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What's the Difference - Dirt, Soil, Earth?
Soil and agriculture courses are being taught again at Ventura College. This was a commitment of outgoing President, Greg Gillespie. There are only a handful California community (junior) colleges that still teach soils. Luckily Santa Barbara City, Allan Hancock, Pierce, Mira Costa and a few other community colleges in the Central Valley have at least introductory courses in soils. Many of the leading growers in Ventura County got their start in college taking soils courses at Ventura College, then went on to four-year colleges to round out their educations. The community college classes have always been a taste, a dusting of understanding of soils and if someone wanted to dig deeper, they would go on to somewhere like Davis, Fresno, Riverside, Pomona or San Luis. The community colleges are part of the continuum, start there and then go anywhere.
Dr. Jennifer Charles-Tollerup, the incoming Agriculture Instructor at Ventura College, brings a diverse set of experiences including 5 years in agricultural production systems, 4 years in agricultural research and education, 6 years in community college instruction as well as appointments in program development. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside in Entomology with a concentration in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Statistics along with a Bachelor's from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Biology and Environmental Studies with emphasis in Botany and Agroecology. Jennifer trained as an Apprentice in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She has worked on market gardens, family farms, and large-scale operations in citrus, grapes, nurseries, strawberries, herbs, lettuces, and edible flowers. Jennifer has used her academic and professional experience to coordinate elementary school garden programs.Jennifer readily supports the mission of the community college, to transform lives through education. Her approach involves building relationships with students and with agriculture partners, connecting the two together, and launching students into their life's work in agriculture. (this from CA Women in Ag newsletter, http://www.cwaventura.com/).More information about the Ventura College Agriculture Program can be found at http://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/agriculture
Soil and agriculture courses are being taught again at Ventura College. There are only a handful California community (junior) colleges that still teach soils. Luckily Santa Barbara City, Allan Hancock, Pierce, Mira Costa and a few other community colleges have at least introductory courses in soils. Many of the leading growers in Ventura County got their start in college taking soils courses at Ventura College, then went on to four-year colleges to round out their educations. The community college classes have always been a taste, a dusting of understanding of soils and if someone wanted to dig deeper, they would go on to somewhere like Davis, Fresno, Riverside, Pomona or San Luis. The community colleges are part of the continuum, start there and then go anywhere.
Dr. Jennifer Charles-Tollerup, the incoming Agriculture Instructor at Ventura College, brings a diverse set of experiences including 5 years in agricultural production systems, 4 years in agricultural research and education, 6 years in community college instruction as well as appointments in program development. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Riverside in Entomology with a concentration in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Statistics along with a Bachelor's from the University of California, Santa Cruz in Biology and Environmental Studies with emphasis in Botany and Agroecology. Jennifer trained as an Apprentice in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She has worked on market gardens, family farms, and large-scale operations in citrus, grapes, nurseries, strawberries, herbs, lettuces, and edible flowers. Jennifer has used her academic and professional experience to coordinate elementary school garden programs.
Jennifer readily supports the mission of the community college, to transform lives through education. Her approach involves building relationships with students and with agriculture partners, connecting the two together, and launching students into their life's work in agriculture. (this from CA Women in Ag newsletter, http://www.cwaventura.com/).
More information about the Ventura College Agriculture Program can be found at http://www.venturacollege.edu/departments/academic/agriculture
Come learn the dirt on the differences - ground, alluvium, subsoil, topsoil, mud, muck, marl, mire, smut - there are, but some terms are more subtle than others. Check out your local college for their soils course work.
soil weathered from rock
UC IPM online courses offer continuing education units. Nov. 19 deadline coming.
—Cheryl Reynolds, UC Statewide IPM Program
Are you looking for continuing education units (CEUs) to complete your renewal application this year for the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)? The UC Statewide IPM Program has several online courses available that can help you get those last few needed credits.
DPR license and certificate holders with last names beginning with M – Z renew this year. Renewal packets must be submitted to DPR before November 19th to ensure that licenses are renewed by January 1, 2016. After that, applications may take up to 45 calendar days to process.
