Postdoctoral scholar María Florencia Ercoli, a researcher in the laboratory of plant pathology professor Pamela Ronald, has been named to the 2019 class of Pew Latin American Fellows in Biomedical Sciences. Her research focuses on the strategies infectious bacteria use to invade plant hosts.

DAVIS, Calif. — Innovators at the University of California, Davis, are receiving financial support to advance their research and technologies toward commercialization.

This weekend, we celebrate 1,673 undergraduate students who will participate in one of two College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 16. Commencement marks the next phase of an incredibly bright future for all of our graduates.

Glen Patrick Fox, a senior research fellow at Australia’s University of Queensland, will become UC Davis’ new Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Science on July 1. Fox succeeds Charlie Bamforth, who held the position from 1999 until his retirement last year.

Friends and colleagues of Dean Emeritus Charley Hess have been flooded with fond memories since he passed away due to congestive heart failure on April 13. We mourn his loss and celebrate his boundless energy, incredible work ethic and passion for agriculture, innovation and life. 

Charles E. “Charley” Hess, a UC Davis Medal recipient and dean emeritus of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences who never took the word “retirement” seriously, died Saturday (April 13) of congestive heart failure at the age of 87.

Saturday was Picnic Day, the biggest celebration of the year at the institution he loved. Two years ago he rode in the Picnic Day Parade as outstanding retiree of the year, an honor bestowed on him by his fellow retirees who took seriously and appreciated his continued service to the campus community.

This winter has been extraordinary. We now have an abundant snowpack in the mountains and our reservoirs are filling to the brim. Our long drought is officially over. That’s great news, but we all know that our weather could swing back toward drier conditions without much warning. That’s one of the reasons the work we do is so important.

The University of California, Davis, is ranked second in the world in veterinary science and in agriculture and forestry, according to the 2019 QS World University Rankings by subject released today (Feb. 27).

Among 48 disciplines, UC Davis ranked in the top 50 in seven. In addition to veterinary science and agriculture and forestry, they are environmental sciences (15th), anatomy and physiology (38th), biological sciences (42nd), earth and marine sciences (36th), and developmental studies (21st).

2019 is off to a good start and has already provided us with much needed rain and snow in the mountains. I am looking forward to a productive year filled with notable accomplishments for our faculty, staff and students. We are resolute in our commitment to make sure everyone in our college has the tools, resources and facilities to help them succeed. There are many behind-the-scenes activities that keep us moving in the right direction, and I thought it would be good to reflect on these as we begin the year. 

As the calendar year draws to a close, I find myself filled with gratitude for the dedication and hard work of our faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends who keep the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the forefront of meeting the challenges that face our world. You’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so we decided to treat you to a slide show of a few highlights from 2018.