Posts Tagged: Janine Hasey
UCCE Sutter-Yuba celebrates 100 years
UC Cooperative Extension in Sutter and Yuba counties is celebrating a century of serving its community.
“Earlier this year, we unexpectedly found two boxes full of our historical records,” said Janine Hasey, director of UCCE Sutter-Yuba counties. “In those boxes were original reports and photos from 1918 through 1959 for both Sutter and Yuba counties.” The counties merged into one UCCE office in 1974 located in Yuba City.
Sutter County administrator Scott Mitnick paid tribute to UCCE in his blog, writing:
“The Community Memorial Museum of Sutter County conducted a great deal of research into the 100-year history of the Agricultural Extension and discovered that the UC Cooperative Extension has been helping to solve agricultural industry problems from its beginnings. They've tested new crops - they abandoned cotton as a failure here in 1926 - conducted demonstrations on proper tree pruning practices, advocated for the establishment of an adequate system of rural roads, and have played pivotal roles in pest management, best irrigation management practices and orchard nutrition. In 1927 they placed bees in almond orchards and yields increased by 158 percent. Varieties developed by the UC Cooperative Extension make up 85 percent of California's walnut industry. Seven years after introducing safflower in 1950, more safflower was grown in Sutter County than any other in the United States.”
With Hougen's assistance, the UCCE Sutter-Yuba staff wrote articles highlighting UCCE's contributions to the local agriculture industry, which Agricultural Commissioners Lisa Herbert of Sutter County and Steve Scheer of Yuba County published in their annual crop reports.
Beginning on page 15, the 2017 Yuba County Crop Report outlines the history of UCCE in the county, starting with the hiring of William Harrison as Yuba County's first UCCE farm advisor on July 1, 1918, then listing a timeline of contributions that resulted in economic benefit to farmers and reduced impacts on the environment.
The first two pages of the 2017 Sutter County Crop and Livestock Report list major contributions of UCCE to the county over the past 100 years, with a sidebar focusing on rice.
“Our partnership goes back to our first farm advisors, who were housed in the same buildings with the ag commissioners in each county,” Hasey said.
UCCE Sutter-Yuba staff invited elected and appointed officials, 4-H and Master Gardener volunteers, farmers, former UCCE employees, UCCE specialists and UC faculty collaborators, commodity board members and others to celebrate the local UCCE centennial Aug. 24 at John Heier Historic Howard House at the foot of the Sutter Buttes.
After dinner, the guests were given an overview of UCCE history by Chris Greer, UCCE area IPM advisor and former UCCE Sutter-Yuba director and former ANR vice provost of Cooperative Extension. David Ramos, UCCE specialist emeritus and former California Walnut Board research director, who started his UC career as an extension assistant in Sutter County in 1959, provided his perspective on UCCE for the past 60 years.
During the event, Hasey was presented a Senate/Assembly Resolution for UCCE Sutter-Yuba by Laura Nicholson, senior district representative for state Senator Jim Nielsen, and Joe Brennan, who represented Assemblymember James Gallagher. Sutter County Supervisor Mat Conant presented Hasey with a resolution on behalf of Sutter County and Andy Vasquez, Jr., chair of the Yuba County Board of Supervisors, and Supervisor Randy Fletcher, presented a Yuba County Proclamation.
“It is recognition of our value to the community that the boards of supervisors in both counties have funded our operating budget for CE for 100 years for a non-mandated program,” Hasey said in her closing remarks. “Back in the 1920s and early 1930s, the Giannini Foundation at UC Berkeley did a six-year study on the value of Cooperative Extension in Sutter County and found it was over $3 million dollars for that time period. I'm not aware of another study that has determined the value of CE to these counties since then. We thank you, Sutter and Yuba supervisors, for supporting CE's operating budgets for 100 years!”
The Marysville Appeal-Democrat's Chris Kaufman interviewed Hasey, Ramos and local 4-H leader Nancy Perkins for an article about UCCE published Sept. 30.
“When I started in Sutter County, Hartley was the leading walnut and all the others in production were varieties that were brought in from Europe and elsewhere,” Ramos told Kaufman. “Today, virtually all the walnut acreage is almost all university-developed. It revolutionized the nature of the industry with higher quality and more production.”
AVP Powers announces 51 proposals invited for competitive and high-reward grants
AVP Wendy Powers announced the letters of intent (LOIs) for which principal investigators have been invited to submit full proposals to ANR's Competitive Grants Program and High-Risk/High-Reward Grants Program. The list of 51 approved projects can be found at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/261626.pdf.
