Agroecology graduate student Jennifer Schmidt, Department of Plant Sciences, makes ceramics inspired by her Ph.D. dissertation work on the interactions between maize and its surrounding microbes. The visual aspects of her research lend themselves to hand-painted ceramics. Many scientists pursue some form of art or music, along with their science.
New dry bean varieties, which are disease-resistant and high-yielding, are being bred at UC Davis for commercial organic production. Ph.D. student Travis Parker, who works with Professor Paul Gepts in the Department of Plant Sciences, wrote this article for the Organic Seed Alliance.
Brassica plants, such as broccoli, produce metabolites that benefit humans (flavor, anti-cancer defenses), benefit the plant (attacking insects) and, in new research, defend against drought. Dan Kliebenstein’s lab examines drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.
