In spite of a very wet week, work certainly didn't slow down any.
The Strategic Initiative leaders met this week to do some planning and prepare their panels for the UC ANR Competitive Grants Program and discuss ideas to pull initiative contributors together. This is a fun group with great ideas so I like getting a chance to sit with them every now and then and get their feedback on various topics.
Program Council met for a day+ and finalized the call for proposals. Once that call is released, an announcement will be posted in the ANR Update and I will link to that announcement here. Be on the lookout for that next week. In addition to the standard call, we talked about other ways to support extension and research ideas. More information about those ideas will be out soon, too. Program Council also received program overviews from Tom Tomich, about the SARE Program, and Maggi Kelly, about the IGIS Program. There's so much going on in these programs and quite a bit of opportunity for synergy between the two! Hearing all of the enthusiasm from Program Council about supporting the research and extension efforts across the state is a strong motivator to do more, better.
The REC Directors also did some planning this week. Always good to see them and have a chance to hear about what's new and what's on-going at the RECs. It's far more than just tea hedges. The Rec Directors and the Director of the REC system are no doubt committed to increasing research capacity on the RECs and making sure researchers have a good experience when they conduct a project at a REC. A real bonus for the days was congratulating Dr. Bob Hutmacher, center director for the West Side REC on his recent recognition as the 2017 Cotton Specialist of the Year – way to go Bob!
On Tuesday the UC ANR strategic plan was released and is available from the ANR Update. Time to start tackling those goals! Be sure to tune into the Town Hall meeting on January 18th to ask any questions you might have. You can attend in person at the Davis ANR building or participate via Zoom. The ANR Update provides the time and the Zoom link (click on the date/time to be taken to the Zoom room).
My career in academia and Extension has opened up so many doors to opportunities I couldn't have imagined. I think one more opened this week. I was invited to be a mentor for one of the finalist groups in the UC Berkeley Big Ideas contest! I am so flattered and excited because, yes, this finalist team from UC Santa Barbara wants to talk about manure - right up my alley! Of course I agreed. We haven't met yet but I expect I will learn a whole host of new things from this team of innovation enthusiasts who, like me, see tremendous value in manure. A colleague and I have always talked about taking a joint sabbatical to travel the world and write a book on what we know best. Our plan was to title the book “Exotic Species and Their Feces”. You never know, we might have some emerging co-authors.
In the meantime, stay dry and enjoy our extended weekend to honor a man with big ideas and big words!