Shahid Siddique Named Endowed Chair for Plant and Soil Nematodes
Professor Shahid Siddique has been named the Howard Ferris Endowed Chair in Ecology and Management of Plant and Soil Nematodes, a position that will help support his work studying the tiny organisms that can have a significant impact on crops and soil health.
Siddique has been a faculty member with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology since 2019. He earned his Ph.D. in agriculture and biotechnology from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria and spent nearly 10 years working at the University of Bonn in Germany, where he served as a research group leader in nematology.
The newly established endowment is named in honor of Howard Ferris, a distinguished professor emeritus who spent 36 years as a UC Davis faculty member and became a leading researcher in nematode ecology. Ferris developed and maintains two major online databases used by nematologists around the world. In his new role, Siddique looks forward to continuing the work Ferris helped advance.
“It’s pretty exciting and I’m honored,” Siddique said. “At the same time, these are really big shoes to fill. Howard has done some really remarkable work. Nematology is sometimes underestimated; Howard has contributed generously to the field, and I’m hoping that I will carry forward that mission.”
Nematodes and crop health
Siddique’s research focuses on understanding interactions between plants and nematodes, microscopic worms found in soil that can affect plant health, while developing new tools and resources to manage plant-parasitic nematodes. He said the endowment funds will support his research program, which includes examining how plant-parasitic nematodes affect California’s processing tomatoes and walnuts and how growers can better manage their impact.
“In California, we grow almost 400 different crops, and nematodes are a big problem in many of those crops,” Siddique explained. “California growers are one of the biggest stakeholders, so I'm really excited and I’m hoping that my research will lead to some fundamental scientific discoveries, that’s very exciting, but also some real solutions that will help growers tackle this devastating pest.”
Siddique, who earned the 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award from the Society of Nematologists, will hold the inaugural chair role for a five-year term.
“I am so happy that Professor Siddique is receiving this well-deserved honor,” said Joanna Chiu, chair and professor of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. “He is a star and he does it all. His lab pursues research with direct connections to nematode management including resistance breeding, host-directed mechanisms, genome-informed target discovery and field-relevant phenotyping. He is also an outstanding mentor for the next generation of nematologists.”
Siddique is also lead advisor for the entomology undergraduate major and the department representative in the Academic Senate.
“I want to show gratitude to the departmental leadership, especially Joanna Chiu, as well as to my lab members,” Siddique said. “Their support has meant a great deal to me.”