Posts Tagged: Surendra Dara
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Soule named assistant vice provost for CE
Katherine Soule will serve as ANR's new Assistant Vice Provost for Cooperative Extension. She will start her new duties on July 1, 2020, and continue to serve as UCCE director for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and as UCCE youth, families and communities advisor. The role was previously held by Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty until she assumed the role of Statewide 4-H Youth Development Program director.
“We are excited to have Katherine on the Cooperative Extension administrative team! She brings a breadth of Cooperative Extension experiences and leadership skills,” said Mark Lagrimini, vice provost for research and extension. “Katherine is known for her innovative, collaborative, and strengths-based leadership. She cares deeply about improving lives and working environments for her unit, her community and ANR.”
Soule earned her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, Athens in 2013 and became the UCCE youth, families and communities advisor for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. In 2017, she accepted an additional appointment as UCCE director for these counties. She was elected as UC ANR's Academic Assembly Council president for a two-year term ending in June 2020.
"As the assistant vice provost of Cooperative Extension, I look forward to supporting the development and successes of new and existing county directors,” Soule said. “I hope to promote collaborative, cross-county communication, while focusing on identifying and meeting the needs of county directors across the division. We are all most effective when we learn from and support one another, so I look forward to connecting with academics, county directors, ANR leadership and other UC ANR personnel in this new role."
Choe, Dara and IPM team honored by Pacific Branch of ESA
UC ANR scientists Dong-Hwan Choe, Surendra Dara, David Haviland and Jhalendra Rijal received awards for their exemplary work from the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. The PBESA presented its annual awards on April 20, at a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Choe, UCCE specialist in the UC Riverside Department of Entomology, won the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology Award.
“Since joining the faculty at UC Riverside in 2011, [Choe] has developed an outstanding research and extension program dealing with the major urban structural pests and related issues in the western United States,” wrote Mike Rust, UC Riverside entomology professor, in his nomination letter.
His research includes exploiting the role of semiochemicals and behavior to control social insects and developing novel ant baits.
“Dr. Choe has been at the forefront of developing hydrogels as carriers of baits to control ants and yellowjackets. Developing cost-effective and environmentally safe delivery strategies has always been a major problem facing the use of ant baits in agriculture and urban setting. His pioneering biodegradable alginate beads promise to be a major advancement,” Rust wrote.
Choe also participates in workshops for agricultural pest control advisers, UC Master Gardeners and urban pest control operators.
Dara, UC Cooperative Extension entomology and biologicals advisor for San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, won the Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management.
This annual award recognizes individuals who made outstanding contributions in research and outreach in the area of IPM. Dara's new IPM model has been well-received and its impact has been documented in a UC Delivers story. Dara is the first UC ANR scientist to receive this award and fourth from UC since the Pacific Branch began offering awards in this category in 2009.
The UC IPM Almond Pest Management Alliance Team won the Entomology Team Work Award. The team consists of UC IPM advisors David Haviland and Jhalendra Rijal, former UCCE advisor Emily Symmes, UCCE Kern County staff research associate Stephanie Rill, industry researcher Bradly Higbee of Trécé, USDA scientist Charles Burkes and Bob Curtis of the Almond Board of California.
The team encouraged the adoption of mating disruption for managing navel orangeworm, a major pest in almond orchards, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. After they began demonstrating that mating disruption proved to be an economical pest control method in orchards, they saw a rapid rise in growers adopting the technology. Based on a survey of pest control advisers and growers conducted in the early 2019, the anticipated use of navel orangeworm mating disruption for the 2019 season in San Joaquin Valley was 32%, as opposed to the 7% adoption in 2017. Kern County data showed a 26% countywide increase in the adoption of mating disruption from 2017-2018.
For more than a decade, the team conducted research on navel orangeworm, spider mites, leaffooted bug and ants that laid the groundwork for IPM adoption. For the past three years, the team put these IPM practices on display using nine demonstration orchards across the San Joaquin Valley as part of CDPR Pest Management Alliance and Almond Board of California grants.
The UC IPM Almond Pest Management Alliance Team received an award in February from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and California Environmental Protection Agency
Three UC Davis faculty members were also selected for prestigious awards: Lynn Kimsey, Walter Leal and Robert Kimsey.
The Pacific Branch covers provinces/states in Canada, U.S. and Mexico on the Pacific Coast.
