Posts Tagged: Development and Gifts
Donors dig deep to give UC ANR $99,000 for Big Dig Day
BIG congratulations! Together we raised over $99,000 in new support across the state with our second annual Big Dig Day campaign. This is an increase of more than three times the individual giving tally from last year. In these unprecedented times, this show of support demonstrates the impact UC ANR is having in our communities and the value that donors place on our work.
More than $82,000 of support was designated to 50 counties and research and extension centers. We received 843 gifts from 738 donors.
We thank all of our donors for their participation, which extends our reach and helps us fulfill our mission for a healthier California. Please view our thank you video and share it with your contacts!
The following are the top recipients of Big Dig donations.
Top 5 counties:
1. San Luis Obispo
2. Sonoma
3. Contra Costa
4. Orange
5. Sacramento
Top 5 programs:
1. UC Master Gardeners
2. California 4-H
3. UC ANR
4. UCCE
5. California Naturalists
Find your 2020 gift reports by county and by program at https://ucdavis.box.com/s/opup3bdtb98nrntqzzxs6s5pjb6h3b6r.
Happy McGivins thanks you for sharing your Dig Deep messages! With several outstanding entries in these counties, Happy is sending gift cards to these winners!
1. Lauren Hull, UC Master Gardeners
2. Ventura County, 4-H
3. Stanislaus County, MG
4. San Mateo/San Francisco, 4-H
UC ANR supporters give over $85,000 on #GivingTuesday
Thanks to everyone who participated, UC ANR's #GivingTuesday campaign was a tremendous success.
“We surpassed our goal of $60,000, raising $85,168,” said Mary Maffly Ciricillo, director of Annual Giving and Individual Gifts. “This is close to a 24 percent increase over last year's Giving Tuesday total of $68,322.”
As an added incentive to potential donors, ANR received over $37,000 in donations toward match challenge funds supporting all of UC ANR programs.
The California 4-H Foundation alone brought in over $32,000. Compared to 2016, there was a 250 percent increase in giving to UC ANR programs – including Master Gardeners, Master Food Preservers, IPM, the REC System, and county offices – totaling over $15,000.
The number of gifts received also rose, from 224 gifts in 2016 to 318 gifts this year. “We even received a gift designated to urban horticulture!” Ciricillo said.
In addition to raising money, the #GivingTuesday social media campaign helped raise the visibility of ANR programs. The Master Gardener Program team made a video of the unselfies posted on social media by their supporters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xI_tVcNhBcQ.
“We appreciate everyone's cooperation in this fundraising effort and hope we can continue to build on our success for the next #GivingTuesday,” Ciricillo said. “These private funds will help us expand UC ANR's reach.”
Below is a list of funds donors selected to receive Giving Tuesday their gifts:
ANR - Master Gardener Annual Giving Fund |
Alameda County Master Gardener Endowment Fund |
Elkus Ranch Fund |
San Mateo - 4-H Program - Various Donors |
Statewide Master Gardener Endowment Fund |
Sacramento County UCCE - Master Gardener Fund |
Los Angeles County UCCE Fund |
Orange County UCCE Fund |
El Dorado County UCCE - Rangeland Fund |
San Mateo/San Francisco UCCE - Master Gardener Fund |
ANR - Giving Tuesday Match Fund |
San Mateo County UCCE - MG Greenhouse |
KREC - Kearney REC - Fund |
SFREC - Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center Fund |
Sonoma County UCCE - Citizen Science Projects |
"urban horticulture" |
Los Angeles County UCCE - Master Gardeners |
LREC - Lindove Field Station |
El Dorado County UCCE - Master Gardeners - Various Dnrs |
San Mateo/SF UCCE - Master Food Preserver |
Fresno County UCCE |
4-H Undesignated |
"REC System" |
Riverside County UCCE - Master Gardeners |
Sutter-Yuba Counties UCCE - Master Gardeners |
Merced County UCCE - Master Gardener Fund |
UC California Naturalist Program |
Ventura County UCCE - Master Gardener Fund |
HREC - Hopland REC - Fund |
"Marin Master Gardeners Opportunity Fund" |
IPM - Program Fund |
4-H Foundation UC Donor Funds |
DREC - Desert REC FARM SMART Fund |
Merced County Agriculture Extension and Research Endowment |
Alameda County UCCE - Master Gardeners |
UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County |
Orange County UCCE - Master Food Preserver Fund |
Kern - 4-H Program - Various Donors |
Colusa County UCCE - Master Gardener Program |
Central Sierra - UCCE |
Ventura County UCCE Fund |
"Ventura County Master Gardeners" |
San Joaquin County UCCE - Master Gardener Fund |
ANR - California Naturalist Scholarship Fund |
Statewide Program - Nutrition, Family and Consumer Sciences Program |
ANR Informatics and GIS Fund |
Nutrition Policy Institute General Fund |
Plumas County UCCE - Project Learning Tree |
ANR - Master Food Preservers Fund |
California Institute for Water Resources |
San Mateo County UCCE Fund |
Santa Barbara County 4-H - Various Donors |
Contra Costa County UCCE Fund |
UC ANR recruits for final round of UCCE positions approved in 2014
UC ANR is in its sixth and final round of hiring for Cooperative Extension advisor and specialist positions released in December 2014. The 43 positions were released for recruitment in phases over time to enable Human Resources to accomplish the search and hiring process in an orderly fashion and to allow leadership to evaluate ANR's resources on a real-time basis, deal with unexpected changes in staffing and address unanticipated issues as they arise.
