Posts Tagged: Ricardo Vela

Celebration Corner

Takele honored for DEI achievements 

The Agricultural & Applied Economics Association's Committee on Women in Agricultural Economics recognized Etaferahu Takele, UCCE area agricultural economics and farm management advisor in Southern California, for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion as a researcher, mentor and leader.

“Throughout Ms. Takele's life, before affirmative action, diversity, equity and inclusion were something to advocate for, she modeled and advocated for the underrepresented people in her community, at the university, within the county government and in her professional associations,” wrote a nominator.

From 2007 to 2020, Takele was director for UCCE in Riverside County, where she revived the 4-H Youth Development Program, expanded the Master Gardener Program and doubled the reach of the Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) to underrepresented clientele in Riverside County. 

In partnership with California State University San Bernardino, she received a $500,000 USDA grant for the Inland Empire Small Farm Initiative to provide risk management education to Hispanic minority growers and farm laborers with little or no experience with running their own farms in the United States. Takele worked with farmers to develop budgets and determine risks associated with production of various crops. To ensure the program was inclusive, it was delivered in Spanish. She provided minority farmers with regular financial counseling and helped them develop cost-benefit models of investing in minor crops. 

Her work with small-scale and minority growers influenced the introduction and expansion of new specialty crops such as blueberries and cherimoya in the coastal and the desert regions of Southern California. 

Read more about Takele's achievements at https://www.aaea.org/membership/sections/cwae/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-award/etaferahu-eta-takele.

AEOE honors Nelson with Lifetime Achievement Award  

The Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education has recognized Sarah-Mae Nelson's career contributions to advancing environmental education with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The UC Climate Stewards Initiative academic coordinator for UC Environmental Stewards has over 28 years of experience as an educator, interpreter and climate communicator.

"Since the launching of the Climate Stewards program in 2020, Sarah-Mae's leadership has been instrumental in its remarkable growth and success,” wrote Nelson's nominator. “Under her guidance, 27 community-based organizations have conducted 80 courses, certifying nearly 1,000 Climate Stewards.

“In every endeavor she undertakes, Sarah-Mae approaches challenges with unparalleled determination and meticulousness. Her resilience in the face of adversity serves as an inspiration to all who have the privilege of working alongside her." 

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to those who have made a significant impact in environmental and outdoor education over the course of their career, both within their organization(s) and the field at large, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to equity and inclusion.

Nelson's contributions were celebrated on May 4 at AEOE's Annual Statewide Conference in Orange.

Rethwisch elected Sigma Xi member 

Michael Rethwisch, UCCE field crops advisor for Riverside County, has been elected a full member into Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society.

He joins top scholars in the society such as Albert Einstein, Gerty Cori, Linus Pauling, Julian Lewis, Rita Levi Montalcini and Sally Ride. 

Rethwisch was nominated by Jamie Vernon, Sigma Xi executive director and CEO and publisher of American Scientist magazine, and Allen Thomas, Donald E. Fox Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Two of the journal articles that qualified Rethwisch for Sigma Xi membership are SY Wolf Winter Wheat Responses to RyzUp SmartGrass Application at Third Leaf Stage in East Central Nebraska and First Report of Western Trochanter Mealybug, Pseudococcus dysmicus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), in Nebraska and Observations from Soybean.

Vela named ACE Rising Star, five other communicators win awards 

Six communicators won major awards from the international Association for Communication Excellence (ACE), a professional organization that supports and showcases science communication in agriculture, natural resources, and life and human sciences.

Ricardo Vela, manager of UC ANR News and Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS), won the ACE 2024 Rising Star Award, an annual award that "honors communicators, instructors and researchers who demonstrate exceptional leadership and technical skills in their communication field, to their institution and service to ACE."

Vela is a 35-year, two-time Emmy-winning broadcast journalism professional. As program manager of NOS, he supervises a Spanish-language expert team that disseminates news and research about agriculture, nutrition and natural resources to Spanish-speaking communities across California. Vela is an advocate for Latino and other ethnic groups, promoting their contributions to society and creating for the first time events for the UC ANR community to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and Cesar Chavez Day.

Before joining UC ANR in 2017, Vela worked as a national news correspondent for Univision and CNN in Texas and Los Angeles. He started his journalism career at the Chicago Tribune and Univision in Chicago. While in Chicago, he collaborated with several Latino community organizations, always promoting equity and inclusion. He served as Univision's main news anchor in San Diego for 17 years and hosted a morning talk radio show, “Voces Hispanas,” for 10 years. He has served as news director and anchor at Entravisión (a Univisión affiliate) in Palm Springs and as a news anchor at Telemundo in El Paso, Texas. In 2006, Hispanic Magazine listed him as among the 100 most influential Latinos in the country.

Vice President Glenda Humiston appointed Vela as a founding member of the UC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. 

Five other UC ANR communicators won gold (first place), silver (second place), or a bronze (third place) award.

• Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and author of the Bug Squad blog, won a gold award for “best feature photo." Her image of a honey bee buzzing over a zinnia earned an award in the feature photo category, for "one image that effectively tells a story." 

• Michael Hsu, senior public information representative; Ethan Ireland, senior videographer; and Evett Kilmartin, photographer, won a silver award for their “Farm-to-Corrections Project" video about a Nutrition Policy Institute partnership with Impact Justice, ChangeLab Solutions, Spork and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
• Social media strategist Doralicia Garay won a bronze award for the social media campaign “Improving Lives in California,” designed to showcase UC ANR research and those who deliver it. 

The awards will be presented at the annual ACE conference, June 23-25, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Read more about the awards in Bug Squad at https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=59843.

ANR thanks Larson for 41 years of service

Stephanie Larson, UCCE director and livestock range management advisor for Sonoma County, was honored for her 41 years of service at the county directors meeting on May 23. Vice President Glenda Humiston and Lynn Schmitt-McQuitty, director of county Cooperative Extension, thanked Larson for her four decades of service.

Learn Spanish with NOS

Would you like to learn to speak Spanish?

Ricardo Vela, manager of News and Information Outreach in Spanish and chair of the Latinx & Friends Affinity Group, is organizing weekly lessons that will be offered via Zoom and start in July.

He is trying to gauge interest to see how many people would like to participate and whether they are beginners or interested conversing in Spanish to advance the Spanish they have already learned.

“We are still working on some important details – class format, length, whether it should be available only to those registered with the Latinx & Friends Affinity Group or to all UC ANR employees,” Vela said.

If you are interested in learning Spanish, please email Vela at rvela@ucanr.edu and let him know your competency level of Spanish and preferred day and time to participate.

Vela speaks to UC regents about outreach to Latinos

Ricardo Vela, manager of UC ANR's News and Information Outreach in Spanish, spoke to the UC Regents Public Engagement and Development Committee on Nov. 15 about science communication for Latino Californians.

Vela explained that studies show that even Latinos fluent in English may prefer to receive information in their “language of comfort.” He described partnering with Univision/Entravision to promote a COVID-19 vaccination campaign on TV in Mixteco, Zapoteco, Triqui and Purépecha, indigenous Mexican languages. 

Vela introduced Josie Huerta of Univision/Entravision, who told the regents that providing science-based information to indigenous Mexican viewers in their native language was important to establish trust with the skeptical audience. The media company ran the vaccination campaign on local TV, radio, Facebook and Instagram with a link to a UC ANR for more information.

“The combined campaigns generated over 1,173,000 engagements of some form,” Huerta said.

The campaign placed the first TV spots broadcast in a language other than English and Spanish on Univision, Vela added.

“It's just amazing the reach that you have and the breadth of folks that you are able to communicate with,” said Regent Janet Reilly, who chairs the committee. “It's so important. I wish we had this in every aspect of the university.” 

Reilly called NOS “an example for the rest of the university how we can reach more people and communicate with them effectively.” 

Alumni regent-designate Alfonso Salazar noted that his mother was an Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program educator, visiting Latino families at their Boyle Heights homes in Los Angeles to deliver nutrition information for 25 years. “My mom is known as 'La Señora' in the neighborhood,” Salazar said. 

Regent Jose Hernandez told Vela and Huerta, “I think you guys formed the perfect partnership with respect to getting any newsworthy item out to the Latino population. I think really, really we should use you folks as a model for the rest of the university, as Chair Reilly suggested, because you guys are doing it right and I commend you. Muchas gracias."

The meeting was held at UCLA and live streamed.

Watch Vela's 10-minute presentation and the regents' reactions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTPm58GnnSs&t=4178s. 

Celebration Corner

Editor's note: This new monthly feature provides an opportunity to recognize UC ANR colleagues and teams. Send your shout-outs to contentpipeline@ucanr.edu. 

Long honored by Yolo County supervisors

Yolo County Supervisor Angel Barajas presented Rachael Long, emeritus UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor, with a resolution recognizing the valuable research she has contributed to Yolo County farmers over her 37-year UC ANR career. Supervisors Jim Provenza, Lucas Frerichs and Oscar Villegas joined Barajas in thanking Long for her service. Susan Ellsworth, UCCE Capitol Corridor director, and UCCE advisors Morgan Doran and Margaret Lloyd attended the ceremony on Sept. 26.

Read about Long's career at https://bit.ly/3rkowlR.

Humiston receives Excellence in Leadership Award

Vice President Glenda Humiston was honored with the 2023 Experiment Station Section Excellence in Leadership Award for the Western Region. The award is presented to leaders who personify the highest level of excellence by enhancing the cause and performance of the regional associations and ESS in achieving their missions and the Land-Grant ideal. 

