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New advisors join UC IPM Roger Baldwin joined UC IPM as the new UCCE wildlife pest management advisor for the Central Valley Region. Based at Kearney Research & Extension Center, he will address vertebrate pest issues including rodent and rabbit damage to crops and landscapes, bird damage to fruit and nut orchards, and human health risks from zoonotic diseases. Baldwin recently earned his PhD in Range Science/Wildlife Science at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. He earned his master's degree in biology/vertebrate zoology at the University of Memphis and his bachelor's degree in wildlife biology at Kansas State University. Before coming to UC, he was a wildlife specialist with the New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Baldwin can be reached at (559) 646-6583 or by e-mail  Steven Swain has joined UCCE as the new environmental horticulture advisor for Marin and Sonoma counties. He is also an affiliated advisor with UC IPM. In his new duties, he serves as a horticultural consultant for landscape, forestland, and Master Gardener programs. He worked for five years on sudden oak death as a research specialist for UC Berkeley. Swain co-designed and implemented applied research projects leading to peer-reviewed publications in various topics including forestry and plant pathology. He has also served as sudden oak death project coordinator for Sonoma County, and has five years' experience as a consulting arborist for private industry. Swain earned his bachelor's degree in biology at UC Santa Cruz and his master's degree in horticulture and agronomy from UC Davis. Swain can be reached at (415) 499-4204 or by e-mail  John Roncoroni is the new UC Cooperative Extension weed science advisor in Napa County, focusing on vegetation management issues in perennial crops. In addition to working in Napa County, he will provide support to farm advisor programs in neighboring counties with perennial crop production including Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino counties. He is also an affiliated advisor with UC IPM. Roncoroni earned his bachelor's degree in environmental policy analysis and planning and his master's degree in horticulture from UC Davis. He has more than 20 years' experience in weed science at UC Davis. From 1985 to 2003, he served as a research associate to UC Weed Specialist Clyde Elmore. Their work involved weed control strategies throughout California, including vineyard and tree crops, turf and ornamentals, and alternatives to methyl bromide. After Elmore's retirement in 2004, Roncoroni was field research director for the IR-4 program UC Davis Field Research Center where he conducted residue studies for the registration of new pesticides for use in specialty crops. In his new position in Napa County and the north coast, Roncoroni will work in several areas of vegetation management including conventional, sustainable, and organic weed control practices; vineyard cover crops; vegetation management in riparian plant communities; and aquatic weed control in irrigation ponds. He can be reached at (707) 253-4221, or by e-mail Next article >> New staff join UC IPM |