CHAIR
Gaudin, Amelie (530) 752-1212 – agaudin@ucdavis.edu
Agroecological approaches to enhance cropping system resilience to climate change. Explore consequences of domestication and breeding on root architecture and ecology, implication for agroecosystem sustainability.
ANIMAL BIOLOGY
Cheng, Hao | gtlcheng@ucdavis.edu
Research Interests: Development of statistical methods and computational algorithms for quantitative and statistical genetics, including genomic prediction and genome-wide association studies. Development of software tools for whole-genome analyses. Statistical models for –omic data.
BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
Ahamed, Shamim | mahamed@ucdavis.edu
Energy modeling and energy-efficient design for next-generation agricultural built environments, renewable energy-based heating and cooling systems, dehumidification, and control systems for CEA applications. Automated fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) of buildings HVAC systems using machine learning-based algorithms.
Daccache, Andre | adaccache@ucdavis.edu
Agricultural water management and Engineering; Precision and Irrigation technology; UAV and satellite remote sensing; Agrivoltaics; Soil-Plant-Atmosphere continuum; Machine learning and decision support tools.
Mason Earles | jmearles@ucdavis.edu
AI-enabled sensing and modeling for agriculture.
ENTOMOLOGY AND NEMATOLOGY
Nansen, Christian (530) 752-2728 | chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
Insect Ecology, IPM, Remote Sensing, host plant stress detection, host selection by arthropods, pesticide performance, and use of reflectance-based imaging in a wide range of research applications.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLICY
Hijmans, Robert (530) 752-6555 | rhijmans@ucdavis.edu
Spatial and temporal dynamics of crop production.
LAND, AIR & WATER RESOURCES
Jin, Yufang (530) 219-4429 – yujin@ucdavis.edu
Remote sensing of terrestrial ecosystems, crop monitoring and precision agriculture, fire disturbances, ecohydrology, climate-vegetation-humans interactions, biogeochemical cycles, fire and vegetation management, Geographic Information Systems.
Lazcano, Cristina clazcano@ucdavis.edu
Soil ecology, biogeochemistry, plant-microbial interactions, rhizosphere ecology, plant nutrition and crop nutritional quality, trophic interactions, C and N cycling, greenhouse gas emissions from soils, use of organic waste materials as fertilizers in agriculture, sustainable soil management.
Paw U, Kyaw Tha – ktpawu@ucdavis.edu
Biometeorology, micrometeorology, evapotranspiration, turbulence, aerosol physics, and boundary layer meteorology.
Suvocarev, Kosana (530) 752-4628 – ksuvocarev@ucdavis.edu
Evapotranspiration, crop coefficients, GHG emissions, soil-plant-atmosphere interaction and flux exchange, eddy covariance, surface renewal, sap flow, irrigated agriculture, rice agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, water resources, biogeosciences.
PLANT BIOLOGY
Comai, Luca (530) 752-8485 – lcomai@ucdavis.edu
The Comai lab studies genetics and function of plant chromosomes. We are interested in mechanisms through which plants attain genome stability and in their manipulation for efficient genome engineering. Within these overarching objectives, we investigate structure of polyploid genomes, haploid induction and uniparental genome elimination, and sex determination. Our systems include arabidopsis, potato, mint, camelina, poplar, and persimmon.
Xu, Xiaosa (530) 752-8485 – xjkxu@ucdavis.edu
Our lab focuses on plant developmental genetics and evolution using various models and crop organisms such as arabidopsis, maize, and wheat. We use cutting-edge single-cell genomics and spatial transcriptomics approaches to identify key genes and regulatory elements in plant development and evolution. We functionally characterize the mechanism of these key regulators using a combination of CRISPR genome editing, and molecular, cellular, and biochemical approaches. Our ultimate goal is to understand these key regulators in development and evolution, and potentially engineer them to inform crop improvement.
PLANT PATHOLOGY
Cook, Douglas R. (530) 754-6561 – drcook@ucdavis.edu
Current research spans model and crop legume systems, with a dual focus on (1) genomics, genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to characterize genes (plants and microbes) governing both pathogenic and beneficial plant-microbe interactions, and (2) ecological genomics and association genetics to understand gene function in complex natural and agricultural legume systems.
