growing global - ca&es outlook - spring 2009

8/14/2019 Growing Global - CA&ES Outlook - Spring 2009

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CA&ES outlook Spring/Summer 2009

tHis issue

is a publication of theCollege of Agricultural andEnvironmental Sciences,Universit of California, Davis

executiveeditor

Ann Filmer

managingeditor

John Stumbos

associateeditor

Robin DeRieux

graphicdesigner

Eric Rohr

contributingwriters

Melissa HaworthElisabeth KauffmanDeborah RiceDawn SpinellaNeal Van Alfen

ca&esoutlookonline

http://outlook.ucdavis.edu

COLLEGEOFAGRICULTURAL

ANDENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

deansoffice

Universit of CaliforniaOne Shields AvenueDavis, CA 95616-8571Phone (530) 752-0108Fax (530) [email protected]

www.caes.ucdavis.edu

This publication is fundedpartiall through gifts fromthe J.G. Boswell Foundation.

printedonrecycledpaper

The Universit of Californiadoes not discriminate in anof its policies, procedures,or practices. The universit isan affirmative action/equalopportunit emploer.

Cover pHoto:The staff of theCA&ES International Programs Office (IPO) ishelping UC Davis facilitate new connectionswith developing countries around the globe.

At leFt: The core IPO staff includes (back row,from left) Paul Marcotte, Cork Lovin, Mark Bell,Shadi Atallah, Jim Hill; (front row) Donna Maricich,Becca Irvine, Mark Henderson, and RachelAbrenilla. Learn more at http://ip.ucdavis.edu.

Cover StoryUC Davis internationalstature has been bolsteredb innovative new programs

and research projects.

introduCtion 4

AfriCA 8

middle eASt 13

ASiA 16

lAtin AmeriCA 19

Also in tHe mAgAzine:

deAnS meSSAge 3

mAking A differenCe 22

Alumni Spotlight 24

Around the College 26

Student life 27

deAnS CirCle 28

Ca&ES now on faCEbook, twittErYou can now keep in touch with the College of Agricultural and EnvironmentalSciences on Facebook and Twitter. Become a CA&ES fan on Facebook and learn lotsof new things about the college while connecting with other CA&ES alumni aroundthe world. Then follow us on three new Twitter proles: @ucasCAES (for generalcollege news), @EoScece (for environmental sciences), and @AFooScece(for agricultural and food industry-related topics).

NEILMICHEL/AxIOM


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Spring/Summer 2009 CA&eS outlook

dEanS mES

OnE OF thE dEFining ChArACtEriStiCS OFUC Davis is its multicultural nature and long historyof research and outreach in other countries. We havebecome a truly internationalized campus and arebecoming more so as a result of goals set by the facultyand led by the chancellors administration.

UC Davis is among the top ve universities in

the country, public or private, for internationalscholarsabout 2,500 during the last academicyear. Close to half of them are visiting the Collegeof Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.They are drawn here because we are recognizedworldwide for the excellence of our programs.

In 2005, we reorganized our International ProgramsOfce to stimulate new initiatives within the college.Under the leadership of associate dean Jim Hill, weveseen a signicant increase in the number of projectsfunded by the U.S. government or by host countries.These projects expand upon the impressive portfolio of

undertakings by individual faculty members, such as thedevelopment of major nutrition programs in Africa.

Capacity building is a term you hear in associationwith projects in developing countries strugglingwith the most challenging conditions imaginable.

Years of war and drought have taken a toll onagriculture in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members ofour faculty are directly involved in helping thosecountries rebuild their agricultural education systemsto enhance food security and improve economicconditions. Helping people reclaim self-sufciencybeckons to our better nature as global citizens.

We also need to strengthen internationalrelationships to maintain our competitive edge inthe global marketplace. Valuable genetic traits forthe crops we produce in California can be found inthe domesticated cultivars and wild plant relativesin foreign lands. A good example of this is in thework of plant scientist Jorge Dubcovsky, who led aninternational team that identied a gene to protectwheat from stripe rust, a disease that can cause severecrop losses. Keep in mind that virtually all the cropswe grow in California originated somewhere else.

Building research partnerships and industryrelationships in international markets supports domesticeconomic growth. A study by our Agricultural IssuesCenter determined California agricultural exportsreached an all-time high of $10.9 billion in 2007. Thatsan 11 percent increase from the previous year and thesixth straight year of continued growth in the sale valueof agricultural products to foreign destinations.

