Happy New Year! I hope 2020 and this new decade is good to all! It seems like it has been a while since we last worked. While vacation is always a nice change in pace, I'm glad to be back to work with all of you. I can't complain about the break; I was able to see both snow-covered mountains and water simultaneously. That's always a good thing.

Today, Brittney Goodrich joins us as a CE Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, specializing in Agricultural Risk Management. Please be sure to welcome Brittney to UC ANR and back to Davis, CA. Brittney was hired as a result of the 2016 Position Call. Academic HR is gearing up to start recruitment for our most recent release of positions, a good sign for 2020.

If you didn't stay on top of Morning Ag Clips during the winter break, be sure to take a look at the Dec 30 edition. UC ANR is featured as the lead story, thanks to efforts of Linda Forbes and her team. I liked the focus on impacts of our work with partners. Hopefully we will see more of these stories in the future. Even though the readership is likely those who already know us, the reminder never hurts. And, we may reach a few more people.

I had a chance to watch a small part of the Rose Parade and recalled a recent conversation with Darren Haver where he mentioned that the parade preparations were nightly news in the Irvine area. I suspect the winter break starts now for those who worked tirelessly to prepare for the Parade. I wonder if the flower growers get any rest.

This is a bit of a light week. I suspect many extended their break through the weekend. Some may even be off to more tropical destinations and finding it hard to switch back to work mode. But there is much to be done in 2020. I have some work to do to prepare for the strategic plan retreat at the end of this month. In addition, the Blue Ribbon Panel is wrapping up its report of recommendations for key investments in the RECs and I need to package that with the REC Users Committee recommendations. Plus Program Council meets next week so I have some work to do to prepare for that. Then there are a few loose ends to tie up with respect to the Peer Review Committee and this year's review cycle. All in all, 2020 is off to a great start!