Welcome to the inaugural post to my new blog, Ranching in the Sierra Foothills! In the coming weeks and months, I'll be posting information about workshops, new research, and other topics related to ranching in the Sierra foothills! I hope you'll join in the conversation!

By way of introduction, I am tremendously excited to become the new livestock and natural resources advisor for Placer, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba Counties! I have huge shoes to fill - Roger Ingram and Glenn Nader served our communities incredibly well!

Most recently, I have been an associate specialist in rangeland science and management at UC Davis (with the UC Rangelands program), with research and extension activities focused on drought management, livestock-predator coexistence, irrigated pasture and water quality. I am also a partner in Flying Mule Farm, a small-scale commercial sheep operation in Auburn, California. I have a master's degree in integrated resource management from Colorado State University and a bachelor's degree in agricultural and managerial economics from UC Davis. I currently serve as vice president of the California Wool Growers Association and am a past president of the California-Pacific Section of the Society for Range Management. My wife Samia and I have two daughters – Lara (19) and Emma (13). I am looking forward to focusing my research and extension activities on livestock-predator interactions, drought resilience, irrigated pasture, targeted grazing, and ranch economics.

In the meantime, we have a couple of events scheduled in the near future - click on the links below for more information:

July 9 - Roger Ingram's Retirement Celebration

July 16 - Sierra Foothill Wool Pool

I also invite you to check out the UCCE Sustainable Foothill Ranching Facebook page. You can also follow me on Twitter at @flyingmulefarm!