Names in the News
Ingram named forest stewardship education academic coordinator
Kim Ingram is now an academic coordinator for forest stewardship education as of Nov. 18, 2019. She is also a trainer for UC ANR's Collaborative Facilitation Skills workshop and is involved with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Prior to working with UCCE advisor Susie Kocher in forest stewardship education, Ingram had been an academic human resources business partner in UC ANR's Human Resources, leading academic recruitments, analyzing data and managing the academic merit and promotion process since 2015. From 2008 to 2015, Ingram was a community education specialist for the UC Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project and Sierra Nevada Watershed Ecosystem Enhancement Project. She planned, managed and implemented collaborations between UC, agencies, local communities and stakeholders, developed training curriculum and facilitated meetings, workshops and events related to forestry and fire issues in the Sierra Nevada. She was also an instructor of record for the California Naturalist Program and published a “Natural History of the Sierra Nevada” for use in California Naturalist Program trainings.
Ingram earned a master's degree in education, adult education and training from Colorado State University. She also holds a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in environmental ethics from Humboldt State University.
Ingram is based in Davis and can be reached at kcingram@ucanr.edu.
Tomich elected AAAS fellow
Thomas Tomich has been named as a fellow of the American Association for theAdvancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society.
Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis and UC ANR's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP), is among 443 new AAAS fellows elected this year.
Tomich is being recognized for "extraordinary contributions to generating sustainable solutions to global food system security through environmental science, effective policy, and collaborative research partnerships with underdeveloped economies globally."
His research spans agriculture and farming systems, economic development, food policy, and natural resource management. His publications include Transforming Agrarian Economies: Opportunities Seized, Opportunities Missed (1995); Environmental Services and Land Use Change: Bridging the Gap between Policy and Research in Southeast Asia (2004); Ecosystems and Human Wellbeing: A Manual for Assessment Practitioners (2010); The California Nitrogen Assessment: Challenges and Solutions for People, Agriculture, and the Environment (2016), and Agricultural Research for Rural Prosperity: Rethinking the Pathways, a special issue of the journal Agricultural Systems (2019).
The new fellows will be formally recognized on Feb. 15, 2020, at the AAAS annual meeting in Seattle.
ESA honors Dara for extension work
Surendra Dara, UC Cooperative Extension entomology and biologicals advisor for San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, has received the 2019 Distinguished Achievement Award for Extension from the Entomological Society of America.
Dara addresses pest and disease issues of small fruits and vegetables with conventional and biological options, and finds alternative uses for entomopathogenic fungi as biofungicides and biostimulants. His research and extension program develops innovative solutions for sustainable crop production and protection, and he reaches out to the agricultural community locally, regionally and internationally.
As a volunteer, Dara has provided training in integrated pest management and crop production to farmers in Bangladesh, Haiti, Kosovo, Moldova, Mozambique, and Myanmar, and to visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Colombia.
Dara earned a Ph.D. in entomology from Virginia Tech and a postgraduate diploma in applied information technology from Information Technology Institute, Canada. He has nearly 25 years of experience in IPM and microbial control, working on 17 species of invasive pests and diseases and several endemic species throughout his career. He has authored or co-authored 350 scientific and extension articles, which include three co-edited books, one co-edited special issue of a journal, 13 book chapters and 50 peer-reviewed journal articles.
He serves on various committees at the University of California, the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, the Entomological Society of America, and the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists. He also publishes two e-journals and is a subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology. Dara was recently featured as a Western Innovator by Capital Press for his work in biologicals.
ESA presented him with the award at Entomology 2019 Nov. 19 in St. Louis, Mo.
UC ANR visits the Capitol
UC ANR Day at the Capitol was held on March 26, 2019, to update California legislators and legislative staff on UC ANR's research and outreach projects. Vice President Glenda Humiston and a UC ANR delegation discussed a wide variety of topics during the legislative visits, including wildfire and forest health, water quality, youth development, nutrition and climate adaptation.
Every year, representatives from each UC campus gather in Sacramento for UC Day at the Capitol to educate lawmakers about the importance of research and higher education and their contributions to California's economy and progress. Although UC ANR participates in the annual Ag Day at the Capitol, this was the first UC ANR Day at the Capitol.
