CAFES News – Page 31

Podcast Features Animal Science Lecturer Heather Harris

Animal Science Lecturer Heather Harris was recently interviewed for the AquaDocs Podcast (episode 43). Tune in to listen as Harris discusses the Cal Poly Marine Mammal Enterprise as an example of a university/non-profit partnership in marine mammal stranding response, as well as sea turtle research in which students are directly involved. Harris is a wildlife veterinarian for Upwell and the NOAA Marine Turtle Program as well as an associate veterinarian at the Marine Mammal Center.

General News

Holiday Cheese Boxes Available in November

Students at the Cal Poly Creamery are hard at work getting ready for the 2021 holiday season! Gift box sales kick off in November with tempting all-new gift box combinations. Traditional favorites and delicious new cheeses will be available. Three shipping options, as well as local pick-up dates, will be available. Shipping is offered within the U.S. and gift certificates are available online for direct email delivery. Order by Nov. 9th for Thanksgiving delivery and by Dec. 7 to receive your order by Dec. 25. You will find something special for everyone on your list. Stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram at @calpolycreameryslo for updates and visit Cal Poly Creamery online at https://calpolycreamery.com.

Student News

Agribusiness Student Wins Competition

Agricultural business third-year Isa Iturriria recently won first place in the Collegiate Sales Society’s Cold Calling Competition and Sam Lopez, a fourth-year biological sciences major, came in third. The Collegiate Sales Society is a national collegiate sales organization creating lifelong leaders through sales education, networking and career opportunities. The students were mentored by Agribusiness lecturer Doug Sawyer, who is teaching an Introduction to Sales course.

General News

Brock Center Offering Family Portrait Sessions

The Agricultural Education and Communication Department’s Brock Center is once again offering holiday family portraits at Cuesta Park during two weekends in early November. Sessions will be held Nov. 6-7 and Nov. 13-14. The cost is $100 for a 45-minute session and clients will receive 20-25 edited digital photos on a thumb drive taken by the student Brock Associates team. Sign up for your session via Sign-Up Genius. Cash or check payment is due at the beginning of the session. We cannot wait to see your smiling faces there! For questions, please email Olivia Jarrett at ojarrett@calpoly.edu.

Events

Faculty and Staff Awards Postponed

Due to ongoing concerns around COVID-19 and out of an abundance of caution, we continue to postpone the 2020-21 CAFES Faculty and Staff Awards ceremony. We appreciate all who nominated their colleagues for exceptional service and will carry over those nominations into next year. We will determine a celebration gathering at a future date.

General News

Student Research Funding Available

The Warren J. Baker Endowment for Excellence in Project-Based Learning and the Robert D. Koob Endowment for Student Success support hands-on, project-based learning opportunities for individual students and groups at Cal Poly. All Cal Poly undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply for funds that may be used for student and faculty travel, student and faculty expenses associated with participation in student research, group projects, conferences, competitions, and equipment and materials related to student research. For more information and instructions on how to apply, visit https://provost.calpoly.edu/endowments.

General News

Swanton Pacific Ranch Receives Leadership Award

Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch was awarded a prestigious Leadership Award by the Forest Stewardship Council for the use of the ranch’s sustainably managed forest (which is FSC certified) to teach future generations of forestry professionals. Read more here.

Events

Coffee with the College

Mustang Family Weekend is just around the corner. Join us for Coffee with CAFES on Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 to 11: 30 a.m. in the courtyard outside of Building 11.

Parents, supporters and students are invited to join the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences’ leadership and academic advisors to learn more about our programs, student support services, and opportunities to get involved. Coffee and treats will be provided.

Student News

Charles Woodson & O’Neill Family Wine Scholarship

First-year wine and viticulture major Stella Tuffli of Concord, California, received the Charles Woodson & O’Neill Family Wine Scholarship, the first in a new series of college scholarships they are awarding via the California Community Foundation to students at Cal Poly and Sonoma State aimed at encouraging more high-achieving Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students to enter the wine industry. The scholarship will cover Tuffli’s tuition and room and board throughout her entire college career. “I cannot think of a better way to support the next generation of young BIPOC wine professionals than with scholarships at the top universities in the heart of America’s wine country. I look forward to getting to know future recipients of the Charles Woodson & O’Neill Family Wine Scholarships,” said Charles Woodson, former NFL player and partner of Charles Woodson’s Intercept Wines with O’Neill. To learn more about the scholarship and to donate through the California Community Foundation, visit www.calfund.org/calpoly_bipoc_wvit-_scholarship/.

General News

Harvest at Trestle Vineyard

Story by Robyn Kontra Tanner, Photos by Joe Johnston

In the cool, pre-dawn hours of Sept. 20, while most Mustangs enjoyed the last few hours of sleep before fall quarter classes officially began, a team of wine and viticulture students and faculty were wide awake and hard at work. It was the ideal time for the wine grape harvest in Cal Poly’s Trestle Vineyard, approximately 12.5 acres of vines located northwest of the campus core.

Just after 3 a.m., professional crews began harvesting ripe bunches of Chardonnay and Pinot noir. Undergraduate students gathered data on the number and weight of grape clusters for a research project on intrinsic variations in berry size as a function of Pinot noir clones, a project generously funded by the Oregon Wine Board under the supervision of Professors Jean Dodson Peterson and L. Federico Casassa. The team then loaded the grapes into the backs of pickup trucks, headed to the Pilot Winery on campus for the next steps in the wine production process.

This may be the last time grapes wind up at the Pilot Winery: In future years, Cal Poly wine will be made in the soon-to-open JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture.

“There’s a consensus that during harvest, the grapes pretty much dictate your schedule,” said Laura Kelemen, who is working on her senior project in wine and viticulture. “Whether it’s 2 a.m. vineyard picks, 10 p.m. punch downs, or a broken piece of equipment that throws off scheduling, you need to be ready to adapt and make the best of it.”

Kelemen and teammates Josh Toepfer, Peyton Seelye, and Chase Kesecker have spent the season analyzing variations in vine growth and development trends, vine metabolism and water status among different clones of Pinot noir grapes grown in Trestle Vineyard with Professors Dodson Peterson and Casassa. The team hopes to understand how intrinsic variations in berry size affects chemical and sensory profiles of the resulting wines. Kelemen says this experience has given her the chance to shoulder a new level of responsibility in wine harvest logistics.

I’m excited to apply the new insight, skills, and confidence I’ve gained from this project to a full-time position after graduation,” she added.

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