Awards and rankings

Knapp team awarded grant to advance strawberry breeding

The Strawberry Breeding Center in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences has landed $6.2 million to study how to use breeding and genetic information to protect strawberry crops from future diseases and pests.

The four-year grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture will address expanding and emerging threats to strawberries, a popular fruit packed with vitamin C and key to the diets of many Americans.

Lima bean research awarded $3.3 million from SCRI

Succotash lovers, rejoice: UC Davis researchers will lead a national effort to enlarge the resources for breeding tender, buttery lima beans. The project includes looking at key traits that people and growers want, finding where on the lima bean genome those traits are located, breeding and field trials to grow plants with the most desirable qualities, and creating a public database that other breeders can use to create new and better varieties.

Gilbert honored for graduate advising

Matthew E. Gilbert has been honored with a Program Advising and Mentoring Award by UC Davis Graduate Studies for 2022. Gilbert is an associate professor and vice chair of crops and ecosystems in the Department of Plant Sciences.

“Student well-being, both academically and mentally, is so important, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Gilbert. “For that reason, I became chair of the Graduate Student and Post-doctoral Welfare Committee, which is a sub-committee of Graduate Council.

Ferguson honored for service to Horticultural Society

Louise Ferguson has been recognized by the American Society of Horticultural Science for her leadership and contributions. The professor of UC Cooperative Extension assumed the presidency during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she nurtured the organization through its first all-virtual annual conference, a subsequent hybrid conference and back to a fully in-person conference.

Poudel named to Future Leaders Forum

Master’s student Isha Poudel wants to bring agricultural technology to rural communities while empowering women farmers in her homeland of Nepal. Poudel is among 12 young scientists who will get help with her career goals after being named to this year’s Future Leaders Forum by the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development.

Parker’s proposal: More beans with less water

Boutique chefs will be pleased.

Organic legumes already developed by postdoctoral researcher Travis Parker are prized, especially in Southwest cuisine, for their colorful patterns, flavor and texture. Parker’s new work seeks even better, more beautiful beans for arid climes. The Department of Plant Sciences geneticist has received a boost for his work with a $20,000 grant, funded jointly by the Organic Farming Research Foundation and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.

Kassama, Student & Macconnell grow their professional skills

This fall, three graduate students from the Department of Plant Sciences will start cultivating their confidence and growing the soft skills needed to bear their best fruit as professionals. Joseph “Zeke” Student, Madeleine Macconnell and Sire Kassama will work with professional leadership and business coaches, nourishing their ability to lead, collaborate and communicate, through the Launching Tomorrow’s Leaders program.

Monroe, Quiroz seek way to speed genome research

Scientists Grey Monroe and Daniela Quiroz are trying to develop a technique that could speed research on processes affecting countless facets of biology – from how plants respond to stressful conditions to the changes that trigger cells’ cancerous growth. They just won a $50,000 boost for their work, with a grant from the UC Davis Science Translation and Innovative Research (STAIR™) program.

Gaudin, Mitchell part of winning team honored for groundwater research

Amelie Gaudin and Jeffrey Mitchell, faculty with the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, are part of a team honored for showing growers how wintertime cover crops can improve the soil while having little or no impact on groundwater use.

The team’s research was part of the University of California’s efforts to help growers thrive while complying with state groundwater regulations. Their work was honored with a Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Team by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Undergraduate in plant biology course earns Prized Writing distinction

Alexander Saka, a senior biology student, has been honored by Prized Writing for his essay “Origin and Domestication of Soybean,” a paper he wrote for Distinguished Professor Paul Gepts’ Evolution of Crop Plants course in the Department of Plant Sciences. Prized Writing is an annual juried competition that highlights exemplary undergraduate writing from across the many disciplines at the University of California, Davis.