Home Page

UC ANR Fire Network shares resources on reducing impacts of wildfire, smoke

Fire advisors offer guidance on minimizing damage, preparing for evacuation, protecting against smoke With exceptionally dry conditions persisting in many parts of California, residents should double their efforts to prepare homes, families, businesses and communities for potential wildfire and smoke impacts, according to University of California fire experts. “Even as firefighters make progress in containing the Los Angeles-area fires, communities must continue to be vigilant across Southern California and other regions that are experiencing this historically dry ‘wet season,'” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' Fire Network. The Fire Network is a team of UC Cooperative Extension fire and natural resource advisors, specialists and staff who deliver fire-related research, outreach, and support for communities across the state. The experts have assembled a website with a wide range of relevant resources at...

UCCE offers water measurement training Jan. 30 in Davis

California water-rights holders are required by state law to measure and report the water they divert from surface streams. For people who wish to take the water measurements themselves, the University of California Cooperative Extension is offering in-person training to receive certification on Jan. 30 in Davis. At the workshop, participants can expect to clarify reporting requirements for ranches. understand what meters are appropriate for different situations. learn how to determine measurement equipment accuracy. develop an understanding of measurement weirs. learn how to calculate and report volume from flow data. The training is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 in the Valley Room at the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Building at 2801 Second Street, Davis, CA 95616. “We are limiting the number participants for the water measurement training to 30 people per session,” said Larry Forero, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural...

South Coast REC studies pesto profitability for small-scale basil growers

UC ANR advisors, staff research methods in conserving highly perishable product If you visited the greenhouse at the University of California South Coast Research and Extension Center in early fall, you would have smelled a sweet aroma with notes of lemon, pepper and licorice. In one of the conservatories, a team of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and staff grew seven varieties of basil and by the end of October, the plants stretched nearly two feet tall with leaves large enough to warrant a closer look. The wonderful smell would soon become delightful tastes, as the team planned to turn the basil into pesto. “The rationale was to provide a high-value crop and a value-added solution for urban horticulture, transforming a highly perishable product into something that can be conserved,” said Gerardo “Gerry” Spinelli, UC Cooperative Extension production horticulture advisor for San Diego County, who initiated the passion project. After noticing a sign at...

Floods, droughts, then fires: Hydroclimate whiplash is speeding up globally

New research links intensifying wet and dry swings to the atmosphere's sponge-like ability to drop and absorb water Key takeaways Hydroclimate whiplash – rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather – has already increased globally due to climate change, with further large increases expected as warming continues, according to a team of researchers led by UCLA's Daniel Swain. The “expanding atmospheric sponge,” or the atmosphere's ability to evaporate, absorb and release 7% more water for every degree Celsius the planet warms, is a key driver of the whiplash. Co-management of extreme rainfall or extreme droughts, rather than approaching each in isolation, is necessary to find interventions and solutions, researchers said. Los Angeles is burning, and accelerating hydroclimate whiplash is the key climate connection. After years of severe drought, dozens of atmospheric rivers deluged California with record-breaking...

UC wildfire expert: Lack of rain ‘primary factor’ in L.A. fires

  Siting, design of communities key to limiting catastrophic damage Jan. 8 statement about wildfires in Southern California by Max Moritz, University of California Cooperative Extension statewide wildfire specialist based in Santa Barbara “Santa Ana winds can be expected at this time of year, but this episode seems unusually strong. Some people are focusing on climate change and higher temperatures drying out the vegetation, but that's not really the primary factor here. It's the lack of rainfall that's unusual, and that's likely also related to climate change. More erratic and extreme precipitation patterns – drier dry periods and wetter wet periods – are extending the fire season. We still haven't started our typical fall and winter rains, and it's January! By this point of winter, usually it has rained so fuels contain more moisture and are not as flammable.” How to prevent catastrophic wildfires?   “We can reduce the...

For information, contact

Norma De La Vega
Title: Broadcast Communications Specialist III
Unit: Strategic Communications
Address:
University of California, Riverside
ANR News & Information Outreach in Spanish
4501 Glenwood Drive
Riverside, CA 92501-3000
Phone: (951) 827-9541
Fax: (951) 781-2171
Email: ndelaveg@ucanr.edu

Pamela S Kan-Rice
Title: Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach
Specialty: Working with the news media in public information.
Unit: Strategic Communications
Address:
2801 Second Street
180
Davis, CA 95618-7779
Phone: (530) 750-1221
Fax: (530) 756-1079
Email: pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu

Basilisa M Rawleigh
Title: Administrative Assistant III
Unit: Strategic Communications
Notes: AsisTel de la UC: http://asistel.ucanr.org
Address:
University of California, Riverside
ANR News & Information Outreach in Spanish
4501 Glenwood Drive
Riverside, CA 92501-3000
Phone: (951) 827-9540
Fax: (951) 781-2171
Email: lrawleigh@ucanr.edu

Liz Sizensky
Title: Social Media Strategist
Specialty: strategic communications, social media, editing, writing, Connected newsletter
Unit: Strategic Communications
Address:
2801 Second Street
Davis, CA 95618-7779
Phone: (415) 635-7380
Email: lizsizensky@gmail.com

Ricardo A Vela
Title: Program Manager
Specialty: Video production, Video editing, Photography, Latino Community,Spanish Media, How to reach to Latinos,Bilingual (English - Spanish) Bicultural.
Unit: Strategic Communications
Address:
University of California, Riverside
ANR News and Information Outreach in Spanish
4501 Glenwood Drive
Riverside, CA 92501-3000
Phone: 951-827-9545
Fax: 951-781-2171
Email: rvela@ucanr.edu

Jeannette E. Warnert
Title: Communications Specialist
Specialty: Writing
Unit: Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center
Address:
Agriculture and Natural Resources
UC Kearney Research and Extension Center
9240 S. Riverbend Ave.
Parlier, CA 93648
Phone: (559) 240-9850
Fax: (559) 646-6593
Email: jewarnert@ucanr.edu