Posts Tagged: Dan Macon

UC ANR Fire Network hosts wildfire legislative tour with Berkeley Forests

As California grapples with more frequent catastrophic wildfires, the newly established UC ANR Fire Network plays an integral role in providing and advancing science-based solutions and delivering useful tools throughout the state. Recently, the Fire Network hosted an immersive field tour for California legislative staff in collaboration with Berkeley Forests to demonstrate their work in ongoing fire and forestry research. 

“We have such a rich network of fire experts and thought leaders within UC ANR,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network director. “It was great to have everyone in one place, thinking about how we can best inspire and empower positive change through our research, education, outreach, policy and training.” 

During the Nov. 17 tour at Blodgett Forest Research Station, UC ANR staff and academics shared their research and experiences with a diverse group of legislative staff. The tour provided an opportunity for scientists and policymakers to connect over shared goals of addressing California's growing wildfire and forest management challenges. 

Legislative staff members included Rita Durgin, legislative aide for Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry; Spencer Street, legislative director for Assemblymember Vince Fong; Byron Briones, legislative aide for Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez; Emily Watson, legislative aide for Assemblymember Joe Patterson; Les Spahnn, legislative director for Senator Bill Dodd; Tammy Trinh, policy consultant for Senator John Laird; and Catherine Baxter, consultant for the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

Sitting on 4,000 acres of Sierra forestland, Blodgett Forest Research Station is the flagship site for research within the Berkeley Forests network. The in-person visit gave attendees the opportunity to learn about the different forest management approaches practiced at Blodgett and understand the importance of maintaining research forests across the state. 

“We need research facilities like Blodgett,” Yana Valachovic, UC Cooperative Extension forestry advisor, told the group. “It's a way to ask these questions [about forest management].” The research questions answered through experiments at Blodgett have implications that reach beyond the station's boundary, which was demonstrated to tour guests over three tour stops.

UC Cooperative Extension forestry specialist and Berkeley Forests co-director Rob York led the four-hour tour, where visitors could view different forest management treatments and heavy equipment used for treatment, and learn firsthand about UC-led collaborative research projects. 

‘Can you run through it? Can you see through it?'

Tour guests joined York at the first stop, a stand (a group of trees of similar age and size) that has not seen treatment by humans for over 60 years. This first stop was a glimpse at what an unmanaged forest looks like through a forester's or wildfire scientist's eyes. Small trees, less than a few feet tall, clustered under a dense overstory, can facilitate a wildfire's quick movement from forest floor to tree canopy. Close clusters of trees make it much easier for fires to burn across a stand, and the spongy layer of duff underneath the guests' feet burns hot when conditions are dry. These stand conditions, coupled with an abundance of downed woody material, can lead to intense fire behavior when conditions are hot and dry. 

Leading California wildfire scientist and UC Berkeley professor Scott Stephens said, “Taking stands that look like this into the future with climate change…is nothing less than a trainwreck.” He and York emphasized that a forest's odds of persisting through wildfires are greatly increased when fuel loads are reduced and forests are thinned. York introduced his measure for healthy forest density, suggesting that guests ask themselves: “Can I run through it? Can I see through it?” the next time they visit a forest.

This is not to say that all fire is bad for a forest. Fire is a part of a healthy forest ecosystem and has been for thousands of years, thanks to natural ignitions from lightning and Indigenous stewardship and cultural practices.

The second stop on the tour was a stand where the overstory (canopy) had been thinned, but the surface fuels were not treated with prescribed fire. York explained that solely thinning a forest was not the answer, and that the best treatment would merge prescribed fire and overstory thinning treatments. In fact, a primary facet of the Fire Network's goals has been to increase the number and strength of community-based Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs). Since 2017, 24 PBAs have formed throughout California and they greatly increase community capacity for prescribed fire in both forested and non-forested ecosystems.

Eating broccoli before dessert? 

The tour ended at a stand that had seen both thinning and prescribed fire treatments. It is part of an experiment comparing prescribed fire emissions to wildfire emissions. Another fuels management experiment happening at Blodgett studies livestock grazing as a tool to manage live fuel loads. This project is a collaborative effort between UCCE livestock advisor Dan Macon, Fire Network coordinator Katie Low, and other ANR advisors and specialists. The effort exemplifies the way wildfire demands attention and innovation from outside the fire and forestry fields.

Macon and Low are examining the efficacy of goat grazing and its implications for animal health  at Blodgett. This entails seeing how they can encourage goats to graze unfamiliar vegetation. Likening it to human behavior, Low asked the group, “If it was late at night, and you're craving a snack, which would you eat first: a bowl of steamed broccoli? Or your favorite dessert?” The goats that Macon and Low monitor clearly fill up on their “dessert” first and need extra encouragement to graze the woody vegetation, requiring more intervention on the herder's part. Through these glimpses into their research, Macon, Low and York demonstrated to the group that researchers are taking many approaches to help increase the state's wildfire resilience. 