ANR's Global Food Initiative fellow Maci Mueller set up appointments with the policymakers and coordinated the UC ANR delegation to explain the value of investment in UC ANR research and outreach.
The UC ANR delegation consisted of two teams led by Humiston and Wendy Powers, associate vice president. The teams included Faith Kearns, California Institute for Water Resources academic coordinator; Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UC Cooperative Extension small farms advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties; Tracy Schohr, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resource advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Butte counties; Alena Pacheco, 4-H community education specialist in Fresno County; Bailey Butler, Oroville 4-H member; and El Dorado County 4-H Ambassadors Emily Ferrell, Josie Rothman and Isabella Veffredo, who were accompanied by El Dorado County 4-H program representatives Vera Bullard and Denise Veffredo.
“As a team, we were able to connect with every member or staffer that we met,” Powers wrote in her ANR Adventures blog. “Sometimes it was around the 4-H program, and what the program has done for our impressive team members, sometimes it was around fire or water, and other staffers or members were particularly interested in moringa. Either way, the goal was to make a connection so that each visit left an impression.”
“UC ANR Day was a terrific opportunity for 4-H members to practice their communication skills and get involved in advocacy at the state level,” Mueller said.
Oroville 4-H member Bailey described for legislators and their staff how she worked from Nov. 8 when the Camp Fire broke out until after Christmas with UC Cooperative Extension advisor Tracy Schohr and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine staff to care for 1,200 evacuated livestock and to train others to assist. Emily, a 4-H Ambassador in El Dorado County, said her 4-H experience with STEM activities and leadership training helped her get into the university of her choice – UC Santa Barbara.
The teams visited a total of 17 offices including state senators Cathleen Galgiani (Senate Agriculture Committee chair), Hannah-Beth Jackson, Brian Jones, Connie Leyva, Mike McGuire, Holly J. Mitchell, Jim Nielsen and Scott Wilk and assemblymembers Brian Dahle, Susan Talamantes Eggman (Assembly Agriculture Committee chair), Heath Flora, Laura Friedman, Monique Limon, Jose Medina, Jay Obernolte, Robert Rivas and Jim Wood.
Greeted warmly by each office, the teams shared examples of work being done by UC ANR in their districts, offered them assistance and thanked the legislators for their support. They left a copy of the UC ANR Snapshot, UC ANR map and overview, a 4-H fact sheet and UC at a Glance.
Legislators praised the 4-H members and UC ANR staff for the work they do for Californians.
“I look forward to making UC ANR Day at the Capitol an annual event,” Humiston said. “Telling people about the value of ANR's work is not only part of our mission, it is essential in educating others about all that we accomplish with the resources we have.”
A fact sheet showing the effects of shrinking public investment in the University of California and agricultural research can be downloaded at https://ucanr.edu/sites/Professional_Development/files/302896.pdf.
Sean Hogan, IGIS academic coordinator, talks drones with Assemblymember Devon Mathis.
Names in the News
Coyne named Master Gardener volunteer engagement coordinator
Marisa Coyne is now the academic coordinator - volunteer engagement for UC Master Gardener Program as of April 8. Coyne joined the Program after serving as a part-time community education specialist for the 4-H Youth Development Program with UCCE Marin County since September 2018.
“Marisa is filling a new full-time position and we are delighted to have her as part of the UC Master Gardener community,” said Missy Gable, director of the UC Master Gardener Program.
Coyne will strengthen and further the work of the Program by enhancing professional development opportunities, collaborating with UC ANR academics to ensure successful volunteer-academic partnerships, and sharing stories of UC Master Gardener volunteers' many accomplishments and successes. She is passionate about creating opportunities for community members to commit to lifelong stewardship of land and water in California.
Originally from Philadelphia, she has worked in rural, urban and peri-urban communities and in food, agriculture and wilderness spaces, providing interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, educational opportunities for learners of all ages. From the California coast to the Driftless Area of Wisconsin to the forests of Connecticut, she has designed and delivered outdoor experiences for thousands of learners, specialized in development of emerging leaders and in promoting inclusive organizational change. Her graduate work at UC Davis in the Community and Regional Development Program focused on issues of equity in sustainable agriculture education. She earned a M.S. in community development from UC Davis and a B.A. in communications from Temple University.
