News | Department of Plant Sciences

Wildfire Perceptions Largely Positive After Hiking in a Burned Landscape

When hikers returned to UC Davis Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in 2016, a year after the Wragg wildfire, many expected to see a devastated landscape. They did, but many were also energized about the new changes they saw. Allie Weill, then a graduate student with Professor Andrew Latimer, Plant Sciences, published a paper on this.

Fire

Elephants Reverse the Depletion by Cattle of Soil Carbon and Nutrient Pools

Truman Young, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, co-authored an article showing that megaherbivores (elephants) mitigate the negative effects of cattle on tropical African savanna rangelands, where wild herbivore populations are declining. He is project director of the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE), the most productive field experiment in Africa, and the site of this research.

Conservation

Cattle Ranchers Cope with Dry Pastures (Video)

This winter’s lack of rain, up until mid-March, did not produce much forage for cattle, or carryover vegetation. Leslie Roche, Department of Plant Sciences, covers rangelands and pasturelands, and says this has been commonplace this winter. Many grasses are producing seeds earlier, leading to less vegetative growth.

Range management

Supporting First-generation Ranchers in Coping with Drought and Climate Change

Leslie Roche and colleagues tell how new ranchers confront drought. Climate adaptation is important in agricultural systems, but new ranchers aren’t able to benefit from information passed down from multi-generational ranching families. First-generation ranchers are often young, female, and diverse, with different goals and needs.

Range management

Cameron Pittelkow: New UC Davis Plant Sciences Professor in Agronomy and Agroecosystems

Cameron Pittelkow is a new professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. His expertise covers Agronomy and Agroecosystems, with a focus on sustainable crop production, management practices for high yields with low environmental footprints, and international agriculture.

Department news

Breeding, Part 2: Cling Peach, with Tom Gradziel (PODCAST)

Cling peach breeding is the topic of this podcast, featuring Tom Gradziel, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. The podcast and discussion are hosted by Luke Milliron, UC Cooperative Extension.

Breeding

Hemp Breeding and Seed Production Course — October 27–28, 2020

Registration is open for the Seed Biotechnology Center’s second annual “Hemp Breeding and Seed Production” course, October 27–28, 2020 at UC Davis. The course is for professionals working on hemp improvement and propagation. Instructors include experts from the public and private sectors. The debut course in 2019 generated great interest from multiple countries.

Events

Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake

A new NAS report finds innovative approaches for dust control are needed at Owens Lake, California, to improve air quality, reduce water use, and preserve habitats. Professor Valerie Eviner, Plant Sciences, UC Davis, serves on the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel (OLSAP) to assess how to manage Owens Lake.

Restoration

Grad Student Grace Woodmansee, UC Davis Plant Sciences, Receives National Leadership Award from the Society for Range Management

Grace Woodmansee, M.S. student in Plant Sciences, UC Davis, received the Young Professionals Conclave Outstanding Early Career Award at the national Society for Range Management annual meeting. She is recognized for her leadership and mentoring of students.

Awards and rankings

UC Davis Ranked as Fulbright ‘Top Producer’: Plant Sciences Faculty are Recent Recipients

Ranked as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars, UC Davis has a long history of plant scientists receiving the scholarships. Steve Fennimore, a Cooperative Extension specialist, is one of this year’s recipients, and recent recipients include Cameron Pittelkow and Kassim Al-Khatib. Fennimore and Pittelkow both worked in Uruguay, and Al-Khatib worked in Turkey.

Awards and rankings