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For the first time, a field test has demonstrated that elevated levels of carbon dioxide inhibit plants’ assimilation of nitrate into proteins, indicating that the nutritional quality of food crops is at risk as climate change intensifies.
A new research effort, designed to improve the productivity of chickpea varieties by harnessing the genetic diversity of wild species, was launched today in Ethiopia through the federal Feed the Future Initiative and under the leadership of UC Davis.
Gasoline-like fuels can be made from cellulosic materials such as farm and forestry waste using a new process invented by chemists at UC Davis. The process could open up new markets for plant-based fuels, beyond existing diesel substitutes.
As California braces for record drought, ranchers are among the most immediately impacted, and most say they are not ready for the severe water shortages and lack of forage that drought would bring, according to a new study by researchers at UC Davis.
UC Davis made a significant advance in the just-released UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, which placed UC Davis in the top 10 for campus sustainability and environment-friendly management. In Universitas Indonesia’s fourth annual GreenMetric rankings, for 2013, UC Davis is ninth overall (up from 17th a year earlier) and fourth in the United States. The rankings comprise 301 universities. Out of all of the UC campuses, only Davis made the top 10.
The African Orphan Crops Consortium, which includes UC Davis, Mars Inc. and other global partners, today released the names of the 100 African crop species whose genomes it plans to sequence, assemble and annotate to improve the nutrition of African farm families, especially their children.
Researchers at UC Davis have used laboratory studies to estimate the risk to young green sturgeon, which may be killed by unscreened pipes that divert water from the Sacramento River into adjacent farm fields.
From a fish-eye view, rice fields in California’s Yolo Bypass provide an all-you-can-eat bug buffet for juvenile salmon seeking nourishment on their journey to the sea. That’s according to a new report detailing the scientific findings of an experiment that planted fish in harvested rice fields earlier this year, resulting in the fattest, fastest-growing salmon on record in the state’s rivers.
The devastating disease Huonglongbing, or citrus greening, looms darkly over the United States, threatening to wipe out the nation's citrus industry, whose fresh fruit alone was valued at more than $3.4 billion in 2012.
The California legislature last week honored UC Davis’ achievements and top ranking in agricultural teaching and research with a resolution that was unanimously passed by both the state Senate and Assembly.
Sometimes a tiny innovation can crack the world’s toughest problems. Take, for example, a small solar-powered LED light placed in a chicken coop in a developing country.
California farmers feel more threatened by climate policy than they do by climate change, according to a new study from UC Davis.
UC Davis is among the 10 “greenest” universities in the United States for the third year in row, as declared by the Sierra Club magazine.
Cattle grazing and clean water can coexist on national forest lands, according to research by UC Davis. The study, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, is the most comprehensive examination of water quality on National Forest public grazing lands to date.
A new African Plant Breeding Academy, designed to train a generation of plant breeders who will help improve the nutritional value of indigenous African crops, has been launched by UC Davis in collaboration with the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Orphan Crops Consortium.
UC Davis is No. 1 in the world for teaching and research in the area of agriculture and forestry, according to rankings released today by QS World University Rankings.
A team of UC Davis scientists is developing a groundwater management tool that could lead to better streamflow conditions for salmon and steelhead in northern California’s Scott River Valley, which provides critical fish habitat within the Klamath Basin.
In a month that marked the annual Earth Day celebration, UC Davis received recognition for its environmental sustainability efforts from The Princeton Review and the League of American Bicyclists, reaffirming the school’s reputation as a green leader.
Changes in agricultural practices could reduce soil emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide and the atmospheric pollutant nitric oxide, according to a new study by scientists at UC Davis.
An action-oriented scientific agenda for tackling global climate change and its impacts on agriculture emerged from the international, three-day Climate-Smart Agriculture Conference, which drew more than 300 participants last week to the UC Davis.
Scientists and policymakers from around the world will gather March 20-22 at UC Davis to grapple with the threats of climate change for global agriculture and recommend science-based actions to slow its effects while meeting the world’s need for food, livelihood and sustainability.
Nitrogen (N) fertilizers are widely used in modern agriculture. They produce high yields and play an integral role in feeding the global population. Unfortunately, their use in “fertigation” – using fertilizers dissolved in water to irrigate crops – has destructive effects on the environment.
Inspired by a visit to the innovative, energy-efficient UC Davis West Village in 2010, a Middle Eastern housing developer is now planning a sustainable city on the outskirts of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
With new grants totaling $8.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Agency for International Development and industry partners, UC Davis plant scientist Eduardo Blumwald is reaching out to feed and fuel the world.
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, coupled with rising temperatures, is making rice agriculture a larger source of the potent greenhouse gas methane, according to a study published today in Nature Climate Change by a research team that includes a UC Davis plant scientist.
8.14.12 — UC Davis is nation’s ‘Coolest School’
Sierra magazine has named the UC Davis the nation’s “Coolest School” for its efforts to address climate change and operate sustainably.
They came. They saw. They studied — sustainability. The California Higher Education Sustainability Conference, held at UC Davis for the first time in the event’s 11-year history, drew record registration: nearly 1,000 people from 88 institutions, mostly in California — but also including institutions in three other states and four other countries.