International projects also give our students a chanceto learn about and experience the world, somethingemployers want from our students. In addition to

international scholars, several thousand students fromforeign countries attend UC Davis every year. Thesefolks often become industry and government leadersin countries throughout the world. In my travels, I

frequently enjoy the hospitality of our alumni abroad.Our extended UC Davis family is indeed a global one.

This issue of our magazine offers a world tourof sorts to sample the breadth and diversity of ourinternational programs and research projects. Let usknow what you think. We value your feedback.

neAl vAn AlFen, deAn

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ANDENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Reaching Out

UC Davis is building bridgesthroughout the world

In m travels, I frequentl enjothe hospitalit of our alumni abroad.

Our extended UC Davis famil

is indeed a global one.

Dean Neal Van Alfen visits a sh market in Tokyo with UC Davislecturer Kazue Chavez, East Asian Languages and Cultures.


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A $16 million grant from

the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation, announcedin November 2008, will enablea UC Davis nutrition professor

to lead an international effort

to prevent childhood malnutritionin developing countries.

In June 2008, the presidentof Chile and UC Davis leaders

formalized agreements tocollaborate on teaching andresearch in grape growing,

winemaking, crop genetics,and plant breeding.

Since 2006, CA&ES facultyhave acted as mentors forvisiting Vietnamese faculty,as Vietnam seeks to westernizehigher education by offeringcurricula from UC Davis andother American universities.

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nes lke s as become moe commo as UC dasa e Collee of Aculual a EomealScecesbecomes a moe eaoalze campus.

Sce ealy campus soy, UC das aculualscess aele aboa seac of eec esouces osee Calfoas aculual esy. i e 1940s,

culue pofesso haol Olmo se Afasa ond new grape cultivars that would help revitalize wineproduction in California. For nearly ve decades, starting 1948, pla sces Cales rck scoue Sou

Ameca fo e ypes of omaoes. i e 1970s abeyo, amal scece eecs Ec Bafo eueo Keya, ioesa, a Moocco o suy lesockfo foo pouco. toay, a e eeao of UC dasfaculty is expanding scientic inquiry and establishinge poams fa eaces of e lobe.

The many ways UC Davis touches the world

Growing

Globalby John Stumbos, Robin DeRieux, and Ann Filmer


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In 2005, after a campuswide reviewrecommended an institutional effort to support

the international work of individual facultymembers, CA&ES created a new associatedean position in the International ProgramsOfce (IPO). Jim Hill, a UC Davis Cooperative

Extension specialist who for three years directed aglobal program on irrigated rice at the International RiceResearch Institute in the Philippines, holds that post.

Broadening our horizons internationally makessense on many different levels, Hill says. It improvesthe quality of undergraduate and graduate education,raises the visibility of UC Davis as a preferred partner in

agricultural and environmental sciences, and it expandsour research capabilities to help California agriculture

keep its competitive advantage.Consider also that virtually all the crops grown inCalifornia have their origin overseas. Access to thegenetic diversity that exists in crops and livestock fromother countries is crucial to help build resistance to pestsand diseases, to improve product quality, and to enhancethe nutritional value of our food. Building relationshipsabroad can also be an important means of opening newinternational markets.

Helping developing countries build or, in somecases, rebuild their agriculture and manage their natural

International Programs Ofce expands

das, Calf.

NEILMICHEL/AxIOM

Associate dean Jim Hill leads thecolleges International Programs Ofce.


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UC Davis is one of the top destinationsin the country for international schol-

ars. In the 20072008 academic year,for instance, UC Davis hosted 2,500visiting researchers, lecturers, and fac-ulty. Other universities in the top ve

include Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and UC Berkeley.Nearly half these international scholars were CA&ES

visitors. One of the IPO-managed programs bringingthem here is the Cochran Fellowship Program,funded by USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service. TheCochran program provides short-term training oftwo to four weeks for agricultural professionals fromemerging market countries. Fellows are typically senior

and mid-level specialists and administrators fromagribusinesses, government departments, universities,and other agricultural organizations who are concernedwith agricultural trade, agribusiness development,management, policy, and marketing.

