Roche named Rustici Endowed Specialist

Ranchers and land managers in California face tough challenges: More people need the quality food and fiber rangelands provide. But, climate change is raising temperatures and shrinking water. Towns and cities are gobbling these spaces up. Invasive species keep dropping in. How can ranchers continue to produce food here, reduce the environmental impacts of their activities and still make a good living for themselves and their families?

Rangelands scientist Leslie Roche is helping ranchers and rangeland managers meet those challenges. Her work has gotten a boost: She recently was named the Russell L. Rustici Endowed Specialist in Cooperative Extension in Rangeland Watershed Science. The endowment will help her continue to provide land managers with the latest research, and to link those managers with scientists to ensure research addresses their needs.

“I use approaches that bring people together and bring different disciplines together,” Roche said. “This funding will help us to address critical issues such as drought and climate change, so we can better manage our rangelands. We want to keep the whole watershed in mind, if these lands are to be resilient in the face of such enormous challenges and continue to provide us food.”

Roche is an associate professor of University of California Cooperative Extension, based in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. She specializes in rangeland and pasture management, ecology of grazing lands and related issues including water and drought -- all at the scale of entire watersheds. Of special interest is connecting researchers, educators and ranchers to solve problems together. Pursuing those goals, she has been director of UC Rangelands since her appointment in 2015.

She grew up on a cattle ranch outside Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, in the foothills east of Fresno, Calif. That experience gives Roche a special perspective on confronting these big challenges. With the Rustici Endowment, she also sees big opportunities. “We can leverage the power of expertise across UC and Cooperative Extension, and work flexibly and collaboratively across disciplines,” Roche said. 

Looking to the future

Roche's plan combines big vision with personal connection. “In California, we are very fortunate to have a large and diverse group of rangeland stakeholders who are actively engaged in the conservation of these precious landscapes,” she said.

Watch for:

• Events: “Big flagship events, like the pre-pandemic Rustici Rangeland Science and Management symposia and tours,” Roche said. “They bring scientists to work side-by-side with our rangeland stakeholders.”
• Workshops: "We’re planning local and regionally targeted workshop series,” Roche said. “We want to bring research to the local communities and gather their feedback and perspectives.” That will allow Roche and team to tailor information to local needs. It will also strengthen the bonds among communities and researchers at UC Davis and in the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources.
• Connections: “We want to expand people’s ability to access information through online platforms, such as the UC Rangelands Research and Information Center,” Roche said. “We also want to expand our reach by connecting to broader efforts.”

Extension makes a difference

Roche’s own life trajectory shows the educational power and promise of structures already in place across California to make a difference in the lives of ranchers and farmers.

“I first started working for UC Davis and UCCE as a high school student in 1999 at the Kearney Ag REC,” the Agricultural Resource and Extension Center near Fresno, starting out in vegetable crops, Roche said. “I eventually migrated to what was then the Department of Agronomy and Range Science, following a natural progression of tomatoes to beans to alfalfa and, finally, to cows and sheep,” she recalled with a smile.

Roche is a UC Davis alumna, earning her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees here.

Rustici Endowment funds rangeland science, activities

The chair is funded through the Russell L. Rustici Rangeland and Cattle Research Endowment. The program supports a  broad spectrum of research that solves problems faced by California ranchers by answering the industry’s critical questions with practical answers. The chair for rangeland watershed science is one of three funded through the Rustici Endowment. The foundation also supports research, scholarships, scientific meetings and tours.

The Rustici Endowment works closely with UC Rangelands to link scientists and educators, promoting agricultural and environmental sustainability on California's grazing lands.

More info

Leslie Roche says she feels "at home" on the range. Watch this short video about her research.

Resources for ranchers, farmers, scientists and educators are at UC Rangelands.

About the Russell L. Rustici rangeland endowments