Posts Tagged: South Coast REC

$1 million grant expands climate-ready landscape plants program

A research project initiated in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis evaluates landscape plants in two-year trials under varying irrigation levels to determine the best irrigation level for optimal plant performance in regions requiring supplemental summer water. Creating water budgets is required by California's Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO), and the results from these research trials help landscape professionals and home gardeners make informed decisions when specifying, selecting or promoting low water-use landscape plant material.

This year, the CDFA/USDA Specialty Crops Multistate Program funded a new Climate Ready Landscape Plants project, which will replicate the successful fields that are currently installed at UC Davis and UC ANR South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine.

Loren Oki, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, is the lead principal investigator and collaborators include researcher Jared Sisneroz;  project leader Karrie Reid, UC Cooperative Extension environmental horticulture advisor in San Joaquin County; and Darren Haver, UC Cooperative Extension water resources and water quality advisor and director of South Coast REC and UCCE in Orange County.

Under Oki's oversight, this new $999,992 grant will support the development of additional fields at several western universities:

• University of Washington, Soo-Hyung Kim
• Oregon State University, Lloyd Nackley and Ryan Contreras
• Utah State University Center, Youping Sun and Larry Rupp
• University of Arizona, Ursula Schuch

Conducting these new experiments on landscape plants at diverse sites across the western U.S. will reveal differences in recommendations since irrigation guidelines for landscapes vary depending on climate and soil type.

The initial project was initiated as Reid's master's degree thesis research in 2004, with Oki as her major professor, and has been ongoing since then.

Project descriptions, results and images can be seen at the UC Landscape Plant Irrigation Trials website at https://ucanr.edu/sites/UCLPIT.

ANR Governing Council tours South Coast REC

To gain a better understanding of UC ANR's work in communities and to see firsthand how UC's Agricultural Extension programs engage with the public in an urban setting, the UC ANR Governing Council toured the South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine on Feb. 19.

The tour group saw the power of UC ANR academics at work in partnership with growers, local municipalities and UC campuses to address topics such as strawberry diseases, weed control and the use of glyphosate, water conservation and quality, invasive pests in urban forestry, and coyote and rodent management. 

The UC ANR Governing Council, which is chaired by UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox, visited UCCE specialist Alex Putman and UC Riverside graduate student Lindsey Pedroncelli's strawberry disease study, UC IPM advisor Cheryl Wilen's herbicide demonstration, and the urban landscape demonstration site, where Darren Haver, South Coast REC director and UCCE water resources advisor, conducts water studies. Niamh Quinn, UCCE human-wildlife interaction advisor, described her research on vertebrate pests ranging from rats to coyotes, and Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann, UCCE urban forestry advisor, and John Kabashima, emeritus environmental horticulture advisor, showed the council members shot hole borers and other pests that attack trees.

The UC ANR academics were joined by public and private sector partners, including Mark Lopez from OC Produce who is also the Orange County Farm Bureau president; Bryan Thompson, owner of Pest Options; Jenna Voss, South Orange County watershed manager for Orange County Public Works; Dave Erickson, Wildland Resources Planner for Orange County Fire Authority; Jim Hartman, deputy agricultural commissioner for Los Angeles County; Laura Krueger Prelesnik, vector ecologist for the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District; and Rick Howard, Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District agency manager.

Foods grown at the center were incorporated in the lunch prepared by UC ANR culinary partners Andrea Machua of Culinary Underground, Kyle Manns of Taps Brewery and Lan Pham Zenti, owner of Jadetiger Tea.

“The day was both enjoyable and informative for all,” said Kathy Eftekhari, chief of staff to the vice president. 

 

 

South Coast REC calls for proposals

The South Coast Research & Extension Center is soliciting proposals for new research and extension projects, as well as prompting researchers with continuing projects to submit an updated Land, Labor, and Facilities form and 3-year report, if required, for project year July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.