This year ANR received a total of 108 letters of intent — 97 for the Competitive Grants Program and 11 for the High-Risk/High-Reward Grants Program. Strategic Initiative leaders and their respective panels reviewed all letters of intent thoroughly to address the appropriateness of the proposals in addressing the goals and criteria outlined by each funding opportunity.
ANR Competitive Grants Program
The purpose of the ANR competitive grants program is to address high-priority issue areas identified by at least one of the strategic initiatives: Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases (EIPD), Healthy Families and Communities (HFC), Sustainable Food Systems (SFS), Sustainable Natural Ecosystems (SNE), and Water Quality, Quantity and Security (Water).
ANR Competitive Grants Program 2017 Cycle:
- Full proposals due June 19
- Technical peer review: mid-June – early September 2017
- Strategic Initiative review and recommendations: end of September 2017
- Program Council review and recommendations: October/November 2017
- Announcement of funded grants: November/December 2017
High-Risk/High-Reward Grants Program
Given the complexity of societal problems, high-risk research is necessary to achieve gains for real progress in addressing present and emerging challenges. This program will provide funds to initiate and complete research and proof-of-concept efforts that serve as the basis for larger funding opportunities. These projects must be of a high-risk/high-reward nature that are best conducted in a controlled, research setting and, if successful, lend themselves to subsequent larger funding opportunities and/or intellectual property development.
Proposed projects must be within the scope of the ANR Strategic Vision. All ANR academics with PI status are eligible to apply. Proposals will be accepted using the same timeline as outlined for the traditional competitive grants program, but reviewed separately due to the nature of the proposal.
For questions about ANR's competitive grants program or high-risk/high-reward grants program, please contact Melanie Caruso at mmcaruso@ucanr.edu.
Nutrition Policy Institute launches Research to Action news brief
The Nutrition Policy Institute has launched a news brief called Research to Action. The publication will provide information on research, policy, news, announcements, events, articles and action items focused on nutrition and healthy communities.
The first issue looks at the work of the National Drinking Water Alliance (NDWA). NPI is the “hub” for NDWA, which engages in and coordinates evidence-based efforts going on all over the country to improve tap water safety and access, especially for children, and to provide drinking water education and promotion. The NDWA website is a “go-to” resource for information on drinking water.
Future editions of Research to Action will be sent several times per year. Please sign up for the Research to Action mailing list, and please share Research to Action with colleagues who would be interested in receiving it.
4-H calls alumni and friends to join its new network
If 4-H has touched your life, raise your hand. Visit http://4-H.org/raiseyourhand to voice your support for the California 4-H youth development program, help it win a national competition and connect with a network of 4-H alumni and friends.
You are considered alumni if you were in a 4-H Club, took part in a 4-H after-school program, served as a volunteer leader or taught a project. Friends of 4-H are also invited to raise their hands.
“Having experienced our programs first-hand, our alumni know about the positive impact of 4-H,” said Glenda Humiston, vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and a 4-H alumna.
As part of the new 4-H network being built in the 4-H Raise Your Hand campaign, members will get news about 4-H programs in California and stay in touch with a program that made a difference in their lives.
“I've raised my hand,” said Humiston, who credits 4-H with helping her become the first in her family to attend college. She later served in the Peace Corps, received a federal appointment from President Obama and now leads the statewide research and outreach arm of UC.
The National 4-H program, which currently empowers nearly 6 million youth across the country, aims to extend its reach to 10 million by 2025. It has launched a competition among states to see which ones can add the most alumni and friends to the network by June 30, 2017. A map showing the current front runners is on the registration page.
Educating policymakers about UC ANR
Hogan visits Capitol Hill
In early April, Sean Hogan, academic coordinator II for Informatics and Geographic Information Systems, presented at the AmericaView Winter Business Meeting, in Reston, Va., as representative of the CaliforniaView section of the consortium of remote sensing scientists. Hogan spoke about some of the ways that UC ANR is using drones to advance environmental and agricultural research. While he was near Washington D.C., Hogan went to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressman Ami Bera, Congressman Paul Cook and staffers for Senator Diane Feinstein.
Read more in the IGIS blog //ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=23768.
Congressman Costa visits UC CalFresh class in Madera
When United States Congressman Jim Costa learned about the federally funded nutrition education programs being offered in his district, he made plans to visit.
He wanted a first-hand experience with UC CalFresh, in which UC Cooperative Extension educators visit classrooms to share new foods, teach healthy eating strategies and demonstrate physical activity to children and low-income families.
Read more in the Food blog http://ucanr.edu/?blogpost=23767&blogasset=91109