Plant Sciences

Jorge Dubcovksy

New Technology Speeds Up Crop Improvement

Posted by Diane Nelson on October 13, 2020

Gene editing can improve crop performance, but there’s a catch: It can be hard to grow plants from cells after you’ve tweaked their genomes.

Science & Technology
Barbara D. Webster

Barbara D. Webster Scholar Award Established by Daughter Susan to Honor UC Davis Professor and Administrator Who Forged a Path for Women in Science

Posted by Kristin Burns on September 25, 2020

At 5 feet, 2 inches, Plant Sciences Professor Emerita Barbara D. Webster may have been petite in stature, but she was a powerhouse when it came to reducing barriers for women in academia.

“She was formidable,” said her daughter, Susan V. Webster, with a chuckle. “She didn’t back down.”

Food & Agriculture
Ph.D. student Philip Day and Professor Steven Theg, Department of Plant Biology, work on protein sorting in plant chloroplasts. (David Slipher/UC Davis)

The Late Professor Inoue Would Be Proud

Posted by Kristin Burns on September 08, 2020
Students Finish His and Their Research, Earn Ph.D.s

Four years after plant sciences professor Kentaro Inoue was struck and killed while riding his bike, the last three graduate students from his lab are ensuring his scientific legacy lives on through their published research, careers in industry and academia, and mentoring of future science students.

Food & Agriculture
Saarah Kuzay and Abelina Jackson

UC Davis students selected as Borlaug Scholars

Posted by John Stumbos on July 24, 2020

Two UC Davis students—Abelina Jackson and Saarah Kuzay—are among those who have been selected as 2020 Borlaug Scholars by the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB).

The Borlaug Scholars Program seeks to strengthen the plant breeding profession by helping support attendance of future leaders at the NAPB annual meeting. However, this year’s annual meeting will be held in a virtual format because of COVID-19 concerns. Each student will receive free registration for the conference and a membership in NAPB.

Student Life
Mason Earles, assistant professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, believes big data can be a big boon to vineyard growers and managers.

Bringing Big Data to the Vineyard

Posted by Trevor Stewart on May 29, 2020

Big data is all around us –– even in the wine we drink. UC Davis’ Smart Farm Big Idea is tackling how to take some of this vast trove of information and synthesize it for the benefit of agriculture.

Mason Earles, assistant professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, is applying big data by merging agricultural and machine learning to glean information that improves vineyards’ health and yields.

Food & Agriculture

CA&ES faculty receive funding for a diverse array of public impact research projects

Posted by John Stumbos on May 22, 2020

The UC Davis Public Scholarship and Engagement Program has awarded funding to 14 new research projects, including five to faculty in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, that will address diverse issues such as climate change, the welfare of families, and cultivating a new grain crop. 

University News
The new varieties released by UC Davis include seed coat patterns and cooking quality that are desired by chefs and home cooks. The new varieties combine these characteristics with improved productivity on organic farms. (Travis Parker/UC Davis)

UC Davis Releases 6 New Varieties of Organic Beans

Posted by Ann Filmer on April 22, 2020
Field Trials Find Varieties Sustainable, High-Yielding and Disease-Resistant

Plant breeders at the University of California, Davis, are releasing six new varieties of organic beans. Field trials found that the new varieties produced high yields, and were resistant to bean common mosaic virus, a disease that prevents bean plants from maturing promptly and uniformly.

Food & Agriculture
Wood chips from recycled almond trees are spread across an orchard in California's Stanislaus County. (Brent Holtz, UCANR)

Almond Orchard Recycling a Climate-Smart Strategy

Posted by Ann Filmer on April 01, 2020
The Practice Can Create Healthier Soils, Save Water and Yield More Almonds

Recycling trees onsite can sequester carbon, save water and increase crop yields, making it a climate-smart practice for California’s irrigated almond orchards, finds a study from the University of California, Davis.

Whole orchard recycling is when old orchard trees are ground, chipped and turned back into the soil before new almond trees are planted.

Environment
Students in a UC Davis fire ecology class walk along a burned ridge top of Stebbins Cold Canyon Natural Reserve in 2016. (Alexandra Weill, UC Davis)

Wildfire Perceptions Largely Positive After Hiking in a Burned Landscape

Posted by Kat Kerlin on March 26, 2020
Post-Fire Surveys at Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve Describe ‘Awe-Inspiring’ Experience

 

When hikers returned to UC Davis Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in 2016, a year after a wildfire swept through its expanse of oak trees and chaparral in Northern California, half of them expected to see a devastated landscape. But pre- and post-hike surveys conducted by the University of California, Davis, reveal that roughly a third returned energized, awed and excited about the changes they saw.

Environment
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