Coyne is located in the ANR building in Davis in workstation 102B and can be reached at macoyne@ucanr.edu or (530) 750-1394.
Hollingsworth named UCCE nutrient management and soil quality advisor
Joy Hollingsworth joined UC Cooperative Extension as a nutrient management and soil quality advisor serving Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties on April 1. She had worked as a staff research associate at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) since 2015.
As a staff research associate at KARE, Hollingsworth assisted in the management of drought and variety studies in the field, greenhouse and lab on both forage and grain sorghum. She organized trials, collected growth and development data, coordinated field activities with research station staff, supervised work crews at KARE and WSREC, and operated harvest equipment such as forage chopper and small plot combine. Prior to her work as an SRA at KARE, Hollingsworth was a junior specialist in the UC Davis Plant Science Department, conducting agronomic field trials for canola, camelina, sugarbeets and castor, including variety, salinity, irrigation and nitrogen trials located throughout California.
Hollingsworth earned a M.S. in plant science from Fresno State. Her thesis project was conducted at the UC West Side Research and Extension Center and compared overhead irrigation to subsurface drip in conservation tillage cotton. She earned a B.A. in communication from UC Davis.
Hollingsworth is based in Fresno and can be reached at (559) 241-7527 and joyhollingsworth@ucanr.edu.
Nobua-Behrmann named UCCE urban forestry and natural resources advisor
Beatriz Nobua-Behrmann is now a UC Cooperative Extension urban forestry and natural resources advisor serving Orange and Los Angeles counties, effective March 25. Nobua-Behrmann first joined ANR in 2017 as a staff research associate in Orange County.
As a staff research associate for UCCE Orange County, Nobua-Behrmann provided management and direction to conduct a significant research and extension program focused on critical invasive pests, mainly insects, impacting urban landscapes and wildlands surrounding urbanized environments. The main focus of the program is to conduct surveys of infestations in regional parks and associated open spaces in order to develop management strategies that are efficacious and economically feasible. She also coordinated research and extension activities conducted by UC Riverside faculty and UCCE specialists on pest-related issues impacting these same environments.
She completed a doctorate and a B.S in biology from Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina and is fluent in Spanish.
Nobua-Behrmann is based at South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine and can be reached at (949) 301-9182, Ext. 1006 and benobua@ucanr.edu.
Tompkins named forestry and natural resources advisor
Ryan Tompkins joined UC Cooperative Extension as a forestry and natural resources advisor on March 18, serving Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties. Prior to joining UCCE, Tompkins held forester positions for the past 16 years with the U.S. Forest Service, worked in the fire effects program with the National Park Service and served as associate faculty in the Environmental Studies Department at Feather River College teaching forest ecology and management.
Most recently, Tompkins served as the forest silviculturist and vegetation program manager at the Plumas National Forest, where he designed, planned and implemented landscape-scale forest restoration projects.
Tompkins earned master's and bachelor's degrees in forestry from UC Berkeley.
Based in Quincy, Tompkins can be reached at (530) 83-6125, retompkins@ucanr.edu.
Nelson joins ANR as climate stewards initiative academic coordinator
Sarah-Mae Nelson joined ANR as the UC climate stewards initiative academic coordinator on Feb. 19. She is an educator, science communicator and climate change communication specialist who draws on her background and interest in interpretation at informal science education centers.
Prior to joining ANR, she worked for the Monterey Bay Aquarium from 2006 to 2017 in various roles, including guest experience interpreter, climate change interpretive specialist, and conservation interpreter and online community manager for ClimateInterpreter.org. A charter member of the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change and Interpretation, Nelson is part of the leadership team that trains new communicators in research-proven, climate change strategic framing communications. For her master's work, she established curriculum for an interdisciplinary Climate Change Studies minor at UC San Diego. In 2015, she was recognized by President Obama as a Champion of Change in Climate Education and Literacy.
She earned an M.S. in climate science and policy from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and a B.S. in marine biology from UC Santa Cruz.
Nelson is based in Half Moon Bay and can be reached at (408) 482-4633 and smanelson@ucanr.edu.