Located on 200 acres in Orange County, South Coast REC research and extension projects and programs focus on a variety of agriculture and natural resource topics including: variety development, crop and landscape pest management, irrigation management, plant disease, rootstock development, and alternative weed control methods in managed systems. As reclaimed water is the main irrigation source provided to the center by the local water district, researchers can assist in the development of reclaimed water management strategies, an increasingly important resource for the long-term sustainability of agriculture and urban environments.

The center also continues to welcome the submission of research and extension projects addressing broader topics, such as the impacts of climate change on urban and agricultural ecosystems.

South Coast REC provides research projects with skilled farming equipment operators, irrigators, some limited indoor research facilities (for example, plant sample processing lab), and technical and management support. Projects led by UC academics receive funding directly from UC ANR and South Coast REC to reduce the actual cost of research and extension at the Center. Proposals from non-UC organizations will be considered if resources (space and labor) are available, but the full cost rate is charged plus the non-university differential (NUD currently is set at 33.7%).

Full cost recharge rates and UC ANR funding levels for UC-led research projects for South Coast REC for the 2020-21 year will be published after approval on the South Coast REC website (http://screc.ucanr.edu/Research/) this spring.

Proposals may be submitted into the REC Manage System via the South Coast REC website (http://screc.ucanr.edu/Research/Submitting_a_Proposal/) beginning March 1, 2020, and are due no later than April 15, 2020.

For questions about the research proposal process or research opportunities at South Coast REC, contact Darren Haver, center director, at dlhaver@ucanr.edu, or Chris Martinez, superintendent, at cpmartinez@ucanr.edu.

UC ANR to launch fourth annual #GivingTuesday campaign Nov. 27

On Nov. 27, ANR is once again participating in #GivingTuesday—a 24-hour global giving challenge—a movement about ordinary people coming together to do extraordinary things. Celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season. For ANR, Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to raise funds for UC Cooperative Extension county programs, research and extension centers and statewide programs. To help Californians recover from recent wildfires, adapt to climate change and escape persistent pockets of poverty, the needs in the coming year will be great, and year-end giving is an opportunity for donors to assist.

“UC Cooperative Extension professionals have a deep passion for their work and a dedication to the communities they serve. While most deliver their research and programs quietly every day, it is especially incredible to witness their response to disaster; for example, recent wildfires saw local UCCE offices responding immediately with vital information for coping with the fires, care for livestock and pets, as well as service in food banks and other volunteer needs,” said VP Glenda Humiston.

UC Cooperative Extension staff and 4-H members took care of evacuated farm animals at the fairgrounds, and in Siskiyou County, partnered with local agencies to create and distribute Pet Emergency Evacuation Plan pamphlets.

“Giving Tuesday gives us an opportunity to talk about our research and outreach to enhance food systems and create thriving communities, as well as all the other positive things everyone in ANR is doing to make life better for Californians,” Humiston said.

For UC ANR stakeholders, #GivingTuesday presents an opportunity to support the many programs and services that strengthen California communities each day and more importantly, during times of crisis. Last year, over $76,000 was raised on #GivingTuesday to support UC ANR programs including the 4-H Youth Development Program and UC Master Gardener Program.

“As residents of California, we're all each other's neighbors—we lend a helping hand, we share information, we care about our community. That's what our #GivingTuesday #NeighborCA campaign is all about.” said Emily Delk, director of annual giving for UC ANR.

“This year, I'm excited to share that we will have two match challenge funds. One supporting the California 4-H Foundation and one for all UC ANR.” said Delk.

A website is up with links to all of ANR's programs, Research and Extension Centers and UCCE offices: ucanr.edu/givingtuesday. It invites donors to designate programs or locations to which they wish to donate.

The website contains a toolkit for county offices and programs to participate. It includes:

• Sample tweets and social media posts
• Custom images to include in social posts
• Templates for “unselfies.” Donors may take photos of themselves holding an unselfie sign and share on social media how they are giving.

The UC Master Gardener Giving Tuesday website is at http://mg.ucanr.edu/givingtuesday.  

