Devin Rippner is the 2018 recipient of the Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald Graduate Student Support Fund Award for his research and leadership on the environmental fate of metals and metal oxide nanoparticles in soil and water.

The latest developments in strawberry breeding and healthy soil took center stage at two recent UC Davis Field Days, one hosted in Prunedale (near Salinas) and one held at UC Davis Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility.

In Prunedale, strawberry farmers, shippers, breeders, propagators, crop advisors and resource conservation groups gathered to get a taste of what’s developing in the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program. Many said they liked what they tasted and saw.

The cattle industry is the largest agricultural commodity in the United States, generating more than $100 billion in farm cash receipts in 2016. Despite cattle’s economic importance, scientists still have a long way to go to fully understand mechanisms that govern important genetic traits in the animals such as growth and disease resistance.

The Latino vote will play a significant role in upcoming elections as the Latino population is projected to reach almost a quarter of the total U.S. population by 2040, according to research by UnidosUS and the University of California, Davis, California Civic Engagement Project.

Scientists are gaining a better understanding of Pierce’s disease and how it affects grapevines. The disease, which annually costs California more than $100 million, comes from a bacterium called Xylella fastidiosa. While the bacterium has been present in the state for more than 100 years, Pierce’s disease became a more serious threat to agriculture with the arrival of the glassy-winged sharpshooter insect, which can carry the bacterium from plant to plant.

Supplementing breastfed infants with activated Bifidobacterium infantis (B. infantis) bacteria had a positive impact on babies’ gut microbes for up to a year, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Evolve BioSystems Inc.

Congratulations to the 1,720 undergraduate students who will cross the stage at one of two College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) commencement ceremonies on Friday, June 15. 

Each year we honor a handful of undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in the areas of academic excellence, distinctive leadership and community or public service. Eight of these students will be honored at the CA&ES commencement ceremonies at UC Davis on Friday, June 15.

Kamaljeet (Kamal) Singh-Khaira has been named director of the University of California CalFresh Nutrition Education Program (UC CalFresh). Singh-Khaira will begin her new role in June, succeeding David Ginsburg, who has successfully led UC CalFresh since 2008. 

At UC Davis, wood ducks are known among students majoring in wildlife, fish and conservation biology as the wildlife model for an internship program run by Professor John Eadie. Each year, from 50 to 90 interns learn how to check nests, measure eggs, band birds, collect blood samples and conduct field research on waterfowl behavior, reproduction and survival.