Sitting at a critical point of both research and application, UC ANR staff were able to give visitors their unique perspective on the topics of climate change, prescribed burning and forest management on this tour. 

York, Stephens and Fire Network members maintained that California policy is moving in the right direction, but encouraged legislative staff to cease measuring impact through one lens. “It's not just about how many acres have been treated,” Stephens emphasized. “It's about impact. It's about changing the direction of the forest.” 

Instagram Tips and Tricks Nov. 13

Join UC Cooperative Extension advisors Rose Hayden-Smith and Dan Macon at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13, to learn how they use Instagram for outreach.

Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service. "It's an ideal place to share your ANR story,"Hayden-Smith says.

In this fast-paced webinar, the two UCCE advisors will cover the basics of using Instagram, building a great profile, publishing posts, creating Instagram stories and more.

Discussion topics will include:

• Techniques and best practices to use the platform most effectively.
• A few quick tips for using your smart phone to shoot pictures and video (and for posting).
• Finding your online community and building an audience for your work.
• Tips to manage your Instagram account efficiently.

Participants will also be provided access to a range of resources and tools to support their Instagram efforts.

Join via Zoom: 

https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/751701428 
1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656
Webinar ID: 751 701 428

 

Names in the News

Macon named livestock and natural resources advisor

Daniel Macon has accepted the livestock and natural resources advisor position in Placer, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties, effective July 1.

Macon, who operates a small-scale commercial sheep enterprise near Auburn, brings a combination of hands-on livestock production experience and applied scientific research and education/outreach experience.

Having been the herdsman at the UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, and most recently serving as an associate specialist for rangeland science and management in the UC Davis Plant Sciences Department, Macon is a familiar face to many in ANR. He is currently collaborating on a variety of research efforts, including on-ranch impacts, management and planning horizons following California's historic drought. He has also led producer enrollment, data collection and grazing-water-nutrient management tracking for a statewide integrated research and extension project on irrigated pasture. He is also leading a long-term project that will quantify direct and indirect impacts from predators on rangeland livestock operations across northern California.

Macon has also worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the California Cattlemen's Association, and was the founding executive director of the California Rangeland Trust. He is currently the vice president of the California Wool Growers Association and is a past president of the California-Pacific Section of the Society for Range Management.

Macon earned a Master of Agriculture in integrated resource management from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Science in agricultural and managerial economics from UC Davis.

“I have finally recognized that the parts of my earlier jobs that I most enjoyed involved the things I'll be doing on a daily basis as a farm advisor - teaching and doing research,” Macon wrote in his Foothill Agrarian blog. “Along with raising sheep, I feel as though I've finally figured out what I'm supposed to do in life!”

“I have enormous shoes to fill - Roger Ingram and Glenn Nader, who have proceeded me in these four counties, were incredibly productive and successful advisors.”

Macon will be based in the Auburn office and can be reached at (530) 889-7385 and dmacon@ucanr.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @flyingmulefarm and Instagram at @flyingmule.

Spinelli named vegetable and irrigation advisor

Gerardo “Gerry” Spinelli joined UCCE on April 17 as an area vegetable production and irrigation advisor for Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties.

Before joining UCCE, Spinelli had worked as agricultural specialist for the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County since 2015. He performed irrigation system evaluations, implemented an irrigation water and soil moisture monitoring project, and provided recommendations for irrigation management and improvements in irrigation systems, assisting the strawberry, lettuce, apple, vegetable and blackberry industries.

From 2010 to 2015, Spinelli was a graduate student researcher in the Plant Sciences Department at UC Davis, where his research focused on water stress and water use at the leaf and canopy level in almond orchards in California.

Spinelli grew up on an olive and vegetable farm on the hills overlooking Florence, Italy. He left Italy in 2007 to work in Honduras on an irrigation development project providing technical assistance for smallholder corn and watermelon growers, and in London designing and installing landscape irrigation systems. He also lived in Lebanon, where he introduced integrated pest management in apple and olive production, rebuilt irrigation channels for tobacco and vegetable growers, implemented a queen bee breeding program and built sewage lines for the Wavel refugee camp. In addition to English, he speaks French, Italian and Arabic.

Spinelli earned a Ph.D. in horticulture and agronomy and a M.S. in international agricultural development from UC Davis and a M.S. in tropical agricultural development and a B.S. in agricultural sciences and technologies from the University of Florence, Italy.

