Irrigation and Conservation in a Changing Climate
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
12 noon Central Time
Join the meeting on Zoom – click here.
Dr. Mallika Nocco
Assistant Professor, Soil-Plant-Water Relations & Irrigation Management
Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources
University of California, Davis
Dr. Mallika Nocco will present a webinar for UCOWR members and the Southern Illinois University community on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 12 noon CT.
Irrigation and Conservation in a Changing Climate:
The United States are producing fruits, nuts, and vegetables under increasingly extreme temperature, precipitation, and aridity with weather whiplash occurring in California. In the face of worsening droughts, California policies promote soil health practices to improve drought and flood resilience by improving soil physical characteristics (e.g., infiltration). Policies also incentivize infrastructure to enhance irrigation and energy efficiency as well as maximize flood capture and recharge. Our work focuses on improving real-time, high-resolution monitoring of soil-plant-water relations using tools like unmanned aerial vehicles—especially for high-value, decadal agroecosystems. We engage with diverse groups of people, who can greatly benefit from extension support to interpret information and help make decisions during and in preparation for droughts, heatwaves, and floods. This webinar presents water and soil management strategies, mechanisms, and extension support that may increase specialty crop system resilience under drought, heat waves, and floods in a changing climate.
Mallika Nocco is an Assistant Cooperative Extension Professor in Soil-Plant-Water Relations & Irrigation Management in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources at UC Davis. Her areas of expertise are in agrohydrology, irrigation, soil-plant-water conservation, crop water use physiology, soil hydrologic health, and thermal/multispectral aerial imagery for crop water stress evaluation. Mallika is a 2014 EPA STAR Fellow and 2017 David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow who is passionate about policy-relevant science and communication. She works with growers, policymakers, and water districts to develop irrigation management strategies that balance farm livelihoods, soil health, and water conservation. She is the co-host of the Water Talk Podcast (https://www.watertalkpodcast.com) and director of the Conservation Irrigation Lab (https://www.irrigationlab.com). Contact: Mallika Nocco, manocco@ucdavis.edu, @mallika_nocco on Twitter.