Dear CAHNR Alumni and Friends,

I hope your new year has gotten off to a great start.

I am pleased to bring some of the highlights from CAHNR since my last communication to you. Our faculty, staff, and students successfully completed the fall semester. Despite many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, completing the fall semester as initially planned was a no trivial feat. I am proud of the dedication, hard work, and determination of our faculty, staff, and students. The spring semester is well underway, and it looks very much like fall 2020 with reduced density in class rooms and offices. However, with the rollout of COVID vaccines, I hope that fall 2021 will bring much sense of normalcy for face to face teaching and interactions among faculty, staff, and students.

We have started implementing CAHNR strategic vision. Implementation teams are hard at work, developing a road map for each strategic priority. We have also initiated a Working Group on Structural Racism as part of the CAHNR’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The working group will explore opportunities to learn about the history of structural racism and share these learning opportunities with our colleagues throughout the college. This effort was spawned by a closer look at the Strategic Initiatives. The Working Group will consider how we can enhance the Strategic Initiatives by including or reflecting their findings.

On March 23-24, 2021, CAHNR will participate in UConn Gives, a 36-hour giving initiative that brings UConn Nation together to support the University we all love. I encourage you to participate in this event and spread the word to your fellow Huskies using #UConnGives. During the UConn Gives, you can maximize your gift’s impact through many opportunities for dollar-for-dollar matches and challenges. CAHNR’s commitment to providing life-transforming education to all of our students has remained constant during these uncertain times. I hope that you will support this commitment to excellence by participating in this event.

I hope you will enjoy reading some of the stories highlighting excellence in teaching, research, and extension in this issue of the newsletter. I always look forward to connecting with you and hearing your thoughts and ideas about how CAHNR can continue to bring excellence in our core mission areas of teaching, research, and extension outreach.

I wish you and your loved ones a new year filled with joy, peace, success, and hope.

Go Huskies.

Indrajeet Chaubey, Dean and Director