The Master Gardener Program is offering to fund county-based program representatives for two years starting July 1.
 
Maximum funding will provide UC-paid salary and benefits for a Program Representative II full time for two years starting July 1, 2013, and ending June 30, 2015. Multiple positions are available. Proposals will be evaluated by a subcommittee of the UC Statewide Master Gardener Steering Committee based on the criteria outlined at https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=9960. Recommendations will be submitted to ANR Senior Leadership for funding decisions.   
 
To apply for funds, please submit your proposal on-line at: https://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=9960
A letter of support from the county director is required. Please upload the letter at the end of the survey or fax/email it to Pam Geisel, director of the statewide Master Gardener Program, at pgeisel@ucanr.edu

The deadline to apply is March 22, 2013. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decisions by email by April 30, 2013. 

Dear Colleagues:
 
Urban agriculture* is gaining in popularity around California and the nation. Recently, ANR funded a project through its competitive grants program to conduct a needs assessment and develop resources for UCCE advisors and staff, urban agriculture practitioners and policymakers. Part of the needs assessment is learning about how ANR academic and program staff members are engaging with urban agriculture, and what resources would be helpful to them in assisting this clientele group.
 
As a member of the ANR community, please help us out by participating in a short survey at http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=9435. Our team hopes to gather input from CE specialists and advisors, AES faculty, program representatives, and other staff members in all program areas. If you are not sure if your community is considered “urban,” please go ahead and respond anyway. The survey closes March 15.
 
Our team includes Co-PI’s Aziz Baameur (UCCE Santa Clara County), Gail Feenstra (UC Davis ASI/SAREP), Shermain Hardesty (UC Small Farm Program), and Cheryl Wilen (UCCE San Diego County/UC IPM) and advisory committee members Susan Algert (UCCE Santa Clara County), Ryan Galt (UC Davis Dept. of Human and Community Services), Christy Getz (UC Berkeley Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy and Management), Carol Goldstein (UCLA Dept. of Urban Planning), Claire Napawan (UC Davis Dept. of Environmental Design), Andrew Sutherland (UCCE Alameda County/UC IPM), and Eli Zigas (SPUR-San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association).

Thank you in advance for your help! 
 
Rachel Surls, Project PI
Sustainable Food Systems Advisor
UCCE Los Angeles County
 
* “Urban agriculture includes production (beyond that which is strictly for home consumption or educational purposes), distribution and marketing of food and other products within the cores of metropolitan areas and at their edges.  Examples include community, school, backyard, and rooftop gardens with a purpose extending beyond home consumption and education, urban market gardens, innovative food-production methods that maximize production in a small area, community supported agriculture based in urban areas, and family farms located in metropolitan greenbelts.”  (Adapted from the American Planning Association, 2011).

As part of the University of California’s commitment to support family care-giving responsibilities, the University proposes to establish Staff Policy 84 Accommodations for Nursing Mothers. 

Under the provisions of Staff Policy 84, the University will provide appropriate sanitary and private space for breastfeeding purposes, in close proximity to the nursing mother’s work area.  The University also will provide a reasonable amount of time for lactation breaks.

The proposed policy is posted at http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/policies_employee_labor_relations/proposed_policies/prop_staff_policies.html

Employees who wish to provide comments may submit them to Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucdavis.edu by Feb. 25, 2013.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources is participating in eight booths at the 2013 World Ag Expo, which will run from Feb. 12-14 at the International Agri-Center in Tulare. Pavilion A will house a cluster of UC ANR booths: UC Cooperative Extension Tulare County (UCCE) at booth 1411 will be next to Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) at booth 1412, and Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) will be across the walkway at booth 1513.

Lindcove Research and Extension Center and UC Riverside Department of Entomology will be helping the Citrus Research Board at booth L36.  The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center will be at booth 6014. Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation Center will be sharing booth M54 with Wilcox Agri-products. The UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Science will be at booth 8013. 

The goal of all of the booths is increasing our visibility as well as increasing the public’s awareness of how UC ANR programs help ensure healthy food systems, healthy environments, healthy communities and healthy Californians by providing leadership and innovation through research, education and service.

• UCCE Tulare County will have publications on display; different advisors will be available at different times to answer questions. Tuesday will feature UCCE advisors Kevin Day, deciduous tree fruit, Neil O-Connell, citrus and avocado, and Julie Finzel, livestock and natural resources.  Wednesday will feature UCCE advisors Elizabeth Fichtner, nuts, olives and dried plums, Carol Frate, alfalfa, dry Beans, corn and oil crops, and Michelle Le Strange, vegetables, weed control, turf and landscape.  Thursday will feature UCCE advisors Manuel Jimenez, vegetables and integrated pest management, Cathi Lamp, nutrition, family and consumer sciences, and Steve Wright, cotton, winter cereals, and weed control.

• KARE will have a TV monitor with slides of KARE’s research and extension programs; an interactive GIS computer program; and interactive displays of pests and beneficial organisms. Kearney director Jeffery Dahlberg and KARE research staff will be available all week to answer questions about research and extension programs at KARE.  Other KARE specialists, advisors and staff will be available for shorter periods. An ‘Ag Warrior’ intern plans to staff the booth as well. The World Ag Expo’s Ag Warriors program prepares returning veterans for careers in the agriculture industry.

• ANR will be displaying and selling ANR publications and have an interactive integrated pest management touch-screen kiosk for home and landscape pest control.

• Citrus entomology, affiliated with Lindcove and UC Riverside Entomology, will have an interactive display of citrus pests, disease, varieties, and integrated pest management technologies in conjunction with the Citrus Research Board.

• CASI will have a display of conservation agriculture systems, practices and impact.

• UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center will provide brochures on the fourth-year veterinarian student clinical rotations and research programs; videos of veterinarian students on the farm; informational handouts on the SMV’s Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine programs; careers in veterinary medicine; and VMTRC’s dairy production medicine program.

• The UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences will have several interactive media displays.  IPads will showcase the college’s information, including majors, internship opportunities, facilities, and ways to get involved on campus.  Videos that showcase the university and the students will be on iPads and an overhead TV monitor.  Current students (Aggie Ambassadors) will be in attendance and available to answer questions about student life, programs they are involved in, and their majors.

We will probably have something that interests you, so please come and join us!

Dear Colleagues,

Recently many of you responded to the Survey of Informatics and GIS Needs, Knowledge and Data Availability, which we really appreciate! The insight about the understanding and use of geospatial technologies in ANR is helping the IGIS team develop strategies to make these resources and tools more readily available within the Division. There is still time to add your comments, so please do so!

Please join me this Friday, Feb. 8, for a short, informative webinar about the new Informatics and GIS Statewide Program. I’ll present some of the goals and objectives of the new program. I’ll also describe the data currently available and how you can contribute data.

You can ask questions and make comments by calling in or writing into Adobe Connect. The phone number and Adobe Connect link are below.

Time: 10:30 a.m.
Adobe Connect Link: http://uc-d.adobeconnect.com/r2zfy4sukre/

Call in Number: (866) 740-1260, Access Code:  9125259#

Thank you for your interest.

Kris Lynn-Patterson
IGIS
klynn@ucanr.edu
http://www.igis.ucanr.edu/