California Ag Network

Tag: Fresno State

  • Plant Science And Political Science Grads Earn Fresno State’s Highest Honors

    Fresno, Calif., (May 22, 2017) – Touyee Thao of Fresno and Alexandra Gallo of Hollister were awarded the top University honors at Fresno State’s 106th Commencement today at the Save Mart Center.

    Thao and Gallo were chosen from a group of nine Deans’ Undergraduate Medalists and nine Deans Graduate Medalists.

    Thao, who earned a master’s in Plant Science, was selected as the University Graduate Medalist, Fresno State’s top honor for a graduate student. He completed his M.S. with a GPA of 4.0.

    Gallo, who earned her bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Communication, was selected as the President’s Medalist, the University’s top honor for an undergraduate student. She completed her B.A. with a GPA of 3.81.

    Touyee Thao: Growing up as one of 10 siblings from an immigrant family, Thao was fascinated by agriculture from an early age. His academic research on how to optimize irrigation scheduling is directly informed by the critical challenge of water management in California. This work is gaining widespread attention; Thao has presented at numerous local, national and international conferences.

    Beyond academics, Thao is also passionate about giving back. In addition to helping with college events and the Future Farmers of America, he volunteers an average of 12 hours a week in the Hmong community, serving as a mentor to youth. “My next goal is to share my agricultural knowledge gained at Fresno State with the many Southeast Asian farmers currently seeking assistance to improve their soil and water conservation practices,” he said.

    Alexandra Gallo: Difficult family circumstances inspired Gallo, a first generation college student, to obtain a degree and help others. Gallo seized opportunities to serve and engage during her time at Fresno State. She studied abroad, was elected to student government, served as an ambassador for the Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, was as a Maddy intern with Congressman Jim Costa and worked with the League of Woman Voters.

    She’s a three time winner of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing 200 hours of service each year at organizations like the Every Neighborhood Partnership and the Ronald McDonald House. She also planned a camp for children with parents battling cancer.

     

     

     

  • Award-Winning Campus Wines Available At Free Tastings In May

    Fresno, Calif., (May 22, 2017) – The Fresno State Winery will offer free tastings of four award-winning wines — Petrucci’s Crush, Pinot Noir, San Joaquin Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc — at the Gibson Farm Market (5368 N. Chestnut Ave.) each weekend in May from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

    The 2014 Petrucci’s Crush, available for a limited time only, is a Bordeaux-style blend with fruit from Duarte Nursery and campus vineyards. The 2016 SJ Chardonnay, 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and 2014 Tempranillo are sourced from Duarte Nursery, and the 2015 Pinot Noir is sourced from fruit from Saviez Vineyards in Fresno County.

    Including the 2014 Tempranillo, five Fresno State wines combined to win 10 gold and silver medal honors this spring (see list below). The Tempranillo also won a silver medal last November in the Harvest Challenge wine competition.

    All five wines can be purchased at the Gibson Farm Market and through the Fresno State Wine Club, which will reorganize its membership plans starting in June to offer wine club customers more options to better fit their preferences.

    The Fresno State Winery has won more than 600 honors since it became the nation’s first commercially bonded winery on a collegiate campus in 1997. It currently offers 14 red, white, blush and specialty wines that are produced on campus by viticulture and enology students and staff, and many of the grapes are sourced from Fresno State’s 120-acre campus vineyard.

    More information is available by contacting Fresno State Wine Club president Veronica Viramontes (559.278.6070, verovira@mail.fresnostate.edu) or the Gibson Farm Market (559.278.4511).

    2017 Wine Competition Awards – Fresno State Wines

    2016 SJ Chardonnay

    Gold medal, San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers

    Gold medal, California State Fair

    Silver medal, Finger Lakes International

    2014 Petrucci’s Crush

    Gold medal, San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers

    Gold medal, San Francisco Chronicle

    Silver medal, Finger Lakes International

    2014 Tempranillo

    Gold medal, San Francisco Chronicle

    Silver medal, Finger Lakes International

    2015 Pinot Noir

    Silver medal, San Francisco Chronicle

    2016 Sauvignon Blanc

    Silver medal, Finger Lakes International

     

  • Mancebo Jr. Pledges $1 Million To Fresno State Dairy Program

    Fresno, Calif., (May 11, 2017) – The Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology announced that Manuel Mancebo, Jr. from Tulare has pledged a $1 million bequest in support of the Fresno State dairy science program.

    Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro, Jordan College Dean Sandra Witte, faculty, staff, students and industry supporters honored the former area trucking magnate and his deceased wife, Katye, May 6 at a dairy science club banquet in Tulare.

    In recognition of their generosity, Fresno State will request that the campus dairy production facility be renamed the Manuel “JR.” and Katye Mancebo Dairy.

    “We sincerely appreciate this gift that will benefit our dairy program for years to come,” said Castro. “The dairy industry is a key part of agriculture in California, so it’s important to modernize our facilities and resources to give our students a real-life experience to prepare them for careers around the Central Valley and beyond.”

    Mancebo, 87, helped build Kings County Truck Lines into an industry leader before selling the company in 2006. Starting as a mechanic apprentice for the family company at the age of 17, climbed the company ranks, taking over the family business in 1971 at the age of 41.

    Founded in 1940 by Mancebo’s father and Portuguese immigrant Manuel S. “Spike” Mancebo, the company developed a reputation for its safe and reliable transportation of milk products and dry goods throughout the Central Valley and Southern California. Mancebo’s commitment to client service helped the company expand its operations to Northern California, Oregon, Arizona and Utah, as it added major contracts with companies such as Safeway and Baskin-Robbins.

    At the height of its business, its shipping line grew to 1,000 trucks and more than 800 employees.

    Mancebo was equally respected within the Tulare community with his wife of 61 years, Katye, who passed away in November 2014. They were active in supporting area charities, including Valley Children’s hospital, St. Aloysius Catholic Church and other community and education-based organizations.

    “On behalf of my late wife and myself, we are especially happy to support Fresno State as it educates future leaders for the dairy industry – an industry that played such an important role in our lives,” said Mancebo.

    The Fresno State dairy is run by first-year faculty member and Fresno State graduate Dr. Kyle Thompson and a workforce of 20 students. With a milking string of 170 Holstein and Jersey cows, Fresno State students are exposed to every part of the industry. Campus milk is transported each day to the California Dairies Co-op, and used by Fresno State students at the campus creamery to produce milk, 45 flavors of campus ice cream and other dairy products.

  • Bulldoggers To Host Fresno State College Rodeo March 11-12

    Fresno, Calif., (March 10, 2017) – The Bulldoggers club rodeo team will host the Fresno State College Rodeo Saturday and Sunday, March 11 and 12, at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds (748 Rodeo Drive). The competition, which is the only home event of the season, starts with a slack session at 8 a.m. Saturday followed by a ticketed first round at 6 p.m. featuring 10 randomly selected competitors in each event. The 10 qualifiers combined from Saturday’s sessions will compete at 1 p.m. Sunday in the final short round session. Competition features seven other collegiate teams: Cal Poly, Cuesta College, Feather River College, Lassen College, UNLV, West Hills College and Western Nevada College, plus individual entries from CSU Stanislaus, Chico State, Modesto College, Nevada, UC Davis and UC Merced. Fresno State junior Jamie Lynn Giefer of Springville leads the women’s regional rankings in breakaway roping and ranks 17th nationally. Junior Colton Campbell of Klamath Falls, Oregon, and senior Dillon Hushour of Fairfield rank second and third in the region in men’s tie down roping. Competition each day will also include bareback riding, bulldogging, saddle bronc riding, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding events. The cost to attend Saturday’s evening and Sunday’s day sessions is $5 each and free for Fresno State students with a student ID. INFO: Geoff Thurner at gthurner@csufresno.edu or 559.278.7221, or see Fresno State Rodeo Team Bulldoggers.

     

  • Ag/Biological Engineers Society Honors Industrial Tech Prof, Students

    Fresno, Calif., (March 2, 2017) – Dr. Balaji Sethuramasamyraja, industrial technology associate professor at Fresno State, was honored as the Agricultural Engineer of the Year at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers section meeting for California and Nevada. He was selected based on his contributions the past decade to the society, area agriculture and Fresno State’s applied agricultural engineering programs. Also, graduate student Arthish Bhaskar of Chennai, India, and junior Huy Le of Fresno also won first place in graduate and undergraduate student research poster competitions at the conference held Feb. 17 in Tulare. Bhaskar’s project focused on a smart farm data interface that used analytics and data from field sensors and was funded by the National Science Foundation. Le’s research was based on digital elevation modeling, integrating advanced geospatial technology, a real-time kinematic ground station and rover units for irrigation planning, management and conservation. His research was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each student winner received a $250 prize. INFO: Sethuramasamyraja at 559.278.2333 or balajis@csufresno.edu. Website: ASABE.