Posts Tagged: Rangeland Water Quality

Ken Tate is 2015 recipient of James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award

The following appear in CA&ES Currents Newsletter, August 13, 2015. Congratulations Ken!!!

UC Cooperative Extension specialist Kenneth Tate is the 2015 recipient of the James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award. The award recognizes a distinguished career of achievement by an Academic Federation member. A secondary but important consideration is voluntary service to the campus, UC community, or state, regional, or national bodies.

Tate has compiled an impressive record of collaborative and solution-oriented research addressing agricultural and environmental issues across California's 57 million acres of rangeland. He provides science and education leadership to California's diverse rangeland stakeholders and the campus community and has been repeatedly recognized for his work on surface water quality on rangelands. He has given more than 400 extension presentations, published more than 100 journal articles, served as principal investigator on 37 research and extension grants ($6.3 million), and as co-principal investigator on another 43 research and extension grants ($5.7 million).

Tate works with private landowners, agency land managers, and regulatory agency staff to understand the fate and transport of surface water pollutants. Early in his career he helped identify management practices to reduce drinking water contamination risks by livestock-borne Cryptosporidium parvum and other pathogens, which enabled ranching families to continue sustainable grazing practices on watersheds east of San Francisco. He has also worked with these groups to identify and implement realistic management practices to reduce pollutants. Tate is known for his ability to build consensus among diverse audiences on controversial topics related to range livestock production. In 2011, he developed the biennial UC Rustici Rangeland Science Symposium that features scientists, policymakers, and ranchers working on key rangeland issues.

“Dr. Tate has advanced a remarkable and productive research and extension career in range management and environmental stewardship,” said Department of Plant Sciences chair Chris van Kessel in nominating Tate for the award. “His program has been exemplary in bringing together diverse research and management collaborations to evaluate scientific information relevant to targeted issues, contribute new scientific knowledge, and extend tools and knowledge to serve the needs of society."

Leslie Roache Accepts Position As UCCE Range Management Specialist!

UC Davis Rangeland Watershed Lab announced that Dr. Leslie Roche, formerly Lead Scientist at the Lab has accepted the offer from UC Davis Plant Sciences and UCCE as our new statewide Rangeland Management Specialist in Cooperative

Extension. She formally joins the UC Davis Faculty September 1. “We had some serious competition to keep her here at UCD, and were lucky to do so,” says Dr. Kenneth Tate, Rangeland Watershed Lab. Her research is published on the Lab's site. Congratulations, Leslie!

Many of you have had the chance to meet Leslie prior to her appointment as she has been leading the California Ranch Stewardship Program. She fills the void left by Mel George who we in UCCE called "Uncle Mel". Perhaps she will become known as Auntie Leslie. Please welcome her in her new career!

 

UCANR Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Livestock, Forestry and Natural Resources CE Positions By July 21, 2014

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources created a call in January of 2014 for new UCCE Advisor and Specialist positions. The goal for filling these positions is to strengthen and rebuild the UC ANR network to meet programmatic gaps and emerging issues facing California identified in the Strategic Vision (see: ANR Strategic Vision 2025 full report or ANR Strategic Vision 2025 Executive Summary) and further refined in each of the 5 Strategic Initiatives entitled: Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases, Healthy Families and Communities, Sustainable Food Systems, Sustainable Natural Ecosystems and Water Quality, Quantity and Security. All 123 new proposed positions are listed on a public web page at this link.

These proposed positions are presently undergoing internal review until August 18, 2014. The public is invited to comment on these proposed positions until July 21, 2014.

Of the 123 positions proposed, 23 positions could benefit California's livestock, forestry and natural resources based industries. Those same 23 positions would have overlapping impact on both sustainable natural ecosystems, water quality, quantity security and sustainable food systems. I have listed in the table below those 23 positions with their identifying number, title, type of position (Advisor or Specialist) and where those positions would be located. Area Advisors are housed in one county but cover multiple counties. Specialists are statewide and support Advisor research and educational programs. If you click on the ID Number it will take you to the page where you can add comments for that position. There is also a link on that same page that describes the position in more detail.