Training and education facilitates our ability to sellagricultural products, especially many of the value-added products we produce in California, says CorkyLovin, who runs the program at UC Davis. We offer amix of technical instruction, practical eld observations,and hands-on experience, but we dont provide trainingthat directly enhances a countrys ability to export goods

in competition with the United States.Lovin arranged for one recent group of visitors fromIndia to learn about farm-to-fork produce programs andmarketing produce with minimal waste. Other recentvisitors from Kosovo and Moldova were interested infruit and vegetable processing. Two other groupsonefrom Africa, the other from the Ukraineestablishedseafood marketing connections. Many Cochran Fellowsrepresent food safety and phytosanitary institutions.

A case study of the Cochran program by the U.S.Interagency Workgroup said that it has helped resolve

trade disputes, decrease some nontariff trade barriers,and foster collaboration between the public and privatesectors of the United States and participating countries.

At least two Cochran Fellows have gone on to becomeministers of agriculture and have pledged to workclosely with the U.S. on nontariff trade barriers. TheUSDA estimates that the Cochran program stimulates

$25 million in business for U.S. agricultural products peryear, many of these rst-time purchases.

Programs like thisand the projectswe prole in the following pagesare

helping establish mutually benecial

connections between California andother countries. Read on to learn howUC Davis is engaging the campus inworld affairs.

A top destination for scholars

resources contributes to global stability by addressingthe most basic of human needs for nutritious food anddependable, clean water. Training and education offarmers in developing countries also stimulates economicdevelopment and enhances environmental sustainability.

The International Programs Ofce managesnearly 20 major projects with a staff of eight andthe broad engagement of many members of thefaculty. IPO projects are concentrated in Asia andthe Middle East but include countries on other

continents as well. Many projects involve otherland-grant university partners like Cornell, Purdue,Texas A&M, and Washington State University.

Were training agricultural extension agents fromIraq, developing plant and food sciences curriculain Vietnam, and helping California producers makeconnections with emerging markets in Eastern Europeand elsewhere, Hill says. Faculty engagement isstrengthened through these programs and, ultimately,we all benet from these efforts.

JOHNSTUMBOS/UCDAVIS

UC Davis agricultural specialist Corky Lovin (second fromleft) speaks with Brazilian dairy and meat inspectors visitingCalifornia through the Cochran program in April 2009.


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Afca

Professor Kay Dewey and fellow researchersare nding low-cost ways to preventchildhood malnutrition in developingcountries. Dewey, a faculty member inthe Department of Nutrition, coordinatesan international network of researchers

who are investigating the impact of fortied lipid-basednutritional supplements on the health of pregnantwomen and young children in the African nations ofGhana, Burkina Faso, and Malawi.

In developing countries, babies tend to do pretty well

for the rst six months, while theyre being breastfedexclusively, said Dewey. But they falter dramatically ingrowth between six and eighteen months.

Initial studies in Africa show that lipid- or fat-based nutrient supplements are a highly effective wayto treat and prevent malnutrition in young children.On the basis of this promising work, the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $16 million tosupport further research on lipid-based supplementsby an international network of collaborators. TheU.S. Agency for International Development has also

Preventing childhood malnutrition

Weighing babiesand mothers helps trackthe impact of fat-baseda on malnutrition.

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pledged $4 million to $5 million to help evaluatethe use of supplements in program settings.

In addition to Dewey, the research network includesAfrican and European participants, as well as UC Daviscollaborators Ken Brown, a pediatrician and professorof nutrition; Lindsay Allen, director of USDAs WesternHuman Nutrition Research Center; and Steve Vosti, aprofessor of agricultural and resource economics.

The French rm Nutriset produces several lipid-basedformulations that Dewey and other researchers havehelped develop for use in their studies. One productis Nutributter, which is made of peanut butter, milkpowder, vegetable oil, and a bit of sugar, fortied withvitamins and minerals. Creamy, dense, and mildlysweet, it contains essential fatty acids that are critical forneurological development. Nutributter is made to bespooned into home-prepared foods, and it can be storedwithout refrigeration. Unlike reconstituted powderedmilk, it doesnt require clean drinking water.

One of the goals of the project in Africa is toevaluate the economics of producing and marketingfood supplements like Nutributter locally, at a costaffordable to the poor. In several developing countries,local production of lipid-based nutrient supplementshas begun. I feel fortunate that the process of turningour basic research on these supplements into workingprograms is highly valued at UC Davis, said Dewey.