Round 6 (Fall 2016)
- Area Desert Livestock Advisor (Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino)
- Area Forestry & Natural Resources Advisor (Sutter-Yuba, Butte, Nevada)
- Area Livestock & Range Advisor (Ventura, Santa Barbara)
- Area Dairy Systems Advisor (Sonoma, Marin, Mendocino)
- Biometeorology Specialist (College of Agricultural and Environmental Science, UC Davis)
For the 2016 call for UCCE positions, Program Council has reviewed the 138 positions proposed and forwarded its recommendations to VP Glenda Humiston, who will announce in December the future rounds of hiring. The approved positions will be announced in ANR Update.
To see the 2016 Call for Positions and the review process, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Divisionwide_Planning/2016_Call_for_Position.
UCANR raises funds and visibility on #GivingTuesday
On Nov. 29, ANR is participating in #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fueled by the power of our social network. Celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season.
“We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to raise some funds for our ANR programs while raising the visibility of the ways Californians benefit from your work,” said VP Glenda Humiston.
It's as simple as a tweeting a photo with “What are you thankful for? Take part in #GivingTuesday today to give back to your community! #UCANReach @ucanr http://ucanr.edu/sites/GivingTuesday.”
You don't use social media? No problem, email your friends. They probably wonder what you do for work. Tell them what your role is in this magnificent organization that's making life better for Californians and invite them to support our efforts by donating, sharing our message or volunteering.
A website has been created with links to all of ANR's programs, Research and Extension Centers and extension offices: http://ucanr.edu/sites/givingtuesday. It invites donors to designate the program or location to which they wish to donate.
The website also contains a toolkit for county offices and programs to participate. It includes:
- A customizable letter to send to stakeholders
- Templates for “unselfies.” Donors may take photos of themselves holding an unselfie sign and share on social media how they are giving.
- Sample tweets and social media posts
- Sample thank you note
“#GivingTuesday is a wonderful opportunity to gain support, donations, increase awareness and generate a buzz about UC ANR and all of our programs,” said Missy Gable, UC Master Gardener Program director.
“We are excited to be participating in the movement this year and hopeful that the results will be even better than the success we saw in 2015,” she said. “UC Master Gardener volunteers are passionate about how we serve our communities and the incredible impacts we are making. #GivingTuesday is a great opportunity to highlight the impacts we are making, build relationships and thank those who have supported us along the way.”
The UC Master Gardener #GivingTuesday website is at http://mg.ucanr.edu/Support/GivingTuesday.
4-H also has its own website http://4h.ucanr.edu/GivingTuesday. Last year, 4-H programs in 17 counties participated.
“Our goal for 4-H was to raise $10,000 and we exceeded our goal with donations totaling over $13,000,” said Andrea Ambrose, acting director of Development Services. “UCCE Placer County collected the largest amount for the 4-H Youth Development Program. We'll see which county collects the most this year.”
Although not as widely recognized as the shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday appeals to people swept up in the spirit of giving at the end of the year.
“By joining the #GivingTuesday campaign, people involved in all ANR programs will have an opportunity to supplement their funding with private donations and have some fun,” said Ambrose.
Names in the News
Batista joins ANR as 4-H advisor
Tara Batista joined UCCE as an area 4-H youth development advisor for Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties on Oct. 3.
Prior to joining UCCE, Batista was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and International Business at Stetson University in Florida from 2013 to May 2016. Batista has 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and positive youth development. She has worked for the Southeastern Network for Youth and Family Services, Girl Scouts, the U.S. Dream Academy and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Batista has also designed, implemented and evaluated youth development programs in Chimaltenango, Guatemala; Vieques, Puerto Rico; Oxford, U.K.; Bogota and Barranquilla, Colombia; Pinellas Park and DeLand, Fla.; New York City and Providence, R.I. She is currently president of Run 4 a Cause Foundation, which helps youth in central Florida to participate in sports outside of school time.
