Progress 06/15/23 to 06/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:In the first year of the grant, at least 890 individuals were served by the program. The majority of these unduplicated students (427) were served at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and other students and participants were served at partner organizations (California State University Monterey Bay, Hartnell College, and the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA)). Partner organizations provided programming to 163 individuals, and provided outreach to at least 300 individuals. For the students at UCSC and participants in ALBA programs, more detailed demographic information is available. At UCSC, we served 427 students. Of those served, 112 were males (26%), 273 were females (64%), and 40 were non-binary or of unknown gender (9%). Program participants at UCSC identified as Latino (125, 29%), Black or African American (33, 8%), Asian (88, 21%), Pacific Islander (3, 1%), and White (178, 42%). Finally, 122 were first generation college students (29%) and 153 were Pell Grant eligible (36%). During the 2023-2024 Academic Year, enrolled undergraduate UCSC students 33% were first generation college students and 35.6% were Pell Grant eligible. For gender, 46.2% were male, 48.3% were female, and 5.5% were other genders. For race, 26.1% of enrolled students were Latino, 4.5% were Black or African American, 29.2% were Asian, 0.7% were Alaska or Native American, 6.0% were international, 2.5% were of unknown race, and 30.8% were white. Thus, compared with the UCSC population, we served similar numbers of first generation and Pell Grant eligible students, more female and non-binary students, slightly more Latino and Black or African American students, and fewer Asian students. At ALBA, we served 26 participants in the Farmer Education & Enterprise Development Program. Of these, 15 were males (58%), and 11 were female (42%). The participants were 92% Latino, 4% Black or African American, and 4% Asian. According to the USDA Agriculture Census (for 2017), farmers in Santa Cruz and Monterey County (3108 total) were 32% female, 5% Asian, <1% Black or African American, and only 21% Latino. Thus, compared with the current regional growers, ALBA participants are more likely to be Latino, female, and Black or African American. In sum, our project has been successful in recruiting underserved students and other program participants. Changes/Problems:This NextGen Project has proceeded largely as planned. There have been a handful of challenges that we describe here. (1) Staff Recruitment Staff recruitment on our campus is a very long process taking at least six months from crafting the full job description until someone is in place. Thus, all of our staff recruitments (for the Community Education Specialist, for the Agroecology Program Coordinator, and for the Agroecology Equity Coordinator) were much slower than hoped. In addition, our first recruitment process to hire the Agroecology Equity Coordinator (between August - November) resulted in a "failed search" with no candidate that was satisfactory to all members of the hiring committee. We are likely nearing completion of the second search, and may be poised to make an offer to a top candidate for this position within the next week. A lack of a full-time staff person in the Agroecology Equity Coordinator Role has slowed the launch of some of our activities such as organizing career panels, organizing field trips, as well as development of recruitment strategies for many of the experiential learning and scholarship activities. We hope to have someone on board by mid-summer in this role and have solid plans for ramping up their work. We will pair the new staff person with an agroecology alum and former participant in the SUPERDAR program who is currently working in a different unit in the Division of Student Affairs and Success doing similar student advising. This will also help facilitate the success of the new staff person. (2) Personnel Shifts with the (H)ACER program Members of the leadership team for the Apprenticeship in Community Engaged Research ((H)ACER), a UCSC program have shifted affiliations within the University, and one person has now accepted a new job out of the region. So, we will likely need to hire an additional staff person to mentor the (H)ACER interns, to teach the classes relevant to community engaged research, etc. The PD, co-PDs and new leadership of John R. Lewis College have put in place a plan to hire a new staff person so that programming may continue. (3) Center for Agroecology Apprenticeship Program We have decided to not offer the Center for Agroecology Apprenticeship program in summer 2024. In its most recent iteration, this has been a 10-week program at the UCSC Farm that teaches gardening and farming skills. Apprentices (students and community members) learn about soil health, cultivation, plant physiology, crop production and distribution, and consider the social and political context of food systems. The program encourages peer-to-peer learning and exchange. At this time, it is unclear whether or not this program will continue. We have placed the Center for Agroecology efforts more to support students, rather than members of the general public who have more traditionally been served in this program. Scholarships for the apprenticeship are a budget line item in "Participant Support", so if the program is no longer offered, we may need to request budget changes. (4) Emergency Cost Scholarships We have not yet implemented the emergency cost scholarships, and given new rules on campus that all scholarship payments must be made through the Financial Aid office, we are no longer certain that these scholarships will work as planned. These scholarships are meant