Humans may be forcing an irreversible, planetary-scale tipping point that could severely impact fisheries, agriculture, clean water and much of what Earth needs to sustain its inhabitants. Such a change has not been seen since the shift from the Ice Age to an interglacial age 11,700 years ago—a time of mass extinctions and extreme climate shifts, according to the authors, who estimate that Earth may experience the next major tipping point within a few generations.
5.31.12 — Russell Ranch Field Day
The Russell Ranch Field Day brings together farmers, students, NGOs, research, and UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors and specialists to discuss sustainable agriculture.
Healthy eating is important for college students who study hard, and that’s why the UC Davis Farmers Market came to fruition.
Straight from local farms to the university — that’s how much of the food will arrive for next week’s Farm to College dinner, where Dining Services showcases its commitment to a local and sustainable food system.
5.2.12 — Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis names Ken Tate this year’s Bradford-Rominger Award recipient
UC Cooperative Extension Specialist Ken Tate was named this year’s Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award recipient this week. Given by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis, the award is meant to recognize and honor individuals who exhibit the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist.
The Agricultural Sustainability Institute will present the Bradford-Rominger award next week during a program with Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. President Ken Grossman as guest speaker. The Eric Bradford and Charlie Rominger Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Award honors people who have exhibited the leadership, work ethic and integrity epitomized by the late Eric Bradford, a livestock geneticist who gave 50 years of service to UC Davis, and the late Charlie Rominger, a fifth-generation Yolo County farmer and land preservationist.
A UC Davis agricultural economist will direct a $25 million federal program aimed at creating financial systems that can boost agricultural productivity and food security in developing countries.
Environmental activist and best-selling author Bill McKibben spoke highly of UC Davis and the Davis community in an April 13 talk: “This place has done more than almost anywhere else in the country to rise to the challenges we face.”
You’ve got a barn on one side and a silo on another: What better place for the UC Davis Farmers Market? It’s the old East Quad Farmers Market, with a new name and a new venue, the Silo courtyard.
Grapevines and native plants are a fine blend for the environment, suggests a team of researchers led by a plant ecologist at the University of California, Davis. According to their research, reported in the online journal Carbon Balance and Management, vineyard landscapes that include both vines and native vegetation provide more environmental benefits than vineyards planted solidly in grapevines.
The University of California, Davis, has received $14 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead a consortium of universities that will help Afghanistan strengthen its agricultural extension system and stabilize its agriculture-based economy.
11.14.11 — San Joaquin Valley residents face high environmental and social hazards, UC Davis study says
While California’s San Joaquin Valley is home to some of the nation’s richest agricultural resources, half of the people who live and work there face elevated levels of air and water pollution coupled with poverty, limited education, language barriers, and racial and ethnic segregation, according to a three-year UC Davis study.
The “made at UC Davis” label has been attached to a new product: dried tomatoes. They come from the university’s Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility, run by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis.
Responding to increased student interest in sustainability, UC Davis this fall introduced a new major, sustainable agriculture, and a new minor, sustainability in the built environment.
9.13.11 — RANKINGS ROUNDUP: UC Davis among top 10 public universities, rates high in sustainability, public service
For the second consecutive year, UC Davis earned a ninth-place ranking among the top public national universities in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” issue. UC Davis’ distinction for 2012, released today (Sept. 13), follows the campus’s top 10 honors for its commitment to sustainability (Sierra magazine).
Two sustainable agricultural projects led by UC Davis plant scientists have received 2011 U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary's Honor Awards, the most prestigious awards given by the USDA secretary.
The University of California, Davis, this fall will launch an undergraduate major focused on agricultural sustainability.
UC Davis is greener and cooler this year, moving into the Top 10 of Sierra magazine’s annual ranking of the “greenest” colleges in the United States. UC Davis earned the eighth spot, up from 16 a year ago, on the magazine's “America’s Coolest Schools” list.
Complex traits that help plants adapt to environmental challenges are likely influenced by variations in thousands of genes that are affected by both the plant’s growth and the external environment, reports a team of researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Global food trends, energy and social media will be featured topics at the second annual California Ag Summit, to be held Jan. 27 at UC Davis.
2.14.11 — AAAS conference: Greenhouse gases, agricultural nitrogen, making energy from manure & more
UC Davis researchers will present these findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
UC Davis officially opened the doors today to the world’s most environmentally sophisticated facility for making wine, brewing beer and processing foods.
UC Davis’ new complex this week received the highest environmental rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the first LEED Platinum winery, brewery or food-processing facility in the world.
The Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis has begun working with school districts on a project to expand student access to local, seasonal fresh produce.
11.22.10 — Science presented at Global Climate Summit suggests ways to protect agriculture, environment
Agriculture plays a central role in global climate change. Students and faculty from the Department of Plant Sciences presented delegates at the summit with their forward-thinking research to quantify and mitigate its effects.
Delegates who arrived early for the Governors' Global Climate Summit 3 got a taste of UC Davis' research prowess and forward thinking.