ID Number	Position Title	Advisor or Specialist	Location, County or Campus
003	Area Livestock & Natural Resources	Advisor	Tuolumne
017	Area Desert Livestock	Advisor	Imperial
020	Area Forest & Natural Resources	Advisor	Ventura
021	Area Forest & Natural Resources	Advisor	Sutter-Yuba
024	Area Livestock & Natural Resources	Advisor	Placer-Nevada
025	Area Livestock & Natural Resources	Advisor	Sutter-Yuba
026	Area Livestock & Natural Resources & Community Development	Advisor	Plumas
027	Area Livestock & Natural Resources	Advisor	Ventura
028	Area Natural Resources – Fire & Restoration	Advisor	San Diego
045	Dairy	Advisor	Sonoma
046	Dairy	Advisor	Humboldt
057	Livestock & Natural Resources	Advisor	Siskiyou
066	Applied Limnology (Lakes & Fresh Water)	Specialist	UCD
067	Aquaculture	Specialist	UCD
070	Beef Cattle Herd Health	Specialist	UCD Vet Med
081	Dairy Cattle Production Health Management	Specialist	Vet Med Teaching & Research Center -Tulare
087	Forest Products and Woody Biomass	Specialist	UCB
092	Livestock & Rangeland Economist	Specialist	UCD
102	Plant Conservation	Specialist	UCR
107	Rangeland Management	Specialist	UCD
108	Rangeland Policy & Planning	Specialist	UCB
109	Rangeland Ruminant Nutritional Ecology	Specialist	SFREC Sierra Foothill Research & Extension Center
115	Sheep & Goat Heard Health & Production	Specialist	UCD Vet Med

 

It is very possible that not all of these positions will survive the screening process. That's why it's important to have stakeholder input and I urge you to take the time to review at least each of these and comment. Please also comment on any of the other positions shown on the full list as well.

It's also important to know that the comment process is not a voting one. Rather it is a supportive process from stakeholders who are visionary and statewide-thinking about the issues facing California's livestock and natural resources owners, managers and stewards. Some of these positions, especially the Advisors and a few of the Specialists, have had very successful people filling those slots. The public comments should not focus on replacing one of these great people but local, regional and statewide need for the position to work to solve current and future problems.

As the statewide leader for the Sustainable Natural Ecosystems Initiative, I would also like to hear from my blog readers how you might rank the positions in the above table outside of the comments you provide on the public page links I've provided in the table. To do so just either comment on this blog article, message me via LinkedIn or Facebook or drop me an email at jmharper@ucanr.edu. Please put SNESI positions in the subject so I can search and sort. I look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

Mel George

Below is a repost from UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Science newsletter. Most will recognized the name, Mel George, be it colleague, mentor, innovator or friend. I wanted to share this since so many of you are familiar with our UC Extension Range Specialist, now retired, as this is one of the highest honors the Society of Range Management bestows on one of its members. Well deserved Uncle Mel!

Melvin George: W.R. Chapline Stewardship Award 

Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus Melvin George received the W.R. Chapline Stewardship Award at the February meeting of the Society for Range Management (SRM), held in Florida. The award recognizes exceptional accomplishments and contributions in range management.

George, of the Department of Plant Sciences, was commended for significantly improving extension education programs and science-based technical advice to ranchers, public agencies, and industry associations during his 37-year career. He was noted for establishing education and outreach programs that evaluated scientific information relevant to targeted problems, contributed new scientific knowledge to environmental issues, extended information to engage the ranching constituency in problem solving, and supplied the tools and knowledge to implement solutions to environmental problems. 

During his career, George developed and implemented a water quality research and education short course for rangeland owners that helped more than a thousand ranchers develop and implement water quality plans on privately owned rangeland. The process was adopted by state and federal agencies as a model for voluntary clean water programs. This approach improved grazing management, protected water quality, and led to enhanced stewardship on expansive public/private rangelands and watersheds in the western United States.Melvin George: W.R. Chapline Stewardship Award

Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus Melvin George received the W.R. Chapline Stewardship Award at the February meeting of the Society for Range Management (SRM), held in Florida. The award recognizes exceptional accomplishments and contributions in range management.

George, of the Department of Plant Sciences, was commended for significantly improving extension education programs and science-based technical advice to ranchers, public agencies, and industry associations during his 37-year career. He was noted for establishing education and outreach programs that evaluated scientific information relevant to targeted problems, contributed new scientific knowledge to environmental issues, extended information to engage the ranching constituency in problem solving, and supplied the tools and knowledge to implement solutions to environmental problems. 

During his career, George developed and implemented a water quality research and education short course for rangeland owners that helped more than a thousand ranchers develop and implement water quality plans on privately owned rangeland. The process was adopted by state and federal agencies as a model for voluntary clean water programs. This approach improved grazing management, protected water quality, and led to enhanced stewardship on expansive public/private rangelands and watersheds in the western United States.

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