to provide immediate financial assistance for room and board, books, and class supplies. However, UCSC caps the amount of financial aid students can receive, up to the cost of attendance, and getting additional funds for "emergency costs" such as a new computer, help with rent, or other such unexpected fees is a very slow process. Thus, students need to often resolve the financial emergency before the exception for the cost of attendance can be resolved. We are working with staff in Financial Aid to better understand this process and rules, https://financialaid.ucsc.edu/cost-to-attend/undergraduate-costs.html (5) Low applications for Scholarship and internship opportunities Some of our scholarship and internship programs have received relatively low numbers of applicants. In the next year, we will boost our recruitment efforts, especially across campuses, to increase the applicants and successful placement of students. This will be facilitated by the relationships that we have built during Y1 as well as the hiring of the Agroecology Equity Coordinator. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I. Training Activities: Internships. As part of our NextGen project, we offered several kinds of internships to students based on our proposed activities. Introductory internships - 181 students were engaged in internships with the UCSC Center for Agroecology (at the UCSC Farm, the Chadwick Garden, and the student-run Cowell Coffee Shop) for 60 hours across 10 weeks. Students learned about organic production (harvesting, composting, seedling transplanting), distribution (at our farm stand, produce pop-up, and to campus food pantries), and culinary activities (cooking, menu planning, serving at the coffee shop). Students complete journals and a final reflective paper about their experiences. Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources & Human Sciences or FANH internships - 6 FANH interns engaged in self-directed experiential learning projects at UCSC. 2 students led a vertical garden research project, 1 managed a community herb garden, 1 created a student-run agroecology club, 1 conducted research on plant physiology as part of a collaboration with UC Davis, and 1 implemented an AgTech project with a Farm NG robot that autonomously weeds crop rows. All students were supported by UCSC staff. Students also participated in monthly meetings to discuss their projects with staff and other students. Students reported the meetings created a sense of community and increased belonging and confidence. Research internships - We created three kinds of research internships for undergraduates. (1) SUPERDAR interns (or Supporting Undergraduates by Promoting Education, Research, Diversity, and Agricultural Resilience). This UCSC program was created by a previous NIFA grant, and activities are continuing for NextGen. The focus of this program is teaching students about how to do traditional academic research on sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, food systems, and food justice. The 9 new interns, funded by NextGen, will dedicate 680 h between Spring 2024 - Spring 2025. Interns are engaged in faculty- and graduate student-led projects on coastal prairie fire management, urban agroecology, soil health, integrated aquaculture-agriculture, cactus electricity generation, agrivoltaics, AgTech impacts on farm labor, physiology of dry-farmed tomatoes, and new functions for Farm NG robot tractors. Students will learn about research careers related to agroecology and will participate in self-assessments that ask them about their interest in and willingness to remain in FANH-related research. (2) (H)ACER lead interns are participants in the Apprenticeship in Community-Engaged Research. This is a program at UCSC that trains students in community-engaged research. Two students ran a 2-unit service-learning program for 22 students focused on food and economic justice in the region. One student facilitated a relationship with the Calabasas Community Garden, an immigrant led community garden serving 40+ families at a local elementary school. The lead intern facilitated three large events where UCSC students interact with local families and elementary students as well as 8 2-hour enrichment activities in the community garden with 18 other undergraduate interns and over 60+ elementary students. (3) CSUMB Research interns (6) conducted research with faculty mentors at CSUMB. Graduate student internships - 2 CSUMB MS students began research internships. The selected MS research scholars are engaged in research on integrated aquaculture and agriculture at the UCSC farm between May - Nov 2024. They are investigating the recycling of N- and P-rich aquaculture wastewater/ effluent as fertilizer and soil amendments to promote soil health and vegetable growth. MS scholars will contribute to accurate record keeping, daily fish care, plant care, water chemistry testing, plant and soil analysis data collection, data entry and organization, and manuscript writing. On-the-job Training. We provided job training for undergraduate students. Center for Agroecology Student Staff - 14 student staff were funded by NextGen at the UCSC Farm and Chadwick Garden. These student staff are employed to maintain production, research and educational programing across the working campus farm. These responsibilities are direct on-the-job training for careers in the agriculture and food systems industry, as well as in research and technical advising sectors. Students are mentored by well-respected agricultural production and research professionals who supervise and connect students with their networks across academic, government, and private sector career pursuits. Students are responsible for day-to-day supervision of introductory interns, providing a