We hope that these interventions, by improving healthand ultimately the productivity of the population,will eventually help lift people out of the poverty thatunderlies childhood malnutrition. R.D.

Food securitythe condence that therewill be enough to eatis tenuous in manyparts of the world, especially rural Africa.UC Davis is headquarters of the GlobalLivestock Collaborative Research SupportProgram (GL-CRSP), an international

network of universities and organizations whose goal isto improve small-holder livelihoods through increased

household income and better nutrition.Agriculture is fundamental to the well-being ofpeople around the world, particularly to the poorestpeople in the world who live on a dollar or two a day.They spend 80 percent of their income on food, saysTag Demment, plant sciences professor and directorof the GL-CRSP.

For 30 years the GL-CRSP ofce at UC Davis hasoverseen livestock projects in Africa, Afghanistan,Mongolia, and elsewhere. Funding comes from theU.S. Agency for International Development, with cost-

Livestock program helps nances and families

Professor Kay Dewey (front row, third from right) standsbetween her formal doctoral students Seth Adu-Afarwuah

(second from right) and Anna Lartey (fourth from right).The two UC Davis alumni are project leaders in Ghana.

COURTESy

A GL-CRSP participant feeds his chickens in Kitelewasi, Tanzania.

dAnielleknueppel/uC

dAvis


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0 CA&ES outlook Spring/Summer 2009

sharing contributions from participating institutionsand countries. In Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya,and Mali, researchers from UC Davis and other

universities work to improve livestock production,which helps economic development, quality of life, andenvironmental stewardship.

This program is one of the highest-funded projectsever on this campus, says Demment. Our total fundingis close to $100 million. UC Davis is the U.S. leader inthe global livestock research issue.

In areas of Africa where livestock are an importantpart of the diet, especially for children, many people lackthe training to establish livestock production systems oreven to develop market plans to get loans. They also lack

the technology that can provide useful information likeweather prediction and market prices.

At the same time, livestock production is threatenedby overlapping problems such as development in ruralareas, infectious diseases (human and livestock), dwin-dling natural resources (drought and soil erosion), andpolitical instability. GL-CRSP researchers must workwithin these constraints to improve livestock production.

The success of the GL-CRSP program hinges onworking with local partners who have a lot of say aboutwhat will or wont work in their countries. In additionto conducting collaborative research, the program helps

build the capacity of local people and institutions, suchas teaching them to manage money and how to directinterdisciplinary projects.

Demment has spent 40 years conducting hands-on research in Africa. His work illustrates thatthe land-grant university model helps improvethe lives of families and communities. Stressingthe humanitarian role of UC Davis, Demmentnotes, UC Davis has the powerintellectual andscienticto really make a difference the world overand to change peoples lives. And we have. A.F.

Professor Tag Demment (left) discusses a childhood nutrition project with the village chief (right) in Techiman, Ghana.

SUSAN

JOHNSON/UCDAVIS

This program is one of the highest-funded projects ever on this campus.

UC Davis is the U.S. leader in

the global livestock research issue.


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In developing countries where rural women havefew resources, feeding children healthfully and

affordably is a challenge. This is especially truein Ghana, where poverty and lack of knowledgeabout nutrition are often the biggest obstaclesin improving childrens diets. GL-CRSP projects

have been very successful in working with women toimprove family nances and childrens nutrition.

Decades ago UC researchers and others found thatanimal-source foods are the only dietary item thatpredicts cognitive and academic performance in childrenin some areas of rural Africa. Even very small amountsof meat in childrens diet each day improved IQ scores,leadership skills, and energy levels. However, getting

children adequate quantities of meat is difcult.Given that poverty and lack of education areroadblocks to nutrition, the Global Livestock CRSPset up projects in Ghana to educate women aboutnutrition and to improve their nances. Local Ghanaianwomen were trained to go to villages, organize thewomen, and teach them how important meat is inchild development, said Tag Demment, plant sciencesprofessor and director of the GL-CRSP.

Through the nonprot Heifer International and theGL-CRSP, women were also taught to raise and produce

chickens. A micronance scheme was established, givingwomen small start-up loans and teaching them how tokeep track of the money.

After one year, many of the womenliving in mudhutssaved upward of $1,000 from the sale of poultry

and eggs. Most impressively, there was a 100-percentrepayment on the loans. The local rural bank was somoved that it requested training so that it could nancefuture poultry projects.

