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship, or the VINE, to accelerate the development and adoption of technologies that advance food, agriculture and natural resources in California.
The new website features links to accelerators, educational resources and places to test products and services. It also lists upcoming events for innovators to meet and network with people who can help advance their businesses.
The VINE recently co-sponsored FOOD IT, attended by more than 300 people at UC San Francisco. Panelists discussed the “digital full stack solution” – the physical layer, data, application and user interface/user experience. In 15 small groups, participants took a deeper dive into topics, ranging from financing alternatives for food/ag tech to bio-informatics and gene editing tech. Read more in the VINE blog at http://bit.ly/2v0zVWW.
On July 9, the VINE invited technology companies and farmers to the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier to learn how the installation of a wifi tower will enable researchers to collect real-time data with access to high-speed wireless internet in the fields.
“The VINE brings together academia across UC, the Cal-State University system, and community colleges with innovators in technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, indoor agriculture and others,” said Gabe Youtsey, UC ANR chief innovation officer. “We want to create rural testbeds to develop technology. UC ANR's research and extension centers are well set up to do that.”
The project grew from the partnership with the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) that brought ultra-fast (100Gbps) broadband capability to Kearney offices and laboratories two years ago. UC ANR collaborated with Orange Silicon Valley and BlueTown to extend the connectivity via wireless transmission to every corner of the research fields. Read more about the broadband expansion at http://ucanr.edu/?blogpost=27775&blogasset=99473.
Youtsey and the VINE partner John Selep, president of AgTech Innovation Alliance, are seeking more partners with expertise across the business spectrum.
For more information about the VINE, visit its website https://thevine.io.
In memoriam: John Casida
John Casida, 88, a world-renowned entomologist and toxicologist at UC Berkeley who died June 30 of a heart attack in his home, was a global authority on how pesticides work and their effect on humans.
A distinguished professor emeritus of environmental science, policy and management and of nutritional sciences and toxicology, Casida was the founding director of the campus's Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory.
When awarded the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 1993, the Wolf Foundation lauded his “research on the mode of action of insecticides as a basis for the evaluation of the risks and benefits of pesticides and toxicants, essential to the development of safer, more effective pesticides for agricultural use,” according to a UC Berkeley News Service story. "His discoveries span much of the history of organic pesticides and account for several of the fundamental breakthroughs in the fields of entomology, neurobiology, toxicology and biochemistry.”
Casida opened multiple new fields ranging from fundamental cell biology through pharmaceutical discovery.
"He pioneered new technologies throughout his career, from being one of the first to use radioactive compounds for pesticide metabolism through studies with accelerator mass spectrometry, photoaffinity labeling and others," said Bruce Hammock, founding director of the UC Davis National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program and director of the UC Davis NIH/NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory.
"Yet the greatest impact of his career probably lives on in the numerous scientists he trained, now carrying on his traditions of excellence in science. These scientists are around the world in governmental, industrial and academic careers.”
“John continued his high productivity until his death with major reviews on pesticides in 2016, 2017, and 2018 in addition to numerous primary papers,” Hammock noted. “He was working on primary publications as well as revising his toxicology course for the fall semester at the time of his death. Pesticide science was the theme of his career, and we live in a world with far safer and more effective pest control agents because of his effort.”
Casida is survived by his wife, artist and sculptor Kati Casida, sons Mark and Eric Casida, and two grandchildren.
Read more about Casida's career at //ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=27808.
In memoriam: Peggy Michel
Michel joined ANR in 1992 as an administrative assistant II for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, based in the UC Office of the President in Oakland. In 1994, she joined the Office of Governmental and External Relations (OGER) as an assistant to then-executive director Steve Nation, who dubbed her "Radar," like the MASH TV show character, for her uncanny knack of anticipating things that needed to be done.
As an OGER member, she helped form and provide staff support for the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources and the UC president's tours for regents and agricultural leaders. She also gathered information for requests from legislative offices.
In 2007, Michel transitioned to work in the vice president's office. In 2010, Michel became deputy to the associate vice president for business operations and senior staff to the Administrative Review Council, which designed and implemented the reorganization of ANR business operations functions.
When Taber retired in 2012, Michel became deputy to then-assistant vice president for business operations Tu Tran.
In her ANR directory listing, Michel displayed her passion for diving with a photo of herself in scuba gear underwater.
Michel retired in 2013 after serving ANR for 21 years and moved to Long Island, NY, to join her husband, Keith, who was appointed president of Webb Institute, the country's foremost school of naval architecture and marine engineering.
The New York native's diverse experience in Pan American Airways customer service, as a baker and owner of her own wedding cake business, and organizing events for ANR served her well as Webb's First Lady, as she engaged with students, hosted formal dinners, did fundraising, managed staff and facilitated search committees for senior staff.
“Peggy was truly loved at Webb,” said Keith Michel. “The board has established a Peggy Michel Memorial Fund. Webb will be creating a garden/courtyard area overlooking our new academic center and Long Island Sound, which will be named the Peggy Michel Garden. They are also establishing a scholarship fund in her name.”
To donate, checks can be made out to “Webb Institute” with “Peggy Michel Memorial Fund” in the memo line or by credit card gift online.
Michel is survived by Keith, their son Josh and his wife Marybeth, sister Isabelle McVickar and several nieces and nephews.
The family is planning a celebration of her life in California on Sept. 8 at Scott's Restaurant in Jack London Square, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant asked for a headcount by Aug. 29. If you plan to attend, please send an email to pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu or to Kay Taber at khtaber@aol.com.
[Updated Aug. 2 to add details about the memorial in California.]
