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CA&ES Currents Newsletter
December 22, 2003
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
The next fiscal year will be difficult and more budget cuts are a
certainty. The challenge for us will be to assure the continued
excellence of the faculty of our college, to conduct cutting-edge
research, to extend the knowledge to our stakeholders through extension
and outreach activities and to continue attracting the best and
brightest students. I am confident that we can meet this challenge.
See you after the holiday break.
In addition, proposals are requested for educational programs (course
development, extension activities and field short courses) benefiting
UC students, the fields of plant pathology and pomology and the
California fruit and nut industries. Proposals may be submitted by
students, staff or faculty.
Awards must be expended in support of undergraduates, graduate
students, post graduate researchers and faculty/staff within the
University of California system. Up to five $1,000 awards are available
in 2004.
Include a letter of application, a research proposal (of less than
1,500 words) and a letter of support from a UC faculty member or
department chair. Address questions and applications (via e-mail
attachment) to Rick Swantz. Deadline: January 30, 2004.
January 29 – San Luis Obispo
End-of-the-Year Message from Dean Neal Van Alfen
WHO
Michael McCoy Elected President of California Planning Roundtable
Minghua Zhang’s Lab Wins Hydrology Award
IN THE NEWS
Spinning Straw into Gold, Electricity
Returning the Favor to Afghanistan
$10M in Grants Boost Rice and Wheat Genome Research
WHAT
RFP: Intermountain Research and Extension Center Projects
RFP: Ogawa Tree Fruit and Nut Crop Research Grants
RFP: Viticulture and Enology Research Grants
WHAT
Hydrology Seminar Series, Jan. 8 – May 20
ANR Listening Sessions, Jan 29 – Feb. 26
Farmscape Architecture Course
Salton Sea Conference, Jan. 21
End-of-the-Year Message from Dean Neal Van Alfen
We
are facing the most fiscally challenging period the College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has known, but despite the
state budget crisis that directly impacts the operating budget of the
college, our faculty, staff and students are committed to ensuring our
programs remain strong. We have been going through an extensive
planning process to prioritize programs and develop a vision for the
future that will ensure we remain the premiere college of agricultural
and environmental sciences in the world.
Neal K. Van Alfen
Dean
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
nkvanalfen@ucdavis.edu
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Michael McCoy Elected President of California Planning Roundtable
Michael
McCoy, co-director of the Information Center for the Environment in the
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, was elected president
of the California Planning Roundtable. The organization promotes
creativity and excellence in planning by providing leadership in
addressing important planning issues in California. The Roundtable has
historically advised the Legislature, the governor, city and county
planning officials and members of the profession on matters of planning
policy and practice.
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Minghua Zhang’s Lab Wins Hydrology Award
The
Agricultural Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) lab received an
award at the 2003 California Water Policy Conference "honoring those
who have advanced innovation, breakthrough technologies and/or new ways
of thinking about water in California." The award was presented by
public officials for water and environmental reform at a November 2003
conference in Los Angeles. Minghua Zhang, associate adjunct professor
of hydrology in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, is the
director of the AGIS lab and her research assistants include many
current graduate and undergraduate students.
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Spinning Straw into Gold, Electricity
The
Los Angeles Times reported on a California State University, Channel
Islands (CSCI), plan to build a bio-gasification plant that would
process 250 tons a day of green waste and generate enough electricity
to power the CSCI campus and faculty-staff housing. The “waste product”
of the process is 25 to 50 tons a day of salable organic fertilizer.
The university will also collect tipping fees from waste companies
wishing to dispose of green waste. The project will cost about $12
million but is expected to bring in almost $2 million yearly in
revenue. The digester technology being used for the project was
developed by UC Davis’ Ruihong Zhang, associate professor in the
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
Bio-gasification
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Returning the Favor to Afghanistan
The
San Francisco Chronicle ran an article on the effort to help rebuild
Afghan agriculture, featuring the work of Patrick Brown, professor of
pomology and director of International Programs in the College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Also interviewed for the story
were pomology professor Thomas Gradziel and Harold Olmo, professor
emeritus of horticulture, who originally collected Afghan plant
material in the 1930s and 40s and brought it to California. Brown also
appeared on the Osgood File (CBS Radio) and the Armstrong and Getty
TV/radio program on the same topic.