Batista earned a Ph.D. in social enterprise administration and an M.Phil. in social work from Columbia University. She completed a M.Sc. in evidence-based social intervention at the University of Oxford. She also earned a B.B.A in international business and a B.A. in Spanish from Stetson University.
Batista is based in Hanford and can be reached at (559) 852-2739 and tabatista@ucanr.edu.
Culumber named Fresno County nut advisor
Catherine Mae Culumber joined UCCE on June 30 as a nut crops advisor for Fresno County.
Culumber has engaged in a broad range of research disciplines, investigating the impacts of land management on plants and soils in agricultural, forest and range ecosystems. Completed in 2016, her Ph.D. dissertation described the effects of novel orchard floor management approaches on soil health, water use, tree root distribution and tree growth in stone fruit orchards. Her graduate work, conducted in collaboration with the USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Lab, characterized the phylogenetic structure of native grass populations used for grazing and range restoration in the western U.S.
She earned a Ph.D. in soil science and M.S. in ecology from Utah State University, and a B.S. in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Based in Fresno, Culumber can be reached at (559) 241-7526 and cmculumber@ucanr.edu.
Follow her on Twitter at @ucnutadvisor.
Martins joins ANR as dairy advisor
Joao Paulo Martins joined UCCE on Aug. 1 as a dairy advisor in Tulare and Kings counties.
Martins, who goes by the nickname JP, was a private veterinarian for a year in Brazil, then worked as a research assistant and laboratory manager in the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. His research relates to herd health, reproductive management, cattle breeding, synchronization of ovulation, in vitro fertilization, and superovulation in commercial beef and dairy cows. He has expertise in ultrasonography for ovarian morphology, pregnancy diagnoses, fetal sexing and oocyte pick-up.
During his youth, the Rio de Janeiro native worked on his family's dairy farm in the Brazilian dairy state of Minas Gerais.
Martins earned a DVM degree from Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Niterói, RJ, Brazil, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in animal science from Michigan State University.
Based in Tulare, Martins can be reached at (559) 684-3313 and jpmartins@ucanr.edu.
Putman named UCCE plant pathology specialist
Alex Putman joined UC ANR on April 1 as an assistant specialist in Cooperative Extension and assistant plant pathologist in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at UC Riverside.
Prior to joining ANR, Putman was a postdoctoral researcher based in Salinas for the Department of Plant Pathology at UC Davis from 2014 to 2016.
Putman focuses on diseases challenging vegetable and strawberry production, especially disease caused by soilborne fungi such as Athelia, Fusarium, Macrophomina, Sclerotinia, Stromatinia and Verticillium. To understand these diseases, his program will integrate various research approaches that could include cropping systems, epidemiology, host resistance, pathogen biology, remote sensing or soil ecology.
He earned a Ph.D. in plant pathology from North Carolina State University, an M.S. in agronomy from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. in natural resource sciences from the University of Maryland.
Putman is based in Riverside and can be reached at (951) 827-4212 and alexander.putman@ucr.edu. Follow him on Twitter @VeggiePathUCR.
Robinson named Money Talks coordinator
Derrick Robinson joined ANR on Aug. 1 as an academic coordinator for the Money Talks project.
Prior to joining ANR, Robinson was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Economics and Geography at University of North Florida for a year. He developed and instructed courses in economics on principles of microeconomics, macroeconomics, intermediate microeconomics, conservation of natural resources, economic geography and business statistics. From 2014 to 2015, Robinson developed and taught a course in agribusiness, entrepreneurship and ag-policy analysis at Tuskegee University. At Auburn University, he worked on community-based research with local Sea Grant offices as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collegiate fellow from 2011 to 2015. From 2009 to 2011, he was a project manager for the University of North Florida Environmental Center, where he organized programs for the campus community and surrounding regional community.
Robinson earned a B.S. in communication: electronic media and a B.A. in economics from University of North Florida, and his Ph.D. in applied economics from Auburn University.
Based in San Diego, Robinson can be reached at (858) 822-7679 and dearobinson@ucanr.edu.
