STAR awards presented to three teams, 22 individuals

In a conference room, 14 people sit around a conference table littered with laptops.

The Aggie Enterprise Team won one of three STAR Team Awards presented.

UC ANR's staff appreciation and recognition awards were presented to three teams and 22 individuals on June 20 during a statewide, online event hosted by Bethanie Brown, interim director of Human Resources.

A recording of the event is posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/qClH71HzRtQ

Team awards

UC ANR Aggie Enterprise Team - Daena Duran Camacho, Maru Fernandez Terrasa, Raghuvir Goradia, Katherine Hanke, Janelle Hernandez, Lani Landayan, Scott Leaf, Xiaolian (Sherry) Li, Adolfo Limon, Han Pham, Kim Quach, Joni Rippee, Rosemary Renteria, Tracy Roman, Anne Marie Scott, Sonia Scott, Yuhang Shi, Sarah Shroyer, Kai Yu Sun, Connie Tadesse, Limin Tjandrajati, Alan Wong and Samantha (Dang) Wong. The team has made and continues to make significant contributions to the Aggie Enterprise project to improve ANR's business processes.

Four men stand in a line. A map of California is on the wall in the background.

The Sierra Foothill Team: Nikolai Schweitzer, Abraham Mendoza, Michael Williams and Scott Beasley

Sierra Foothill Team - Nikolai Schweitzer, Abraham Mendoza, Michael Williams and Scott Beasley. The team made significant contributions to blue oak regeneration and livestock water distribution projects at Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center.

Southwest Regional Food Business Center Team - Heather Nibblett, Heidi Von Geldern, Rachael Callahan and Fiona Ogunkoya. The Southwest Regional Food Business Center provides technical assistance for small and midsized producers to access new markets and access to federal, state and local resources. It focuses on underserved farmers, ranchers and food businesses in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. The team is building the center from the ground up with more than 40 partners.

Best of the Best award

John Bailey

A new award was introduced this year: the Best of the Best award. Valerie Eviner, UC Davis professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, presented the award to John Bailey, Hopland Research and Extension Center director.

“John has played a dual role of being the director and superintendent at Hopland Research and Extension Center,” Eviner said.

In addition to keeping up with day-to-day tasks, Bailey has been a visionary leader in research and extension, she said.

After wildfire burned about two-thirds of Hopland REC above the main buildings in 2018, Bailey had to repair the center's infrastructure, but he also saw research opportunities.

“Days after the fire, he was already talking to researchers and recruiting diverse groups to understand the post-fire recovery as well as how grazing influences the impacts of wildfire,” Eviner said. “He initiated a 10-year prescribed burning plan while also introducing cattle grazing for the first time in HREC's almost 75-year history. The scale and replication of these grazing and fire treatments and the interactions across those is unique and invaluable and it's exactly what we need for wildland resource management under change in climate conditions.”

Rachael Callahan

She added, “He has a gift for not only visioning the research and outreach most needed to address California's challenges but he's not at all afraid of the administrative hurdles to make these programs happen.”

Individual awards

Fiona Wei, Human Resources

Jaki Hsieh Wojan, Information Technology

Heather Nibblett, Statewide Programs & REC Operations