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Posts Tagged: UC
Miller award supports careers in Cooperative Extension
Four students plan to share their knowledge
Four students connected to the UC Davis Department of Plant Science have received grants from the Milton D. and Mary M. Miller Plant Science Award, which supports learners interested in careers with Cooperative Extension.
The 2024 awardees are Maya Shydlowski, Erika Escalona, Sam Dudley and Ben Baldi. All four students said they are eager to share what they are learning with people in the field who need solutions for everyday problems.
“They are all fantastic students and do a lot of work with cooperative extension,” said Kelly Paglia, advisor supervisor for the department.
Maya Shydlowski: Use fertilizer more efficiently
Maya Shydlowski already graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Department of Plant Sciences, and has returned as a master's student in the horticulture and agronomy graduate group, studying with Mark Lundy, an associate professor of Cooperative Extension. In between, she worked for University of California Cooperative Extension in Santa Clara County. “I enjoyed working in extension and am interested in continuing to explore that as an option for my career,” Shydlowski said.
The award will support her work to find practical solutions to problems faced by growers.
“I'm working on a project that can help us better estimate nitrogen use efficiency by calculating the nitrogen status of a plant,” Shydlowski said. “I hope that would eventually help growers apply fertilizer more efficiently and reduce harmful nitrogen losses.”
Shydlowski also is working with Lundy on a project to explore how growers can still produce despite using less water -- a reality imposed by drought and ever-tighter water regulations in the state.
Erika Escalona: Soil health and pest management
Erika Escalona grew up in a family of agricultural workers in Watsonville. “My childhood sparked my passion for agriculture and inspired me to study ways to tackle key challenges, like improving soil health and pest management,” Escalona said.
She's now in the horticulture and agronomy graduate group. She works with Steve Fennimore, a professor of Cooperative Extension in the department, on ways to manage soil organisms that affect crops in her home area.
“I'm really interested in a career in extension because it's all about bringing research directly to the community and farms, which I find important and inspiring,” Escalona said. “I believe this field will let me keep connecting the agricultural community I grew up in with academic research.”
She'll use the award to finalize her master's thesis, publish her findings and present her research at conferences. “I want to share my work with a bigger audience, highlight the importance of our findings, and contribute to improving alternative pest management practices,” Escalona said.
Sam Dudley: Drought-tolerant grapevines
Sam Dudley is a doctoral student in the horticulture and agronomy graduate group. He studies the drought tolerance of grapevine rootstocks and how the physiology of root systems can help growers save water. “I hope to use genetics, physiology and mathematical modeling to make it easier to breed new drought-tolerant rootstocks,” Dudley said.
“Working with UC Cooperative Extension in my undergraduate education is what inspired me to pursue a career in science, and I would feel lucky to have the opportunity to continue to work with cooperative extension in the future as well,” Dudley added. “The intersection between science and practical applications to the field is a crucial link that I plan to continue pursuing.”
He'll use his Miller Award “in collaboration with Cooperative Extension to parameterize and simulate a structural functional plant model to predict drought tolerance of grapevines at the field scale. He's working with Megan Bartlett, in the Department of Viticulture and Enology.
Ben Baldi: Empowering underrepresented groups
Benjamin Baldi is working a master's degree in international agricultural development, with an emphasis on plant pathology. In the fall, he'll start a doctoral program with the horticulture and agronomy graduate group, shifting into weed science.
“My journey with plants has taken me across the globe and through several aspects of agriculture including farming, extension and education, with a strong focus on farmer empowerment,” Baldi said. “There are many challenges for smallholder and organic farmers in weed management, including access to emerging and advanced technologies that could assist them.
“During this program, I plan to collaborate with the dedicated UC ANR extensionists, farmers and researchers to address related projects, while honing my scientific methods and preparing for a career in extension,” Baldi added. “I hope, with this opportunity, to be involved in contributing innovative solutions and support to underrepresented agricultural communities."
Baldi's PI is Mohsen Mesgaran, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences.
More about the Miller Award
The Milton D. and Mary M. Miller Plant Science Award is given each year to undergraduates and graduate students in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences interested in a career in Cooperative Extension. In addition, it is available to members of UC Cooperative Extension aiming for advanced degrees.
