Posts Tagged: Field Tour
Scholarship Recipient Excited to Share Newly Gained Knowledge
The Center received 118 applications and awarded Chiamaka the 2014 Postharvest Technology Short Course scholarship this year as she impressed the reviewing panel with her future plans and showed how much she, and her associates, would benefit from the opportunity.
The scholarship, funded primarily by a trust created by Leonard and Marseille Morris, aims to provide an individual from a developing country the opportunity to learn about managing the postharvest handling of horticultural crops with an intent to take that information back to their home country and utilize it to benefit others in their region.
Chiamaka spent her first week, along with 97 other attendees, listening to lectures on topics as varied as quality factors, maturation, harvest systems, ripening methods, food safety, disease management as well as some commodity-specific talks. The group also participated in laboratory demonstrations of cooling methods, ethylene measurements, sensory evaluation and more. She was impressed with the variety of and clarity of the presentations.
At the end of the first week, Chiamaka conveyed her appreciation. “I thank UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center for this rare opportunity and I promise I will achieve the objective of the scholarship opportunity.”
The second week of the course took Chiamaka and her colleagues on a field tour to witness first-hand how the principles learned the first week are put into action. Throughout the tour of the central valley and central coast of California, the group saw field operations, packinghouses, distribution centers, cold rooms, transportation facilities and more.
Before she left, Chiamaka expressed, “This program has added value to my life and of course the lives of people I will be in contact with, because I will definitely hand the knowledge down.” That's exactly what we like to hear.
A Wide Variety of Postharvest Operations
Postharvest Technology Short Course provides excellent overview
These questions and many, many more will be answered during the 35th Annual Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops Short Course at UC Davis June 17-28, an intensive two-week study of the biology and latest technologies for handling fruits, nuts, vegetables and ornamentals in California.
“It’s a very valuable course,” said Mohit Bansal, food technologist with Earthbound Farms Organic in San Juan Bautista who attended the short course two years ago. “It provides an excellent overview of everything you need to know about postharvest technology, taught by leading experts in the field.”
The first week of the course features lectures, discussions and hands-on laboratory sessions on topics like harvesting systems; cooling, storing and transport methods; safety factors; ethylene; energy use; and virtually everything research, extension, quality control, business, academic and governmental professionals need to know.
For the optional second week, participants fields, packing houses, cooling and storage facilities, produce distribution centers, and transportation centers throughout California, home to some 400 different commodities.
“It’s a wonderful tour,” Bansal said. “It’s great to see the best postharvest procedures in action.”
The course is led by a team of experts, including Elizabeth Mitcham, director of the UC Davis Postharvest Technology Center. Bansal says networking with the experts, and fellow participants, helped advance his career.
“It’s invaluable to meet with professors and others in the industry,” Bansal said. “I’m now working on a research project with Marita Cantwell, a Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist at UC Davis, who I met at the Postharvest Technology Short Course two years ago.”
The enrollment fee for the first week is $1895, which includes all classroom instruction, lab activities, course materials, morning and afternoon coffee breaks, lunches Monday through Friday and one barbeque dinner. Enrollment for both weeks is $2895, which includes all week-one activities, plus field tour transportation and continental breakfasts Monday through Friday during the tour.
Enrollment is limited. For details and to register, go to http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Education/PTShortCourse/
Media contact:
- Diane Nelson, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, (530) 752-1969, denelson@ucdavis.edu
- Beth Mitcham, Director, Postharvest Technology Center (530) 752-7512, ejmitcham@ucdavis.edu
Biomass Field Tour Registration Closed
Registration for the Woody Biomass to Energy Field Tour on November 17 is now closed. Those that have registered will receive an e-mail on Monday November 15 with details of our starting point in Lincoln.
Oroville workshop well attended
Over 65 attended the Biomass to Energy workshop in Oroville. Nine presentations covering the main technologies were well received and generated many questions for discussion. Presentations are now available on the website http://ucanr.org/oroville presentations
We are now planning the follow-up field tour to woody biomass to energy conversion facilities in the Davis area. This will likely be early November and will visit two gasification projects and a power plant. Oroville attendees will receive priority for the limited spaces on the field tour. If you attended you will receive field tour information by e-mail prior to others.