Events
You’re Invited! Join us in welcoming the holidays and celebrating another year. The annual CAFES holiday open house will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Center for Wine and Viticulture (Bldg. 156). Guests are welcome and childcare will be provided.
Student News
Three students competed at the California Farm Bureau collegiate discussion meet held at Fresno State on Nov. 12, with first-year agricultural science major Sophie Albiani advancing as a finalist and taking third place while earning a $500 scholarship. The team, coached by Lecturer Rosemary Cummings, was comprised of Albiani, Jared Mandrell, fourth-year agricultural communication major, and fourth-year agricultural communication major Ashlee Pike, who made it to the top eight.
Student News
The Cal Poly Logging Team, an intercollegiate team of students involved in traditional forestry field skills, hosted the annual collegiate logging competition on campus Saturday, Nov. 12., with teams from colleges throughout California and Arizona competing at the all-day event, including Humboldt State University, UC Berkeley and Northern Arizona University.
Congratulations to the Cal Poly Logging Team, advised by Professor Samantha Gill, for winning the overall championship. Emmett Huggins, a fourth-year architectural engineering major was awarded Bull of the Woods, or top male competitor, and third-year forest and fire sciences major Kelly Schwenger took second place out of all female competitors. Events included tree climbing, power saw, single and double buck with cross cut saws, obstacle pole, dendrology identification, and more. Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong made a special visit out to the event and congratulated the logging team on all of their hard work.
General News
Associate Dean Bill Hendricks is retiring after 28 years at Cal Poly. A celebration will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 1 at the JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture.
Hendricks joined the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences as an associate dean in August 2020 after serving as a professor and head of the Experience Industry Management Department. While in the dean’s office he oversaw college infrastructure and enrollment management. In 2016, he oversaw the transition of the Experience Industry Management Department from the Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration — making it the first of its kind in California. He also played a key role in connecting industry executives with the university’s program – giving students first-hand industry experience. Hendricks earned a doctorate in philosophy, recreation, and leisure from the University of Utah, with research interests focused on visitor experiences, recreation resource management, and destination stewardship. For more than two decades, Hendricks worked cooperatively with the U.S. Forest Service and California State Parks on a variety of outdoor recreation research projects. He has also conducted research for Visit California and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute. In retirement, he plans to hike often.
Please submit a video to be included in a video montage that will be presented to him after the celebration by clicking here.
Student News
The Cal Poly Dairy Judging Team achieved a second-place overall win at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. The team consisted of students Ashley Waymire, Marco Marsigli, and Katey Diniz. The team was coached by Matt Ruby, Morgan Wonderly, and Stan Henderson. Please see additional achievements below:
Team Results
2nd High Team Ayrshires
3rd High Team Guernseys
2nd High Team Red & Whites
Marco Marsigli
3rd High Overall (All-American)
3rd High Individual Placings
2nd High Overall Holsteins
5th High Overall Red & Whites
Ashley Waymire
7th High Overall (All-American)
9th High Individual Placings
2nd High Overall Red & Whites
Katey Diniz
10th High Individual Placings
6th High Individual Guernseys
6th High Individual Ayrshires
Faculty News
John Lin, director of automation at the Cal Poly Strawberry Center received a grant from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation(DPR) to promote the adoption of UV-C light, a non-chemical control, by strawberry growers on California strawberry farms. Lin, who will lead the project team, will showcase UV-C light as an effective, non-chemical alternative to chemical pesticides for controlling mites, mildew and mold. The grant is part of $1.78 million in Alliance Grants issued by the DPR to five projects that aim to increase the speed and the scale at which safer, more sustainable pest management practices are adopted across the state. Each of the five projects will promote innovative Integrated Pest Management systems and practices in agricultural, urban or wildland settings.
Faculty News
The Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center was featured in the October Issue of “Vegetables West” magazine, highlighting the center’s efforts to find long-term solutions to salinity management for growers. Emeritus Professor Charles Burt, chairman and founder of Cal Poly’s Irrigation Training and Research Center, contributed the article.
In addition, the ITRC was recently awarded $6.3 million from the US Bureau of Reclamation in May to support technical assistance over the next five years. Since 1996, the ITRC has worked in partnership with the US Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), California-Great Basin Region to offer technical assistance in researching and implementing state-of-the-art technologies, techniques, and education to irrigation/water districts throughout the western United States. This latest renewal of the technical assistance contract will extend the program into 2027. To date, with ITRC Director Stuart Styles as the principal investigator, the ITRC has received more than $22 million in funding to Cal Poly that is managed through Cal Poly’s Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education. The technical assistance efforts have resulted in over 10,000 student hours of supervised work experience annually and more than 30 student employees each year.
Faculty News
The Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group at Cal Poly has been awarded a grant of over $700,000 from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to study the social and ethical impacts of robot kitchens, which are already at work in some restaurants. The four-year project will anticipate the effects of robot kitchens on society, kickstarting the first extensive conversation on the subject. The Cal Poly research team includes faculty researchers from the College of Liberal Arts as well as the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. They are: Patrick Lin and Ryan Jenkins (philosophy), Jennifer Jipson (psychology and child development), Anya Foxen (religious studies and women’s, gender and queer studies), and Shohreh Niku (food science and nutrition).
Philosophy professor Patrick Lin, the principal investigator for the new project and director of the Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group, explains, “This project will help to draw out the hidden and very broad impacts of technology. By focusing on the trend of robot kitchens that’s just emerging from under the radar, there is still time for technical and policy interventions in order to maximize benefits and minimize harms and disruptions.”
Learn more.
General News
Cal Poly Career Services and the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences are hosting CAFES Connections: Fall Career Networking Event on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine & Viticulture’s Swanson Center of Effort Conference Hall, and will include remarks by Dean Andrew Thulin.
The career fair will provide an opportunity for employers to connect with students from across CAFES and recruit Cal Poly talent. Faculty and staff are encouraged to spread the word with students and encourage businesses to register to attend.
General News
The Mustang Shuttle is now running new daytime hours to provide transportation to students who have class out at the poultry, dairy and the wine and viticulture units. In just seven months last academic year, the Mustang Shuttle gave more than 36,000 rides around campus to students, faculty and staff. That popularity led ASI, the University Union Advisory Board, University Housing, Cal Poly Corporation and Public Safety to partner to extend the hours into the day. Learn more here.