Based in Modesto, he can be reached at (209) 525-6806, (530) 304-3738 (cell) and gspinelli@ucanr.edu.

Vela to lead News and Information Outreach in Spanish 

Ricardo Vela joined UC ANR as manager of News and Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS) on May 15. As NOS manager, he oversees production of UC ANR radio, video and news releases for Spanish-language news media and will advise academics on effective outreach to the Latino community.

Before joining UC, Vela was the news director and main anchor for KVER-TV Univision in Palm Springs. Vela launched his journalism career in the third grade by starting a school newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He was the news correspondent for Univision News in Los Angeles bureau for over 10 years, then moved to San Diego where he was the news anchor/producer for the Univision affiliate for 14 years. In 2014, Vela moved to his hometown of El Paso, Texas, to be the news anchor/producer for KTDO-Telemundo 48.

In 1992, he won an Emmy for his story about a Latino family coping with their last days before dying of AIDS and preparing their children for their loss. In 2005, Vela received an Emmy for a news feature, “Los Trovadores del Siglo 21.”

In 2001, Hispanic Business Magazine named Vela one of the 100 most influential Hispanic journalists in the country for his journalistic vision to voice the needs of the Hispanic community in San Diego. He expanded his commitment to the community by writing a weekly column for the El Latino newspaper about issues pertinent to Hispanics in San Diego. In 2004, The San Diego Press Club honored his newspaper column and morning radio talk show, Voces de San Diego, which had been on the air only a few months, and he was named one of the 10 most influential Latinos in San Diego by Tijuana's Frontera newspaper. 

On Feb. 28, 2006, the City of San Diego honored him with a proclamation of “Ricardo Vela Day” for his contributions to the Latino community through his radio show.

Vela earned a bachelor's degree in business administration at Instituto Tecnologico de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and a bachelor's degree in mass communications/journalism at the University of Texas at El Paso. He also studied film and video at the Art institute in Chicago.

Vela is based at the Rubidoux Building in Riverside and can be reached at (951) 781-2151 and ricardo.vela@ucr.edu.

ANR women graduate from UC Women's Initiative Program

Valerie Borel, Jan Gonzales, Margaret Lloyd, Robin Sanchez and Katherine Soule recently graduated from the UC Women's Initiative for Professional Development.  

They were among a group of mid-career women, both staff and faculty, selected from all UC locations to participate in this special program created to improve the professional development and advancement of women at UC.

The four-session program was designed by the Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of Women and UC Systemwide Talent Management, and delivered by CORO, a nonprofit leadership development organization.

The UC Women's Initiative's four in-person, interactive, multi-day sessions have been designed to:

1. Cultivate a vibrant, professional network of women that spans the UC system
2. Give women access to top UC leaders—women and men—so they can interview and learn from them about their diverse leadership approaches and journeys
3. Strengthen participants' skills and confidence through hands-on practice with a range of tools and skills in the areas of:
4. Professional development and impact
   

   Robin Sanchez
5. Strategic relationship building
6. Developing and delivering a compelling narrative regarding one's professional accomplishments and vision
7. Negotiating at work
8. Peer coaching

The program is designed for mid-career women, both faculty and staff, who demonstrate the potential to advance their careers at UC. Last year, Katherine Webb-Martinez and Tunnyalee Martin participated in the training.

For more information about the program, visit the UC Women's Initiative website at http://ucop.edu/human-resources/womens-initiative. 

Van Eenennaam tapped for national research strategy

Alison Van Eenennaam, UCCE genomics and biotechnology specialist in the Department of Animal Science at UC Davis, has been named to a national committee to lead the development of an innovative strategy for the future of food and agricultural research.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine sought nominations for scientific leaders across various disciplines to be part of an activity that will develop a compelling strategy for food and agricultural research for the next decade and beyond. Nominations were sought for transformational thinkers across the scientific enterprise (including but not exclusively limited to the agricultural sciences) to be considered for the study committee. These include individuals on the frontier of scientific disciplines that would be of value but are not traditionally associated with food and agriculture.

In addressing its statement of task, the study committee will offer a strategic and ambitious view of the opportunities for fundamental and applied interdisciplinary research that is both grounded by a deep scientific understanding of food and agricultural challenges and elevated by the breakthrough potential of insights and tools from newly converging disciplines in the food and agriculture setting.

Susan Wessler, the Neil A. and Rochelle A. Campbell Presidential Chair for Innovations in Science Education and distinguished professor of genetics at UC Riverside, is co-chair of the committee.

For more information about the study, visit http://nas-sites.org/dels/studies/agricultural-science-breakthroughs/who-we-are-agriculture-breakthroughs/committee.

 

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