Our Outreach Programs
At the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, we take our mandate as a land-grant institution—to provide quality higher education and address society's needs—very seriously. The problems and solutions evolve, but our commitment stays the same: We address those things that matter most to California to transform the world.
Outreach is central to that mission. We partner with growers, ranchers, residents, consumers, communities, and others to better understand regional and global needs and provide research-based solutions to those problems.
Research & Information Centers (RICs)
The Research and Information Centers (RICs) serve as focal points for interaction among external stakeholders, California consumers, and the University of California's research and educational resources. The RICs represent a collaborative effort among researchers to disseminate knowledge that benefits agriculture and conserves natural resources.
The Ralph E. Myers Fund, established in 1952 to support agricultural research, partially funds the RICs. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) administers the endowment and partners with the RICs to conduct their research and extension activities. Additional funding is provided by the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and funds generated by the individual RICs.
RIC areas of expertise include agronomy, fruits and nuts, nursery and floriculture, postharvest, rangelands, seed biotechnology, vegetables and weeds. The RICs are housed at the UC Davis campus. They are closely engaged with UC research and extension personnel at county Cooperative Extension offices, Research and Extension Centers, and other UC campuses (UC Riverside, UC Merced and UC Berkeley). These collaborations are vital to advancing UC’s land-grant mission.
- Agronomy (AgRIC)
- The University of California Nursery and Floriculture Alliance
- Fruit and Nut (FNRIC)
- Postharvest Center
- Seed Biotechnology Center (SBC)
- UC Rangelands
- Vegetable (VRIC)
- Weeds (WRIC)
Other Centers and Institutes
The role of centers and institutes is to:
- Serve as interdepartmental focal points to address emerging and critical issues.
- Advance the research and outreach goals of the college and its many researchers and units.
- Facilitate engagement of stakeholders.
- Serve as information centers for industry partners, alumni, donors, and other stakeholders.
Full List
- Agriculture Sustainability Institute: Solutions for a sustainable food system.
- The California Biomass Collaborative: A statewide collaboration of government, industry, environmental groups, and educational institutions administered for the state by the University of California, Davis.
- California Crop Improvement Association (CCIA): Provides seed certification service and a voluntary quality assurance program for maintaining and increasing agronomic and vegetable crop seed.
- C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center (TGRC): A genebank of wild relatives, monogenic mutants and miscellaneous genetic stocks of tomato.
- Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI): Conservation tillage workgroup that exchanges information on conservation tillage production systems in California.
- Horticulture Innovation Lab: Builds international partnerships for fruit and vegetable research to improve livelihoods in developing countries.
- International Programs: Facilitating the exchange of information and learning between UC Davis and the global community in agriculture and the environment.
- Foundation Plant Services: Produce, test, maintain and distribute elite disease-tested plant propagation material.
- Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science: The global innovator in university-based wine and food sciences research, education and outreach.
- Strawberry Breeding and Production Physiology: Focusing on delivering genetically superior cultivars to conventional and organic strawberry farmers in California and worldwide.
- UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity: A museum housing over 300,000 well-identified and taxonomically-organized pressed plant specimens (herbarium specimens), a botanical identification room (with microscopes), and a botanical library.
- Plant Breeding Center: Coordinates and expands campus plant breeding teaching and research.
- UC IPM - Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Helping residents, growers, land managers, community leaders, and other professional pest managers prevent and solve pest problems with the least unintended impacts on people and their surroundings.