Awards range from $2,000k to $5,000. For more information about the award or to apply, contact Kelly Paglia, advisor supervisor for the Department of Plant Sciences, at kpaglia@ucdavis.edu.
Program Council visits UC ANR sites in Monterey Bay area
Every year the UC ANR Program Council visits programs for one of their monthly meetings. In June, they toured several sites in the Monterey Bay area.
Their first stop was UC Santa Cruz, where they met with Katharyne Mitchell, sociology professor, Agricultural Experiment Station faculty member and dean of the Division of Social Sciences. Joji Muramoto, UC Cooperative Extension organic production systems specialist, and three of the five new AES faculty located at UCSC – Matt Sparke, professor of politics; Greg Gilbert, professor of environmental studies; and Michael Loik, professor of environmental studies – described their research. The group walked around the UCSC Farm, learning about its 53-year history advancing small-scale, organic production and hearing from students what the experience has meant to them.
Next they headed to Marina to discuss the innovation initiatives at the UCSC Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology Center (MBEST) and the developing collaboration with UC ANR focused on ag tech research and homebase for the new UC Cooperative Extension specialist position to work on food safety, drones and remote sensing.
They had lunch with staff at the UCCE Monterey County office in Salinas, then local farm advisors gave presentations on their research and extension. Michael Cahn discussed CropManage. Aparna Gazula and Mark Bolda described their work with non-English speaking farmers. Devii Rao talked about cattle grazing as a tool for wildfire prevention.
Their last stop was at the USDA Agricultural Research Service Lab for Crop Improvement and Protection Research in Salinas, where the recently announced UCCE specialist in coastal produce safety systems will be located, growing the cohort of UCCE specialists there.
UC ANR 2023 Annual Report is online earlier than ever
“Kudos to all for giving us these impact stories,” said Vice President Glenda Humiston.
“These are what capture stakeholders, lay audiences, legislators and policymakers at all levels. They want to know what's in it for them.”
The Program Planning and Evaluation unit collaborated with UC ANR academics, program staff and Strategic Communications to compile more than 50 vignettes that highlight the impact of our organization statewide during 2023.
The stories are organized by the seven public value statements.
Feel free to publicize UC ANR's efforts and impact by sharing the annual report via email or social media with friends, the public, policymakers and potential donors.
The annual report is posted online on the UC ANR "About" page and the direct link is ucanr.edu/2023annualreport. A few printed copies of the annual report are available.
If you have any questions about the annual report, please contact Jennifer Sedell at jennifer.sedell@ucop.edu.
Green Hall of Famer Oki retires after 29-year UC career
UCCE specialist's research prevents water pollution, reduces water use
When interviewed to become a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist in environmental horticulture, Lorence “Loren” Oki was asked what kind of research he wanted to conduct.
In response, he showed the hiring committee a photo of a residential gutter. “Water is a big concern, and I found very little research on runoff from homes,” said Oki, explaining that studying residential runoff is what “started his career” with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources back in 2002.
Although he remains active supporting growers and advising industry leaders, Oki retired from UC ANR in July 2023. Before joining ANR, Oki worked as a researcher for UC Davis' Department of Environmental Horticulture studying greenhouse irrigation in 1994, bringing his total time with the University of California to 29 years.
Oki, professor emeritus of Cooperative Extension at UC Davis, led many research projects that advanced the green industry which includes landscapes, nurseries and floriculture.
“Loren is the epitome of a specialist,” said Darren Haver, UC ANR's Research and Extension Center system director, who has worked with Oki for more than 20 years on projects that have significantly improved urban water quality and water conservation efforts across California.
Research influences pesticide management
With a $3 million grant funding a statewide study, Oki and Haver set out to characterize runoff from residential sources over a five-year period. They determined the volume of irrigation runoff from residential land use, as well as the pollutants in the runoff.
Oki and Haver, co-principal investigators, along with researchers from UC Davis and UC Riverside, discovered that the degradation products of the insecticide fipronil – commonly found in runoff water – were more toxic than its parent compound. The study led to an investigation of human pathogens and pathogen indicators in residential runoff, the first of its kind.