PLANT SCIENCES
Al-Khatib, Kassim (530) 750-1249 or 752-9160 – kalkhatib@ucdavis.edu
Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
Weed Science -- integrated weed management, vegetation management, and pesticide drift
Bailey, Brian (530) 752-7478 – bnbailey@ucdavis.edu
Plant and crop modeling; environmental biophysics; transport processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.
Beckles, Diane M. (530) 754-4779 – dmbeckles@ucdavis.edu
Genetic and biochemical mechanisms controlling carbon allocation in crop plants.
Blanco-Ulate, Barbara (530) 752-9096 – bblanco@ucdavis.edu
Systems biology of fruit ripening, fruit-pathogen interactions, and postharvest quality.
Bloom, Arnold J. (530) 752-1743 – ajbloom@ucdavis.edu
Nutrient acquisition and carbon assimilation in relation to environmental stress; mechanisms of nitrogen uptake and assimilation.
Blumwald, Eduardo (530) 752-4640 – eblumwald@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Cellular and molecular bases of adaptation of plants to biotic and abiotic stress; the molecular bases of fruit quality.
Bradford, Kent J. (530) 752-6087 – kjbradford@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Development, maintenance, and expression of seed quality; plant water relations; developmental and growth regulation.
Brown, Pat J. (530) 752-4288 – pjbrown@ucdavis.edu
Breeding and genetics of walnut, pistachio, and other tree crops; genomic selection; genetic control of phenology, dormancy, and chill accumulation in perennials; salinity tolerance; evolution of plant mating systems.
Brown, Patrick H. (530) 752-0929 – phbrown@ucdavis.edu
Mineral nutrition of deciduous fruit and nut crops. Sustainable agriculture.
Brummer, E. Charles (530) 752-9261 – ecbrummer@ucdavis.edu
Breeding, genetics, and genomics of alfalfa and other forage crops; germplasm and cultivar evaluation and development; traits of interest include yield, autumn dormancy, tolerance to drought, salinity, and grazing, and others.
Buckley, Thomas (530) 752-0320 – tnbuckley@ucdavis.edu
Ecophysiology of plant water stress, biology of transpiration, plant water relations, stomatal biology, photosynthetic resource economics, direct phenotyping technologies, theoretical ecophysiology, mathematical biology.
Cammarisano, Laura – lcammarisano@ucdavis.edu
My research integrates plant physiology, Controlled Environment Agriculture, protected horticulture, Vertical Farming, horticultural lighting, crop nutritional quality, and postharvest fruits and vegetables quality. It focuses on optimizing the cultivation of edible plant species in protected environments, including both greenhouse and vertical farming, and increasing the sustainability of these farming systems. In terms of methodology, the research program explores 1) plant response to the surrounding environment and abiotic factors/stresses on different scales, from physiology, agronomy, and biochemistry to genetics, and 2) innovative non-invasive methodologies to monitor performance.
Chetelat, Roger T. (530) 752-6726 or 754-8647 – trchetelat@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Molecular and classical genetics of tomato; wide hybridization and interspecific incompatibility; use of molecular markers in breeding; germplasm conservation.
Crisosto, Carlos H. (530) 752-7549 – chcrisosto@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Postharvest biology and technology of fruit; fruit quality and safety; understanding the orchard factors and postharvest factors that control fruit flavor and shelf life; developing technology to overcome fruit industry problems; applying genomic techniques to identify gene(s) responsible for fruit sensory attributes (both desirable and undesirable), and investigating physiological disorders such as chilling injury.
Dandekar, Abhaya M. (530) 752-7784 – amdandekar@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Transfer, expression and regulation of foreign genes in fruit and nut crops. Metabolic regulation and the cellular and molecular response of plants to environmental stress.
Diepenbrock, Christine (530) 754-0666 – chdiepenbrock@ucdavis.edu
Understanding and improving crop nutritional quality and abiotic stress tolerance.
