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 perenni9al 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.
This year, we are excited for the 2024 UC Davis Plant Sciences Symposium to represent work across the plant sciences with the theme, “Plant diversity from genes to ecosystems.”
The event is this Friday, April 11, in the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center. Registration and coffee start at 8 a.m., with the event opening at 8:45 a.m. Jason Rauscher will speak; he’s the R&D academic relations lead for our event’s core partner Corteva Agriscience. The day includes speakers, poster sessions and networking.
Each spring, crews with the UC Davis Department of Plant Science plant popping corn on campus farmland west of campus, then harvest it in the fall. The next spring, that same corn shows up for one of the most popular exhibits during Picnic Day: the corn shelling machine, in front of the Plant and Environmental Sciences building.
Visitors grab a few ears of this special corn and toss them down a shaft. Two mighty wheels break the kernels off the cobs and spit the cobs out one chute. Down a second chute clatter the kernels, which are scooped into a bag for folks to take home.