near-peer mentoring of students who are newer to agriculture. Agroecology Peer Advisor - 1 student staff is funded to provide advising to students pursuing the B.A. in Agroecology at UCSC. The peer advisor held 52 advising appointments with her fellow undergraduate students where she helped students create and update their academic plans, decide which classes to take in the upcoming quarter, officially declare their major, explore internships and other enrichment opportunities, and choose a senior exit requirement. She also provided holistic advice about what careers students might pursue following an Agroecology degree, helped students prepare for attending faculty office hours, and talk through academic difficulties they faced. She attended Día de la Familia, an on-campus event for prospective transfer students and their families, to promote the Agroecology major and provide advising information. This work provided her with professional skills, organization, and leadership capacity. II. Professional Development Workshops and Check-in meetings. All undergraduate research interns attend workshops and check-in meetings intended to prepare them for FANH careers. At UCSC, research interns attend 2-4 professional development workshops or field trips during summer, and monthly meetings during the academic year where they learn about resume building, data analysis, how to prepare a poster or presentation, how to explain their research results, and to process what they have learned from their research experiences. At CSUMB, each student receives research support and graduate school/career guidance in the form of check in meetings and professional development workshops. Students must schedule at least 1 check in meeting with the project staff to discuss research and graduate school and/or career guidance. Training Programs Students in the Drone Pilot Training Program at UCSC (16 during year 1 of the project) participate for 4 hours each week for a 16-week program that includes practical flight training and practice, an introduction to software such as Drone Deploy and QGIS for mission planning and data analysis, experience developing a drone project in a small group, and studying for the FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot exam. Students in the program are also introduced to job and career opportunities for drone use in agricultural contexts in our region. Trainees at the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (26 in Y1) received practical training in how to manage an organic farm and an organic farming business. ALBA creates opportunities for limited-resource farmers through land-based training in organic farm management. ALBA mainly supports immigrant and first-generation Latino farmers trapped in low-income field labor, despite having valuable farming experience and an incredible work ethic. ALBA recognizes this talent and invests in skills to advance careers and farm business ownership. 17 trainees graduated from the training program, and 11 started their own organic farm businesses at the ALBA Incubator Farm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have used a variety of methods to recruit and retain participants for our target audience - participants in our NextGen programs (scholarships, internships, and other training programs). We created a new UCSC undergraduate listserv (AgFoodStudents@ucsc.edu) to send bi-weekly emails with opportunities (events, scholarships, internships, new courses, on- and off- campus employment opportunities). Student members of the list include all NextGen interns (e.g., introductory interns, FANH interns, undergraduate research interns), student staff at the UCSC Farm, students who have enrolled in agroecology and food systems courses at UCSC over the past two years, as well as any additional students pursuing the B.A. in Agroecology not captured by other activities. This listserv membership is currently 390 students. Internships: To recruit students for our research internships, we created individualized fliers for students on each participating campus. At UCSC, we made announcements in several courses, emailed participants of our listservs, posted notices to our Center for Agroecology social media accounts, and asked current scholars to disseminate information to their friends. At CSUMB, project staff promote research opportunities by presenting to classrooms, CSUMB events (Otter Admitted Day, Transfer Day), and centers on campus. At Hartnell, project staff sent emails to students enrolled in relevant majors to promote the program, and discussed opportunities with students in advising meetings. To recruit students for the graduate research internship, we held a recruitment event as part of a CSUMB course required for all MS students in their Environmental Science Program. The PD and two prospective research mentors presented about the program and the specifics of the faculty mentor research programs. To recruit students for off-campus internships at UC Cooperative Extension, we held an event with two UC Cooperative Extension Advisors from two different counties. The Advisors spoke about their job roles with UC Cooperative Extension, their programs working with farmers in their counties, and what activities interns would be involved in during the summer. Scholarships: To recruit students for undergraduate and MS scholarships, we used the same methods as described for the internships. To recruit students for our Hartnell Transfer Scholarship, we relied on outreach from Hartnell Career Services staff, from the UCSC Transfer Admissions office to all Hartnell applicants to UCSC, and our Agroecology Peer Advisor attended "Dia de la Famila" transfer day on the UCSC campus in March 2024. To recruit students for our NextGen PhD Fellowship program, we created a