Department news

Amanda Crump and Marina Vergara, of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, have won a federal grant to use the cacao value chain as a point of both learning and international engagement for students here and at La Salle University in Bogotá, Colombia.

Sometimes, science has to happen when the opportunity presents itself. It can't wait for the scientist to develop a rigorous theoretical framework or apply for funding. And sometimes, that opportunity leads to unexpected and rich collaboration across disciplines.

Two Department of Plant Sciences faculty members, Valerie Eviner and Mary Cadenasso, contributed to this study in a suprising way that speaks to the collaboration possible at UC Davis. Read their story here.

Eduardo Blumwald sees them every year: the freshmen in his courses who wrestle with basic scientific concepts. The father of three knew he could help ‒ by providing relatively simple information about advanced research to high school teachers.

Tree nut experts from around the world are gathering at the UC Davis Convention Center this week to discuss the challenges faced by the people growing and processing almonds and pistachios. Researchers are outlining possible solutions and exchanging ideas for how to combat problems of water scarcity, increasingly saline water and soils, rising wintertime temperatures and new pests that come with the changing conditions.

Louise Ferguson has been named a fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science and will be inducted into the organization’s 60th class of fellows at a ceremony Aug. 1. The award recognizes decades of leadership and, more recently, Ferguson’s efforts to build a leadership training program for younger members.

The recognition is “more than well-deserved and should have happened YEARS ago!” wrote ASHS Executive Director Michael Neff. ASHS fellows are elected “in recognition of outstanding contributions to the science, profession, or industry of horticulture,” he added.

Dwarfing genes in cereal crops made the Green Revolution of the 1960s possible, but they have limitations. Scientists at UC Davis have discovered a gene that can overcome some of those limitations in wheat by controlling plant height, while boosting yield in fields where water is less plentiful. Their discovery was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Get the day's schedule

.

The 12th annual UC Davis Plant Sciences Symposium 2023 will focus on "Plants in the climate crisis," with an outstanding line-up of speakers tackling the 21st century's most significant global challenge.

Five retired faculty from the Department of Plant Sciences will be honored for their outstanding scholarship, the global impact of their contributions to their fields, their service, their expansive teaching and their generous mentoring. A dinner will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, April 28, in the UC Davis Conference Center.

Department Chair Gail Taylor will host the festivities. Current faculty will introduce the honorees.

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, or FFAR, named UC Davis Assistant Professor Alessandro Ossola among its 10 recipients of the 2022 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award.