Dubcovsky, Jorge (530) 752-5159 – jdubcovsky@ucdavis.edu
Wheat molecular genetics, genomics and breeding. Main interests are genes affecting flowering time, senescence, and frost tolerance.
Feldmann, Mitchell (805) 807 - 5376 – mjfeldmann@ucdavis.edu
Genetic solutions to the challenges facing the strawberry industry using a combination of genomics & computational biology, phenomics & quantitative genetics, and plant pathology & plant molecular biology. Plant productivity, fruit quality, disease resistance, and photoperiodism to deliver strawberry varieties with improved horticultural and economic traits in strawberries.
Fennimore, Steven A. (408) 755-2896 – safennimore@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Weed management in vegetable crops and small fruits, as well as weed seed physiology and seed bank ecology.
Ferguson, Louise (530) 752-0507 – lferguson@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Production of pistachios, olives, citrus, figs, and persimmons; alternate bearing, pruning and rootstock evaluation; boron nutrition of pistachios; evaluation of citrus rootstocks for grapefruits and Mandarins; introduction of Mandarins, nitrogen fertigation; olive water use; fig cultivar and caprifig breeding; persimmon thinning.
Funk, Jennifer – funk@ucdavis.edu
Plant physiological and community ecology, with a focus on biological invasions and ecological restoration; how plant traits drive ecological processes, such as invasion, community assembly, and nutrient cycling - specifically, focuses on 1) linking intra- and interspecific variation in biochemical and physiological traits to ecological processes, and 2) using plant traits to improve invasive species control and ecological restoration programs
Gepts, Paul L. (530) 752-7743 – plgepts@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Genetics of food legumes: crop evolution, genetic conservation, genomics, molecular evolution; use of information technology in teaching. Language abilities: spoken and written fluency in French, Flemish (Dutch), Spanish; some spoken German. Conducted research/taught in Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina), Africa (Malawi), Europe (Belgium, Germany, France).
Gilbert, Matthew E. (530) 752-7846 – megilbert@ucdavis.edu
Physiological control over crop water use efficiency through stomatal and photosynthetic mechanisms; C3 and C4 crop physiological responses to water stress.
Gradziel, Thomas M. (530) 752-1575 – tmgradziel@ucdavis.edu
Genetics of Prunus species; plant breeding.
Guzman Delgado, Paula (530) 752-9880 – pguzmandelgado@ucdavis.edu
Plant ecophysiology; abiotic stress; plant water relations; carbon dynamics; plant-environmental interfaces; cuticle biology, perennial plants, and orchard systems.
Hanson, Bradley D. (530) 752-8115 – bhanson@ucdavis.edu
Perennial crop nursery fumigation and herbicides; evaluation and management of herbicide-resistant weeds; chemical and non-chemical weed management in orchards and vineyards; enhancing integrated pest management through a better understanding of weed ecology.
Jiang, Cai-Zhong (530) 752-7060 – cjiang@ucdavis.edu or caizhong.jiang@ars.usda.gov
Postharvest biology and technology of floricultural/ornamental crops, developing sustainable postharvest systems that enhance productivity while reducing losses due to postharvest disease or longevity issues; molecular basis of plant senescence and abscission; effect of environmental factors, such as water, temperature, and diseases, on the performance of ornamental crops. Research Plant Physiologist with USDA-ARS and Adjunct Professor.
Kaffka, S. (530) 752-8108 – srkaffka@ucdavis.edu
Investigates ways to improve crop production efficiency and environmental quality relative to crop production; works at the commodity and farming systems levels.
Khalsa, Sat Darshan (707) 205-7007 – dskhalsa@ucdavis.edu
My research focuses on nutrient cycling and management in tree crops integrating plant, soil, and social sciences. I am interested in the use of organic matter amendments in orchards, the utilization of nitrogen stabilizers in fertigation systems, remote sensing of tree physiology and nutrient status, and grower barriers to adoption of conservation practices. I work broadly on projects related to environmental quality, agronomy, and adaptive management. In addition to my research in the field, I am the leader of a statewide effort to train certified crop advisors in nitrogen management, where I explore other interests related to agricultural education and adult learning.
