By Kim Lamb Gregory
When considering many deserving nominees for the 2024 Innovation Awards, »ŞĚĺ»á President Richard Yao selected three individuals — one staff member, one faculty member, and one student whose exceptional work exemplifies the University’s “One Health” strategic vision.
“These are individuals who have been living the One Health world view through their work at »ŞĚĺ»á, and they’ve been blazing a path for us all,” President Yao said at the August Convocation ceremony in the Grand Salon.
One Health describes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to education that considers human, animal, plant, environmental, and economic health in an interconnected manner.
The President’s Staff Award for Excellence went to Director of Basic Needs Tanya Gonzalez, who serves the students “in a way that is fully holistic and perfectly exemplifies the spirit of One Health,” according to the nominating party.
Gonzalez makes it a point to be available to discuss any challenge or victory a student has whether it involved home, classes or something else.
“In my work, I always strive to remain authentic, apply accountability, empathy, and care in all I do and advocate for positive change whenever possible,” she said.
When Ruben Alarcón accepted the President’s Teaching & Innovation award, he recalled his Ph.D. dissertation on high elevation plant pollinators. “Pollinators are scarce during a drought,” he observed. “The plants that survive are those that depend on a wide range of pollinators rather than just one.”
The observation that connectedness helps during hard times stayed with him, so when he arrived at »ŞĚĺ»á, he established connections with area schools, beekeepers, businesses and the agricultural community, with rich rewards.
“I found that members of the agricultural community were welcoming and willing to provide my students and me with access to their fields and orchards for research,” he said.
AlarcĂłn believes that establishing more connections can turn »ŞĚĺ»á into a central hub for the community, government agencies, nonprofits and other industries.
“Perhaps by establishing more connections for »ŞĚĺ»á, we can all get through the drought,” he said.
Anthropology major Eleanor Fishburn received the President’s Award for Student Innovation for her work helping the campus appreciate the cultural significance of the land upon which the University sits, which is an ancestral home of the Chumash people.
“This land is very special to me,” said Fishburn, whose family goes back nine generations in Ventura County. “I would not have chosen any other school. My grandmother was born right down the road.”
As a Chumash tribal member, Chair of the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians, as well as Secretary of the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians, Fishburn was also able to facilitate relationships between the campus and local tribal leaders.