UC Blog
Scientists help clean lake in Guatemala
Armed with decades of knowledge gleaned from research on Lake Tahoe, scientists from UC Davis, University of Nevada-Reno and Arizona State are helping tackle pollution on a remarkably similar body of water in Guatemala, according to a UNR news release.
The water in Lake Atitlan is contaminated with waste water and watershed runoff, spurring algae growth and providing suitable conditions for bacteria and pathogens.
UC Davis wetlands ecologist Eliska Rejmankova initiated the project, aimed at training Guatemalan students to protect the water in what Global Nature Fund in 2009 designated its "Threatened Lake of the Year.""We want to work with these groups and help train Guatemalan students to develop local capacity to conserve one of the most beautiful highland tropical lakes in the world," Rejmankova was quoted in the release. "We want to work with local scientists to develop alternative strategies, based around the idea that the solution to the algae problem is to address the sources of nutrient loading into the lake, so water going into the lake will be as clean as possible."
The UC Davis members of the team, lead by Rejmankova, conducted near-shore sampling of invertebrates, algae, water, sediments, and plants, the news release said.
The environmental blogs Treehugger and Red Orbit picked up the story.
Researchers and students examine a sediment core sample from the bottom of Lake Atitlan.
SNE Strategic Initiative Draft Plan posted for review
SNE Strategic Initiative Draft Plan posted for review
The Sustainable Natural Ecosystems Strategic Initiative Draft Plan is now available for review at http://ucanr.org/sites/NRCC_2010/.
People who plan on attending the ANR Natural Resources Coordinating Conference (NRCC) on June 28 – 30 should read the draft plan and come prepared to give input about it. The conference will bring together members of workgroups and special projects and Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and Cooperative Extension (CE) academics working in the broad area of natural resources to determine how the Sustainable Natural Ecosystem (SNE) Initiative can best implement its part of the ANR Strategic Vision.
To register for the NRCC, go to http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=3677.
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
AFRI support forum recording
The ANR Office of Contracts and Grants and the Program Support Unit (PSU) held a 30-minute AFRI forum live via Adobe Connect today. It included a brief presentation by Bill Frost, director of PSU, outlining ANR’s AFRI support including who is eligible for support, what type of support is provided and how one gets support. From Contracts and Grants, Soheil Jadali demonstrated the ANR AFRI Resources web page and Bernadine Smith moderated questions from forum participants. Questions included specifics on ANR AFRI support process, AFRI funding opportunities, using Grants.gov, indirect costs, cost sharing, approval and submission, and more.
The event recording is found here http://uc-d.na4.acrobat.com/p93712593/
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the A/span>UC farm advisor speaks up for local tourism
Maxwell Norton, a Merced County UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor and acting director of UCCE in Mariposa County, provided extensive information to a Merced Sun-Star reporter about efforts to encourage tourism in Merced County and educate visitors about local agricultural roots.
About a year ago, a group of agriculturists got together and starting brainstorming on ways to increase ag tourism, Norton told reporter Carol Reiter. The group formed "Country Ventures" and decided on two goals: To bring more visitor-related dollars into the county and to increase people's knowledge of agriculture.
"We decided it would be good to have an audio tour for Highway 140 from Merced to Mariposa," Norton was quoted. "The highway is so heavily used. That was the logical place to start."
The group prepared a series of recordings that visitors can listen to in their cars while driving the historic roadway that connects the valley floor to Yosemite National Park. MP3 files can be downloaded from the Country Ventures' website. In addition, the recordings are being compiled on CDs to be distributed at the California Visitor Center in Merced.
The recordings include information on:
- Points of historical interest, like the highest grave marker in California
- Types of agricultural crops being grown, including almonds, peaches, and pistachios
- History of local communities, such as Planada, which was laid out like Paris, France
- Signs of early Native American residents, like pictographs
- Wildlife and wildlife habitat, including vernal pools
- Geological features
- Gold Rush history
"Our target audience is people from other states and other countries," the article quoted Norton. "We want people to realize the San Joaquin Valley has a lot to offer in itself. It's not just a place to get through on your way to Yosemite."
Norton is one of two narrators on the audio recordings.
Maxwell Norton.
Methyl iodide hearing prompts news coverage
Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez held a hearing of the Food and Agriculture Committee last Thursday to review the Department of Pesticide Regulation's tentative decision to approve the pesticide methyl iodide.
The hearing prompted wide news coverage over the weekend, including a story in the New York Times that said the discussion in California over methyl iodide has implications beyond the Golden State. The U.S. EPA has indicated DPR's decision may influence federal policy on the use of the pesticide nationwide.
The Times article reported that, at the hearing, members of the scientific committee that had reviewed methyl iodide for DPR - and suggested it not be registered - said the state’s decision to approve its use was made using "inadequate, flawed and improperly conducted scientific research."
“This is without question one of the most toxic chemicals on earth,” John Froines, UCLA professor of environmental health sciences, was quoted. “You don’t register a chemical when you don’t have the necessary information you need.”
Carolyn O'Donnell, the spokeswoman for the California Strawberry Commission, said the pesticide would be deployed by growers safely and only when needed.
“The 500-plus growers of strawberries in the state are largely family farmers who live where they grow,” O’Donnell was quoted in the Times. “When they make decisions about how and where they farm, they make those decisions with the health and safety of workers and the community in mind.”
An article in the Ventura County Star said stringent regulations would deter growers from using the chemical even if it were registered. Some proposed restrictions are a half-mile buffer zone around schools, hospitals and nursing homes, limiting application to protect groundwater and limiting the number of acres that can be treated.
The Roseville Press-Tribune said field fumigation with methyl iodide would be rare in Placer County.
“There is less need for pesticides to manage strawberry pests because we have fewer species of pests and lower pest populations, partly because we lack the intense cultivation of strawberries as on the Central Coast and farms are scattered throughout the county,” the article quoted Cindy Fake, a UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor for Placer and Nevada counties.
The Monterey County Herald ran a commentary about the issue written by State Assemblyman Bill Monning.
"It is unconscionable for DPR to proceed with the registration of methyl iodide when its own scientists have presented unequivocal evidence of extreme risk and insufficient data collection," Monning wrote.
The public comment period on the pending approval of methyl iodide ends on June 29.
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