Posts Tagged: Barbara Allen-Diaz

UCCE partners with UC Merced on critical issues

University of California Cooperative Extension has headquartered two new specialists on the UC Merced campus, reported Scott Hernandez-Jason of UC Merced University News. Karina Diaz-Rios, specialist for nutrition, family and consumer sciences, joined UCCE on Sept. 2. Tapan Pathak, specialist for climate adaptation in agriculture, will start Feb. 2, 2015.

"These positions come with a focus on interacting with the community, conducting applied research, and translating UC research to help the ag economy and local residents,” said Tom Peterson, UC Merced Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor. “We are pleased that UC Merced can partner with UC ANR (UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources) on these important issues.”

According to the news release, Diaz-Rios will be housed in UC Merced's Health Sciences Research Institute and focus on nutrition research and education and food security. She will connect with a larger team of nutrition researchers and educators throughout the UC system addressing issues related to healthy food and human health.

Pathak, who will be housed in the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at UC Merced, will help farmers and ranchers adapt to new conditions created by variable and changing climate. He will collaborate with UC colleagues and state and federal agencies in statewide efforts to address climate variability and climate change adaptation and mitigation. He is currently an extension educator in climate variability at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

UC ANR continuously provides research-based solutions to the California agriculture industry, said Barbara Allen-Diaz, ANR vice president.

“California agriculture is a world-recognized marvel, and we'd like to think the university, through ANR's research and outreach, is a big reason why,” she said. “Adding UC Merced to our existing, thriving partnerships with UC Davis, UC Berkeley and UC Riverside will only strengthen UC efforts in helping California and the world to sustainably feed itself.”

UC research center in Tulelake commemorates UCCE centennial

The annual field day at the UC Intermountain Research and Extension Center held last week provided an opportunity to mark the 100th anniversary of UC Cooperative Extension with leaders of the organization, reported Todd Fitchette in Western Farm Press.

The research activities at the Intermountain center, situated near the California-Oregon border in Tulelake, focus on peppermint, horseradish, small grains, wheat, potatoes, alfalfa and onions. At the field day, UCCE researchers discussed the progress of alfalfa production in the Klamath Basin, suppressing white rot disease in processing onions, maximizing profitability of wheat, pest management in peppermint and other topics.

The Intermountain Research and Extension Center is one of nine centers under the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR). The 140-acre facility provides UCCE advisors and specialists the space and support needed to conduct agricultural research in a high mountain interior valley climate zone.

It's National Pollinator Week!

It's National Pollinator Week! Do you know where your pollinators are? It was good to see the University of California Agriculture and Natural...

Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis who recently retired as a professional bee wrangler, talks bees with Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC ANR vice president. The bee sculpture, in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, is the work of Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Norm Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis who recently retired as a professional bee wrangler, talks bees with Barbara Allen-Diaz, UC ANR vice president. The bee sculpture, in the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, is the work of Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

That's one pollinator! Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC ANR, holds up a finger designating one pollinator. This is Donna Billick's bee sculpture in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. It was funded by Wells Fargo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

That's one pollinator! Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC ANR, holds up a finger designating one pollinator. This is Donna Billick's bee sculpture in the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. It was funded by Wells Fargo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee Stunt: A First and a Last

It was Norm Gary's last bee wrangling stunt. And it was Barbara Allen-Diaz' first close-up encounter with bees. The occasion: Barbara Allen-Diaz,...

A handful of bees, held by Barbara Allen-Diaz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A handful of bees, held by Barbara Allen-Diaz. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Norm Gary shows Barbara Allen-Diaz the sign in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. It is the work of Davis artist Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Norm Gary shows Barbara Allen-Diaz the sign in front of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. It is the work of Davis artist Donna Billick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Barbara Allen-Diaz and Norm Gary talk bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Barbara Allen-Diaz and Norm Gary talk bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee-ing There and Bee-Lieving in the Bees

Just call it a "practice run." Or a "buzz run." Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) vowed last...

Honey bees in the hands of Pam Kan-Rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bees in the hands of Pam Kan-Rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Making a beeline for her watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Making a beeline for her watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee watch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bees are drawn to the special artificial nectar placed on a plastic plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bees are drawn to the special artificial nectar placed on a plastic plant. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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