Congratulations to Joy Denning, administrative assistant at the Yuma Agricultural Center
Valley Station, for receiving the 2005 Extension Staff Person of the Year award. The award was presented
to Joy at the recent Extension Staff In-Service in Tucson and thanks to her co-workers, she was completely
surprised. Other nominees for the award included: Joyce Hasselberger (Pima County), Leslie Lutey
(Yavapai County), Cathy Munger (Maricopa County), Karen Pizzuto (Yavapai County), Dan Ruch
(Coconino County), Vanessa Stanford (Nutritional Sciences) and Glenda Thompson (Extension Administration).
This year’s two-day event had over 130 participants and combined both the CALS Staff In-Service with the
Extension Staff In-Service on November 9-10. Session content covered priority management, the science
of stress, nutrition, the new Arizona Byways e-commerce system, state retirement, temporary wage
tracking, 4-H Plus software and some general round table sessions for both lead and non-lead staff.
An overall rating for the Extension half of the conference was 4.47 out of 5 and the results will be
shared with the presenters and used for future conference planning. A special thanks once again to
both conference planning teams for a job VERY well done! As soon as it is available, pictures from
the entire in-service will be available on line.
Congratulations to Project SOAR (a 4-H mentoring program for at-risk youth in Maricopa County) and all
those involved in the program – it has been selected as a national Program of Distinction on behalf of
National 4-H Headquarters, CSREES and USDA. Programs of Distinction is a collection of programs that
reflect the high quality of youth development programs occurring in communities across the United States.
Coconino County is recruiting for a full-time administrative assistant and details on the position are
available at www.uacareertrack.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1132162606320.
If you have any questions, contact Beth Tucker (928-774-1868 ).
Join leading scientists and educators to learn more about emerging climate and rangeland ecology research
and help create practical tools for natural resource managers, decision-makers and practitioners at the
Climate and Rangelands Workshop: Beyond Boxes and Arrows - Assessing Climate Change/Variability and
Ecosystem Impacts in Southwestern Rangelands, January 25-26, 2006, Apache Gold Casino, San Carlos
(Hwy. 70, five miles east of Globe, San Carlos, AZ 85501). A full agenda, speaker bios and registration
will be available online soon at: http://azrangelands.org. Early. Registration deadline is January 6
($70 for SRM and SWCS members/spouses, $85 for non-members, $40 for students and $100 for anyone
registering after January 6. The refund policy is according to SRMAZ section policy. For more
information, contact Chris Jones (928-425-7179 ).
A reminder that we would like to get feedback from Extension agents, specialists and staff regarding what
kinds of technologies are or could be useful in performing your work. Please take some time to answer the
technology survey, at http://cals.arizona.edu/exact/tech/. Ideally, we will be able to create a "wish
list" for future planning, as well as get an idea of what is being used currently. Please respond to this
survey by Monday, December 5, 2005.
The University of Arizona Water Sustainability Program (WSP) is accepting proposals for the competitive
grants program through the Technology and Research Initiative Fund (TRIF), administered by the Arizona
Board of Regents (ABOR). TRIF funding to the Water Sustainability Program is to support UA research,
education and outreach in water-related areas of importance to the state. It is expected that $800,000
will be available for new project funding in FY 2006-07, subject to final budget approval by ABOR. The
deadline for proposal submission is January 31, 2006. Awards will be announced early April and funding
will begin July 1, 2006. Single and multi-year proposals will be accepted; however, preference will be
given to single year proposals. The WSP grants program is open only to faculty and staff at the
University of Arizona; partnerships and support from private and public sector agencies is strongly
encouraged. You can view and download the RFP at http://uawater.arizona.edu/grants/rfp.html. For further
information contact Jackie Moxley.
Upcoming Events:
The Colorado River Forage and Risk Management Workshop will take place on Thursday, December 1 at the
Arizona Western College, 601 11th Street in Parker from 8:00am (check in and registration) to 12:00
noon. Agenda items will cover forage market analysis, optimizing a forage mix for your operation
amidst resource and risk constraints, whole farm insurance options and estate planning decisions,
and utilizing the Arizona Crop Information website. For questions or more information, contact
Eric Norton (928-669-9843 ).