Posts Tagged: grants

Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought

Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...

Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.

A patch of former lawn, mostly dead, with a few green weeds and Bermudagrass

Contracts & Grants Director Nolan to retire

Dear Colleagues:

It is with mixed emotions that I inform you of the upcoming retirement of Kathleen (Kathy) Nolan, director of ANR Office of Contracts & Grants (OGC), effective June 27, 2024.  There's no doubt that Kathy's retirement is well deserved, after 24 years of service to the University of California, the last 11 years serving UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

I have had the privilege of working with Kathy throughout her years with ANR, and found her to be a pillar of strength, competence, dedication, and of service for the division.  Kathy is recognized for her commitment to providing exceptional leadership to her OGC team. Under Kathy's leadership, the OCG team has reached a high-level of professionalism and expertise in Research Administration in ANR and has played a critical role in promoting and enabling the growth of ANR's research enterprise.

When Kathy joined ANR, the volume of contract and grants was less than $30M annually. That portfolio has today grown to over $100M. Kathy led the team that helped ANR achieve this level, while providing our academics with outstanding and exemplary customer service, as consistently evidenced in our customer service surveys.  

Please join me in congratulating Kathy on her upcoming retirement. She will be greatly missed as a friend and a colleague. I will update you with our progress of filling this important vacancy in the near future. Kimberly Lamar, associate director, has agreed to serve as interim director until the position is filled. 

Best regards,

Tu M. Tran
Associate Vice President, Business Operations

Grants to Improve Irrigation and Soils

VCRCD is now accepting applications for SWEEP & HSP Block Grant Programs!

It's finally here!!!   Agricultural operations can receive up to $200,000 for approved practices. Learn more about project and producer eligibility requirements, and start your application through our website!   SWEEP Block Grant: vcrcd.org/sweep-bgr/   HSP Block Grant: vcrcd.org/hsp-bgr/   Please reach out to Emma Youngquist or Emily Nye for questions and application assistance. Be on the lookout for our future web-based office hours.   emma.youngquist@vcrcd.org emily.nye@vcrcd.org   *Due to heavy interest, there is no guarantee a project proposal will be funded.

 

irrigation valves

CDFA HSP/SWEEP Incentives Program - Grants Opportunity Workshop

Thursday December 7, 2023

9:00 am - 11:00 am

Workshop will be presented on Zoom

 Apply for California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) grant funding – Healthy Soils Program (HSP) and/or State Water efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). Receive up to $200,000 in grant funding to improve soil health of your farm or increase irrigation and energy efficiency through two CDFA incentive grant programs.  Grants can pay for cover crops, and soil amendment applications, as well as irrigation system improvements, variable frequency drives (VFD) for pumps, and solar arrays to offset energy costs associated with pumping.    

During the workshop we will:

• Provide a comprehensive review of HSP and SWEEP grant programs
• Show you how to assemble a strong grant proposal

 

When:                 Thursday, December 7, 2023, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM                      

Where:               Via Zoom, link will be emailed to registered participants

Registration:

Register for the workshop and workshop resources: https://ucanr.edu/hsp-sweepworkshop 

OR send an email to either:

Bailey Smith-Helman, bsmithhelman@ucanr.edu

Aparna Gazula, agazula@ucanr.edu

 

Questions:  Contact bsmithhelman@ucanr.edu | 831-239-9465 or others as listed above.

 

Grant info.: Online applications. More details at  https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/ 

Free One-On-One Technical Assistance to Apply for Grant Funds Need help in developing and/or submitting your project proposal? Schedule your free one-on-one Technical Assistance session, contact Bailey Smith-Helman, or others as listed above, for additional information.

