Farewell to 2025!

As 2025 comes to a close, I am awestruck by all that we have accomplished together, and amazed what a positive difference our academics and staff at the UC Cooperative Extension and Elkus Ranch REC have made for our communities.

2025 has been an eventful year! Our academics – Cooperative Extension Advisors – continued to generate important new science relevant to a variety of local issues, from school nutrition, to educational opportunities for at-risk youth, to suburban wildlife, and urban tree risk management. Our community-based programs – 4-H , UC Master Gardeners and Master Food Preservers, as well as our CalFresh Nutrition Education Program – reached thousands of residents in both San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, at workshops, “help desks,” and public events, as well as virtually through webinars and our On-line Helpline. Practical, connected, and trusted, they provided reliable, science-based information specifically tailored to the needs of our local communities. But none of this would be possible without the valuable partnerships with our local libraries, schools, community centers and parks. And just as important was the continued financial support of San Mateo County and – for the first time in many years! – new financial support from San Francisco County. We recognize that in this moment public funding is far from certain: earlier in the year, the Federal support for our CalFresh program was discontinued, and sadly we will be saying goodbye to several of our colleagues in the new year.  Thus, we are even more grateful to our County Partners for their funding support, the “cooperative” part of Cooperative Extension. Thank You! 

It has been an eventful year at UC Elkus Ranch as well, where we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of serving the region’s youth. But that was not all! In March, the Ranch joined the UC Research and Extension Centers (REC) System as the tenth REC, officially becoming Elkus Ranch REC. We are now developing a new vision for the Ranch as a hub for education and training. While staying true to our legacy of youth environmental education, we look forward to expanding our educational offerings, and engaging with UC faculty to bring impactful research to the Ranch. This transition has been facilitated by our stellar administrative staff, expert ranch maintenance professionals, and outstanding Elkus Educators, who all enable our educational programs to continue without any interruption. In addition, the University is making a substantial investment in deferred maintenance at the Ranch, and we have already begun refurbishing some of our facilities to better meet the needs of our visitors and employees. 

Finally, this Newsletter marks a transition for me, my term as County Director coming to an end. Early in the new year, we will welcome a new Administrative Director, Andrew Miller. As I look back at the past three years, I remain sincerely grateful to each and every employee of our Cooperative Extension office and Elkus Ranch. Their professionalism, adaptability, and dedication made my job not just possible but truly fulfilling and even fun (sometimes 😊). I thus extend my sincere thanks to the best team in all of UC Cooperative Extension: SM/SF & Elkus Ranch! 

And I wish a Happy New Year to all!


Sincerely, 
Igor Lacan,

outgoing County Director & incoming Interim Elkus Ranch REC Director

The 2025–2026 4-H program year is off to an inspiring start! Our County Ambassadors—Veronica, Sophia, and Audrey (pictured above from left to right)—are eager to launch their service-learning project in the months ahead. This year, they are dedicating their efforts to promoting youth mental health awareness while also leading initiatives that positively impact the environment. We are thrilled to have such passionate leaders representing our county and look forward to the meaningful work they will accomplish.

San Mateo County 4-H completes Resilient Roots Climate Action Pilot

On a Monday afternoon, middle school youth at Cunha Middle in Half Moon Bay are deep in a dice game where they float around the room, pretending to be carbon atoms. Depending on the number a student rolls, they might be a fossil fuel that is burned, leaving them floating in the atmosphere for decades where they worsen the climate crisis or they might be photosynthesized and stored long-term in a preserved old-growth forest.

From the activity, students can make deep connections about activities that fuel climate change, but also the agency they have in stopping the crisis.

This scene is a vignette from one of 4-H’s newest programs, Resilient Roots. Resilient Roots is a program that teaches middle school youth about climate change in their local communities—how it is already affecting their daily lives, and most importantly, what they can do about it. San Mateo County 4-H just completed the first full pilot program of this curriculum in partnership with Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. In addition to the curriculum, students will put their knowledge to use by completing a community action project and going on a field trip to see climate action first-hand.