The award, which was announced in April, was presented to Humiston on Sept. 26 at the Ag Innovation Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

FIRA attracts more than 2,000 participants

UC ANR Chief Innovation Officer Gabe Youtsey and the team at The VINE did a phenomenal job partnering with Western Growers and Global Organization for Agricultural Robotics (GOFAR) to organize the second annual FIRA USA. More than 2,000 people attended the three-day event in Salinas. 

ANR celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

Kudos to the Latinos and Friends Affinity Group for organizing three fantastic virtual events for Hispanic Heritage Month. Ricardo Vela, Miguel Sanchez, Arianna Nava, Doralicia Garay, Angela Johnson, Adela Contreras and Lisa Rawleigh put together these wonderful learning opportunities that are recorded and available at http://ucanr.edu/hhm2023.

Nobua-Behrmann to discuss shothole borers on KLCS 

Bea Nobua-Behrmann, UC Cooperative Extension urban forestry and natural resources advisor for Los Angeles County, will be on an episode of Things Green with Nick Federoff. Nobua-Behrmann will talk about shothole borers and not moving firewood to prevent the spread of the pests. Her segment on the half-hour sustainable lifestyle show with a heavy emphasis on home, garden, ag, ranching and farming is scheduled to air on Oct. 21. You can watch it at 9 a.m. on Saturday on KLCS-TV 58 or see the simulcasts on Facebook and YouTube.  

 

Norma De la Vega retires as broadcast communications specialist after 13 years

After 13 years of telling the UC ANR story through written articles and video production, Norma De la Vega retired on June 29. De la Vega joined UC ANR's News and Information Outreach in Spanish team in 2009 as a senior writer.

NOS fulfilled UC ANR's vision of developing educational and informational programs in Spanish to serve the Latino community. For more than 40 years, NOS has been producing information formatted for radio, television, and online audiences, and De la Vega has played an instrumental role in helping NOS expand its reach and diversify its creative approach to storytelling. 

When she started, most of her writing focused on nutrition, highlighting groups like the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the Nutrition Policy Institute. “Norma's contributions were spot on,” said NOS Program Manager Ricardo Vela. “Her impact has been bringing the importance of nutrition into the stories that we bring to the community.”

De la Vega earned a bachelor's degree in science communications from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in her hometown of Mexico City. “Learning how to produce videos when I went to school was very different than now,” said De la Vega. “We didn't have the kind of cameras we do today.”

Following college, De la Vega worked as a television reporter in Tijuana before moving to San Diego County where she started focusing on writing. Prior to UC ANR, De La Vega worked as a writer for the Enlace Union-Tribune's Spanish newspaper in San Diego for nearly a decade.

Before it became NOS' primary medium for storytelling, De la Vega helped lead the team's video production effort despite her limited experience. “We weren't experts, but we realized the importance of video production to get our information out. It was a team effort,” she said.  

In 2010, De la Vega wrote a story and produced a video on the importance of planning for old age. In many cases, adult children had to manage their parent's care without guidance, and most caregivers of the elderly spoke Spanish as their first language and needed more resources to do a better job.

De la Vega's story relied on research conducted by Patti Wooten Swanson, UCCE nutrition, family and consumer science advisor in San Diego. Not only was Swanson honored at the 2013 Galaxy Awards for her contribution to the story, but De la Vega, a member of the NOS team at the time, won first place at the Western Region Television/Video Communications Award Ceremony despite the lack of a Spanish language category.

In 2016, De la Vega produced a video of the first bilingual 4-H club, the result of a partnership with the Community Settlement Association in Riverside County. “A lot of good things were happening at that time and are happening now because ANR is evolving with more bilingual experts on different topics,” De la Vega said.

Although she started as a senior writer, De La Vega evolved and became a broadcast communications specialist. Her success in the role allowed her to become well-connected to other communicators and community leaders. “Norma always had a contact we needed for a story that we were working on,” said Miguel Sanchez, another broadcast communications specialist on the NOS team.

Lisa Rawleigh, NOS administrative assistant, established a personal and professional relationship with De la Vega. “Norma ensured that our Spanish articles were written properly and that we did not miss any accents or typos. I can always count on her to proofread my posts on social media,” said Rawleigh.

De la Vega said that she feels “enormously satisfied” to have worked with a team of fellow pioneers. “Although we were not experts, we learned so much every day and together,” De la Vega said. “Today, there are several experts in the production of community videos, and we helped enrich the graphic archive for UC ANR's community programs. I think our contribution was to lead the way in that direction.”

Looking ahead, De la Vega will be spending her retirement traveling and exploring other countries and cultures. Since she was a girl, De la Vega enjoyed swimming and can't wait to do more of it. “I love to swim because being in the water always makes me feel young,” she said.

Finally, De la Vega will enjoy quality time with her grandchildren, teaching them Spanish and volunteering at the Spanish immersion school they attend.

 To read this story in Spanish, visit https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=57440.

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