Another contribution was the early detection of a new pesticide used for ant control, enabling strategies to be put in place to prevent it from reaching local streams and creeks. Oki and Haver's work also persuaded the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to change pesticide labels to minimize the chances of pesticides moving off target during irrigation and rain events.
These changes included preventing pesticide application before predicted rain and preventing irrigation after applications, keeping pesticides from impervious surfaces, and restricting applications on lawns and landscape beds within two feet of impervious surfaces and others.
Plant trials expand beyond California
Oki was also the principal investigator of the Climate-Ready Landscape Plants project, which may be the largest irrigation trial in the western U.S., and the UC Plant Landscape Irrigation Trials, the California component of that project. The UCPLIT trials originated in 2004 at UC Davis as a research project by Karrie Reid, retired UCCE environmental horticulture advisor for San Joaquin County, while she was pursuing her master's degree. In 2017, the irrigation trials were duplicated at the South Coast Research and Extension Center.
These projects evaluate landscape plants under varying irrigation levels to determine their optimal performance in regions requiring supplemental summer water. Throughout the trial, Oki identified many landscape plants, including rose cultivars, that remain aesthetically pleasing with little water.
Today, the trials have expanded beyond California as the Climate-Ready Landscape Plants Project at Oregon State University, University of Washington, University of Arizona and Utah State University.
Growing up in the nursery industry
In 2017, Oki obtained tenure, allowing him to expand his professional responsibilities to include production horticulture, specifically greenhouses and nurseries, an industry he was extremely familiar with. “I come from a nursery family,” Oki explained. “My grandfather started Oki Nursery in the early 1900s.”
During World War II, Oki's family was incarcerated in the Poston Relocation Center in Arizona and lost their homes and property. When they were released, they returned to the nursery industry to rebuild their lives. “After World War II, my father and uncle got more involved with my grandfather's work,” he said.
The Oki family played an instrumental role in technological development for nurseries in general. Oki Nursery, which was located in Sacramento, worked closely with IBM and was the first to use a computerized system in the industry.
Oki developed computerized scheduling for the bedding plants, poinsettias, chrysanthemums, bulbs and other crops. He developed a method to calculate the cost of any crop grown by the nursery at any point in the crop cycle and computerized greenhouse environmental and irrigation controls. This may not sound impressive now, but that was in the 1980s.
“My father was known for being progressive and he also knew everyone at UC Davis,” said Oki. “He wanted to work with anyone who had an interest in doing something good for nurseries.”
Inducted into Green Industry Hall of Fame
In the 1950s, Oki Nursery partnered with researchers from UC Davis' agricultural engineering program and developed the overhead sprinklers commonly used in nurseries today. Until the 1980s, Oki Nursery was the largest nursery in Northern California. Before it shut down in 1993, Oki worked in the family business as a greenhouse manager when runoff became a growing concern.
“I remember getting served with a notice by the Regional Water Quality Control Board stating that we needed to prevent runoff because it was polluted with nitrate fertilizer, which was common in the nursery industry,” Oki said.
One of those efforts focused on using controlled-release fertilizer instead of applying fertilizer via irrigation as a liquid feed. “What we learned is that if we converted nurseries to controlled-release fertilizer, we could reduce the nitrate runoff,” he said. While a member of the Oki Lab, Bruno Pitton earned his Ph.D. studying nursery hydrology and the fate of nitrogen fertilizers in container crop production adding to the information on runoff and nitrate management. Pitton is now the environmental horticulture advisor for Placer and Nevada counties.
In 2023, Oki was inducted into the Green Industry Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals with a minimum of 20 years in the landscape, nursery or floriculture industry and who have made significant contributions to the field.
Having grown up in the industry, Oki said that his father taught him to never be afraid to try new things. “If you think you have an idea that might work, do the best you can to make it work. If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. And that's OK,” he said.
Revitalizing space for greater impact
This mentality encouraged Oki whenever tackling new tasks, like rebranding the California Ornamental Research Federation, a space for education and collaboration, as UC Nursery and Floriculture Alliance.
In 2009, Oki and David Fujino, executive director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture, became co-directors of CORF, which catered to the cut flower industry. At that time, Oki and Fujino realized that nurseries generated much greater revenue in the state than cut flowers.