This project put together the critical elementsin building the capacity of womens groups to besuccessful, Demment said. You cant just give themmicronance, you cant just tell them how to raisechickens, you cant just educate them about nutrition.

You have to put the package together. This project hasbeen incredibly successful. A.F.

Empowering women in Ghana

The poultr project is one of man examples

in which empowering women helps childrenget better food and helps families earn andsave mone. Inspiring stories of man successfulprojects can be read in the GL-CRSP newsletter,Ruminations (http://glcrsp.ucdavis.edu).

SUSAN

JOHNSON/UCDAVIS

Ghanaian women participatein a GL-CRSP project.


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P

rofessor Paul Gepts is helping beanbreeders in East Africa use DNA-assistedselection to increase bean production forsustenance and revenue. The UC Davisplant geneticist is lead scientist for a project

called the African Bean Consortium-Kirkhouse Trust (ABC-KT). Financed by a British charity,the bean genetics project began in 2006 and includesmore than 30 collaborators from Rwanda, Uganda,Kenya, and Tanzania.

Basically, we start from scratch, said Gepts, who hasstudied beans for more than 30 years. The breeders wework with have been educated in Europe or the UnitedStates, but they lack resourcesgreenhouses, eldequipment, labs. This project will establish infrastructurein these countries that allows breeders to analyze plantDNAnot just any DNA, but the markers that are

linked to disease-resistant genes.Beans are a vital source of protein for humans,

particularly in developing countries. Despite theimportance of beans to the East African dietwherethey provide up to 40 percent of protein intakebeansare not native to Africa. The multitude of bean varietieswe know today evolved from two primary linesthat were rst domesticated thousands of years ago,one in present-day Mexico, and another in the

Andes Mountains.Gepts and fellow researchers have made many trips to

Mexico and Latin America to collect landraces (farmer-

selected varieties) and new populations of wild beansin an effort to preserve bean biodiversity. Conservinggenetic diversity is critical to increasing the productivityof beans and the sustainability of agriculture throughbreeding programs.

International research is where the action is becausemost crop biodiversity is in the tropics and subtropics,said Gepts, whose uency in several languages helpsfacilitate his work abroad.

Back on campus, the Gepts lab analyzes the DNA ofplants collected abroad to trace their parentage. His labalso develops genetic markers that correspond to resis-

tance against pathogens or other adverse conditions.Plant breeders use DNA markers to help select parentsthat will pass the desired traits to their offspring. Breed-ing plants using DNA-assisted selection dramaticallyshortens the time required to develop new varieties.

The ABC-KT project in East Africa aims to breedbean plants that are more tolerant to disease and toshorten the time between basic and applied research.Doing these international projects is good for breederseverywhere, said Gepts. Growers here benet from dis-coveries we make while doing research abroad. R.D.

Using crop biodiversity to improve agriculture

Professor Paul Gepts, bottom left, met with colleagues in Ugan-da for a plant breeding project that will enable East Africans to

increase bean production using DNA marker-assisted selection.

Latin American farmers began the practice of growing beans,corn, and squash together, a cropping system that has alsobeen adopted by growers in Eastern Africa.

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PAULGEPTS/UCDAVIS


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Mle Eas

In December 2008, UC Davis horticulturistLouise Ferguson donned a ak jacket and

military helmet as she prepared to board theRhino, an armored vehicle that looks like aHummer on steroids.

Thats how you cross Baghdad in the middleof the night, she said of her recent trip. The UC DavisCooperative Extension specialist is part of a team ofUC Davis agricultural scientists participating in the Iraq

Agricultural Extension Revitalization (IAER) program.Funded through USDAs Foreign Agricultural Service,

the effort involves land-grant universities in California,Washington, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico. Each

university in this Aggie Consortium focuses on onearea of agricultural production.

The agricultural system in Iraq is in shambles, saidUC Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus Ron Voss,who has been recruited in the effort for his expertisein vegetable production and also to coordinate theUC Davis part of the mission. The Iraqi people arehaving a hard time feeding themselves, and the peopleinvolved in agriculture there are nding it difcult tomake a living.

Iraq farms many of the same crops grown inCaliforniacitrus, grapes, apples, olives, pomegranates,tomatoes, melons, potatoes, onions, and peppers. In the

On the front lines of development in Iraq

UC Davis specialist emeritus Ron Voss (with cap) talks to a group of Iraqi agricultural extension agents on a tour of the Jordan Valley.

