Agricultural Experiment Station

2021-2022 Research Impact

Scientists at UC Davis who are supported by Agricultural Experiment Station funding do research and outreach that address challenges in food and agriculture, natural resources, community development and many other areas that benefit society.

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College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Logo

Research at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is spread across three main areas of emphasis.

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Agricultural Sciences

  • Animal science
  • Biological and Agricultural Engineering
  • Entomology and nematology
  • Plant pathology
  • Plant sciences
  • Viticulture and enology

Environmental Sciences

  • Environmental science and policy
  • Environmental toxicology
  • Land, air and water resources
  • Wildlife, fish and conservation biology

Human and Social Sciences

  • Agricultural and resource economics
  • Food science and technology
  • Human ecology
  • Nutrition

Choose a topic to view our research in a specific area

Research Projects

$-.- Million - Expenditures

Research conducted with Agricultural Experiment Station funding at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences touches the people of California and the world beyond. Projects range widely from topics such as ‘applied freshwater predator-prey ecology’ to ‘designing healthy youth environments.’ Hover over the circles to view details about project titles, funding and associated departments.

Agriculture

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Funding Information

Total Funding: $- Million

# of Projects: -

Departments

Legend

Each circle represents a research project in a given topic.

  • green circle Agriculture
  • blue circle Environment
  • yellow circle Human and Social

Size of each circle correlates to the funding that a project receives.

$5 Million $1.5 Million $0.2 Million

Geographical Impact

$-.- Million - Helping California

Researchers in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences impact California in numerous ways and discover new knowledge in the areas of: sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation, nutritious food, clean water and human health.

This map represents a small fraction of the 300+ faculty who provide critical scientific solutions to some of our state and nation’s biggest challenges. Hover over icons to explore the research we are doing in California.

Agriculture

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Funding Information

Total Funding: $- Million

# of Projects: -

Departments

Contributors

$-.- Million - Funding Sources

Transparency is important to us at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Below you'll find a list of the funding sources that provide us with the tools to continue researching topics of importance to California and beyond.

Spotlights

$-.- Million - The Impact

Research in the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has an impact on California and beyond. Check out these highlighted articles for a more in-depth look at what we are doing in the fields of agriculture, the environment and the human and social sciences.

A prototype helper robot transporting fresh-picked strawberries.

A prototype helper robot transporting fresh-picked strawberries.

Agriculture

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Mechanical Crop Harvesting

Department: Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Importance

Harvesting crops and fresh market fruit is among the most labor-intensive elements of any agricultural operation in terms of cost and dependence on a seasonal and sometimes semi-skilled workforce.

Impact

Agricultural robotics can automate and simplify many processes, speeding up harvesting, reducing labor needs and increasing efficiency. Researchers used camera-based sensing, conventional picking bags and an algorithm to maximize performance and were successful in creating a functional robotic orchard platform that achieved up to 25 percent faster harvesting speeds compared to the standard non-automated platform.

UC Davis “Valiant” strawberry among new varieties developed by the Strawberry Breeding Program

UC Davis “Valiant” strawberry among new varieties developed by the Strawberry Breeding Program.

Agriculture

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Strawberry Breeding Program

Department: Plant Sciences

Importance

Plant breeders are using genetics to create new varieties of germplasm that satisfy the needs of consumers, who want the fruit to be bright red, sweet and juicy; and growers, who want plants to be high-yielding and resistant to diseases. For more than 70 years, our researchers have revolutionized the strawberry industry by developing prominent strawberry varieties that support a market that leads to nearly $3 billion in sales annually.

Impact

Strawberries are vulnerable to soil-borne pathogens, which can destroy plants and greatly reduce yield. The goal of the Strawberry Breeding Program is to develop new varieties of strawberry plants that have higher quality berries, are less vulnerable to pests and diseases and can be grown more efficiently. CA&ES researchers have released seven new varieties in the past two years.

Student looks through the many choices of soft drink available at the Memorial Union

Student looks through the many choices of soft drink available at the Memorial Union.

Human and Social

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Beverage Consumption Attitudes

Department: Human Ecology

Importance

Reducing the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages consumption has become a major public health priority. Sugary drinks have been shown to contribute to weight gain and obesity, tooth decay, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Impact

Researchers found that simple, bright yellow warning labels on beverages like fruit-flavored drinks, sweetened teas and flavored milk in a college cafeteria helped students reduce their reported consumption of drinks by 14.5 percent. The results signal that such labels could reduce sugar consumption in larger settings.

Cattle feed containing seaweed was given to dairy cows at UC Davis.

Cattle feed containing seaweed was given to dairy cows at UC Davis.

