FOCUS ON FACULTY & STAFF:
We want to wish Pat Clay ( Maricopa County ) good luck in his new job and heartfelt thanks for all the quality programs which he has provided to Extension. Pat will be leaving Extension the end of December to join Valent Corporation (a large chemical company). We will expand the search from one area agent in Pinal County to a second area agent based in Maricopa County .
WEBCAST ANNOUNCEMENT:
On Monday, November 27, there will be a webcast session for the Coconino County Area Assistant/Associate Agent – Natural Resources & Agriculture position titled “Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Natural Resource Outreach Programs for Diverse Audiences in Coconino and Yavapai Counties .” You can view the webcast at http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/webcasts.html . The candidate schedule is: Wade Albrecht (8:30-9:15); Alison Macalady (10:15-11:00), and Cynthia Warzecha (1:15-2:00).
IPM IN THE WORKPLACE:
Office buildings throughout Arizona routinely spray pesticides to control and prevent an assortment of fire ants, cockroaches, mosquitoes, bark scorpions and other pests. In response to societal concerns and to control pests while avoiding reliance on chemical pesticides, Arizona Cooperative Extension has embraced Integrated Pest Management (IPM), which is a science-based decision-making process for managing pests. We are looking for one representative from each county Extension office to demonstrate best practices in their location. Does your building regularly use pesticides? Are you looking for methods to decrease the amount of pesticides used in your work environment? Simple techniques such as learning to spot trouble areas around food preparation; sealing the openings around pipes and conduits; closing off crawl spaces; and repairing drains and building slabs may significantly reduce pests and the need for chemical controls. To learn more, contact Dawn Gouge .
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- The UA's Water Resources Research Center is accepting proposals for research grants under the Water Resources Research Act, Section 104B. Funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, Section 104B provides support for small research projects on water-related issues of importance to the state and region. The WRRC usually funds three to five small grants of about $10,000-$12,000 over a 12-month period. Funded projects start March 1, 2007 and proposals are due by 5:00pm on November 27 . For additional information contact Terry Sprouse (520.792.9591, ext.13). Guidelines are available on the WRRC Web site .
- Want to get healthier and more financially secure in the years ahead? Perhaps lose some weight and save more for retirement? 25 Days to Health and Wealth will describe 25 behavior change strategies that can be adopted to simultaneously improve your health and personal finances. Participants will be led through a discussion of each strategy and encouraged to select 3 or 4 strategies to implement as part of a personal action plan. The class content is based on the book , Small Steps to Health and Wealth, written by Rutgers Cooperative Extension faculty members Dr. Barbara O'Neill, CFP, and Dr. Karen Ensle, RD. Copies of the book will be available at the class on December 2 , from 9:00 a.m. to noon at Pima County Cooperative Extension, 4210 N. Campbell Ave. In addition to the $25.00 registration fee, the Master Consumer Advisors from Pima County will demonstrate healthy recipes and gift ideas for the holidays. Contact Linda Block or Laurel Jacobs (520.626.5161) for more details and to register.
- The National Livestock Emergency Response Conference will be held on December 7 at the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport Hotel. Topics will include biosecurity, surveillance, protection of the U.S. beef supply, diagnosis of animals, and key issues for each area of livestock emergency response. All livestock emergency personnel, state agency leaders, law enforcement, livestock producers, public health officials and local elected officials are encouraged to attend. For further information, contact Laura Rittenbach (520.626.9382).
- The CALS Controlled Environment Agriculture Center Arizona will present two back-to-back conferences in January at the DoubleTree Hotel Tucson at Reid Park : 1) Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course – January 14-17, 2007 . This year's theme is “EnerG - the Resourceful Greenhouse.” Attendees will be provided with a roadmap and the knowledge necessary to develop a successful greenhouse operation. Registration fee is $499 ($599 after December 4, 2006); 2) Second Annual Growers Marketing Forum: Farm to Fork (GMF3) – January 17-19, 2007 . Registration fee is $650 ($795 after December 4, 2006). For more information and to register for these conferences, go to http://ag.arizona.edu/ceac/ or contact Glenn McCreedy , Coordinator (520.626.9566).
- For several months now, Linda Ffolliott has made demonstrations in Forbes 124 available via a Breeze connection for people located off-campus. She is experimenting in December and January with some demos which will have exercises related to the demo. These exercises will be given to participants, so they can practice what they have just watched and send back later to me the resulting "final" exercises. The topics are Dreamweaver templates and using style sheets for formatting and web page layout. These topics ranked higher than introductory Dreamweaver lessons when she posted a question earlier this fall about priorities for classes. The first two sessions are December 4, 1:00-2:30 pm (Using and Modifying Templates in Dreamweaver) and and December 11, 1:00-3:00pm (Getting Started with Style Sheets for Coding). You may attend in person in Forbes 124 or through a Breeze Internet connection. More details and links for registration are at http://cals.arizona.edu/ecat/classes/ .