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UISEFERGUSON/UCDAVIS


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rst part of the project (October 2006-September 2008),

more than 100 Iraqi extension agents visited Jordan andEgyptsafe, neutral countriesto gain horticulturalexpertise from UC Davis scientists in crop production,postharvest technology, plant propagation andestablishment, and pest, soil, and water management.

In February 2008, professor emeritus of postharvestphysiology Adel Kader (with the help of UC Davisalumni Dr. Najib Elassi, University of Jordan, andDr. Awad Hussein, University of Alexandria, Egypt),presented a week-long short course on postharvestquality and safety maintenance of horticulturalperishables in Amman, Jordan, for 30 Iraqi agricultural

extension agents and university instructors.We communicated in Arabic and encouraged

questions and discussions, Kader said. The programincluded two eld trips to the Amman fruit andvegetable wholesale market and to a few packinghousesin the Jordan Valley. Overall, the course was very wellreceived by the participants, and they greatly appreciatedall the resources they received with this course.

Entomology professor Frank Zalom, a specialistin integrated pest management, was part of a teampresenting information in Jordan during April 2008.

Spending an intense week of training and traveling with

the Iraqis afforded me an opportunity to get to know anumber of them on a more personal level, he said. Iwas struck by how lifeand indeed farmingmust goon, even under difcult conditions. I felt that I learnedeasily as much as I could have possibly taught.

A dozen Iraqi specialists visited UC Davis this springfor training in extension techniques and in subject mattercompetency. More than 20 campus and county-basedUC scientists assisted in the effort. The Iraqis itineraryincluded Kaders renowned postharvest short course.

At the conclusion of the training, the attendeeswill return to Iraq armed with leaets, pamphlets,

bulletins, and fact sheets translated into Arabic,and computers loaded with a variety of othermaterials and extension training modules that willequip them to train others upon their return.

The current generation of young scientists has neverbeen outside of Iraq to study, Voss says. This programis an opportunity for us to do something positive. Ourhope is that the IAER program will elevate subject mattercompetency and help improve their ability to shareagricultural information through extension techniquesused in California. J.S.

As part of an effort to revitalize agriculture in Iraq, agricultural educators visit a greenhouse to learn about a pest problem.

LOUISEFERGUSON/UCDAVIS


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E

l shams in Arabic meansthe sun. EL SHAMS is anacronym for Enhanced Livelihoodsfrom Smallholder Horticultural

Activities Managed Sustainably,

a project involving UC Davisfaculty and California producers to help in the ongoingtransformation of Egyptian agriculture.

The 20042008 project, funded by the U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID),sought to improve exports of high-value horticulturalcrops from Egypts small- and medium-sized farmsthrough train-the-trainer workshops in postharvesthandling of fresh fruits and vegetables. Theworkshops were held in Egypt and at UC Davis.

I was impressed by the eagerness of theEgyptian horticultural crop producers and farm

advisers who participated in these workshops tolearn and share their knowledge with others,said Adel Kader, UC Davis professor emeritus.

EL SHAMS also helped organize farmer associationsand provided grants for infrastructure improvements.Many improvements in production and postharvesthandling to assure the quality and safety of fruits andvegetables produced in southern Egypt resulted fromthe EL SHAMS project, said Awad Hussein, a UC Davisalumnus and University of Alexandria faculty memberwho served as training director.

CA&ES faculty have a long history of involvement

in the agricultural development of Egypt. Three otherprojects with a major impact include:

te Aculual deelopme Sysems Pojec(19791983) 200 Egyptian scientists gainedadvanced training, and 650 Egyptian researcherscollaborated with 130 U.S. counterparts.Forty-six research projects were completedin horticultural production and postharvesthandling, price policy, agricultural marketing,human capital and social institutions, foodsecurity, land and water use, food technologies,livestock production, and irrigation.

te rce reseac a ta Pojec(19801986) UC Davis contracted with USAIDto help improve the production and quality of ricein Egypt. The project helped improve and enlargeresearch programs, develop an effective extensionprogram, acquire mechanized equipment forrice cultivation, create a pure seed program tosolve seed production problems, and constructlaboratories, ofces, and eld facilities.