The online courses available from UC IPM that offer units for DPR license renewal include:
- Providing Integrated Pest Management Services in Schools and Child Care Settings (1 unit Laws and Regulations and 1 unit Other)
- Pesticide Resistance (2 units Other)
- Pesticide Application Equipment and Calibration (1.5 units Other)
- IPM – A Solution for Reducing Pesticides/Water Quality: Pesticide Properties (1 unit Other)
- The Impact of Pesticides on Water Quality/Mitigating Urban Pesticide Runoff (1 unit Other)
- Water Quality and Mitigation: Bifenthrin and Fipronil (1 unit Other)
- Herbicides and Water Quality (1 unit Other)
CEUs from the Structural Pest Control Board are also available for most of these courses.
For a list of other approved online or in-person courses, visit the DPR website. UC IPM plans to add additional online courses for 2016, including those available for Laws and Regulations units. For more information about the courses UC IPM offers as well as additional training opportunities and pest management information, see the UC IPM web site.
IPM computertraining
Online IPM Training for PCAs and Growers Which Can Earn Continuing Education Credits
Statewide IPM Program staff members work closely with area IPM advisors, farm advisors, specialists, and researchers to develop educational programs that reflect the newest advances in pest management.
These online courses are FREE. Additional training materials, including videos, DVDs, books, and leaflets, are available in the Publications section. Check the Workshops & Events page for in-person presentations and hands-on training opportunities. Many of these training materials can gain Continuing Education Credits through, such organization as the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Structural Pest Control Board or provide a Certificate of Completion from the University of California.
All of UC IPM's current online training courses can be found here:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/training/
More training courses are planned in the future.
In addition to the courses, a number of videos have been created over the years, most of which are short and posted on UC IPM's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/UCIPM/videos/
You can also find these plus additional videos organized by Ag, Urban, and Spanish on the video library on our web site
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/IPMPROJECT/videolibrary.html
The videos don't allow for CEUs, but they can be useful as part of training and learning activities.
IPM computertraining
Car Plates Supporting Ag Education
SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has awarded $215,670 for five projects that will promote and administer agricultural education and leadership programs for students, teachers and youth under the 2014 California Special Interest License Plate (CalAgPlate) grant program. The CalAgPlate program is funded with proceeds generated through the sale of specialized, agriculture-themed license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). CalAgPlates were first made available in 2012, and over 19,000 plates have been sold to date.
Projects funded as part of the program's inaugural year include a farm-to-school program linking students to local farmers; an agricultural industry tour that will increase student awareness of career opportunities within farming and agribusiness; a hands-on seminar for teachers to help broaden curricular exposure of students to agriculture; a program to educate elementary school students on the role of agriculture in our daily lives; and a program that provides opportunities for high school students to engage in agricultural education, leadership development and career training.
“Agricultural education is fundamental to the appreciation of how agriculture and food production touches every Californian,” said Secretary Karen Ross. “The projects being funded are great examples of how to connect students and consumers to agriculture and the many career possibilities within the food and agricultural system.”
The CalAgPlate program is made possible through the hard work of many people and organizations that helped to promote the sale of this specialized license plate. Special thanks are given to the Future Farmers of America (FFA), the California Agricultural Leadership Program (Class XXXI), and to the many student volunteers who represent California agriculture.
The 2014 CalAgPlate project abstracts are available online at www.cdfa.ca.gov/calagplate.
Help to support agricultural education and the CalAgPlate program by purchasing a special interest license plate at your local DMV office or online today.
—California Department of Agriculture
Ag students
Try it, You'll Like It!
As part of the School Wellness Policy, Sycamore Canyon School in Newbury Park offers a school-wide taste testing nutrition program called, Try It You'll Like It! The program is designed to introduce youth to a variety of fruits and vegetables and raise...
Students taste Fuyu persimmons
Students vote... thumbs up or thumbs down
Chrissy Malone, RD (right) Try It, You'll Like It! Chairperson and Susana Bruzzone-Miller, HAREC Education Outreach Coordinator
Fuyu persimmon information and voting results displayed in school office