San Francisco Chronicle
The Osgood File
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$10M in Grants Boost Rice and Wheat Genome Research
This
Sacramento Bee story discusses two National Science Foundation grants
totaling nearly $10 million that have been awarded to Jan Dvorak,
professor of agronomy, and Pam Ronald, professor of plant pathology,
for research on the genomes of wheat and rice, respectively.
Sacramento Bee
UC Davis press release
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RFP: Intermountain Research and Extension Center Projects
The
Intermountain Research and Extension Center (IREC) in Tulelake is
soliciting proposals for new and continuing research projects for
calendar year 2004. The center is a 140-acre research facility located
at 4,000 feet elevation near the Oregon border. It specializes in
potato, small grain, onion, and forage research; however, most cool
season field and vegetable crops can also be accommodated and grown
there. IREC provides labor, equipment, facilities and technical support
to UC academics and to personnel from cooperating agencies. Grants of
center-provided labor to support approved projects are awarded
annually. Deadline: January 9, 2004.
Details and application forms
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RFP: Ogawa Tree Fruit and Nut Crop Research Grants
The
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is pleased to
announce that the Joseph M. Ogawa Research and Teaching Endowment
Committee is accepting proposals from undergraduate and graduate
students, and postdoctoral researchers for research projects addressing
production problems of temperate zone tree fruit and nut crops.
Rick A. Swantz
Director of Development
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
raswantz@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-7961
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RFP: Viticulture and Enology Research Grants
The
California Competitive Grant Program for Research in Viticulture and
Enology is requesting research proposals for 2004–2005. The University
of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in
consultation and cooperation with the American Vineyard Foundation,
established the program in 1997 to address the needs of the California
viticulture and enology industry. Deadline: January 30, 2004.
Full details, including application instructions and research priorities click here.
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Hydrology Seminar Series, Jan. 8 – May 20
The
hydrology seminar series, the Role of the Subsurface Environment in
Water Resource Management, will begin on January 8 with a lecture by
Indiana University political scientist William Blomquist, who will
speak on “Law, Policy, and the Subsurface Environment: California's
Practices and Problems in Perspective.” The series features lectures by
hydrologists, engineers, public policy makers and other water experts
from across the country. It is sponsored by the Hydrologic Sciences
Graduate Group, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
the John Muir Institute of the Environment, and the Department of
Environmental Science and Policy. Thursdays, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m., 3001
Plant and Environmental Sciences.
Jan W. Hopmans
Professor
Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
jwhopmans@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-3060
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ANR Listening Sessions, Jan 29 – Feb. 26
The
University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural
Resources (ANR) is sponsoring a series of listening sessions to solicit
stakeholders’ input on ANR, its programs and ways in which it can
better address the needs of Californians. Sessions are set for the
following dates and locations:
February 5 – Riverside
February 12 – Redding
February 19 – Parlier (Kearney Research and Extension Center)
February 26 – Davis
Full details are available here
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Farmscape Architecture Course
The
Landscape Architecture Program in the Department of Environmental
Design will offer a farmscape architecture class this winter. The class
includes several weekend workshops, which will match each student with
a local farmer and a conservation professional to develop farm
conservation and restoration plans for those farmers. Course instructor
Paul Robins is director of the Yolo County Rural Conservation District
and has managed on-farm demonstration and planning projects for the RCD
since 1995. The focus of his work with the RCD has been on the
interactions among agriculture, water quality and wildlife habitat in
Yolo County, with emphasis on the use of native vegetation systems. For
more information, contact Robins at probins@sbcglobal.net.
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Salton Sea Conference, Jan. 21
Learn
more about the environment of the Salton Sea and plans for restoring it
at the Water Education Foundation’s Salton Sea Conference January 21,
2004, in Sacramento. Co-sponsored by the Department of Water Resources,
this one-day conference will bring together key policy-makers and
stakeholders to discuss the current state of the Salton Sea and
prospects for its restoration.
Details, registration and agenda
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