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Posts Tagged: CARET

CARET delegation discusses Farm Bill in nation’s capitol

CARET representatives visited Congressman Jim Costa's office. From left: Loressa Uson, UC Santa Cruz associate director of Federal Relations; Alexa Fox, Costa's senior legislative assistant; Mike Mellano, CARET delegate and Mellano & Company president/CEO; and Ish Herrera, CARET delegate and director of regional stewardship for California Forward.

UC ANR leaders and supporters met with congressional members and staff in Washington, D.C. during the CARET (Council for Agricultural Extension, Research and Teaching) meetings, March 12–15. They discussed the benefits of investing in research and extension for agriculture, natural resources and nutrition.

The CARET meetings centered on global food, agriculture and resource challenges.

UC ANR's CARET delegation included Deanne Meyer, interim associate vice president; Karmjot Randhawa, director of UC Cooperative Extension in Madera Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties; Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director; and Ryan Tompkins, forester and natural resources advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties; as well as Ish Herrera and Mike Mellano of the President's Advisory Commission.

Dean DavidAckerly of UC Berkeley, Divisional DeanIsgouhiKaloshian of UC Riverside, Kathy Eiler ofUCR Government Relations, andLoressa Uson of UC Santa Cruz Government Relations, Brandon Minto of UC Davis Government Relations, and Gina Daly of UCB Government Relations joined the delegation, demonstrating UC's unified support for UC ANR's work.

During the CARET visits, UC's advocacy network ran a social media campaign featuring UC ANR

The delegates visited congressional offices to underscore UC's priorities for FY24 agricultural appropriations and the 2023 Farm Bill, which is renewed by Congress every five years.  The CARET representatives gave examples of how UC ANR's work is improving people's lives and businesses across California.

CARET also presented a moving tribute to the late Jean-Mari Peltier, who served as a UC ANR CARET representative and on the UC President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources (PAC) until her death in 2021. At the CARET gathering, Peltier was honored with a lifetime achievement award for her contributions to agriculture. The PAC has created the Jean-Mari Peltier Endowment in support of UC ANR Strategic Priorities to carry on her commitment to UC ANR, science and solving problems.

“We visited 24 offices including the Senate and House Ag Committees,” wrote Meyer in her ANR Adventures blog. “We shared our priorities for this year's appropriations as well as Farm Bill items. The conversations were filled with how valuable ANR is to communities. We discussed impacts from trained citizen scientists to identify spotted lanternfly and the importance of prescribed burn associations.”

Read more about the CARET visits at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=56478.

 

Posted on Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 9:55 PM
Tags: advocacy (30), CARET (6), March 2023 (18)

UC asks Congress to fund agricultural research and infrastructure

Jim Costa and Glenda Humiston met while Humiston was in Washington D.C. to testify before the House Committee on Agriculture for the 2022 Farm Bill review.

UC Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Glenda Humiston led a delegation from California to meet with congressional members and staff on March 6-11 to discuss specific benefits of UC ANR in their districts and the importance of strong federal funding to support programs, including Cooperative Extension, 4-H youth development, nutrition education, and the research and extension centers.

The California delegation was part of the Association for Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET), which held their annual meeting and (virtually) visited Capitol Hill for the 40th year to jointly request agricultural appropriations that support the land-grant mission.

The UC delegation met with staff from 27 congressional offices via Zoom to discuss the many critical agriculture needs facing California and the nation. They explained how UC is at the forefront of conducting research to understand and solve problems facing the agricultural industry and encouraged Congress to provide the highest possible funding levels in FY 2022 and FY 2023.

“This year, our request included something new – $365 million for agricultural research infrastructure,” said Anne Megaro, UC ANR director of government and community relations. “We have been working with Congress to include significant infrastructure funding in President Biden's Build Back Better legislation, and we are continuing to make this request through annual appropriations.”

Bringing UC's facilities up to modern standards with necessities such as high-speed broadband would provide capacity for cutting-edge research such as precision agriculture, remote sensing and growing space for CRISPR-based research. It would also ensure that U.S. research can continue to meet the agricultural and natural resource needs of the nation.

Humiston was joined by emeritus UCCE advisor Bill Frost, rancher Dina Moore, nurseryman Mike Mellano, Ish Herrera of California Forward, and Alejandra Sanchez of Driscoll's who shared how UC ANR research and outreach have improved their businesses, lives and communities.

