Posts Tagged: Integrated Pest Management Program

Strategic Initiative Brief: Spotlight on Urban IPM and enhancing our virtual skills

Unify-Communicate-Advocate

May Spotlight Webinar 

For the May Spotlight webinar, hosted by Jim Farrar of EIPD, Karey Windbiel-Rojas shared ideas on how we can all help protect our rivers and waterways through more careful management of urban pest management. The Spotlight videos offer short, sharp overviews of impact stories from across the state. Watch her presentation at Educating urban audiences to protect water quality (video). 

Growing reach and impact by enhancing our virtual skills

Driven (in part) by the COVID-19 need, the SIs continue to support the building of our organization's skills to deliver virtually through both "how-to" videos and engaging webinars. 

The interest in both topics was high as demonstrated by over 150 people participating in each of the series! 

Owning YouTube

The four-part video webinar series clearly laid out the task that lies ahead. please visit the UC ANR Learning & Development video skills website to find materials that can help you advance your skills.  

Special thanks to David Lewis, David Lile, Linda Forbes, Petr Kosina, Dustin Blakey and Jolynn Miller for all their effort and support.

Webinar tips to better engage your audience. 

This four-part series presented a series of tips and techniques to better use technology (e.g., Zoom) and to better design and run your actual webinars and online training. 

Check the UC ANR Learning & Development site for the webinar tips checklist or to find more about developing your webinar skills. 

Many thanks to Liliana Vega, Russell Hill, Jodi Azulai and the folds from eXtension for supporting this series

Let us know what skills or tips you found useful and what more you'd like to learn. 

For more on the SIs and their activities, contact

Jim Farrar: Pests EIPD

David Lile: Natural Ecosystems SNE

David Lewis: Water

Deanne Meyer: Food Systems SFS

Lynn Schmitt McQuitty: Families and Communities HFC

Mark Bell: Vice Provost SIs & SWPs

UC ANR partners with Citrus Research Board to hire citrus IPM advisor

UC ANR and the Citrus Research Board are co-funding a new citrus IPM advisor position to be headquartered at the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center. The CRB has pledged $750,000 to cover half the cost of the advisor's salary and benefits for 10 years.

The new IPM advisor will conduct a multicounty extension, education and applied research program and provide research-based technical and educational assistance to the citrus industry. The new advisor will report to the director of the Lindcove REC, with input from the Statewide IPM Program director.

"CRB's partnership with UC ANR for this position continues to strengthen the commitment towards citrus research and IPM best practices. This is a win-win for all Californians." said Greg Gibbs, UC ANR director of major gifts.

The citrus IPM advisor will help fill the role of retiring UCCE citrus entomology specialist Beth Grafton-Cardwell. The 30-year citrus IPM veteran has also served as the director of Lindcove REC since 2006.

Human Resources is finalizing the position vacancy announcement for the new IPM advisor and will open recruitment in the coming weeks.

UC IPM celebrates 40th anniversary

The University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Established July 1, 1979, with funding from the California Legislature, UC IPM built upon a growing movement to reduce dependence on pesticides. Drawing on expertise across the University of California system, UC IPM develops and distributes UC's best information on managing pests using safe and effective practices that protect people and the environment.

On July 8, Assemblymembers Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Bill Quirk congratulated Jim Farrar, UC IPM director, and presented him with a proclamation honoring UC IPM at the Capitol.

Mark Bell, vice provost of strategic initiatives and statewide programs; Mark Lagrimini, vice provost of research and extension; and Anne Megaro, director of government and community relations, joined Farrar in the Assembly chambers for the presentation.

Quirk, whose district includes parts of Alameda County, noted that UC IPM is vital to the health and well-being of California's agricultural and urban communities.

“UC IPM is also active in urban neighborhoods, schools, and childcare centers,” Quirk told his fellow assemblymembers. “The advisors work with the public to manage pest populations, while reducing pesticide exposure for a healthier community.

“Specifically, we've all heard about bed bugs in urban centers and their harmful health and economic impacts on communities. UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program responded to the public need and now leads the effort for controlling bed bugs by researching and developing best practices.”

He added, “UC Integrated Pest Management Program epitomizes what UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is all about – getting practical information into the hands of all Californians and serving as a trusted public resource for science-based information.”

Read more about the UC IPM 40th anniversary at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=30686.

 

Forty UCCE position proposals submitted as process enters phase 2

The 2018 UC Cooperative Extension call for positions process has entered phase 2. The UCCE county directors and REC directors have submitted 20 CE advisor position proposals and the executive associate deans, working with campus departments, have submitted 20 CE specialist position proposals. Both groups engaged program teams, statewide programs/institutes, and external stakeholders in the development of these proposals. All 40 phase 1 proposals are posted on the 2018 Call for Position web page: http://ucanr.edu/2018callforpositions.

Phase 2 is underway:

• Program teams are reviewing the 40 phase 1 proposals to determine if there are any positions they feel are of higher priority.
• If so, each program team can propose one additional CE advisor position and one additional CE specialist position by August 1-- remembering that the more proposals there are at the end, the lower the probability of being approved for recruitment.
• The proposals that didn't make the phase 1 final 40 can be picked up by Program Teams. Proposed positions available for pick up can be found on the proposal ideas web page.

“We thank the ANR network for actively engaging in this participatory process to strengthen and rebuild CE positions statewide,” said Wendy Powers, associate vice president.

Lagrimini aims to invest in ANR for the future

Mark Lagrimini, UC ANR's new vice provost of research and extension, moved into his office at 2801 Second Street in Davis on June 1.

As Vice Provost of Research and Extension, Lagrimini will oversee county-based Cooperative Extension personnel and employees at the nine UC Research and Extension Centers. His hiring was announced via ANR Update Feb. 21.

“State funding for public universities has been decreasing all across the county, including California. If UC ANR wishes to stay relevant, and continue to be a resource for Californians, then we will have to seek untapped sources of income. I will help our centers and county offices to become more entrepreneurial, and operate more as a business,” said Lagrimini, who was a professor in the Department of Agronomy & Horticulture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before joining ANR.

Lagrimini noted that ANR needs to recognize the true value for its services, and charge appropriately. Additional revenue-generating possibilities include the marketing of crops and livestock, creative uses for our facilities, and more aggressive philanthropy efforts.  

He is looking forward to traveling the state to familiarize himself with ANR people and facilities.

“I need to meet people face to face,” he said. “I need to see all the research and extension facilities and county extension offices and meet the directors and ANR team members. Each location is unique, and will require differing approaches to achieve financial stability.”

Broadly, ANR will work with grant writers at UC Office of the President as an effort to successfully obtain federal funding to support our programs.

“We must continuously make investments, even in periods of budget-cutting,” said Lagrimini, a former project leader for Syngenta Biotechnology Inc. in Research Triangle Park, NC. “We'll have to make strategic investments to stay relevant in the future. Capital investment in infrastructure will make our research facilities attractive to collaborators and position ourselves for the next 50 years. If we just tread water, we won't be able to help Californians reach their potential. We need to be on the cutting edge to be a leader.”

Lagrimini encourages invitations to events that will give him perspective on California agriculture and ANR's activities.

“We have people who are energetic, creative and passionate about what they're doing and we need to provide support for them,” he said.

Lagrimini can be reached at (530) 750-1369 in the office, cell (402) 304-0400 andmlagrimini@ucanr.edu.

To read more about Lagrimini's background, see //ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=26475.

 

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