FOCUS ON FACULTY & ADMINISTRATORS:
- Congratulations to the following Extension faculty for receiving grants from the Water Sustainability Program (FY08) funded through the Technology and Research Initiative Fund: Mary Olsen & David Kopec (Plant Sciences) and James Walworth (SWES) for Salinity and/or Sodium Hazard of Irrigation Water as an Indicator of Rapid Blight Disease Potential in Turfgrasses ($23,845); Tom Meixner & James Hogan (Hydrology & Water Resources, College of Engineering), David Meko (Laboratory for Tree Ring Research) and Barron Orr (Arid Land Studies) for Stream Aquifer Interactions in Effluent Dominated Riparian Systems ($49,129); Susan Pater , Kim McReynolds & Cado Daily (Cochise County Extension), Sharon Megdal & Susanna Eden (WRRC), David Quanrud (Arid Lands Studies), Gary Woodard & Ramon Vazquez (SAHRA, Hydrology & Water Resources, College of Engineering) for Estimating Water Use: Monitoring Rural Domestic Wells with Low-cost, Near-real Time Water Metering ($58,970); Paul Wilson (Ag & Resource Economics), D. Phillip Guertin (SNR), Sharon Megdal (WRRC/Ag & Resource Economics) for Paper Water' Demystified: An Economic Evaluation of CAGRD Spatial Dynamics ($26,434); Christopher Castro (Atmospheric Sciences, College of Science), Michael Crimmins (SWES), Gregg Garfin (Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, Arizona Research Laboratories), Francina Dominguez (SAHRA, Hydrology & Water Resources, College of Engineering) for Arizona Drought Monitoring Sensitivity and Verification Analyses ($47,343); Jerome D'Agostino (Educational Psychology, College of Education) and Kerry Schwartz (WRRC) for Arizona Project WET Evaluation: Examining Impact and Developing a Computer-based Tutorial and Assessment System ($49,979); and Michael Crimmins (SWES), Gary Woodard (SAHRA, Hydrology and Water Resources, College of Engineering) and Mark Losleben (National Phenology Network) for Developing a Volunteer-based Automated Environmental Monitoring Network ($29,537).
- Recently the Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development announced the creation of the Charles H. Peyton Distinguished Research Administrator Award, to be given annually to an individual who best exemplifies sustained excellence in research administration. The first recipient of the Charles H. Peyton Distinguished Research Administrator Award is Dr. Colin Kaltenbach , Director of the Agriculture Experiment Station and Vice Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Congratulations, Colin!
FOCUS ON PROGRAMS:
- 2007 J.O.L.T. Invitation . Journey: Opportunities for Leaders of Tomorrow or JOLT is scheduled this year for June 11-15 at Camp Shadow Pines, Heber. A reminder that JOLT and regular registrations ($185) are due May 15 ; the last day to request a refund is May 18 (registration forms not in the database by this date will NOT have a name on a camp t-shirt); and the absolute deadline for registering if you have a camper who has missed early bird or regular registration is June 1 (there is no additional fee for late registration this year). Registration forms are available at http://cals.arizona.edu/4-h/jolt/index.html.
- The UA, Cooperative Extension and community partners had a strong presence at the CYFAR 2007 Conference. Lynne Borden (Project Director) and Joyce Serido (Co-Project Director/Evaluator of the Spirit of the Sun Youth Civic Engagement Project), Robert Lanza (Technical Advisor, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences) and Lisa Lauxman (SOS State Advisory Board) accompanied 11 members from the Tucson and Douglas sites to the annual CYFAR conference in Chicago. Spirit of the Sun (S.O.S.) is a five-year dynamic program that engages youth and fosters partnerships with adults in the community to address community issues. Each S.O.S. site chooses a social issue within the community that is relevant and meaningful to the youth -- S.O.S. Douglas focuses on education and prevention of drug and alcohol use by youth and young adults; S.O.S. Tucson focuses on homeless youth who need opportunities to learn job skills and life skills. Representing SOS Douglas were Darcy Tessman and Rossana Contreras (Cochise County Cooperative Extension) and youth members Raoul Contreras, Carmen Ortega and Robbie Shatto. Representing SOS Tucson were Manuel Abril (Pima County Cooperative Extension), Kathy Wooldridge (Skrappys/Our Family Services) and youth members Diletta Dang, Anthony Salinas, Samantha Turner and Jessie Vasquez. You can visit a special section on CYFERnet (Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network) at http://www.cyfernet.org for additional information on CYFAR 2007 Conference Proceedings.
- The Halle Foundation (Discount Tires) awarded the Southwest Leadership Foundation (SLF), South $20,000 to implement the Successful Training Resources for Individual Development and Education (STRIDE) program. KEYS began workshops on April 27 and will continue this motivational and readiness series throughout the year. Ruth Jackson provided nutrition and life skills development (as well as delivering the closing remarks and salute to the graduates), Arizona Women for Employment & Education (AWEE) provided job development and placement assistance, and the STRIDE program provided career readiness and support.
FRS ACCESS REMINDER:
Dont forget that FRS access from off-campus locations (actually from non campus IP addresses) will be restricted to VPN connections ONLY after May 18 . Be sure to check NOW to see if you have the necessary software (QWS3270 Ver 4.2 and the VPN client) installed and can connect to FRS while using the VPN client. Note this is a verification test of the VPN Client, since the FRS software (QWS3270) has not changed (other than a version update). Please do not wait until the last second to verify FRS connectivity via the VPN client. If you need assistance, contact Andy Medina (520.626.8395) or Robert Armstrong (520.621.3872).
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:
There are two opportunities for funding this year--working groups and statewide initiatives. All requests for funding are due to Extension Programs by Friday, May 25 at 5:00pm . All proposals will be submitted on line and are required to have a county and campus or experiment station collaboration. Funding is available from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Please note that only state funds are available for funding proposals; food purchases are not allowed on state accounts. Final decisions will be made by Extension Administration. If your team received funding last year and is resubmitting, your proposal will not be considered if you do not include the report of accomplishments. All requests for funding will use the logic model. If you have any questions about this model, consult http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/pda/logicmodel/ or Sheila Merrigan (520.626.6543). To submit a proposal, go to http://cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/exact/proposals . The criteria can be found at http://ag.arizona.edu/internal/programs/statefundingcriteria2007.pdf using a different username (coa) and password (ua). For questions about funding requests, contact Patti B. (520.621.5308).
NEW PUBLICATIONS:
There is a new CALS publication that has been posted: Mesquite and Palo Verde Trees for the Urban Landscape by Ursula Schuch.
UPCOMING EVENTS & DEADLINES:
- Members of the Healthy Lifestyles Work Group invite anyone interested in increasing your knowledge of issues surrounding wellness to attend a training session on Wednesday, May 23 at the Pima County Cooperative Extension office from 11:30-3:00. If you are interested in joining the Healthy Lifestyles Work Group, planning begins at 8:30 a.m. that same day. Contact Joyce Alves (928.337.2267) or Sharon Hoelscher Day (602-470-8086 x332) for more details.