The 4-H Youth Development Program also has its own website at http://4h.ucanr.edu/GivingTuesday.

Although not as well-known as the shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday appeals to people who are swept up in the spirit of giving at the end of the year. 

This year Development Services has set a goal of collecting a total of $100,000 for 4-H and UC ANR from 300 or more donors on #GivingTuesday. Last year UC ANR and 4-H received nearly 300 gifts.

“The #GivingTuesday #NeighborCA campaign is a fun way for people in all ANR programs to give to the programs most important to them,” said Delk.

Cybersecurity and UCPath to change the way ANR does business

When ANR joins UCPath in the spring, it will introduce new technology that will ultimately unify and standardize payroll, benefits and human resources systems for all UC employees. As we adopt new technology to modernize ANR business systems, we are strengthening our online security measures.

In a recent webinar to prepare ANR office managers and others for the transition to UCPath in the spring, John Fox, Human Resources executive director, brought in Dave Krause, manager of web development and applications programming, to discuss multi-factor authentication to access online systems, and Emily LaRue, associate director of the Business Operations Center, to discuss the impact of UCPath on the Business Operations Center.

Multi-factor authentication

To use an online system that is operated by UC Davis for ANR, such as the time reporting system, KFS, Aggie Buy or AggieTravel, an ANR employee logs into a form. Historically, once your credentials are “authenticated” against a database hosted by UC Davis, you are redirected to the system and off you go. Another step is being added to protect the system from hackers. A tool called “Duo” will ask you for a second form of authentication.

“Duo seamlessly adds this second form of authentication right in the login form,” Krause said. “For this example, I have preset Duo to send the second authentication to my phone as a 'push notification' (a mobile phone alert that appears onscreen while the phone is still in locked mode). Duo will also happily call you or send you a code to use instead.” 

Once the user clicks “approve,” the website immediately accepts the second authentication and opens the site.

Mobile phones, tablets and Apple watches are among the devices supported by Duo. “It doesn't take up much space on your device,” Krause said.

For employees who don't have mobile devices for authentication, physical tokens that connect directly to your computers will be available. Currently, only mobile devices are eligible for enrollment. More information about tokens will be available soon.

If you lose or forget your device or token, UC Davis IET Express help desk can send you a temporary access code.

UC ANR will be rolling out Duo for its identity management system next year. Volunteers, affiliates and collaborators will have unchanged access.

“We are now inviting all UC ANR employees who use UC Davis systems to enroll in Duo via a smartphone or tablet,” Krause said. “Be sure you use a device that is with you when you work!”

For details on Duo enrollment and setting it up, go to http://ucanr.edu/mfa.

Impact of UCPath on Business Operations Center

Becoming its own business unit with UCPath will increase ANR's visibility as equivalent to the 10 campuses and change its business relationship with UC Davis. In addition, ANR's responsibility for compliance and accountability will take on even greater importance. Implementation of UCPath will create some changes to ANR's Business Operations Center, including the location of ANR's UCPath payroll team, work assignments and responsibilities, and systems and processes.

“For the first several weeks, everything will seem different!” LaRue said.

Personnel action entry functions for new hires, terminations and pay changes will be performed by ANR HR or the UCPath Central Team. A single ANR BOC Payroll unit composed of a payroll manager and three staff members will be located in Davis. The BOC will be responsible for audits and additional reporting and there will be new terms, different business processes, and different routing of forms and documentation.

LuRue expects the following to remain the same:

• Payroll (time and leave reporting) processing

          o   Timely submission for all organizational units

          o   Time Reporting System review and corrections as needed

• Service level

          o   ANR UCPath Hypercare Team – Group devoted to resolution of ANR employee issues

• Processing of financial transactions

          o   BOC-Kearney – UCCE (Gifts excluded)

          o   BOC-Davis – Statewide programs, Research and Extension Centers and administrative units

For more information about UCPath changes, visit the website at https://ucanr.edu/ucpath.

 

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