Reality has set in that I need to spend more days at a desk in front of a screen or on the phone. Ughhh. As a result, I spent the weekend trying to catch up; I've long since decided there's no point in thinking I can get ahead. I worked on an MOU to address feedback received, drafted several communications that will still need some more detailed follow up, cleaned out the Inbox a bit by responding to emails, gave some thought to next week's WebANR, and wrapped up some notes from the 2-day meeting last week that addressed some outstanding items on the REC 6-year financial plan. Ahhh, to be new again and have a short ‘to-do' list.
Speaking of new, we had some new academics start last week. Annemiek Schilder started on August 1 as the UCCE Ventura County and Hanson REC Director, headquartered in Ventura County. Also on August 1, Nathan Caeton began as the new CE 4-H Youth Development Advisor, based in Redding, with programmatic responsibilities in Shasta, Tehama and Trinity Counties. Previously, Nate was the 4-H program specialist in those counties. Tomorrow, Maggie La Rochelle starts as the Area 4-H Youth Development Advisor, based in Half Moon Bay, with programmatic responsibilities in San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. Please welcome Annemiek and Maggie to UC ANR and congratulate Nate on his new position!
There are 43 more prospective ‘new UC students' now, as a result of the UC ANR 4-H Latino Initiative 3-day Juntos Summer Academy that was held at UC Merced. High School students from Riverside, Orange, Kern, Santa Clara, Merced and Sonoma counties had the opportunity to experience college life. They lived in the dorms, ate in the college cafeteria and attended workshops on scholarships, financial aid, admissions, essays and a students' panel. The students heard from two very motivational Latino keynote speakers, who spoke about their experiences as Latino youth attending college and how they overcame obstacles to graduation. With the economic support of National 4-H and New York Life, the Juntos program includes: (1) family workshops and monthly check-ins, (2) afterschool 4-H club meetings, (3) one-on-one success coaching and access to college and community mentors, and (4) summer programming through 4-H camps, college-campus visits, and other educational conferences.
Many were busy this weekend dealing with fires. Several affected by the Mendocino complex fire are still out of their homes. Now that it is in Colusa County, I'm wondering how that will impact our visit to Colusa UCCE tomorrow. The trip to Lake County UCCE, scheduled for Tuesday, will be rescheduled. While I've visited with some of the Lake UCCE group before, this will be my first visit to the Colusa UCCE office.
To give us a better sense of how the fire in Mendocino County affected the Hopland REC, Shane Feirer of IGIS @HoplandREC put together this map. The red area shows existing vegetation; many of the oaks didn't burn. Brighter red indicates untouched green foliage, fainter red indicates some damage. The two separate black areas are where prescribed burn were conducted back in June. The white spots are ash indicating where a tree did burn. Thanks to Shane for sharing a visual story with us!
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