recruitment letter with information about the 3-year Fellowship opportunity, and sent this recruitment message to several listservs (New World Agriculture and Ecology Group, Diversified Farming Systems, Agroecology Research Collective). Individual faculty also shared emails with their personal contacts, and made follow up phone calls to recruit top students for this program. We received several dozen inquiries, encouraged 12 applications, admitted 7 students for the program, and 4 decided to enroll at UCSC to start in fall 2024. Trainees and scholarship recipients for the Drone Pilot Training Program have been recruited through the UCSC CITRIS Initiative for Drone Education and Research (CIDER) webpage (https://cider.ucsc.edu/pilot-training-program/), emails across campus, and by several recent articles highlighted in the UCSC News (https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/01/cider-cohort.html, https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/05/cider-remote-pilots.html). All participants receive instruction, scholarships, and a FAA fee paid on their behalf. Center for Agroecology Student Staff are being recruited through events, introductory course fieldwork sections, and internships. Students are being retained by providing quality mentorship in rewarding employment experiences, and pay. Over 400 students applied in Spring 2024 for 12 new student staff positions. We have also shared these recruitment and retention activities related to our NextGen project to raise general awareness of the importance of training the next generation of leaders in the agricultural workforce. We have made presentations at PD meetings for other current grants (e.g., OREI, REEU), and informally with colleagues at other universities. We shared our NextGen plans and results with USDA staff (Sept 2024), with Representative Jimmy Panetta (Oct 2024), with local California representatives (e.g., John Laird) (Jan 2024), and with the California State Board of Agriculture and California Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross (May 2024). We also presented our Leadership Development Program and peer mentoring model for Center for Agroecology Student staff with other UC campus personnel and with academic educators and government research colleagues working in the fields of organic agriculture and agroecology through a Project Director meeting in April 2024. We will continue to share NextGen processes, projects, and research findings in social media posts, in newsletters, as well as in the media. Some articles about the UCSC NextGen have already been released: ? https://news.ucsc.edu/2023/06/usda-10m-grant.html ? https://news.ucsc.edu/2023/09/usda-campus-visit.html ? https://news.ucsc.edu/2024/05/cdfa-secretary-visit.html What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next reporting period, we will continue to build the foundation for our NextGen programs. We will finish recruiting all project staff, and will more fully engage in career-related activities. Internships. Introductory Internships - We will continue to offer introductory internships (200) during the 2024-2025 academic year at the UCSC Farm and student-run coffee shop. FANH internships - In early summer, we will revisit how the FANH program went during this inaugural year, and make any adjustments to the program before recruiting a new cohort of continuing and new students in late summer. These students will conduct projects and peer-mentoring activities during the 2024-2025 AY. Research interns - (1) SUPERDAR interns (9) will conduct research between June 2024 - June 2025. We will hold professional development workshops for all scholars, and support scholars in conference presentations, field trips, and learning about careers. We will recruit a second cohort in winter 2025. (2) (H)ACER interns - We will still support student leads and student interns in this program. The number of students is yet to be determined. (3) CSUMB interns - We will recruit 6-8 research interns to do research with CSUMB faculty between Sept-December 2024. Graduate student interns - 2 MS research scholars will complete 400 h internships during summer and fall 2024. We will recruit faculty mentors and 2 additional students for spring/summer/fall 2025 internships. Off campus internships - We will finalize placement of 1-2 off-campus interns with UC Cooperative Extension, and will support students with check-ins throughout the summer. We will reach out to government and non-profit agencies in fall 2024 to set up locations for summer 2025 off-campus internships. We will host a recruitment event with the internship sponsors to recruit the 2025 scholars. Scholarship Programs. NextGen PhD Fellows - 4 NextGen PhD fellows will start in fall 2024. We are creating activities for cohort building, for introducing fellows to community-engaged research practices, and will support students in setting up research projects with their faculty mentors for summer 2025. We will recruit 8 additional NextGen PhD fellows to start the program in fall 2025. Hartnell Transfer Scholars - We will onboard one Hartnell Transfer Scholar, a student in Computer Science, who will start in fall 2024. We will reach out in early June to all students from Hartnell who have been admitted and accepted to attend UCSC in the fall to see if any of these students qualify for our scholarship program. In Y2, we will supersize our efforts to recruit scholars. We will make campus visits to Hartnell, participate in transfer / career days, and will work to recruit a larger number of scholars in Y2 of the grant. Scholarships provided for participation in the internships described above (FANH interns, research interns, graduate research interns, off-campus interns) will be as described above. Training programs Drone Pilot