“It was a strategic decision to change CORF to UCNFA, which included floriculture and nurseries in the name,” Fujino said. Combined, nurseries and floriculture have consistently placed in the top five agricultural commodities in the state.
When reflecting on their partnership, Fujino said that working with Oki was a “natural fit.” “I couldn't have asked for a better partner, a better colleague and, ultimately, a better friend to have my back and work side by side,” he added.
Since UCNFA's launch, the two have worked to maintain the group's impact by hosting “Ask your Advisor” webinars to connect advisors to growers, as well as co-hosting large-scale events such as the annual conference for the International Plant Propagators' Society — an organization focused on greenhouse and nursery production education — for the Western Region, which Oki's father helped establish in the 1960s.
Encouraging a return to education
Gerry Spinelli, UC Cooperative Extension production horticulture advisor for San Diego County and member of UCNFA's administrative committee, described those who have learned from Oki as his sons and daughters. “When I meet someone that's learned from Loren or worked with him, that person instantly becomes my friend. That's the kind of effect Loren has on us,” Spinelli said.
Grant Johnson, UC Cooperative Extension urban agricultural technology advisor for Los Angeles and Orange counties, credits Oki for his master's degree in horticulture from UC Davis.
“Loren gave me a lot of direction as far as career choices and research interests. He instilled in me a dedication to life-long learning, just like he continues to do,” said Johnson. Before Oki became his professor, Johnson worked with Oki as a staff research associate at the South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine.
Another influential person in Oki's life is John Kabashima, emeritus environmental horticulture advisor for UCCE Orange and Los Angeles counties and fellow Green Hall of Fame inductee. Like Oki, Kabashima grew up in the nursery industry.
Oki, who earned a bachelor's degree in ornamental horticulture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master's degree in plant science from UC Riverside, decided to pursue a Ph.D. in ecology at UC Davis with Kabashima's encouragement.
While Oki was still working in his family's business, Kabashima said that Oki relied on UC ANR researchers for scientific information and felt like Oki wanted to be one of them. “I told him that he's a good nursery guy, but he's a better scientist,” said Kabashima. “His heart is in science.”
The two began working together as soon as Oki became a graduate student and have been colleagues and friends for nearly 40 years. “My favorite response from Loren whenever people ask him a question is, ‘It depends,'” Kabashima said. “It always leads to people opening up and giving more context. That's what Loren does, he gets you to think.”
Governing Council, PAC tour Desert REC, Salton Sea
Vice President Glenda Humiston and UC ANR employees gave UC President Michael Drake, the UC ANR Governing Council and the President's Advisory Commission members a tour of the Salton Sea area and Desert Research and Extension Center in Holtville on April 25 and 26.
The tour started with visit to Aziz Farms in the Coachella Valley. At the date farm, they met Rita Clemons, director of UC Cooperative Extension for San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties; Philip Waisen, UCCE vegetable crops advisor; and Yu Meng, UCCE youth, family and community advisor. Grower Mark Tadros gave an overview of the benefits and challenges of operating a small farm.
At Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, Jim Turner, president of Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings, Inc., gave a talk about geothermal energy and lithium extraction. Hoori Ajami, UC Riverside associate professor and member of the Salton Sea Task Force, and Ali Montazar, UCCE irrigation and water management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties; described the area's ecological and agricultural challenges.
On the second day of the tour, Darren Haver, director for the REC System and interim South Coast REC director, gave the group an overview of the Research and Extension Center System.
Desert REC Director Jairo Diaz and the Desert REC team presented an overview of the community and youth education activities and field studies at Desert REC. The tour included drone and robotics demonstrations by Gabe Youtsey, chief innovation officer, and Ali Pourreza, UCCE digital agriculture specialist at UC Davis.
Ricardo Vela, manager of News and Information Outreach in Spanish, explained how UC ANR is connecting Latinos in California with information.
To wrap up the tour, Oli Bachie, UCCE Imperial County director and agronomy and weed management advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Diego counties, and Clemons described local UC Master Gardener, 4-H and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC programs.
The tour was coordinated by Kathy Eftekhari, chief of staff to the vice president, and the Program Support Unit.
