Tonia Loeffler, program coordinator at The Maddy Institute, planned and executed the institute’s third annual Ag Policy Summit on Feb. 25 titled “California’s Energy Transition: How Will It Impact California Agriculture?” The event brought together more than 200 attendees, including elected officials, community leaders, students, faculty and business leaders.

In her role, Loeffler helps plan and oversee The Maddy Institute’s events, which often feature prominent leaders and foster civic engagement, elevate Central Valley issues and support programs such as the legislative internship program.

Christine Chung-Camacho, director of the Adult Services Training Academy (Social Welfare Evaluation, Research and Training Center), will be a panelist at the National Adult Protective Services Association's March 11 webinar focused on "How Immersive Training Equips the APS Workforce: Innovative Solutions for Adult Protective Services."

Dr. David Low, professor of literacy education in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, received an American Educational Research Association 2026 Luis Moll Creative Work/Book Award in the social context of education category, for his book “Transgressive Humor in Classrooms - Punching Up, Punching Down and Critical Literacy Practices,” published by Routledge (2024).

His book examines the multifaceted role of humor in critical literacy studies and explores how teachers and students negotiate understandings of humor and social critique in relation to school-based critical literacy curricula.

The American Educational Research Association is a research society that seeks to advance educational knowledge, encourage scholarly inquiry related to education and promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.

Dr. Jennifer Randles, College of Social Sciences associate dean and sociology professor, has released the book, “Living Diaper to Diaper: The Hidden Crisis of Poverty and Motherhood.”

The book examines diaper insecurity, an issue that nearly half of American families with young children face and one tied to larger topics such as parenting, politics and inequality. Drawing on interviews with mothers, diaper advocates and policymakers, she discusses the history of diapering and consequences of lacking diapers, a problem diaper banks and distribution programs are trying to address.

The book is now available in multiple formats from University of California Press.

Dr. William E. Skuban, professor in the Department of History, has released the e-version of his book, “Líneas en la arena: Nacionalismo e identidad en la frontera peruano-chilena.”

The book is the first Spanish-translated version of his prior book, “Lines in the Sand: Nationalism and Identity on the Peruvian-Chilean Frontier,” originally published in 2007 by the University of New Mexico Press.

The study focuses on border disputes between Peru and Chile that date back over a century while they created new national identities after obtaining independence from Spain.

The new version of the book is jointly published by Fondo Editorial Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Instituto de Historia. It will be available in other formats later this spring. The 2026 version, which Skuban helped to translate, features a new prologue, epilogue and introduction.