Gross named UCCE aquaculture specialist
Jackson Gross joined UCCE on Aug. 14, as an aquaculture specialist. His current research program aims to be at the forefront of environmental and production sustainability and ecological integrity. To achieve this vision, his research is focused into three distinct, yet overlapping applied research themes: aquaculture, invasion biology and environmental/ecological toxicology. This research usually addresses data gaps and provides scientific solutions, determined through rigorous experimentation, meeting the immediate biological and engineering needs of the aquaculture industry and natural resource community. His research is historically a mix of laboratory and field experimentation. However, there are many times where the research is not exclusively one or the other, but instead, a blend where controlled laboratory experimentation is brought into the field. Other areas of interest include aquaponic production systems.
Prior to joining UCCE, Gross worked at a private engineering firm evaluating the effects of anthropogenic activity on aquatic resources.
Gross earned a Ph.D. in animal sciences (endocrine and reproductive physiology minor) at University of Wisconsin - Madison. He completed a M.S. in public health (toxicology emphasis) and a B.S. in biology (zoology emphasis) from San Diego State University.
Gross is based in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis and can be reached at 2117 Meyer Hall, (530) 752-2978 and jagross@ucdavis.edu.
NAS elects Ronald and Zilberman as members
The National Academy of Sciences announced April 30 the election of 100 new members and 25 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Forty percent of the newly elected members are women—the most ever elected in any one year to date.
Pamela Ronald, professor and geneticist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology and Genome Center, and David Zilberman, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist and professor of agricultural and resources economics at UC Berkeley, are among the new members.
Ronald researches genes that control disease resistance and tolerance to environmental stress in rice, one of the world's most important crops. She is known for engineering flood-tolerant rice, for which she and her colleagues received the USDA 2008 National Research Discovery Award.
Zilberman is one of the most cited scholars in agricultural, environmental and resource economics. During the 1980s, his work served as the basis for several projects on the adoption of modern irrigation technology and computers in California agriculture. These studies demonstrated that farmers adopt new technologies when it makes economic sense and that extreme events, such as droughts or high prices, can trigger changes in farming practices. During the early 1990s, his research on pesticide economics and policy made the case against policies that called to ban pesticides, and advocated instead for policies that take advantage of the vast economic benefits that pesticides generate while using incentives to protect against environmental side effects. In January, Zilberman was awarded the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture in recognition of his work developing economic models for fundamental problems in agriculture, economics and policy.
Dahlquist-Willard and Pathak honored by CalCAN
Two UC Cooperative Extension scientists were recognized for their contributions to the field of agriculture and climate change at the California Climate & Agriculture Summit at UC Davis on March 5, 2019.
CalCAN presented the leadership award for agricultural professional to Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UC Cooperative Extension small farms advisor in Fresno and Tulare counties.
Dahlquist-Willard helps keep small-scale, diversified farmers in business by providing support with marketing, regulatory compliance, processing of value-added products, water and energy efficiency, and integrated pest management. She has been a driving force behind increasing access by Hmong farmers in the Fresno area to California's State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). Dahlquist-Willard has promoted the program, provided thousands of hours of one-on-one, culturally relevant support to farmers on grant applications, and assisted with project design and installation. The farmers she has supported are now benefiting from water, energy and financial savings.
"There are large environmental problems to solve in the Central Valley, and it's time for a different conversation around farming there," Dahlquist-Willard said. "I feel that there needs to be a conversation in the middle to solve problems rather than a conflict-based approach."
The leadership award for researcher was presented to Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist for climate adaptation in agriculture, based at UC Merced.
Pathak is the chair of the UC Cooperative Extension Climate Change Adaptation Workgroup, which brings together scientists across the UC system to collaborate on research and extension projects related to climate change adaptation in California agriculture. Pathak is the lead author on an important and timely paper that was published in 2018 in the journal Agronomy. It synthesizes the impacts of climate change on California agriculture and offers directions for future research and implementation.
"We need more facilitated dialog with policy researchers and scientists on the science of climate change, and the implications of not taking action," Pathak said. "Given the scale of California agriculture and the pressure of climate change impacts, we need even more substantial funding for incentives for farmers and for research and tools, and we must integrate growers from the beginning of the process."
The summit, organized by CalCAN, brought together some of the state's foremost experts in agriculture — including farmers, agriculture professionals, researchers, advocates and policymakers — to grapple with the challenges of climate change and share knowledge about the opportunities facing the industry.
