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Five academics join UC ANR

Murillo-Barrick named ag land coordinator in San Joaquin Valley Cristina Murillo-Barrick joined UC Cooperative Extension as an agricultural land acquisitions academic coordinator II on July 15, 2021. She will serve Fresno, Merced and Tulare counties. In her new role with UCCE, Murillo-Barrick will support the mission of California's Sustainable Agricultural Land Conservation Program (SALC) to fight climate change by protecting productive farmland. Collaborating with the Strategic Growth Council and the Department of Conservation, she will provide local and regional planning agencies, land trusts, nonprofits, landowners and other stakeholders with input on critical land use issues, strategies and opportunities. This work will involve actively engaging partners, providing technical expertise and enhancing capacity of underserved communities. Prior to joining UC ANR, Murillo-Barrick has been an environmental science educator at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Yosemite...

UC ANR releases 10 UC Cooperative Extension positions for recruitment

After three years of limited hiring due to budget constraints, the University of California's Agriculture and Natural Resources has announced it will release 10 UC Cooperative Extension positions for recruitment. UC ANR is home to the county-based UC Cooperative Extension, Integrated Pest Management, Master Gardener and 4-H Youth Development and other programs. The new UC Cooperative Extension positions include: Plant Pathology Area Advisor, Santa Cruz County Soils and Irrigation Advisor, Kern County Urban Agriculture/Small Farms Area Advisor, San Bernardino County Community Nutrition & Innovative Technologies Specialist, UC Davis Forest and Fuels Management Specialist, UC Berkeley Subtropical Crops Pathology Specialist, UC Riverside Diversified Agricultural Systems Area Advisor, Lake County Forestry and Natural Resources Area Advisor, Sutter-Yuba counties 4-H Youth Development, San Mateo-San Francisco counties Integrated Vineyard Systems Area Advisor, at Hopland...

Cannabis farms irrigating with groundwater may affect stream flows

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use in California has encouraged growers to expand plantings of the lucrative crop. Like any plant, cannabis requires water to grow. A new study from the Cannabis Research Center at UC Berkeley examined where cannabis growers in California are getting water for their crops, highlighting significant gaps in cannabis cultivation policy. Environmental advocates have expressed concern that cannabis farms are diverting water from rivers and streams, which could harm fish and other wildlife.  The researchers studied water use in 11 of the state's top cannabis-producing counties – Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Monterey, Nevada, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Trinity, and Yolo. Using California state cannabis permitting data, the researchers found that cannabis farms rely primarily on groundwater wells, not streams, for their irrigation needs. But pumping groundwater could also have an undesirable effect on...

Hopland Research and Extension Center's land and cultural history

Field research in agricultural and natural resource science has been ongoing at UCANR Research and Extension Centers for over 70 years, making an impact on the food we eat and the management practices we recommend. What afforded us the opportunity to have these living laboratories? The University of California is a land grant institution and is directly linked with the federal Morrill Act of 1862, also known as the Land-Grant College Act. The Act granted land mostly taken from indigenous tribes to states that used the proceeds from the sale of these lands to fund colleges specializing in agriculture and the mechanical arts.  A recent article in High Country News, "Land-Grab Universities," provides interactive spatial data revealing the direct connection between the ~10.7 million acres of stolen Indigenous land and land-grant institutions. Many of these Morrill Act parcels were in California and, thanks to Andy Lyons at UCANR IGIS, we can view the overlap between UC land...

Cannabis and utilities hold potential for economic development, says UCCE specialist

As California strives to recover from the pandemic-induced economic slump, Keith Taylor is taking an unconventional approach to economic development. In the world's sixth biggest economy, where do you start? Taylor, who was hired in 2017 as UC Cooperative Extension's sole specialist in community economic development, started by tackling a couple of the state's thorniest sectors: cannabis and utilities.

Participatory research in Mendocino County

In 2016, the passage of Prop. 64 legalizing recreational cannabis ushered in an era of both opportunity and headaches for Mendocino County growers. The county's permitting program has been the source of significant confusion and debate: Between 800 and 1,100 growers have received county permits, but many have not been able to obtain permanent state licenses because of a lack of clarity around the county process and compliance with the California...

For information, contact

Norma De la Vega
Title: Broadcast Communications Specialist III
Unit: Communication Services and Information Technology
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 Kan-Rice
Title: Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach
Specialty: Working with the news media in public information.
Unit: Communication Services and Information Technology
Address:
2801 Second Street
Room 180
Davis, CA 95618-7779
Phone: (530) 750-1221
Fax: (530) 756-1079
Email: pam.kanrice@ucanr.edu

Lisa M. Rawleigh
Title: Administrative Assistant III
Unit: Communication Services and Information Technology
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: Communication Services and Information Technology
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: Communication Services and Information Technology
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: Communication Services and Information Technology
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