hEmma Vazquez delivering a rap on food waste. (Screen shot from her video)er video) — Emma Vazquez delivering a rap on food waste. A newspaper article on her project won a gold award from the international Association for Communication Excellence. (Screen shot from her video)

Area Agriculture Communicators Bring Home 'The Gold'

Awards from the International Association for Communication Excellence

by Kathy Keatley Garvey
June 03, 2025

A UC ANR social media entry in the ACE competition featured UC Davis doctoral alumnus Andrew Sutherland, an urban integrated pest management (IPM) advisor for the UC IPM Urban and Community Program in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Several area agricultural communicators who won gold, or first-place awards, from the international Association for Communication Excellence (ACE), will be honored at the ACE conference set June 16-18 in Milwaukee, Wis.

ACE is an association of communications professionals and educators who "extend knowledge about agriculture, natural resources, and life and human science," according to its website.

Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and author of the 17-year-old Bug Squad blog on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) site, won a gold award in the "Writing for Newspapers" category for her light feature, “Emma on the Mike.”

The news story spotlighted Emma Vazquez, a student in a class taught by professor and agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. For a class assignment, Vazquez rapped about food waste, creating a unique video that drew widespread awe, not only from her professor and classmates, but from the UC Davis community and beyond. (See link at https://entnem.ucdavis.edu/news/emma-vazquez-mike.)

Judges scored the news category entries on content (substance), 25 percent; writing quality (coherence), 25 percent; writing creativity (humanity), 25 percent; and writing style, 25 percent. This marks the 18th gold award since 2008 that Garvey has received from ACE for either her writing or insect photography.

Cleo Woelfle Hazard and his child visit a beaver dam analog built by the Scott River Watershed Council (with some assistance from local beavers) during a research trip in 2022. Michael Hsu's article on him won a gold award in the ACE competition. (Photo by Daniel Sarna-Wojciki)

Michael Hsu, senior public information representative for UC ANR Strategic Communications, won a gold award in the "Writing for a Diverse Audience” category for his “Fire Advisor Woelfle Hazard Transcends Bounds in Studies, Career.”

Hsu described it as “a profile feature about the work and academic journey of Cleo Woelfle Hazard, UC Cooperative Extension fire advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties.” ACE sought entries dealing with “a consideration for audiences with diverse backgrounds or is inclusive of people from diverse backgrounds.”

Tropical Rat Mites

UC ANR’s social media team won a gold for its social media series, “Evaluating Different Methods to Attract and Trap Tropical Rat Mites,” featuring the work of UC Davis doctoral alumnus Andrew Sutherland, an urban integrated pest management (IPM) advisor for the UC IPM Urban and Community Program in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Doralicia “Dora” Garay, UC ANR social media strategist and Ethan Ireland, senior videographer, teamed with Sutherland. In their scoring criteria, judges considered planning/development, 15 percent; engagement, 20 percent; quality, 20 percent; reach, 20 percent; and impact, 25 percent.

“As part of UC ANR's social media strategy to raise awareness of ANR research, we regularly spotlight advisors and their projects,” Garay said. “In February 2024, we released a three-part video series featuring Andrew Sutherland and his efforts to address a roof rat infestation that led to mite bites at a school in San Francisco. Andrew collaborated with pest control operator Pestec to explore various methods for attracting and trapping tropical rat mites.”

“We highlighted Andrew’s work in an urban environment and showcased his partnership with community organizations, including the San Francisco Unified School District and Pestec. The video series was featured on UC ANR's Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn channels.”

The series on the tropical rat mites can be accessed at:

Sutherland, known for his expertise on roof rats, termites and other urban household and structural pests, received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 2009. He also holds a master’s degree in horticulture and agronomy (2005) from UC Davis. (See his website)

2024 ACE Awards

Last year six communicators affiliated with UC ANR won major awards from ACE.

Ricardo Vela, manager of UC ANR News and Information Outreach in Spanish (NOS), won the ACE 2024 Rising Star Award, an annual award that "honors communicators, instructors and researchers who demonstrate exceptional leadership and technical skills in their communication field, to their institution, and service to ACE."

Five other UC ANR communicators won either a gold (first place), silver (second place), or a bronze (third place) award.

A trio from UC ANR Strategic Communications--Michael Hsu, senior public information representative; Ethan Ireland, senior videographer; and Evett Kilmartin, photographer--teamed to win a silver award for their video, “Farm-to-Corrections Project."
Strategic Communications' social media strategist Doralicia Garay won a bronze award for her entry, “Improving Lives in California” in the category, social media organic campaign.
Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won a gold award for “best feature photo" for a honey bee in flight.