The Latest Dirt - May 2023

CoCoMGs Get New Interim County Director

By Simone Adair

Please join me in welcoming our new Acting/Interim County Director Sheila J. Barry. She’ll also be standing in for Alameda County. Barry serves as the County Director for Santa Clara County, as well as the Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor for the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to the UCCE Santa Clara County website, Barry conducts applied research on grassland and oak woodland management. Sheila works with cattle ranchers and public agencies to promote working landscapes that conserve biological diversity and protect water quality.

She has a Master of Science degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree in Agricultural Science and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from University of California Davis. Barry is licensed by the State of California as a Certified Rangeland Manager.

Some of her areas of expertise include Beef Cattle, Recreational Resources, Forest, Range and Wildlife Habitats, Watersheds and River Basins, Plants and their Systems, Integrated Pest Management Systems, Air Resource Protection and Management, Weather and Climate, and Conservation of Biological Diversity.

Her bibliography is extensive and fills several pages. Her most recent peer-reviewed journal articles include Sustain livestock ranching to sustain habitat: land sharing at risk on San Francisco Bay Area exacted conservation easements, which appeared in Ecology and Society and Grazing in California's Mediterranean Multi-Firescapes, which she wrote with Lynn Huntsinger and was published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. She’s also worked on multiple ANR publications including California's Hardwood Rangelands: Production and Conservation Values. Planner's Guide for Oak Woodlands; Rangeland Oasis. Her complete bibliography can be found on the UCCE Santa Clara County website.