Mark Lundy develops tools for farmers for effective nitrogen fertilizer management, working at the interface of research and the ag community.
Barbara Blanco-Ulate studies how fruit and vegetables ripen to improve their quality, nutrition and shelf-life after harvest.
Amelie Gaudin develops sustainable and resilient agroecosystems that have biodiversity and ecosystem services as a basis for improvement.
Brad Hanson works with farmers to control weeds and pests in perennial crops, improving both farm profits and the environment.
Bruce Linquist works with the farmers of California to ensure long-term sustainability of rice by looking at nutrient use, water efficiency and reducing pollution.
Giulia Marino empowers farmers to keep their orchards producing despite changes in climate, water and soil.
Grey Monroe seeks the causes and consequences of mutation bias in plant genetics and applies these findings to improve crops’ ability to thrive amid climate stress.
Cameron Pittelkow focuses on increasing crop productivity while reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint.
Li Tian uses biochemistry, physiology and genetics to increase the nutrition of wheat and pomegranates.
SALINAS, Calif. -- Steam treatment of soil offers growers a viable alternative to chemicals and a money-saver for organic farmers. It also benefits farm laborers by reducing their exposure to potential harm, said graduate student Erika Escalona. She is assessing the impacts on weeds, soil-borne disease and the soil biome of steam treatments used to disinfest lettuce and spinach fields in the Salinas Valley.
Long-term smoke exposure from massive wildfires lowers the energy reserves of orchard trees and can cut their nut production by half, researchers at the University of California, Davis, found. The smoke can affect trees for months after a megafire, depressing their bloom and the next season’s harvest.
SALINAS, Calif. -- It smelled a bit like freshly fried chicken with the oil starting to burn. A tractor-like machine rolled slowly over rows of carrots in a field near Salinas, Calif., spraying canola oil onto the weeds but sparing the small, tender carrot leaves.
