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ANR seeks candidates for 2021-22 UC Global Food Initiative Fellowship

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources is seeking outstanding UC students to apply for the 2021-22 Global Food Initiative Fellowship in communications and outreach. The student chosen to be UC ANR's GFI fellow will have an opportunity to apply their academic interests and skills to improve the lives of Californians and to get practical science-communications experience working with a Strategic Communications team. The application deadline is Friday, July 2. The UC Global Food Initiative addresses one of the critical issues of our time: how to sustainably and nutritiously feed a world population expected to reach 8 billion by 2025. For more information, see https://www.ucop.edu/global-food-initiative/index.html. About the UC GFI Fellowship The UC Global Food Initiative Student Fellowship Program funds student-generated research, related projects or internships that focus on food issues. All 10 UC campuses plus UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) and Lawrence Berkeley...

New guide helps organic growers manage burrowing rodents

Burrowing rodents can cause extensive and expensive damage to orchards and crop fields. To manage the pests without chemicals used on conventional farms, organic growers can consult a new publication from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists. “Burrowing Rodents: Developing a Management Plan for Organic Agriculture in California” outlines management within organically acceptable methods using an integrated pest management approach. California ground squirrels, pocket gophers and meadow voles are the three most common species that cause damage. Squirrels chew on seedlings, fruit and nuts, killing young trees and reducing crop yields. In addition to plants, ground squirrels, pocket gophers and voles can chew on irrigation lines, and their burrow systems can channel water away from plants and erode the soil. The holes and mounds created by burrowing rodents pose hazards to farmworkers and farm machinery. This publication helps growers identify the rodent...

Machines can help wine grape industry survive labor shortage

Wine grape growers in California and elsewhere face increasing labor costs and severe labor shortages, making it difficult to manage and harvest a vineyard while maintaining profitability. Growers are increasingly turning to machines for pruning, canopy management and harvesting, but how well these practices are executed can substantially affect yield and quality. A new review by researchers at the University of California, Davis, published in the journal Catalyst, provides guidelines for growers to make the best use of machines. “Wine grape laborers have been virtually nonexistent. People don't want to work in vineyards anymore because it's remote, tough work,” said Kaan Kurtural, UC Davis professor of viticulture andenology andUC Cooperative Extension specialist. “There is now machinery available to do everything without touching a vineyard.” Kurtural has designed a “touchless” experimental vineyard at the UC Davis Oakville Station...

There’s a danger in over-simplifying California water conservation

You hear it every time drought returns to California: “Turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth.” “Collect shower water in a bucket before it warms up.” While valuable, these tried and true drought resilience strategies can also deflect attention from the monumental challenges posed by droughts to natural areas, waterways, agriculture and people in California. Far-sighted and discerning management of the state's annual precipitation and groundwater is critical, particularly as droughts become more frequent due to climate change, said Faith Kearns, the academic coordinator of UC's California Institute for Water Resources. “Like so many big societal problems, we don't want to get caught up believing individual actions alone will solve this problem,” Kearns said. “Conserving water in households can help people feel activated and certainly conserve some water. But, at the same time, it's not enough. We have big, systemic issues to deal...

Farm-to-school projects planned for Los Angeles and Tuolumne counties

The University of California Cooperative Extension and its community partners have received nearly $500,000 from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to expand farm to school projects. The CDFA Office of Farm to Fork's 2021 California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program has awarded $8.496 million in grants to 60 farm-to-school projects throughout the state, including the following two UC Cooperative Extension projects. Tuolumne Agricultural Connections Project UC Cooperative Extension in the Central Sierra received $248,457 to work on the “Tuolumne Agricultural Connections Project” with Jamestown Elementary School District, Office of Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools, Mother Lode Regional Juvenile Detention Center, Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office and local farmers. UC Cooperative Extension Central Sierra will work with the sheriff's office to expand an existing farm education center on land owned by the county detention center, to provide...

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