Mitloehner wins Borlaug CAST Communication Award
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) named UC Davis animal scientist Frank Mitloehner the 2019 Borlaug CAST Communication Award recipient. Mitloehner, a professor and UC Cooperative Extension air quality specialist in the Department of Animal Science, is the 10th recipient of this award.
“I'm honored to be selected by CAST, an organization I've long admired, and to be in the company of so many recipients who have inspired me during my career,” Mitloehner said. “Being recognized with the Borlaug CAST Communication Award is not only a high honor, it's an affirmation of the importance of sharing research and academic pursuits well beyond labs, classrooms and universities.”
CAST bestows the award annually to a nominated expert in the agricultural, environmental or food sectors. The nominee must show remarkable communication skills through various types of media with the purpose of advancing science in the public policy sector.
Mitloehner's nominators state he reaches beyond academia to inform experts and various members of the public around the globe about animal agriculture's influence on greenhouse gas emissions. His goal is to change societal views about the influence of animals on our climate through various channels of communication.
“His involvement as a communicator and scientist at the national and global levels has put him and his message in a strategic position to share and influence policy,” said one of Mitloehner's nominators.
Numerous like-minded agencies and institutions have reached out for his guidance on timely and relevant issues regarding animal agriculture's impacts on air quality, including chairing a committee for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Since he joined UC Davis in 2002, Mitloehner has amassed more than 800 presentations focused on animal agriculture through various speaking events such as conferences and professional meetings. He has contributed to national news stories published by CNN, PBS, Newsweek, The Washington Post and other media outlets.
Mitloehner does not shy away from social media either. He began tweeting with the handle @GHGGuru in April 2018 and his Twitter account has more than 7,000 followers. In late 2018, Mitloehner launched GHG Guru Blog, a personal website with the goal of delivering the “latest, most accurate research” focused on the intersection between animal agriculture and the climate.
“Science for science's sake has no role in making our world more sustainable,” Mitloehner said. “Sharing what we know — and backing it up with facts — leads to discussions and solutions,” Mitloehner said.
The Borlaug CAST Communication Award is sponsored by the CropLife Foundation. CAST announced the 2019 BCCA recipient at the USDA Whitten Patio in Washington, D.C., on April 16.
The award will be presented held during a side event at the World Food Prize Symposium on Oct. 16. – UC Davis
Fung and Staskawicz elected Royal Society members
The Royal Society of London, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, announced their newest fellows and foreign members April 16, among them two UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources faculty.
The newly-elected CNR foreign members are climate scientist Inez Fung and plant biologist Brian Staskawicz. Fung and Staskawicz are among 51 new fellows, 10 new foreign members and one new honorary member.
“Over the course of the Royal Society's vast history, it is our fellowship that has remained a constant thread and the substance from which our purpose has been realized: to use science for the benefit of humanity,” said society president Venki Ramakrishnan. “This year's newly elected Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society embody this, being drawn from diverse fields of enquiry – epidemiology, geometry, climatology — at once disparate, but also aligned in their pursuit and contributions of knowledge about the world in which we live. It is with great honor that I welcome them as Fellows of the Royal Society.”
The learned society dates from 1660 and today is the U.K.'s national science academy and a fellowship of some 1,600 of the world's most eminent scientists.
Fung, a professor of earth and planetary science and of environmental science, policy and management, models the processes that maintain and alter the composition of the atmosphere and, hence, the climate.
Staskawicz, a professor of plant and microbial biology and a co-director of the Innovative Genomics Institute, studies plants' innate immunity with the goal of engineering disease resistance in agricultural crops.
UCPath paychecks to start Oct. 1
The systemwide UCPath Steering Committee has decided the new launch date for UCPath at UC ANR, UC Davis and UC Davis Health will be Oct. 1, with cutover activities happening in September.
The decision for UC ANR to launch UCPath on Oct. 1 comes on the heels of a smooth transition to UCPath at UC Berkeley over the last month. UC ANR's project team continues to work closely with their counterparts at UC Berkeley and other UC locations to collect lessons learned and best practices to prepare for our transition.
“I would like to express my gratitude to our UC ANR colleagues across the state who continue to maintain UC ANR's readiness to cut over to UCPath,” said Tu M. Tran, associate vice president, business operations.
The UC ANR team is using the extra time to review our readiness and focus on training and transition activities. We will continue to share information as we approach the new target go-live date.