Department Reaches Out to Share Knowledge

As a Land Grant university, UC Davis is committed to three classic missions—teaching, research and outreach. The last of these goals means sharing information with the public and private citizens. From solving nuisance odor complaints for high schools to encouraging women to pursue biotechnology, the Department of Animal Science is doing its part to reach out to others.

Frank Mitloehner, assistant specialist in Cooperative Extension, was contacted recently by Sonoma Valley High School to help solve nuisance complaints caused by the school's animal facilities. Frank, an air quality specialist and agricultural engineer, surveyed students, teachers and neighbors and spent a day and night at the facility observing the activities there. After meeting with all parties involved, he applied his knowledge of animal behavior to recommend ways the school could help solve the nuisance problems. One important change he suggested was simply to feed all the animals at the same time, not individually. A plan was drafted and set into motion. The neighbors were so delighted with the improvements that they decided to donate the money they had collected for a lawsuit to the school for its agriculture program.

Alison Van Eenennaam was recognized by the dean of the college for reaching out to women high school students. Alison, Cooperative Extension assistant specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology, was a panel speaker for Sacramento Advocates for Girls' Empowerment (SAGE), a group of volunteers who strongly believe in helping young girls realize their potential in the world of mathematics, science and technology.

In March, she spoke to more than 200 high school girls at Armijo High School's Women in Technology (WIT) Fair, touching on careers in biotechnology and the route students need to take to pursue a career in this area.

“I think it is important for girls to see that there is nothing stopping them from pursuing a career in biotechnology and science,” she said.

Faculty in the department participated in a detailed study for the Council on Agriculture Science and Technology (CAST), called “Animal Agriculture and Global Food Supply.” The report largely defends the importance of farm animals to world health and nutrition and to local economies. In addition to being distributed to members of the US Congress and the White House, the study is being used by Jon Beckett, a Ph.D. graduate from the department and now associate professor of Animal Science at California Polytechnical State University, San Luis Obispo, who is offering a special senior-level course there in spring 2003 that will involve the CAST study.

The 92-page report was prepared by an international committee chaired by Emeritus Professor Eric Bradford; Jim Oltjen, Jim Fadel and Lee Baldwin of the UC Davis Animal Science department also served on that committee. Drs. Bradford, Fadel and Oltjen all visited Cal Poly as guest lecturers in Dr. Beckett's course.

Francine Bradley, UC Cooperative Extension poultry scientist, gets the call when people stop being proud of their peacocks. Historically valued for their iridescent blue-green beauty, the birds have become intolerable nuisances in some parts of California. They are big, hungry, destructive birds that scream all night long during mating season—which in warm areas can last from late January well into fall. Lately, peafowl calls are on the rise, from Vacaville to Berkeley and Arcadia to Point Reyes.

“Peafowl are native to India, not California. They are an invasive animal species,” Francine says. “They hurt native birds by eating their food and decimating the plants where the natives would live. They ruin plants put on hillsides to prevent erosion, scratch the paint on cars, damage shingles and tiles on roofs and cover lawns with fecal matter.”

Currently, Francine is an expert witness in a civil lawsuit over the future of hundreds of free-ranging peafowl on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Usually, she advises municipal and park managers to trap the birds and give them to breeders who can keep them in a confined environment. Leaving peafowl in place is rarely an option, she says, since one pair can produce 20 offspring a year.

Francine has also been an expert witness recently defending the rights of breeders of show birds, particularly of game fowl, which have been blamed for the spread of Exotic Newcastle Disease in California. One of the state's leading poultry experts, she has been in the forefront of controlling the disease and educating commercial and backyard producers on the disease's ravages.  

Children meet sturgeon in classroom visit

Molly Stephens and Amy Welsh, graduate students with Dr. Bernie May, brought species conservation to a future generation of young scientists.  At Pioneer Elementary School in Davis, Molly and Amy taught several classes of fourth graders about conservation of green sturgeon.  The students were able to see (and touch!) a live green sturgeon and sample caviar. The students then created a “paper quilt” depicting the issues green sturgeon face. This project will be exchanged with a project from a school in a different state. Dr. May and Dr. Serge Doroshov are collaborating with other professors on campus to understand the biology of this poorly described species.