New products are made with olive oil produced by the campus’s historic olive trees, using olives and oil that would otherwise have gone to waste.
10.21.10 — Edible garden planted on UC Davis campus
The California Aggie reports on a fruit orchard planted with ASUCD funds.
On farms and rangelands, the stream areas with the greatest variety of plants and organisms have the healthiest soil and least pollution potential, according to a new UC Davis study.
A newly completed complex at UC Davis is set to begin operations as the most environmentally sophisticated complex of its kind in the world.
The impacts of climate change and Assembly Bill 32 on California’s economy and the environment will be the topic of a conference sponsored by the UC Giannini Foundation and UC Agricultural Issues Center.
University Dining Services purchased 8,200 pounds of tomatoes from Russell Ranch to make roasted tomato sauce.
In its 2010 Cool Schools survey, Sierra magazine ranked UC Davis 16th in the nation among America's "greenest" schools.
If learning how to grow your own food is an interest of yours, you need to look no further than the Experimental College Community Garden.
The $1.57 million gift creates an endowment that will be managed by the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis to support a network of scholars for food, agriculture and sustainability.
Graduate students in the Ecology and the International Agricultural Development graduate groups were honored with this prestigious fellowship in 2010.
The latest scientific, management, legal and policy advances for sustaining groundwater resources in agricultural regions around the world will be the topics June 15-17 at a San Francisco conference co-organized by UC Davis.
Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide interfere with plants’ ability to convert nitrate into protein.
Scientists are helping rice farmers in stop polluting their waterways.
New research facility will meet LEED Platinum standards, the highest rating possible.
A UC online publication outlines strip-tillage, a management practice with potential to benefit farmers while decreasing the amount of soil disturbed and dust.
UC Davis researchers will receive $2.8 million in new grants to study the use and impacts of nitrogen.
Craig McNamara, owner of Sierra Farms, is among the alumni who will be honored on Jan. 30. McNamara practices science-based organic farming and serves as a role model for the more than 2,000 people who visit his farm each year.
12.7.09 — Don’t blame cows for climate change
UC Davis Associate Professor and Air Quality Specialist Frank Mitloehner says it is not true that consuming less meat and dairy products will help stop climate change.
Gail Feenstra, a UC Davis expert on the environmental impacts of eating local, sustainably produced fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products.
6.12.09 — Women in wine
Women winemakers trained at UC Davis are running family friendly and green wineries.
6.12.09 — UC Davis’ Sustainable Second Century
After celebrating its first century, UC Davis should focus on sustainability for next 100 years, says this UC Davis Magazine column.
John Landers of Lago Sul, Brazil, '65, director of the Zero Tillage Farmers Association in the Central Savannah of Brazil, is one of the alumni honored
12.11.08 — Gifts of Prose
“California's New Green Revolution: Pioneers in Sustainable Agriculture” and “The Bike to Work Guide: What You Need to Know to Save Gas, Go Green, Get Fit”
A growing student interest has led to new classes and development of a new major.
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UC Davis has transformed the world in many ways, including through environmental contributions.
7.11.08 — Cattle industry goes green
A new breed of rancher wants to do a better job of protecting their land with environmentally friendly techniques, says UC Davis range scientist Mel George.
6.13.08 — Planting the Seeds of Change
“Sustainability” is a concept that has its roots in agriculture. Student farm slideshow included.
6.13.08 — Green things at UC Davis
List of "green things" includes buildings, neighborhood, zero waste, lighting, transportation, purchasing and food.
6.10.08 — Student Farm lessons
UC Davis students at the Student Farm talk about their experiences growing fruits and vegetables.
In their new book, "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food," Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak assert that genetically engineered, organically grown crops offer a boost for food production in an environmentally conscious way.
3.14.08 — Beyond the Bottom Line
M.B.A. grads bring sustainable business practices to their work.
1.11.08 — Growing on 70% less water
UC Davis researchers led an international team that developed genetically engineered crop plants that can grow with 70 percent less irrigation water.
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11.19.07 — Energy for the future
UC Davis is engineering a sustainable future: Let us count the ways
11.16.07 — $12.5 Million Gift to Support Wine Program
Gift will be used on research projects focused on improving sustainable production practices.
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UC Davis agricultural researchers argue that biotechnology — genetically engineered crops — is key to the future of food. (Video)
UC Davis researchers are reporting the largest successful use of integrated pest management in the commercial floriculture industry.
10.13.06 — Savoring an ‘edible’ landscape
The Grounds division is tending a half-dozen planting beds filled with edibles at the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building.
A gene that enables rice to survive complete submergence has been identified by a team including UC Davis researchers.
10.21.05 — Key themes reflected in new faculty hiring
A competition to identify the campus's highest priorities will add new faculty positions to programs that include those that focus on sustainability.
UC Davis' Market Garden offers the best of sustainable agriculture to both students and members of the surrounding community.
The new World Food Center at UC Davis is sponsoring a free public seminar this Friday, April 11, on climate change and food production. “Technologies and Priorities for Adaptation to Climate Change: From California to Global Food Security” is scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union’s King Lounge (second floor), on the Davis campus.