“Our local UCCE advisors have given so much to our communities up and down the state; this is just one way I like to give back in support of their efforts. Congress needs to know how valuable ag research and education is, and how much we trust and depend on UC,” said Herrera, California Forward director of regional stewardship.

Rounding out the group were several UC ANR leaders, including deans David Ackerly, Helene Dillard and Kathryn Uhrich.

Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director; Ryan Tompkins, UCCE forestry and natural resources advisor for Plumas and Sierra counties; and Jairo Diaz, director of Desert Research and Extension Center shared examples of their work throughout the state to adapt to living with wildfire, climate change and drought, and to improve Californians' health and wellness.

“As an extension forester, wildfire not only drives our applied research, but also affects the communities we live in and serve,” said Tompkins. “CARET provides opportunities to share real-life experiences of how federal funding supports UC forest and wildfire research, outreach, and education that have meaningful benefit for communities throughout California.”

Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 3:39 PM

Virtual CARET visits with congressional staff productive

CARET representatives met virtually with Congressman Jim Costa, who represents the 16th district in the San Joaquin Valley.

Vice President Glenda Humiston led a delegation representing California to the virtual annual joint meeting of the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) and the Administrative Heads Section (AHS) of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, March 1-4.

Over a series of Zoom calls, CARET delegates met with California's Congress members to discuss the specific impacts of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources in their districts and the importance of strong federal funding to support the programs, including Cooperative Extension, 4-H Youth Development, nutrition education, and the research and extension centers. 

“CARET was our last in-person meeting in 2020 so we weren't sure what to expect with virtual visits in 2021, but they were even more productive than in years past,” said Anne Megaro, UC ANR director of government and community relations.

“We had more time with congressional staffers and members in each meeting and our conversations were more detailed and thoughtful. Congress is working hard to meet the needs of their constituents and they were very interested to hear about UC's work in wildfire and everything we've been doing to support communities through COVID, particularly with our communities of color and those where English is a second language.”

Collectively, the group visited 22 congressional offices, including meeting with members Jim Costa, Jimmy Panetta and Ami Bera.

CARET delegates – new delegate Ishmael (Ish) Herrera of California Forward, San Diego County nurseryman Mike Mellano, Humboldt County rancher Dina Moore, and Environmental Solutions Group managing partner Jean-Mari Peltier – explained how their businesses and industries have benefited from UC ANR research and extension. Bill Frost, former UC ANR associate vice president and UCCE advisor emeritus, also served as a CARET delegate.

UCCE forest and natural resources advisor Ryan Tompkins, UC Master Gardener Program Director Missy Gable, and UCCE County Director for Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Madera counties, Karmjot Randhawa, were the UC ANR academics and staff who described how their work and programs impacted members' districts over the past year. COVID-19 was a strong theme, as well as wildfire and forest management.

Building on the success of the virtual CARET visits, Megaro arranged a few more meetings for UC ANR academics and congressional staffers over Zoom.

 

Posted on Friday, April 30, 2021 at 12:44 PM
Tags: April 2021 (17), CARET (6)

UC CARET delegates visit Congress in March

From left, Dan Sanchez, Mike Mellano, Wendy Powers and Marcel Horowitz visited the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Kamala Harris, Congressman Scott Peters and Congressman Mike Levin.

UC ANR Vice President Glenda Humiston led a delegation representing California to the annual joint meeting of the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) and the Administrative Heads Section (AHS) of the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities in Washington, D.C., March 1-4.

While they were in Washington, CARET delegates met with CaliforniaCongress members to discuss the specific impacts of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources in their districts and the importance of strong federal funding to support the programs, including Cooperative Extension, 4-H Youth Development, nutrition education, and the research and extension centers. 

From left, Anne Megaro, Mike Mellano, Congressman Jim Costa, Glenda Humiston, Jhalendra Rijal and Kathy Eftekhari discussed the importance of research funding to California.

“CARET delegates provided first-hand testimony of UC ANR's impact on their own lives and businesses while UC ANR academics gave a boots-on-the-ground perspective of working in and among community members to build partnerships and deliver content and programming,” said Anne Megaro, UC ANR director of government and community relations.

Collectively, the group visited 36 congressional offices, including TJ Cox, Jim Costa, Jimmy Panetta and Mike Thompson.

