UC Merced Fall Ag Bags

Natasha Biasell
Oct 6
1 min read

Updated: Oct 23

On September 4, UC Merced hosted its first Ag Bag gathering of the fall 2025 semester, featuring three speakers who highlighted innovative approaches to nutrition, soil health, and water sustainability. These Ag Bag gatherings are an opportunity for faculty, staff, graduate students, & post-docs to come together and strengthen the ag community at UC Merced. Attendees connect, learn from researchers & share updates on campus infrastructure & resources.

Karina Diaz Rios, Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension in Public Health, shared her research on culturally responsive nutrition education and strategies to create healthier food environments.

Josh Garcia, Assistant Professor in Life and Environmental Sciences and AES Faculty, introduced himself to the campus community. His work focuses on plant-microbe interactions and regenerative practices like composting and crop diversity to strengthen soil health and sustainable farming. He gave an example of how “large herbivore” compost, sourced from zoo animal waste, boosted crop production in Oakland.

In the industry spotlight, Tomo Kumahira, CEO of Mizu – WaterOne.ai, showcased tools designed to help growers track and manage water resources. He also demonstrated how his team is using AI to transform Groundwater Sustainability Agency meetings into actionable items like saving hours of time while helping stakeholders adapt more effectively to new water regulations.