Khanday, Imtiyaz (530) 752-0920 – khanday@ucdavis.edu
Molecular and genetic bases of seed development, engineering of clonal seeds through synthetic apomixis, and use of biotechnology to create high-vigor seeds.
Knapp, Steven J. (530) 752-6884 – sjknapp@ucdavis.edu
Breeding and genetics of strawberry, genomics-enabled breeding, genomic selection, biodiversity and germplasm conservation, exotic germplasm utilization, quantitative genetics, and heterosis and hybrid crop breeding. Our research focuses on disease resistance, fruit quality, yield, photoperiodism, and other phenotypes of horticultural and economic importance in strawberry.
Lieth, J. Heinrich. (530) 752-7198 – jhlieth@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Greenhouse and nursery crop ecology; development of models and production tools for Easter lily, rose, chrysanthemum, and other ornamental crops; greenhouse environment control automation; automated irrigation.
Linquist, Bruce (530) 752-3125 – balinquist@ucdavis.edu
Sustainable management of rice systems - in particular fertility management, nutrient and carbon cycling, water use, water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Lundy, Mark (530) 902-7295 – melundy@udavis.edu
Agronomy, sustainable intensification, cropping systems analysis, input use efficiency, integrating technology and data into production practices, disease and pest management.
Mackill, David J. (530) 752-4940 – djmackill@ucdavis.edu
Genetics and breeding of Cacao.
Magney, Troy (530) 754-1557 – tmagney@ucdavis.edu
Remote sensing, plant and environmental informatics.
Marino, Giulia (530) 304-4509 – giumarino@ucdavis.edu
Tree physiology in orchard systems; productivity, sustainability, and competitiveness of fruit orchard production in a changing global scenario.
Melotto, Maeli (530) 752-1747 – melotto@ucdavis.edu
Phyllosphere microbiology, molecular biology of plant-microbe interactions, model and crop plant pathosystems, plant defenses against human and plant pathogens, stomatal immunity, bacterial pathogenesis on plants, produce contamination with human pathogens.
Mesgaran, Mohsen (530) 752-0852 – mbmesgaran@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Weed biology and ecology — Ecological modeling, mating system of weeds, seed and seedbank ecology, population dynamics, remote sensing.
Michelmore, Richard W. (530) 752-1729 – rwmichelmore@ucdavis.edu
Lettuce genetics and breeding; classical and molecular genetics of disease resistance; plant biotechnology.
Mitcham, Beth (530) 752-7512 – ejmitcham@ucdavis.edu
Alternatives to postharvest chemicals for control of insects, decay and physiological disorders; fruit responses to postharvest handling systems.
Mitchell, Jeffrey P. (559) 646-6565 – jpmitchell@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Vegetable production; water management; agricultural ecology; crop management impacts on postharvest quality.
Oki, Lorence R. (530) 754-4135 – lroki@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Management of irrigation in landscapes and nurseries; effect of water quality (salinity) on plant growth; evaluating California native plants for use in landscape horticulture; introduction of plants for environmental horticulture.
Ossola, Alessandro (530) 754-4407 – aossola@ucdavis.edu
Urban plant sciences, including ecology, climate change, forestry, water management, urban food production, planning and design; particularly interested in applied, co-produced research and new technology to inform innovative approaches in environmental management, ecological design, horticulture, science communication and outreach.
Pittelkow, Cameron (530) 752-0433 – cpittelkow@ucdavis.edu
Agronomy and agroecosystems; sustainable crop production; environmental footprint; international agriculture.
Potter, Dan (530) 754-6141 – dpotter@ucdavis.edu
Plant systematics; taxonomy, evolution, and phylogenetic relationships of fruit crops and their wild relatives; molecular approaches to phylogeny reconstruction; ethnobotany.
Putnam, Daniel H. (530) 752-8982 – dhputnam@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Alfalfa and forage crops systems, alternative field crops, cellulosic energy crops, switchgrass, miscanthus, crop ecology.