From left, Kathy Eftekhari, Marcel Horowitz, Congressman and 4-H alumnus TJ Cox, Glenda Humiston, Dina Moore and Anne Megaro.

CARET delegates – San Diego County nurseryman Mike Mellano, Humboldt County rancher Dina Moore, and Environmental Solutions Group managing partner Jean-Mari Peltier,  – explained how their businesses and industries have benefited from UC ANR research and extension. Bill Frost, former UC ANR associate vice president and UCCE advisor emeritus, also served as a CARET delegate.

UCCE advisors Jhalendra Rijal and Marcel Horowitz, UCCE specialist Dan Sanchez and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC director Kamal Khaira were the academics who described their work. Associate Vice President Wendy Powers and Kathy Eftekhari, chief of staff to the VP, also participated. 

From left, CARET members Jean-Mari Peltier, Kamal Khaira, Marcel Horowitz, Dan Sanchez and Glenda Humiston met with Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s staff to discuss UC ANR research priorities.

CARET delegates arrived back in California while the national response to COVID-19 was just developing. They have since reached out to the congressional delegation to share what UC ANR is doing to help communities under the changing circumstances. Specifically, UC ANR is converting educational materials into online formats so they are accessible for families and individuals sheltering in place. UC ANR is also looking to extend internet connectivity to UCCE county office parking lots in rural areas where broadband access is not available.

“All of the California congressmen and staff members were supportive of UC ANR, however given the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, funding priorities are changing rapidly,” Megaro said.

Posted on Friday, March 27, 2020 at 10:05 PM
Tags: CARET (6), March 2020 (20)

ANR briefs California congressional members on ag research

From left, Julia Rowe, Marjorie Duske, Keith Gilless, Kathryn Uhrich, Mike Mellano, Dina Moore, Glenda Humiston, Anne Megaro and Keith Nathaniel visited congressional offices in March to brief lawmakers and staffers on the latest UC ANR research.

VP Glenda Humiston, AVP Wendy Powers and several UC ANR representatives visited more than 30 congressional offices in March to brief lawmakers and staffers on the latest agriculture and natural resources research and outreach benefiting Californians.

On March 5-8, a UC ANR delegation attended the 36th Annual Council on Agriculture Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) meetings in Washington D.C. CARET is part of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). With the assistance of Julia Rowe and Marjorie Duske of UC Federal Governmental Relations, they also visited congressional offices to explain the importance of science and research to California.

From left, Moore, Peltier, John Garamendi (whose district includes Solano, Yolo, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Sutter and Yuba counties), Dillard, Humiston and Brandon Minto, UC Davis federal relations.

Keith Nathaniel, UC Cooperative Extension director for Los Angeles County; Katie Panarella, director of nutrition, family and consumer sciences program & policy; and Mark Bell, vice provost of strategic initiatives and statewide programs; joined the deans Helene Dillard, Keith Gilless, Michael Lairmore and Kathryn Uhrich for the visits.

From left, Megaro, Dillard, Jim Costa (whose district includes Fresno, Madera and Merced counties), Humiston and Minto.

“We had a lot of great meetings with Congressional members and their staff, discussing the need for sustained investments in ag & natural resources programs, research and innovation,” said Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations.

From left, Minto, Peltier, Mellano, Dillard, Jeff Denham (whose district includes San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties), Gilless and

The group split up into teams to visit the offices of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, Representatives John Garamendi, Jim Costa, Jeff Denham, Barbara Lee, Ami Bera, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Jimmy Panetta, Raul Ruiz and several other California representatives.

From left, Gilless, Megaro, Mellano, Humiston, Jimmy Panetta (whose district includes Monterey and Santa Cruz counties) and Minto.

“California CARET representatives Dina Moore, Mike Mellano and Jean-Mari Peltier shared their experiences of how UC ANR research drives innovation and helps California farmers and related businesses remain competitive in the global market,” Megaro said.

From left, Dillard, Uhrich, Raul Ruiz (whose district includes Riverside County), Peltier and Powers.

“Overall, I felt that the visits were high quality,” said Powers. “I don't envy the elected officials or the staffers that see a revolving door of people through their offices at this time of year.”

From left, Uhrich, Ami Bera (whose district includes Sacramento County), Dillard, Humiston and Gilless.

 

Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 12:26 PM
Tags: CARET (6), March 2018 (16)
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture, Economic Development, Innovation

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