Grace Woodmansee recently joined UC Cooperative Extension as the new Siskiyou County Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor. Grace grew up in Chico and spent her childhood in 4-H raising market lambs and being actively involved in club leadership. These experiences inspired her to earn undergraduate degrees in Animal Science and Sociology from CSU, Chico. As an undergraduate research assistant at the Chico State Beef Unit, Grace discovered her passion for rangeland science and management- a discipline that combines her interests in social, ecological and livestock production research. Grace enjoyed expanding these interests as a research assistant in the UC Rangelands lab at UC Davis where she completed her Master of Science in Agronomy in November 2020. For the past five years, Grace has worked with Cooperative Extension and is committed to conducting collaborative, applied research to address management challenges on grazing lands. “I am particularly interested in multi-disciplinary research and the role that it plays in solving complex issues”, she says. Grace's graduate work focused on drought adaptation and used rancher interviews to determine what management strategies were most effective in managing through historic drought conditions.

“I am very excited to join the community of Siskiyou County and to work with ranchers and land managers to identify research priorities, develop projects and address challenges related to livestock production and natural resource management”, Grace says. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the county with her lab puppy, Brooks. Grace is eager to meet the Siskiyou County community and encourages everyone to get in touch by emailing gwoodmansee@ucanr.edu or calling the extension office at (530)842-2711.