Chris van Kessel -- founding chair of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences -- was deeply impacted by his nephew's battle with cancer at the age of 10. Now, van Kessel is cycling to support childhood cancer research, and he's inviting your support.
Daniel Potter is the new chair of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, overseeing research, teaching, and outreach. A botanist and herbarium director, he aims to improve student connections and expand lab space.
Five UC Davis plant sciences faculty members—Gail Taylor, Amelie Gaudin, Giulia Marino, Li Tian, and Leslie Roche—now hold endowed chairs, a first for the department. These appointments support research in agroecology, tree genetics, nutrition, and rangelands.
After chairing the Department of Plant Sciences for seven years, Gail Taylor has taken a new appointment as the dean of Life Sciences, University College London. She will start her new role later this year.
Amélie Gaudin has been appointed as the holder of UC Davis' new Endowed Professorship in Agroecology. She will lead research in agroecology, develop a fellowship program for undergraduates, and establish an Agroecology Working Group to foster transdisciplinary research and regenerative agriculture.
Poplar trees stand to transform the bioenergy market – a promising means to mitigate climate change – for the better. Michael White, an editor for the peer-reviewed science journal Nature, recently met with members of the Taylor Lab from the University of California, Davis for a tour to learn how they are developing drought-tolerant poplar trees positioned to sustainably and cost-effectively meet the challenges of our climate emergency.
The American Society of Plant Biologists, or ASPB, has released interviews with Distinguished Professor Patrick Brown and Associate Professor Troy Magney to discuss their Dennis R. Hoagland and Early Career Awards respectively.
The Department of Plant Sciences welcomes Imtiyaz Khanday as an assistant professor of plant reproductive biology and as an assistant agronomist for the Agricultural Experiment Station in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis.
Giulia Marino, a crop physiologist, is the new UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Specialist in Orchard Systems, and a faculty member in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). She is primarily based at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, California, and has a second office in Wickson Hall at UC Davis.
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.
