Agricultural Application Engineering CE Specialist (100% CE)
UC ANR
Position Description: The disciplinary focus of this position is agricultural engineering.
The Agricultural Application Engineering CE Specialist will provide statewide leadership in and support to applied research and extension to maintain sustainable agricultural production and improve air and water quality in California by reducing off-farm movement of pesticides, fertilizers, and particulates, increase farm profitability, and improve farm worker health and safety. Primary focus of the position will be on specialty crops with a particular focus on, citrus, grapes, stone fruit and tree nuts.
The candidate must have earned a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering with a preferred emphasis on spray application technology, fluid regulation, and/or air quality.
Demonstrated excellence in applied agricultural research and extension is highly desirable.
**Justification: A significant programmatic gap exists in UC ANR efforts to improve air and water quality, maintain/improve agricultural sustainability, and manage endemic and invasive pests. Currently, no full-time FTE is dedicated to application technology within
ANR. Improper application equipment and practices in conventional and organic production reduces pest control and farm income, harms farm worker health and safety, and risks air and water contamination.
This position will have a key role in effectively addressing five of the nine multidisciplinary initiatives outlined in the ANR Strategic Vision.
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Improve Water Quality, Quantity and Security: This position will develop and encourage the use of equipment and practices that limit the contamination of both subsurface and surface water through aerial drift and surface runoff of pesticides and nutrients.
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Enhance Competitive Sustainable Food Systems: This position will work to reduce grower costs through more efficient application of pesticides, fertilizers, labor, and energy. These results will improve the competitive status of California agriculture.
In addition, improvement in production efficiencies would improve farm worker’s health and safety.
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Manage Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases: This position will be essential to effective, efficient management of invasive and endemic pests in specialty crops.
Quick, effective and safe response to invasive pests often requires targeted, effective pesticide application to control or eradicate the pest. Effective control of endemic pests using reduced environmental risk and/or organic pesticides will be improved through applied research and extension.
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Initiative for Sustainable Natural Ecosystems: This position will work to reduce offfarm movement of agricultural chemicals into air and water, thus helping minimize adverse impacts of farming on natural ecosystems.
 Enhance the Health of Californians and California’s Agricultural Economy:
Improvements in conventional and organic pesticide application practices and technology will increase yield of sound, healthy produce for Californians from a wide range of socio-economic levels.
**The “Justification” section above is the new required section that has been added to the 2012 CE
Positions Template. Re-submissions must include this section in their revised proposal. New submissions must use this template.

Leadership and coordination provided by the proposed position are needed to maximize benefit to stakeholders and all Californians from UC resources related to the initiatives listed above. World-class basic and applied research on spray application technology is conducted by the Giles lab in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at
UC Davis. (Dr. Giles holds no CE appointment.) County-based academics (Hembree,
Wunderlich, Niederholzer, Roncoroni, and others) include application technology in their applied research and/or extension programs, although none possess academic training or
FTE dedicated to application technology.
This position will provide collaborative support for and further strengthen/multiply the impact of new and existing UC ANR and CAE academics in plant pathology, entomology, plant sciences, viticulture and enology, environmental toxicology, and environmental quality.
No current UC ANR academic has the necessary expertise to serve as point person on the increasingly important public issues of the interaction of agricultural chemical (pesticides and fertilizers) application and air quality, water quality, invasive pests, and organic and sustainable agricultural production. The proposed Agricultural Application Engineering
CE Specialist position would fill this role as UC point person for these issues and so would have a significant potential to affect public policy related to application of agricultural chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, plant growth regulators, etc.).
