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Edition TopicsDecember 7, 2021
- Message from Interim Director Ed Martin
- Elliott-Engel Recognized for Extension Career Contributions
- House Mice
- USDA-NIFA-CYFAR Grant: Limited Submission Proposal Selection
- Firewise Landscape Principles in the Sonoran Desert Webinar
- AZ/UT Invasive Weeds Workshop
- WRRC Photo Contest Ends on Dec. 17
- WRRC Seeks Two Post-Doctoral Research Associates
- New USDA/NIFA Awards
- Turbeville Speaker Series Event with Dr. Gilberto Lopez
- 2022 Science City Information
- Toys for Tots
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Message from the Interim Director of Extension
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting at the People’s Farm on the White Mountain Apache reservation. The mission of Ndee Bikiyaa (The People’s Farm) is to restore personal and cultural health among the White Mountain Apache through agriculture. Led by ANR Agent Anita Thompson, I was part of a program to discuss the use of irrigation in crop production. The participants learn about soil, water management, and irrigation strategies. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and hopefully I’ll find time to return soon. I also had the opportunity to assist the UA staff at the Roosevelt Early Childhood Family Resource Center at the Maricopa County Extension Office at the Annual Community Holiday Gift Distribution for South Phoenix on Saturday. In fact, we recruited my wife, who came along for the ride, and helped over 160 families in South Phoenix. Today, at a meeting with Gila County Extension staff, someone asked me why I stayed with Extension for so long. My reply was because I’ve had the opportunity to do so many different things, like give an irrigation presentation one day, and help distribute gifts the next.
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| Elliott-Engel Recognized for Extension Career Contributions
Dr. Jeremy Elliott-Engel, Associate Director for 4-H Youth Development was recognized by the National Association of Extension Program & Staff Development Professionals (NAEPSDP) organization with the Past Presidents’ Early Career Award on December 2nd during the organization’s National Meeting. The Award is given to an Extension professional with less than 10 years of experience in the profession who has made notable contributions to the profession. A nominator said of Elliott-Engel “I have been impressed with Jeremy’s leadership of Arizona 4H since he arrived. I have found him to be a collaborative leader who has substantially increased morale within our 4-H system. His experience across multiple Extension systems (New York, Missouri, and Virginia, in addition to Arizona) has given him exposure to different ways of accomplishing Extension goals, and he has effectively leveraged these experiences to bring an evidence-informed approach to program and systems development. This fresh perspective has allowed him to develop needed systems that have strengthened the foundation and sustainability of Arizona 4-H through establishing fiscal and programming policies, and working with the Foundation Board to help increase funding and growth. He has also worked to align programming with the theoretically- and empirically-supported national framework for positive youth development (the Thriving Model), putting Arizona on the national forefront in these efforts.”
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| House Mice
House mice can be troublesome winter house guests. They do not hibernate and seek to enter homes when temperatures outside drop in the fall. Mice will travel along the edges of homes attracted to warmth or the smell of food. Adult mice can get through a dime-sized gap, and young mice can squeeze through smaller openings the width of a pencil. Sometimes they stay in wall voids, basements, and attic areas. However, they may also enter rooms through interior openings around pipes or conduits. Once inside, house mice breed rapidly, eat many kinds of food, need little or no water, and adapt quickly to different and changing environments. In homes, house mice feed on human food, pet and bird food, and trash. They contaminate accessible food, kitchen surfaces and other areas with droppings and urine.
House mice have not been found to carry hantavirus and are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, they have been implicated in the spread of disease-causing pathogens and parasites to humans and pets. Additionally, their urine contains allergens that circulate in the air and can be asthma triggers for sensitive individuals. House mice should not be tolerated inside homes. Sealing interior and exterior openings provides multiple layers of exclusion so they do not get inside in the first place.
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| USDA-NIFA-CYFAR Grant: Limited Submission Proposal Selection, Due January 20th
The Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) annual funding from USDA-NIFA has not yet been posted. The RFP has been promised any day now. CYFAR is a limited submission proposal. Cathy Martinez and Jeremy Elliott-Engel request proposals for the RFP be returned to clmartin@arizona.edu and elliottengelj@arizona.edu by January 20th. Proposals will be assessed for their competitiveness and for the applications completeness. Anyone interested in submitting can notify either AD and seek guidance on proposals before January 20th. For more information: https://nifa.usda.gov/program/children-youth-and-families-risk-cyfar
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| Firewise Landscape Principles in the Sonoran Desert Webinar
December 09, 2021 11:00am to 12:00pm
Featured Speaker: Christopher Jones, Extension Agent, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Gila County. Chris Jones is a Cooperative Extension Agent at the University of Arizona. He is responsible for Agriculture and Natural Resources programs in Gila County. He conducts Extension programming in forest health, watershed, and horticulture education. Chris' mission at the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension is to Improve lives, families, communities, the environment and economies through applied research and education in Arizona and beyond. https://extension.arizona.edu/gila
Webinar Overview: Wildfires in the Sonoran Desert have become increasing large and more frequent in the past two decades. In this presentation, you will learn how wildfire embers are a major source of home ignitions during wildfires, where homes are exposed to embers, and how to limit those exposures. Extension Agent Jones will discuss how homeowners and landscape designers can plan for wildfire in order to prevent home ignitions, as well as how to maintain desert landscapes and homes to be Firewise®. The Arizona Municipal Water Users Association's Guide for "Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert" is used to make plant recommendations.
Please log in up to 10 minutes prior to the webinar.
Cost: Free
Registration: Not required
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| AZ/UT Invasive Weeds Workshop
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
6 AZ CEUs Available
Please join us for this one-day invasive weeds workshop available in-person or virtually (link pending). A variety of speakers will present updated information about pesticide law and safety, local invasive weed updates, and sprayer calibration amongst others.