Roche, Leslie (530) 752-5583 – maillmroche@ucdavis.edu
Rangeland ecology and management; rangeland social-ecological systems; managing for multiple agricultural and ecological outcomes on working landscapes; sustainability; grazing lands.
Shackel, Kenneth (530) 752-0928 – kashackel@ucdavis.edu
Impact of tree water status on productivity; water relations and physiological activity of fruit.
Taylor, Gail (530) 752-4362 – gtaylor@ucdavis.edu
Leafy greens lettuce and watercress molecular breeding for quality and sustainable use of natural resources. Culinary herb physiology and water use, flavour. Genetics, genomics and sustainable development of low carbon bioenergy trees. Adaptation and plasticity in response to the changing climate using high carbon dioxide springs.
Tian, Li (530) 752-0940 – ltian@ucdavis.edu
Phytonutrient biochemistry and physiology; biosynthesis, accumulation and function of carotenoids and polyphenols in plants; targeted improvement of crop phytonutrient composition and content for enhanced nutritional and medicinal values.
Van Deynze, Allen (530) 754-6444 – avandeynze@ucdavis.edu
Biotechnology; development and application of molecular markers; development of novel traits in seed crops through biotechnology.
Volder, Astrid (530) 752-8527 – avolder@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Responses of root systems to stress, either in natural, agricultural or urban environments. Plant root systems, plant health, water use and quality, climate change, ecosystems, environment and natural resources, food systems, land use, sustainability, trees and forestry, urban issues.
Zhang, Xiaofei – xfczhang@ucdavis.edu
Profile: Molecular genetics and breeding of small grains crops, including common wheat, durum wheat, barley, and oat. Discover genetic and physiological factors affecting biomass accumulation, grain yield, tolerance to (a)biotic stresses, and processing and nutrition quality of small grains crops. Develop and implement advanced genomics and high-throughput technologies to accelerate new variety development.
Zwieniecki, Maciej A. (530) 752-9880 – mzwienie@ucdavis.edu
Mass and energy transport in plants; structure and function of plant vascular network; abiotic plant stress biology; interface between plant and environment.
VITICULTURE
Bartlett, Megan (530) 752-2048 – mkbartlett@ucdavis.edu
Physiology of stress tolerance, plant water relations and hydraulics, plant and crop modeling, stomatal physiology, mathematical biology, and developing modeling approaches to optimize management.
Cantu, Dario (530) 752-2929 – dacantu@ucdavis.edu
Improvement of plant genetic resistance to diseases; fungal biology and mechanisms of pathogenicity; function and evolutionary dynamics of virulence factors; comparative genomics.
Diaz-Garcia, Luiz - diazgarcia@ucdavis.edu
Multidisciplinary grapevine breeding to provide high-quality grapes in the light of climate change.
Mason Earles - jmearles@ucdavis.edu
AI-enabled sensing and modeling for agriculture.
Fidelibus, Matthew W. (559) 646-6510 – mwfidelibus@ucdavis.edu
Extension Viticulturist; Effect of cultural practices.
Forrestel, Elisabeth (530) 752-1946 – ejforrestel@ucdavis.edu
Phylogenetic and functional basis of drought and heat responses in grapes, and ways to mitigate climate change impacts in viticulture; incorporating monitoring technology in vineyards and using remote sensing data to help understand the environmental factors that most significantly affect plant growth, berry chemistry, and wine quality.
McElrone, Andrew J. (530) 754-9763 – ajmcelrone@ucdavis.edu
Sustainable water use in vineyards: physiological responses of grapevine roots/rootstocks to salinity, nutrients and drought; importance of aquaporins to root water uptake; development of sap flow techniques for grapevines with weighing lysimeter calibration; effects of vineyard floor management on grapevine water relations
AFFILIATED FACULTY
Baumgartner, Kendra (530) 754-7461 – kbaumgartner@ucdavis.edu (not accepting students)
Development of sustainable practices for managing grapevine diseases; indigenous mycorrhizal fungi in California vineyards; epidemiology of grapevine diseases; population genetics of fungal grapevine pathogens.