Introducing Glory our new Nubian Goat (pictured here)

2025 was a big year, not only did we celebrate Elkus Ranch's 50th Anniversary with a big party in September but our designation has changed. As of July 2025, Elkus Ranch has moved from being part of UCCE and into a different category within Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), the Research and Extension Center system, or REC for short. Our name is now Elkus Ranch REC. We are the 10^th REC within the UC system and are looking forward to seeing what changes are made with this new designation. Some staff titles and administrative practices have changed, but to the casual observer, not much else is different yet. We continue to see preschool through high school students in our field trips and at our educational events, and elementary ages at our seasonal camps. Our next camp will be Winter Camp, later in December. You can find details for camp and upcoming events on the event calendar of our Programs page.

The quarterly volunteer days that we rolled out in December of last year have been extremely popular and have transitioned into monthly volunteer days for 9 months of the year. We take a break for the wet months: December, January and February, but interested volunteers can sign up for the March, April, May and June 2026 dates which are now on our Volunteer at the Ranch page.

Glory (pictured above) is our newest addition to our goat herd and was donated by a 4-H youth. She is pictured here with her most recent set of twins who are now grown. Glory is a very friendly Nubian goat, which is a breed with long legs and long ears bred for milk production. She is still in quarantine but in the next few weeks will be mixed with our existing goat group made up of Boer and Boer-cross goats, a shorter, thicker meat breed.

The San Mateo & San Francisco Master Food Preservers celebrated the harvest season with a full lineup of workshops and community events. We kicked off the season with all things apple—apple picking, preserving, and experimenting with multiple preservation methods. After much testing, we perfected our apple dehydrating and freeze-drying techniques.

The harvest celebrations continued at the San Mateo County Agricultural Day, where we explored spices with children from across the county. At Alemany Farm’s Urban Ag Day, we introduced third graders to fermentation and made sauerkraut together. During the Alemany Harvest Festival, participants learned about dehydration and created their own mulling spice kits.

After a busy autumn, we are ramping up to welcome a new class of Master Food Preserver trainees in January 2026 and also look forward to continuing in-person and virtual workshops in 2026! To stay informed join our mailing list and receive updates on any upcoming events at: https://ucanr.edu/site/master-food-preservers-san-mateo-san-francisco-counties

Thank you for your support this year!

We are deeply grateful for your generosity during this year’s Giving Tuesday. Your contribution directly supports the San Mateo / San Francisco Counties Master Gardener Program and projects—much of which is self-funded. Our shared passion for growing things is what brings us together and inspires the work we do!

We appreciate your support at any time of the year. If you’d like to make a donation to the San Mateo–San Francisco Master Gardeners, you can do so here:

https://give.ucanr.edu/forms/SMSF-MG

Thank you again for helping our community grow and thrive!

CalFresh Healthy Living, UCCE San Mateo and San Francisco has spent the past year focusing on nutrition, physical activity, and garden-based education, while also preparing for the sunsetting of the program. The team has been working closely with long-term partners to plan for sustainability, ensuring that the tools, skills, and knowledge developed over the years might continue to benefit students, families, and communities. While some cafeteria promotions remain in place, our direct education has shifted toward a more workshop-focused model, allowing for deeper engagement and skill-building for participants and partners alike.

A standout accomplishment this year has been the training of over 100 early childhood education teachers from Wu Yee Children’s Services in the Glow, Go, Grow curriculum. These sessions equipped educators with strategies to incorporate nutrition and physical activity into daily classroom routines, helping to shape healthy habits for the youngest learners in both counties. Youth education has continued with school-aged students using curricula such as Food Smarts

for Kids and Teams with Integration Support (TWIGS), while adult workshops focused on nutrition, shopping, and cooking skills through Plan, Shop, Save, and Cook. Physical activity education also remained a key focus, with trainings for community partners aimed towards expanding structured movement opportunities for children.

As CFHL SM/SF prepares to close out at the end of September 2026, the team remains committed to quality programming and partner support. By equipping teachers, staff, and community partners with evidence-based tools, resources, and guidance, the program is leaving a lasting impact that will continue to support healthful behaviors in classrooms and community settings. The team is grateful to all partners and participants for a collaborative and impactful year and looks forward to seeing these efforts continue to thrive in the future.