Rachel Spaeth and other scientists at UC Davis used modern genetic tools to reconstruct the family tree of plums bred by the legendary Luther Burbank. Their model is useful for plant breeders and people who manage seed banks.
Venkatesan Sundaresan and Imtiyaz Khanday, in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, were honored for world-changing work to create hybrid crops that clone themselves. This means farmers can use the plants' seed and still get high yields.
Early career scientists are wrapping up a summer of research in the PEAS program -- the Plant, Environmental and Agroecology Sciences Fellowship. Their work links their undergraduate academic studies with real-world problems in service to California farmers.
Ardeshir Damania has won the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources. A longtime scientist collecting and evaluating wheat genetic resources, he became a research associate in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences -- but not before saving the world's wheat genebank.
Graduate student Aileen Salas, in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, will use her $3,000 grant from the Miller Plant Science Award to research ways to boost yield and fight pests in almond orchards.
Graduate students Ali Said Yusuf, Will Hazzard and Zhenglin Zhang won $12,500 for their project developing a culturally relevant, high-fiber food as part of the 25th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition. The competition helps scientists learn how to apply their research to real-world needs.
Kelly Paglia, advisor for the horticulture and agronomy graduate group, received an Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate Students from the UC Davis Graduate Student Association. Students call her "a gem," and Paglia says "we'll get to the end together."
Doctoral students Danyelle Forte and Jonathan Berlingeri have been named fellows to the UC Davis Professors for the Future program, a year-long journey that prepares outstanding candidates for careers in academia and other fields.
Fourth-year doctoral student Brooke Wainwright has received the Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald Graduate Student Award. The award recognizes outstanding academic performance, service and leadership, and comes with a $7,500 grant.
Graduate student Amrit Pokhrel has secured a place in the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Fellows program. He is one of 30 students across the United States and Canada this year to become an FFAR fellow.