 

Climate-Change Resources

University of California UC ANR Green Blog (Climate Change and Other Topics) https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/index.cfm?tagname=climate%20change (full index)

Examples:

     -  Save Trees First: Tips to Keep Them Alive Under Drought https://ucanr.edu/b/~CdD 

     - Landscaping with Fire Exposure in Mind: https://ucanr.edu/b/~G4D

     - Cities in California Inland Areas Must Make Street Tree Changes to adapt to Future Climate  https://ucanr.edu/b/~oF7

Drought, Climate Change and California Water Management Ted Grantham, UC Cooperative Extension specialist (23 minutes) https://youtu.be/dlimj75Wn9Q

Climate Variability and Change: Trends and Impacts on CA Agriculture Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist (24 minutes) https://youtu.be/bIHI0yqqQJc

California Institute for Water Resources (links to blogs, talks, podcasts, water experts, etc.) https://ciwr.ucanr.edu/California_Drought_Expertise/

UC ANR Wildfire Resources (publications, videos, etc.) https://ucanr.edu/News/For_the_media/Press_kits/Wildfire/ (main website)

      -UC ANR Fire Resources and Information https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/ (main website)

            -Preparing Home Landscaping https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Prepare/Landscaping/

UC ANR Free Publications https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/ (main website)

- Benefits of Plants to Humans and Urban Ecosystems: https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8726.pdf

 -Keeping Plants Alive Under Drought and Water Restrictions (English version) https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8553.pdf

  (Spanish version) https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8628.pdf

-  Use of Graywater in Urban Landscapes https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8536.pdf

-  Sustainable Landscaping in California https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8504.pdf

 

Other (Non-UC) Climate Change Resources

Urban Forests and Climate Change. Urban forests play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Active stewardship of a community's forestry assets can strengthen local resilience to climate change while creating more sustainable and desirable places to live. https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/urban-forests

Examining the Viability of Planting Trees to Mitigate Climate Change (plausible at the forest level) https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2927/examining-the-viability-of-planting-trees-to-help-mitigate-climate-change/

Reports and other information resources coordinated under the auspices of the United Nations and produced through the collaboration of thousands of international scientists to provide a clear and up to date view of the current state of scientific knowledge relevant to climate change. United Nations Climate Action

Scientific reports, programs, action movements and events related to climate change. National Center for Atmospheric Research (National Science Foundation)

Find useful reports, program information and other documents resulting from federally funded research and development into the behavior of the atmosphere and related physical, biological and social systems. Search and find climate data from prehistory through to an hour ago in the world's largest climate data archive. (Formerly the "Climatic Data Center") National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA)

Think tank providing information, analysis, policy and solution development for addressing climate change and energy issues (formerly known as the: "Pew Center on Global Climate Change"). Center for Climate & Energy Solutions (C2ES)

Mapping Resilience: A Blueprint for Thriving in the Face of Climate Disaster. The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) was launched in July 2010 and is managed by EcoAdapt, a non-profit with a singular mission: to create a robust future in the face of climate change by bringing together diverse players to reshape planning and management in response to rapid climate change. https://www.cakex.org/documents/mapping-resilience-blueprint-thriving-face-climate-disaster

Cal-Adapt provides a way to explore peer-reviewed data that portrays how climate change might affect California at the state and local level. We make this data available through downloads, visualizations, and the Cal-Adapt API for your research, outreach, and adaptation planning needs. Cal-Adapt is a collaboration between state agency funding programs, university and private sector researchers https://cal-adapt.org/

Find reports, maps, data and other resources produced through a confederation of the research arms of 13 Federal departments and agencies that carry out research and develop and maintain capabilities that support the Nation's response to global change. Global Change (U.S. Global Change Research Program)

The Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines science-based thought leadership with active outreach to influence local, national, and international efforts to develop sustainable water policies. https://pacinst.org/our-approach/

Making equity real in climate adaptation and community resilience policies and programs: a guidebook. https://greenlining.org/publications/2019/making-equity-real-in-climate-adaption-and-community-resilience-policies-and-programs-a-guidebook/ 

Quarterly CA Climate Updates and CA Drought Monitor Maps (updated each Thursday) https://www.drought.gov/documents/quarterly-climate-impacts-and-outlook-western-region-june-2022

 

 

 

 

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