Environment

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Reducing Cattle Methane Emissions

Department: Animal Science

Importance

As cattle digest their food throughout the day, they burp and exhale methane, a potent heat-trapping gas.

Impact

Adding a touch of seaweed to cattle feed can dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions from dairy cows and livestock by up to 80 percent. This discovery can help California’s farmers meet new carbon emission standards to reduce methane by 40 percent by 2030, receive carbon credits using emission reduction protocols, and produce food sustainably to help feed the world.

Bowfin fish are native to North America; photo credit: Solomon David, Nicholls State University.

Bowfin fish are native to North America; photo credit: Solomon David, Nicholls State University.

Environment

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Cultural Biases Impact Native Fish

Department: Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology

Importance

Colonialist attitudes toward native fishes are rooted in elements of racism and sexism, and those attitudes continue to shape fisheries management today, often to the detriment of native fishes. Nearly all states have policies that encourage overfishing native species. Up to half of fish species globally are in some form of decline and 83 percent of native California fish species are declining.

Impact

Native fishes help ecosystems in many ways, including nutrient cycling and food chain support for other native species. Researchers offer several recommendations for how anglers and fisheries managers can shift to a new paradigm for integrating changes, including indigenous perspectives, bag limits, and supporting science on native fish.

Department of Plant Sciences Chair Gail Taylor inside the school’s vertical farming laboratory.

Department of Plant Sciences Chair Gail Taylor inside the school’s vertical farming laboratory.

Agriculture

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Controlled Environment Agriculture

Department: Plant Sciences

Importance

Traditional agricultural methods could be disrupted by drought, flood and extreme weather as climate change intensifies. Growing crops in a closed-loop system where lighting, water and ventilation are controlled provides a way to maintain food sources while also avoiding climate instability and reducing risk of foodborne pathogens.

Impact

Inside a 40-foot long shipping container, students are learning how to be next-generation farmers with skills in engineering, computer science and growing crops such as lettuce and other leafy greens. This laboratory helps us to better understand hydroponic growing systems to provide nutrition to a growing population.

Sheep graze on UC Davis campus.

Sheep graze on UC Davis campus.

Human and Social

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Managing Landscapes with Sheep Mowers

Department: Human Ecology

Importance

This ongoing research project aims to determine if sheep, which intermittently graze a lawn on campus near the UC Davis Arboretum, can eat weeds and grass, fertilize the land and control pests as well as or better than using conventional landscaping methods.

Impact

Incorporating sheep into an existing urban green space has the potential to offer multiple operational, environmental and social benefits.

Students participating in a diet comparison project in the Nutrition department.

Students participating in a diet comparison project in the Nutrition department.

Human and Social

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Identifying Food Biomarkers

Department: Nutrition, Food Science and Technology

Importance

The foods we eat can directly affect overall health and disease risk. But it’s not one size fits all and new methods are needed to track how an individual responds to food.

Impact

The Dietary Biomarkers Development Center is using clinical trials to identify specific food biomarkers, which are indicators of what someone has eaten. The findings could lead to support personalized nutrition and culinary medicine.

Anita Oberholster, a viticulture and enology professor of cooperative extension, samples grapes that have been tainted by smoke from wildfires.

Anita Oberholster, a viticulture and enology professor of cooperative extension, samples grapes that have been tainted by smoke from wildfires.

Agriculture

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Smoke-Taint Research During California Wildfires

Department: Viticulture and Enology

Importance

California wildfires have been especially hard on the state’s wine industry, damaging billions of dollars in property and grapes; wildfires of 2020 alone cost the wine industry $3.7 billion in lost property, wine inventory, grapes and wine production. When grapes are exposed to smoke, they can sometimes impart unwanted flavors into finished wine and thus must be assayed to determine if they can be used.

Impact

With existing testing labs stretched beyond capacity, CA&ES partnered with CDFA to provide hundreds of growers and vintners with a rapid assay to test wine grapes for smoke taint and outreach support on how to quickly ferment grapes in small batches during COVID-19 lockdown to test for smoke exposure.

Jiahan Zou, a Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, holding a new form of ice cube that doesn't melt, is reusable, plastic-free and compostable.

Jiahan Zou, a Ph.D. graduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, holding a new form of ice cube that doesn't melt, is reusable, plastic-free and compostable.

Environment

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Innovative Cooling Cubes

Department: Food Science and Technology

Importance

Ice is used to keep foods fresh but can lead to cross-contamination as it melts, potentially passing microbes to other foods or down the drain.

Impact

CA&ES researchers have developed a jelly ice cube that doesn’t melt, is reusable and antimicrobial. The jelly ice cubes offer an alternative to traditional ice and could potentially reduce water consumption, environmental impact and help manage food waste by controlling microbial contaminations.