Trainees - We will finalize plans for the summer 2024 CIDER Drone Pilot Training program, and continue to mentor the graduate student who is assisting in planning research activities for undergraduate students related to agriculture applications of drone technology. We will again run our winter/spring training course to 20 additional scholars. ALBA Trainees - We are currently instructing a new cohort of trainees in the ALBA training program; these individuals should graduate from the program in October 2024. We will continue all relevant training programs as planned. GISTAR MS Students - The GISTAR MS program in the Environmental Studies Department is a new MS program focused on GIS that will launch in Fall 2025. During the 2024-2025 AY, we will be recruiting our first cohort of MS students. Faculty engaged in the NextGen program will meet with prospective MS students, and begin to discuss MS thesis projects with FANH-related applications with students who have been accepted into the program. On-the-Job Training Center for Agroecology Student staff - We will continue training students in organic agriculture production techniques and food distribution. We will have a minimum of 10 students supported by NextGen funding in the next year. During summer we will expand student staff operating management documents and procedures. In fall, we will begin learning outcomes assessment and evaluation and launch programming with student staff and managers, including training activities related to professional management, research and production, leadership and communications. In winter, we will implement professional development workshops, student self-assessment and evaluator assessments. In spring, we will recruit new student staff positions and conduct end-of-year assessments Peer Advisor - We look forward to having the same peer advisor student return for the 2024-2025 school year to provide more advising to Agroecology students, as well as to represent the major at events, including the department Welcome Week event each fall, Cornucopia (beginning of year club and org fair), Banana Slug Day (for admitted students each spring), the Center for Agroecology's Harvest Festival, and Día de la Familia. Career Development Activities Mentoring, career counseling, student support services - During Y2, we will onboard an Agriculture Equity Coordinator in the Career Success office, as well as a limited time staff from the office of African Black and Caribbean Success to work with students on recruitment activities (workshops to provide application support, CV preparation guidance, and to demystify the hidden curriculum of academia). These two individuals will work together to bolster the work related to this grant deliverable. Career, Leadership Development - We will continue all aforementioned experiential learning and student mentoring and support activities in order to bolster career and leadership development for project participants. Building Awareness of FANH Careers - We will organize 4 field trips during the year, open to any NextGen scholar or intern, to visit farms, processing facilities, kitchens, non-profit organization offices, government agency buildings, or research laboratories to expose students to FANH-related careers. Once the Agriculture Equity Coordinator is in place, we will also plan at least two career workshops where we will invite alumni and career professionals to discuss their jobs and pathways to success. Student-centered discussion spaces - We began work as a team of co-Project Directors to envision discussion spaces for all NextGen students. We are currently in the process of creating two tools - (1) a Canvas page for "NextGen Pillars" that will guide outcomes we envision for students and map activities that students can engage in to meet each "pillar", and (2) A dashboard that will highlight, specifically for UCSC students, the array of activities related to agroecology and food that exist on our campus. During summer 2024, we hope to finalize a set of NextGen pillars, and create a map of which activities will meet which pillar for each NextGen student. Over Y2 of the grant, we will work to operationalize the NextGen Pillars to bring together students in peer-learning networks in a more consistent framework. Project Evaluation We have begun evaluations with NextGen interns and scholars. The data from these initial evaluations will be compiled in time for the Y2 report. We will also recruit a student evaluator to work to develop participatory evaluation. We will continue to collaborate with students to follow their research recommendations about how to best support students in our programs.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Many students were supported by our NextGen grant with internships, scholarships and professional or career development training. Students were supported in several kinds of internships including introductory internships with the UCSC Center for Agroecology, FANH internships, and research internships with two programs at UCSC (SUPERDAR or Supporting Undergraduates by Promoting Education, Research, Diversity, and Agricultural Resilience and (H)ACER or Apprenticeship in Community-Engaged Research) and one program at CSUMB (CSUMB Research interns). The SUPERDAR internship was created under a previous NIFA grant, and funding from NextGen is allowing this successful program to continue. The focus of the SUPERDAR internship is teaching students how to do traditional academic research with a faculty or graduate student mentor. The (H)ACER program focuses on teaching students how to do community-engaged research together with community organizations. 