Sizensky joins NPI and communications
Liz Sizensky has joined the Strategic Communications team in Davis and the Nutrition Policy Institute in Berkeley as a communications strategist. She brings extensive experience managing digital and print projects. Prior to joining ANR, she served nine years at UC Berkeley, where she led web and print projects that increased awareness of the research and initiatives of the School of Public Health, SafeTREC, the Division of Student Affairs, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Before UC Berkeley, she spent eight years overseeing websites and marketing communications for Silicon Valley technology companies including Netscape, HP and VeriSign. She is known for translating complex ideas into clear and engaging communications that educate, inform and inspire readers.
She earned a B.A. with honors in English from Mills College in Oakland.
Sizensky can be reached at (530) 750-1272 in Davis on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at easizensky@ucanr.edu.
Caprile wins IPM Achievement Award
Janet Caprile, UCCE advisor for Contra Costa and Alameda counties, and the Contra Costa County Agriculture Department have been awarded a 2016 IPM Achievement Award by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation for their cherry buckskin project.
Cherry buckskin disease has wiped out cherry production in several areas of California since it was first reported in 1931. In the 1980s, the disease became established in San Joaquin County. To prevent the establishment of the disease in neighboring Contra Costa County, a collaborative effort among UC Cooperative Extension, the county agriculture department and local cherry growers began in 1987.
Caprile trained UC Master Gardener volunteers to identify cherry buckskin disease symptoms and organized them to help perform an annual survey during harvest. Mid Valley Ag Services covers the cost of lab testing each year. The Master Gardeners and former coordinator Emma Conner first detected infected trees during the 2002 survey.
Caprile informed growers of the disease detection and worked with them to develop an aggressive IPM treatment and eradication program to prevent the establishment of this devastating disease. As a result of these efforts, the disease has been eliminated in Contra Costa County.
The 2016 Achievement Awards will be presented at a ceremony at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on Jan. 26 in Sacramento.
Parker honored for professional service
The Renewable Natural Resources Foundation honored Doug Parker, director of the California Institute for Water Resources, with its Chairman's Award for Professional Service to the foundation.
In announcing the award, Robert D. Day, RNRF executive director, wrote to Parker: “You received the award because of your essential volunteer assistance in developing the program and identifying eminently qualified prospective speakers for RNRF's 2015 Congress on sustaining Wester Water. Plus, you launched the congress with an excellent opening address. We would not have had the program that we did without you.”
Parker is president of the Universities Council on Water Resources, an association of universities and organizations leading in education, research and public service in water resources. As UCOWR president, he serves on the executive council for NIDIS, the National Integrated Drought Information System, which maintains the Drought.gov website at https://www.drought.gov/drought.
The Renewable Natural Resources Foundation (RNRF) is a nonprofit, public policy research organization based in North Bethesda, Md. It is a consortium of scientific, professional, educational, design and engineering organizations whose primary purpose is to advance science, the application of science, and public education in managing and conserving renewable natural resources.
Bird and Hill receive national extension 4-H awards
The National Association of Extension 4-H Agents honored the work of 4-H youth development advisors Marianne Bird and Russell Hill on Oct. 13.
Bird, who serves Sacramento County, received the 2016 NAE4HA Meritorious Service Award. According to the association, Bird received the award because she “loves bringing new learning opportunities to young people, especially in STEM and environmental education.” It also noted that “She works extensively with camps and afterschool programs and enjoys empowering teens-as-teachers. Marianne served on the National 4-H Science in Urban Communities team and fashioned 4-H on the Wild Side, a National 4-H Program of Distinction.”
Hill, who serves Merced, Madera and Mariposa counties, received the NAE4HA Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes outstanding service and dedication to the 4-H youth development profession.
Hill recently celebrated 10 years of service with UC ANR. His prior roles include county 4-H program representative and the director of the 4-H Military Partnership. He is part of the team recently honored by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Cooperative Extension system, and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) with the National Extension Diversity Award for systematically enhancing the intercultural competency of 4-H personnel and others in California.
Bird and Hill received the awards on Oct. 13 at the NAE4HA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Lewis inducted into Pest Management Hall of Fame
Vernard Lewis, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley, was inducted into Pest Management Professional Magazine's 2016 Hall of Fame on Oct. 17 in honor of his 35-year career in pest management. The entomologist focuses on urban pests, including ants, cockroaches and wood-boring beetles, but is best known for his integrated pest management research and outreach on bed bugs and termites.
Saying that he's “had a blast,” Lewis, who joined UC ANR in 1990, told Pest Management Professional that he plans to retire in 2017. He reminisced about doing pest control at San Quentin Prison and building Villa Termiti at the Richmond Field Station to test termite detection and control measures. To read the article, visit http://www.mypmp.net/2016/09/22/pmp-hall-of-fame-2016-inductee-dr-vernard-lewis-reflects-on-career.