UC Riverside Chancellor Kim Wilcox encouraged students, faculty and staff on campus to count pollinators as part of a statewide crowdsourcing event on Thursday, May 8. The event was coordinated by the UC Cooperative Extension to commemorate their 100th year anniversary.
On May 8, 1914, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Smith-Lever Act, which created the Cooperative Extension, a nationwide system which works directly with agriculture and industry, as part of each state’s land grant university.
“Agriculture, of course, is important to the state of California and it’s our roots here at UCR,” Wilcox said through a video posted on UCR’s YouTube channel. “And pollination is central to all the agricultural products that we have in the state.”
Those who participated recorded observations based on three questions: How many pollinators do you see? How do you conserve water? Where is the food grown in your community?
Scientists involved with the UC Cooperative Extension will utilize the data to determine what has happened to food supplies, water resources and pollinator populations in California.