181 students completed introductory internships focused on production, distribution, and culinary activities at the UCSC farm and student-run coffee shop. Students report that they learned, "what it is like to work in the field of organic agriculture and analyzed whether it is something I would want as a career", that they improved their "culinary skills, as I cooked dishes I had never made before". In addition, students learned "what expectations to set for myself for future job experiences". One student summarized their experience as follows, "The work I completed felt like play and the skills I learned will serve me my whole life. This internship has been the most important part of my education". The FANH interns (6) engaged in experiential learning projects created a student led-vertical garden, managed a community herb garden, created a student-run agroecology club, conducted research on plant physiology as part of a collaboration with UC Davis, and implemented an AgTech project with a Farm NG robot that autonomously weeds crop rows. Students learned, "all kinds of lab, data processing, and communication skills". One FANH intern successfully applied to be a research intern during the next academic year. Of the students who are completing the FANH internship, all state that they are interested in continuing in a FANH-related career, and that participation in the program solidified this career choice for them. FANH interns reported that, "I feel more motivated and prepared to apply for graduate school" and that, "This program exposed me to many research opportunities for a future career. It also encouraged me to go to graduate school." 80% of FANH interns report that the experience increased their sense of belonging and confidence. The research interns (18) were involved in field, lab, and community-based research at UCSC and CSUMB. Their research focused on coastal prairie fire management, urban agroecology, soil health, integrated aquaculture-agriculture, cactus electricity generation, agrivoltaics, impacts of agricultural technology on farm labor, physiology of dry farm tomatoes, plant disease ecology, and work with local organizations on environmental justice, food security, and economic justice activities. While some student projects are ongoing, those that completed research internships reported that their work was deeply impactful in highlighting local leadership and guiding students to a nuanced understanding of deep and long histories of agriculture and food justice. One student presented research at the National Undergraduate Conference of Undergraduate Research in Long Beach. One student who graduated this spring will be working for the Bureau of Land Management. Another student will be attending CSUMB in the fall in the Environmental Science Master's program. During this first year, 42 undergraduates received partial scholarships and 2 graduate students received partial scholarships to fund their education. Collectively, the 44 students received more than $105,000 in financial support. In addition, 4 NextGen PhD fellows were selected to receive 3-year fellowship packages for graduate study at UC Santa Cruz starting in fall 2024. Of those students who received scholarships during the first year of the project, students reported that, "This scholarship allowed me to be loan free for my last year of college which helped so much!!!", that, "I was able to go from 3 shifts to 1 shift a week at my part time job which allowed me to have more time to focus on school. Thanks to this scholarship I had the capacity to apply for other more hands on agriculture scholarships to get me through the rest of my time at UCSC", and that "I was able to get some support with textbooks and materials for classes which is usually a burden." Nearly 400 students and trainees received professional or career development training as part of our project. We highlight here three examples below. During year 1, 16 undergraduate students received training through the UCSC Drone Pilot Training Program. In this course, students receive practical flight training and practice, an introduction to software for mission planning and data analysis, complete a drone project in a small group, and also study and take the FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot license exam. Of the 16 students who participated, 15 have received their FAA pilot license. The Agriculture and Land Based Training Association (ALBA) works to develop the organic farming skills of immigrant farmworkers to support a more equitable and environmentally sustainable agriculture sector. Through hands-on, land-based learning, trainees develop organic production and business management skills to pursue the dream of farm ownership or finding better jobs. This year, 17 farmers graduated from ALBA's training program. Of those, 11 launched a farm in ALBA's Organic Farm Incubator. Most have already successfully harvested a cycle of crops on ½ acre and are now advancing to 1 acre of land. A new cohort of 26 aspiring farmers began ALBA's training course and has since completed modules on soil health and crop planning, small farm business management, and marketing. We organized a panel discussion with two UC Cooperative Extension Advisors at UCSC so that students could learn about extension careers (UC Cooperative Extension is part of the USDA Cooperative Extension System). Four students attended the panel discussion; of these, one applied for and was selected for a summer internship program to work with UC Cooperative Extension.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Mallon, A., Kortenkamp, S., Bergsma, G. (2024, April 9). Lichen Density Effects on the Abundance and Diversity of Native Plants in the Understory of Oak Woodlands [Poster presentation]. NCUR 2024, Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, Long Beach, CA, United States.
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