Extension: The Application Engineering Specialist will provide overall leadership for planning and coordination of statewide extension education and the implementation of research-based practices and technology in perennial, specialty crop systems in
California. The specialist will also facilitate collaborative activities among appropriate county-based and campus-based academics. Expected extension activities will include participation in collaborative educational activities and presentation of relevant researchbased material at grower meetings, industry meetings, workshops, short courses, field demonstrations and other educational programs independently and/or in conjunction with other UC academics. The specialist will be expected to contribute to and evaluate educational materials such as publications, newsletters, and other relevant media to extend information on agricultural application practices. The specialist will also serve as a key resource of science-based information for agricultural industry groups, public agencies and policy makers.
Key clientele include almond, grape, citrus, pistachio, stone fruit and walnut growers, managers, pest control advisors, allied industries, commodity groups including the
Almond Board of California, California Pistachio Research Board, and others, conservation/environmental groups, and public agencies.
Research : Application Engineering Specialist will provide leadership for planning and coordination of applied research activities related to agricultural application for the
University of California. Key research topics include the best practices for safe, economical and environmentally sound pesticide application with a range of reduced environmental risk and/or organic pesticides. Leading and stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration and workgroup participation will be an essential role.
**The “Justification” section above is the new required section that has been added to the 2012 CE
Positions Template. Re-submissions must include this section in their revised proposal. New submissions must use this template.

Publication outlets include newsletters, popular press publications targeting agricultural producers (Western Fruit Grower, Pacific Nut Grower, Wines and Vines, and others),
ANR peer reviewed publications, California Agriculture , professional society proceedings, and international peer reviewed journals such as Crop Protection .
ANR Continuum: This position will provide a vital link between campus and county efforts in applied research and/or extension related to sustainable agriculture, water and air quality, and control of endemic and invasive pests. The Agricultural Application
Engineering CE Specialist will provide support to and be supported by UC assets that currently conduct application technology related research and education programs in
California. These assets include the UC ANR Spray Application Workgroup (as well as other associated ANR Workgroups including almond, pistachio, walnut, prune, peach, viticulture, and cherry), UCCE Advisors with responsibility for tree nuts, grapes, and/or stone fruit, UCD AES faculty in Biological and Agricultural Engineering and discipline related departments, UC-affiliated USDA scientists, and Statewide UC-IPM, UC
Agricultural Sustainability Institute, as well as others. Disciplinary collaborations may include plant nutrition, plant physiology, agronomy, entomology, plant pathology, weed management, water resources, environmental toxicology, wildlife biology, economics, nematology, and others.
The generally acknowledged gap in this network of research and extension effort is a clear point person that can provide a global view and focus energies to develop and implement a comprehensive agricultural application research and extension program that addresses issues critical to the future of California – environmental quality, sustainable agriculture and controlling endemic and invasive pests. The Agricultural Application
Engineering CE Specialist will provide that stable link between campus and county team members as well as external partners to establish and deliver programs that result in outcomes and impacts with statewide relevance.
Support: The specialist will find a departmental home within the UC Davis College of
Agricultural Sciences. Possible departmental homes include Entomology, Plant
Pathology, Viticulture and Enology, Plant Sciences, or Biological and Agricultural
Engineering
Other support: Large ($M) federal and state competitive grants focused on air quality, water quality, and precision and sustainable agriculture are potential sources of research and extension support for this position. Limited FTE in extension agricultural application engineering in other states - coupled with strong UC programs in multiple, complementary disciplines - will put this academic in a strong position to compete for funding from federal sources as well as commodity boards such as the Almond Board of
California, California Pistachio Research Board, Walnut Board of California, and others.
Location: The Agricultural Application Engineering CE Specialist will be housed at the
UC ANR KARE Center in Parlier, CA. This location is in the middle of the largest agricultural production area of the state, the San Joaquin Valley. The UC ANR KARE
Center also has extensive plantings of key specialty crops – grapes, stone fruit, almonds, etc. – and a staff/faculty of world-class researchers/collaborators in complementary fields including horticulture, IPM, plant pathology, etc.
**The “Justification” section above is the new required section that has been added to the 2012 CE
Positions Template. Re-submissions must include this section in their revised proposal. New submissions must use this template.