Year's End

[Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension Weekly Bulletin]

Dear Colleagues,

Somehow it is already the end of another year.

2022 has been a very busy year, crowded with new opportunities, reunions, and making up for lost time.

In October, we gathered in person for the first time in three years for our Fall Awards Celebration<https://arizona.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=7a3801d4-f5f5-4809-bbcc-af2a01539d2b> to recognize once again the faculty, staff, administrators, and teams who received awards during 2020, 2021, and Spring 2022. I was thrilled to see the Arizona Experiment Station Outstanding Staff Award presented for the first time to four very deserving recipients<https://compass.arizona.edu/content/arizona-experiment-station-recognizes-4-outstanding-staff-award>. Congratulations again to each and every one of you!

Our Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture organized the Desert Agriculture Research Symposium on November 16, and it was an honor to lead an informal panel discussion with Vic Smith (JV Smith Companies) and Robby Barkley (Barkley Ag Enterprises) about the most effective ways that universities and the agricultural industry can collaborate to solve the challenges facing Arizona's bioeconomy. One look at the symposium agenda<https://desertagsolutions.org/events/556-desert-agriculture-research-symposium> will show you the impressive cross-section of our division represented there. I was proud to be in company with so many of you and our UA colleagues.

The work we engage in at Yuma is just an illustration of the kind of role our land-grant university can play in all the communities we serve -- where our Extension programs provide a conduit between university research and the most pressing needs of Arizona's families and industries. Where business is eager to partner with us to put science to work in finding solutions. Where our academic degree programs help shape and continually retool the workforce.

Two weeks ago, I had the chance to visit our team at Santa Cruz County Cooperative Extension. I will never forget the warm hospitality from everyone, especially the 4-H students<https://twitter.com/UAAgLifeVetExt/status/1598350964381351936/photo/2> who were waiting to greet me as I pulled into the parking lot at Nogales High School -- what a welcome! Just as impressive were the project presentations by 4-H individuals and teams. I also truly enjoyed meeting the Extension faculty and staff who are delivering nutrition and healthy lifestyle programs through the AZ Health Zone and critical early childhood programs at the Rio Rico Family Resource Center. My deepest thanks to them for the proven positive impacts they are making every day in their community, and for taking time out of their busy days for me.

It has been wonderful to experience a bit of normalcy.

Now it is time for all of us to take advantage of the holiday closure to disconnect from our strategic goals, search committees, and spreadsheets and to reconnect with everything (and everyone) else in our lives.

Thank you for all that you do. I look forward to serving our state together with you in 2023.

Shane








Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for the Division of Agriculture, Life & Veterinary Sciences, and
Cooperative Extension

Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Forbes Building, Room 306 | 1140 E. South Campus Drive
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Office: 520-621-7621
sburgess at cals.arizona.edu<mailto:sburgess at cals.arizona.edu>
alvsce.arizona.edu<https://alvsce.arizona.edu/>
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twitter<https://twitter.com/UAAgLifeVetExt> | linkedin<https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-burgess-8871985b/>



We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and
territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally
recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui.
Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build
sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous
communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community
service.
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