News

Bioenergy crops are central to climate mitigation strategies. Bioenergy is a developing renewable resource, but it can impact land for food, and ecosystem services. Gail Taylor, Plant Sciences, received $2.52 million from the Department of Energy to develop bioenergy poplar trees for low-quality, marginal land.

The Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis is celebrating its 20th anniversary on September 12, 2019, and the center just released its Annual Report 2018. Information on attending the event, and links to the Annual Report are in the article.

A new article in the journal Science – Fields on Fire: Alternatives to Crop Residue Burning in India – addresses the environmental problems associated with crop burning in India, and presents alternatives such as changing cropping systems and adopting different management practices. J.K. Ladha, Plant Sciences, UC Davis, is a co-author.

New article – Rainfall Drives Variation in Rates of Change in Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency of Tropical Forests – water use efficiency (WUE) was inferred in tropical forest tree rings around the world for most of the 20th century, finding that WUE increased in response to rising CO2.

Control of branched broomrape, a parasitic weed that can badly infest tomato and other crop fields, was addressed by UC Davis, UC ANR researchers — Brad Hanson, Mohsen Mesgaran, and Matt Fatino — at the annual Weed Day field day at UC Davis.

UC Davis researchers have partnered with a federally compliant pharmaceutical company to analyze the chemical and biological profiles of cannabis for the benefit of law enforcement, health care providers, and scientific professionals. A Cannabis and Hemp Research Center is also being established at UC Davis.

Barbara Blanco-Ulate, Asst. Professor in Plant Sciences, received a Hellman Fellowship for the research “Epigenomics of Tomato Fruit Susceptibility to Fungal Disease.” The grants are awarded to early-career faculty who show academic distinction and potential. It provides extra financial support for their early research.

Strip seeding California grasslands to restore native perennial grasses that have been lost by exotic species is being tried as a less-expensive restoration method to improve ecosystem services. Emilio Laca, Department of Plant Sciences, is featured in this video, along with California agency partners and grassland owners.

Travis Parker, Plant Sciences grad student, won first place in the national NAPB Photo Contest. His photo is a variety of high-value common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) developed at UC Davis. One of his Ph.D. projects is breeding new high-value heirloom-type bean varieties for culinary quality and good field performance.

While much of the 2019 Tahoe State of the Lake Report is about the lake itself, it also addresses the severe defoliation that many aspen stands are facing due to white satin moth. Information on other UC Davis tree loss and restoration research in the Sierra Nevada and other forests is cited.