CE Advisors & CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting: Exploring Ongoing Agricultural Research at UC Riverside

joanny — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 23:54:27 +0000

CE Advisors & CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting: Exploring Ongoing Agricultural Research at UC Riverside joanny Sat, 08/24/2024 - 16:54 More College News August 24, 2024

The University of California, Riverside (UCR) College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) hosted the Cooperative Extension (CE) Advisors and UCR CE Faculty Collaboration Meeting on May 23.

CE advisors located in (or serving) over 14 counties across California were invited to learn about the ongoing research by UCR CE faculty to enhance collaboration between CE advisors and faculty, and to address existing and emerging agricultural challenges to better serve California and the US.

The following CE faculty provided oral presentations on their current research projects:

Connecting the Dots Between Production Horticulture & the Consumer for Subtropical Fruit Crops
Mary Lu Arpaia
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Subtropical Horticulture
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences

Turfgrass Research & Outreach
Jim Baird
Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Horticulture
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences
turfgrass.ucr.edu

Management of Insect Pests in Subtropical Fruit Crops
Bodil Cass
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Entomology
Department of Entomology

Urban/Structural Entomology Labs
Dong-Hwan Choe
Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Entomology
Department of Entomology

Insect Invasion Biology & Vector-Borne Plant Disease Management
Matt Daugherty
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Entomology
Department of Entomology

Optimization of Citrus Horticultural Practices
Ashraf El-kereamy
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Horticulture
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences

Advanced Technologies for Improving Food Safety of Fresh Produce
Ahmed El-Moghazy
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Food Safety
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Minimizing Disease Impact in Subtropical Fruit Crops
Fatemah Khodadadi
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Subtropical Horticultural Research
Peggy Mauk
Director of Agricultural Operations
Professor of Cooperative Extension
UC Cooperative Extension Specialist
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences

Black Earth & Robots
Milt McGiffen
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Vegetable Crops
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences

Nursery Production: Plant Nutrition & Water/Native Plant & Pomegranate Operations
Donald Merhaut
Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Horticulture
Department of Botany and Plant Sciences

Nematode Management in Vegetable Crops
Antoon Ploeg
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Nematology
Department of Nematology

Disease Management in Vegetables & Small Fruits
Alex Putman
Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist in Plant Pathology
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Geospatial Soil & Plant Sensing Research
Elia Scudiero
Associate Professional Researcher
Department of Environmental Sciences

Tree & Vine Research Overview
Philippe Rolshausen
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Subtropical Crops
Department of Botany & Plant Sciences

Precision Urban and Agricultural Water Management in Southern California
Amir Verdi
Associate Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Agricultural and Urban Water Management
Department of Environmental Sciences

California’s Citrus Clonal Protection Program & Its Research in Addressing Citrus Challenges
Georgios Vidalakis
Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Plant Pathology
Director, Citrus Clonal Protection Program
Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology

Nematode Diseases of Trees & Vines
Andreas Westphal
Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist of Nematology
Department of Nematology

In addition to CE advisors and faculty, the collaboration meeting was attended by UCR Agricultural Experiment Station faculty and CNAS leadership including CNAS Interim Dean Peter Atkinson and chairs of agricultural departments. The meeting was organized by Isgouhi Kaloshian, Professor of Nematology and former CNAS Agriculture & Natural Resources Divisional Dean, Peggy Mauk, Agriculture Operations Director and CE Faculty, and Donald Merhaut, CE Faculty.

For more information about Cooperative Extension at UC Riverside, please visit cnas.ucr.edu/ce-specialists.

For more information about the University of California Cooperative Advisors, please visit cnas.ucr.edu/about/cooperative-extension.

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UC Riverside named to Top 50 Green Colleges list

ilseu — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 18:42:20 +0000

UC Riverside named to Top 50 Green Colleges list ilseu Wed, 10/28/2020 - 11:42 More College News John Warren | UCR News October 28, 2020

UC Riverside was recently named among the Top 50 Green Colleges by the Princeton Review; ranking No. 16 among public universities and No. 48 overall in the nation.

The Top 50 list is chosen from school-reported data and student opinions collected from online surveys. The survey questions canvass whether students experience a healthy, sustainable quality of life; how well the university is preparing students for “green” jobs; and the school’s environmental policies.

“This recognition shows the progress that UCR has made in relation to sustainability initiatives on campus,” said Fortino Morales, UCR’s sustainability officer. “It’s important to note that they require the passion and effort of the entire campus to achieve, from students concerned about climate change, to staff who are working every day to make the campus better, and to faculty who share their knowledge and insights.”

UCR has won green accolades in the past. In 2016, The Sierra Club ranked UCR No. 27 among 201 universities on its “Cool Schools” green-friendly list, and No. 35 of 227 universities in 2017. The campus was No. 16 on a list among the nation’s most environmentally friendly campuses in a ranking in the GreenMetric World University Rankings 2018, conducted by Universitas Indonesia.

In the past few years, UCR’s green projects included placing 9,600 solar panels in parking lots 30 and 32 on campus, providing 6.9 million kilowatt-hours of energy over a 13-month period. It also achieved an LEED Platinum designation for the new Multidisciplinary Building.

Director of Agricultural Operations Peggy Mauk also pointed to the efforts of UC Riverside’s R’Garden, which supplied 20,000 pounds of produce to the campus community during the pandemic. “UCR’s efforts are paying dividends,” she said.

The University of California announced in 2013 that it aims for 100% reliance on clean electricity supplies across its campuses and medical centers by 2025 — the same year it has pledged to become operationally carbon neutral.

The 10-campus system said it would meet those goals with clean energy, green building design, sustainable procurement, and waste reduction.

On Oct. 21, the UC Office of the President announced it is nearly halfway toward its carbon neutrality goal. The announcement came with construction of two large-scale solar energy projects that will generate renewable electricity for all 10 campuses.

“Out of the nearly 700 schools we considered for this project, the Top 50 Green Colleges are, in our opinion, truly up to the task of training the next generation of leaders, who will be responsible for putting green ideas into practice,” the Princeton Review top 50 report reads. Princeton Review editor Rob Franek added: “We recommend them highly to all students seeking to live and learn at a green college.”

The Princeton Review publishes a companion list to the Top 50 listing 416 universities. Between 125 to 370 students complete the surveys on each campus.

The Princeton Review, which is not affiliated with Princeton University, is a tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company.

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