Graduate student Saskia Mesquida Pesci and lab manager Adrian Sbodio won a UC Davis Lab Safety Award for fostering a collaborative, inclusive safety culture in the Blanco-Ulate Lab, where communication, learning, and teamwork drive success.
Two UC Davis Plant Sciences researchers—Eduardo Blumwald and Ming-Cheng Luo—were named 2023 “highly cited,” placing them among the top 1% of scientists whose work significantly influences global research.
Matthew Fatino, a Ph.D. candidate in UC Davis' Department of Plant Sciences, was named WSSA graduate student of the month. Passionate about weed science, his research focuses on in-season management of branched broomrape, a threat to California's tomato and seed industries.
Four Plant Sciences faculty—Brian Bailey, Dan Kliebenstein, Amanda Crump, and Alessandro Ossola—were honored for their outstanding mentoring. Their keys to success: honest communication, empathy, and prioritizing student growth.
Rikiya Hatano, a UC Davis senior in international ag development, won the 2023 Ryerson Award for his work in rural ag self-sufficiency. He hopes to improve lives in Japan and globally through sustainable agriculture.
Doctoral student Gen Ha Park was named a George Washington Carver scholar for his work developing heat- and drought-tolerant chile peppers using genomic tools. His research aims to support sustainable farming in a warming climate.
Doctoral student Susan Zhang is uncovering how pistachio trees resist drought and salinity. Her research, backed by USDA and UC Davis awards, could boost sustainable agriculture while inspiring the next generation of scientists.
Doctoral student Marie Klein won best elevator talk at a national bioenergy meeting for her work on drought-tolerant poplars grown for jet fuel—part of a DOE effort to cut fossil fuels and greenhouse gases by 2050.
UC Davis scientists received $2.1M in USDA grants to breed green beans, chile peppers, and alfalfa better suited for heat and drought. The goal: improve quality, boost yield, cut costs, and adapt crops to climate change.
Venkatesan Sundaresan, a UC Davis expert in rice reproduction and microbiomes, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for groundbreaking research on clonal seeds and drought-tolerant crops.