In-person attendance will be required to receive CEU credit. Please RSVP if attending in person for an accurate lunch count. RSVP and more information can be found at: https://extension.arizona.edu/events/2021-12-15/azut-invasive-weeds-workshop
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| WRRC Photo Contest Ends on Dec. 17
The deadline to submit photos to the WRRC photo contest is quickly approaching. The main criteria are that the photos be taken in Arizona (apart from the special category Water in Arid/Semi-Arid Lands Beyond Arizona) and, of course, that they feature water. Categories include Water in Nature, Water in the Built Environment, and Water is Life (for example, people, pets, agriculture). Feel free to use the contest theme Aridity, Shortage, and Resilience to fuel your imagination.
What are you waiting for? Show us your photos! Click on the link below for more information and to access the online submission form.
Submission Deadline: Dec. 17, 2021
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| WRRC SEEKS TWO POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES
The University of Arizona (UA) Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) is seeking two post-doctoral research associates for 24-month positions beginning in early 2022. Both positions require that the candidate hold a PhD in a field with relevance to the position description at the time of hiring.
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New USDA/NIFA Awards
Award title: Growing Futures in AZ Agriculture: An Immersive Professional Development Series for Integrating Agricultural Concepts into K-8 Curricula.
Project summary: In this project we engage K-8 teachers with agricultural experts/producers and Extension educators. We facilitate collaboration between teachers, Extension staff, and ag professionals to create agriculturally focused culturally relevant K-8 classroom curricula and interactive tool kits.
We are recruiting k-8 teachers for this program, and will be reaching out to our Extension colleagues shortly!
Project location: Coconino Extension Office (coordination), recruiting/site visits across northern Arizona
Extension program areas: 4-H, Master Gardener, Commercial Horticulture and Small Acreage
Project Team
Josh Farella (Director)
Gayle Gratop (Co-Director)
Juan Arias (Co-Director)
Mike Hauser (Co-Director)
Susan Sekaquaptewa (Co-Director)
Award title: Next Steps 4 Leadership: Campus, Career, And Community For Agricultural Resiliency
Project summary: As agriculture faces increasing challenges to provide nutrition for a growing population while the climate and society changes, the resiliency of the food system from producer to consumer is threatened. Young people should be engaged with the problems in their communities and need to be skilled in problem solving to support efforts in their communities. Arizona Cooperative Extension, 4-H Youth Development proposes Next Steps 4 Leadership: Campus, Career, and Community for Agricultural Resiliency (NS4L).
Project location: Statewide
Extension program: Youth Development
Project Team
Jeremy Elliott-Engel (Director)
Elizabeth Sparks (Co-Director)
Gerardo “Jerry” Lopez (Co-Director)
Renee Carstens (Co-Director)
Ashley Menges (Co-Director)
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| Turbeville Speaker Series Event with Dr. Gilberto Lopez
Please join us on Friday, January 28, 2022 from 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM for our next Turbeville Speaker Series Event with Dr. Gilberto Lopez as he presents his research topic, "Challenging the Status Quo: Combining the Arts and Social/Health Sciences to Develop Culturally-Tailored COVID-19 Information for Latinx."
Abstract: Since the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, the U.S. has seen over 700,000 deaths. Latinx communities have seen a disproportionate burden of this disease as they are nearly 2x more likely to contract COVID-19, 4x more likely to be hospitalized from COVID-19, and 3x more likely to die from COVID-19, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Latino men lost an average 3.7 years off their lives in 2020. One important driver of these inequities is the lack of reliable and culturally tailored COVID-19 information for Latinx communities. The COVID Latino project aims to fill this void and provide Latinx communities with culturally-tailored, and empirically based, COVID-19 information by merging the arts with the social/health sciences. In his talk, Dr. Lopez will discuss the impetus, rationale, and process of developing culturally-tailored COVID-19 campaigns for Latinx.
Register Here: https://bit.ly/3rD19Sv
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| 2022 Science City Information
The Tucson Festival of Books and the University of Arizona’s Science City is back in person in 2022! March 12-13. We are excited for a weekend packed with enriching, hands-on science activities, demonstrations, lectures, authors, open houses and tours.
In order to streamline our processes with those that the festival has in place and maximize resources, BIO5 and the College of Science have made some shifts related to points of contact in different areas, as well as personnel responsibilities. The TFOB festival team will now run point on key Science City planning activities to include tent participants, demos/shows, sponsors and volunteers. BIO5 and the College of Science will still arrange science café’s, open houses and tours.
Please reference the list below for the correct 2022 Tucson Festival of Books or University of Arizona points of contact based on your needs. Please note that if you are interested in volunteering, participating in a tent/neighborhood or hosting a live demo, information about who to contact will be provided to the accepted applicants.
Sponsors: Melanie Morgan, Tucson Festival of Books 520-621-1687
Open Houses & Tours: Amy Randall-Barber, UArizona 520-626-3001
Science Café Lecture Presentations: Amy Randall-Barber, UArizona 520-626-3001
Science Authors/Stage Presentations: Jennifer Casteix, UArizona 520-626-2938
Science City applications for tent participants will be available on October 15 at noon.
Please go to the Tucson Festival of Books homepage for the application or click here.
Deadline to apply is December 17, 2021
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| Toys for Tots
Toys for Tots - Delivering hope to less fortunate children
The Cooperative Extension office, Forbes 301, will be hosting a drop-off box for the Toys for Tots program. Please drop off your new, unwrapped toys by December 13. Stop by Mon, Tues, Wed or Friday.
Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.
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