Aculual tecoloy Ulzao atasfe (19961999) CA&ES providedtechnical assistance with horticultural production,postharvest know-how, and training programdevelopment. The program sought to ensureprotable and sustainable production, increaseproduce quality and safety, and reduce postharvestlosses for grapes, strawberries, melons, andvegetables.

Over many years, our faculty have developedparticipatory approaches to build organizational capacity,business skills, technical knowledge, and marketingintelligence in Egypt, said Jim Hill, CA&ES associatedean for international programs. By showing farmershow to inform and organize themselves to meet thedemands of high-value domestic and export markets,we are building partnerships that strengthen relationsbetween our countries. J.S.

Spreading sunshine in the Valley of the Nile

Awad Hussein, a UC Davis alumnus and University of Alexan-dria faculty member, shows a group of Egyptian agriculturalextension agents visiting UC Davis how to take a cantaloupesample in a postharvest laboratory.


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Asa

P

erhaps nowhere else in the world haveagricultural scientists faced a moredaunting challenge than in Afghanistan.

An agricultural system that onceprovided income for about 80 percent of

the Afghan population is recovering fromdecades of war and a harsh drought that decimatedthe Central Asian countrys production capacity andeducational infrastructure.

In 2005, UC Davis joined with other Americanuniversities, the U.S. government, and nongovernmentalorganizations to help rebuild Afghanistansagricultural capacity. These groups are workingwith the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation,and Livestock and ve agricultural universities inKabul, Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar, and Balkh.

When every single thing is broken, where do youbegin? asks Thomas Rost, UC Davis plant biologyprofessor emeritus who traveled in 2008 to Afghanistanto assess curricula and to evaluate teaching capacity.

The university was destroyed by war, Rost reports.

Buildings are pockmarked with bullet holes and shrap-nel. Some buildings had been blown up and have sincebeen rebuilt. Those that remained were seriously looted.

Kabul University agriculture students have no books,no copy machines, and very slow Internet access, whenavailable. Information is outdated and the concept of acurriculum is new. Professors supplement their meagersalaries with other jobs.

It really is very difcult for the students, Rost says.But they are so focused and so enthusiastic. You can seeit in their eyes, and that gives you hope.

Rebuilding Afghanistans agriculture

A typical street-side fruit and vegetable market in Kabul. Much produce is lost because of poor production practices and postharvesthandling before it ever reaches the marketplace.

JIMH

ILL/UCD

AVIS


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How do you transplant a curriculum

from one country to another? It takesteamwork, says Professor Glenn

Young, director of the Food ScienceCurriculum Development Programbetween UC Davis and Nong Lam

University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Two colleges in Vietnam are building new curricula

for Vietnamese students based on majors at UC Davis.Courses are taught in English by Vietnamese faculty.

Since 2006, Hanoi University of Agriculture haspartnered with the UC Davis Department of PlantSciences to offer the crop science and management

degree to approximately 50 honors students per year.A similar partnership between Nong Lam University inHo Chi Minh City and the Department of Food Scienceand Technology began in the fall of 2008. A curriculum-building venture in environmental science betweenThai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry andUC Davis is in the planning stages.

These curriculum-building agreements are nancedby the Vietnamese central government in an effort totransform their system of higher education from the So-viet model of teaching to a more Western approach, Eng-lish and all. Vietnamese universities compete for funding

from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training.The success of curriculum development proposalsthat feature UC Davis as a partner is due in part tothe efforts of Cary Trexler, a professor of agriculturaleducation from the UC Davis School of Educationwho spent last year in Vietnam as a Fulbright Fellow.Trexler has been working with Vietnamese agriculturaluniversities for six years, serving as an intermediaryfor faculty interested in transforming agriculturaleducation in a nation where family farms are prevalent,and the economy is still driven by agriculture.

Plant sciences professor Richard Plant, who directsthe collaboration with Hanoi University of Agriculture,said Vietnam sends two or three faculty members toUC Davis each quarter to audit courses that they willlater teach at home. The colleges International ProgramsOfce helps visiting faculty nd short-term housing, and

Vietnamese-American students on campus help visitorshandle the culture shock. Often, the plant science facultymembers who teach the class at UC Davis subsequentlytravel to Vietnam to assist in starting the course there.

The curriculum-building partnership between theDepartment of Food Science and Technology and NongLam University is based on a similar model. Agricultureis international, says Young, a food microbiologistwho hosted a Vietnamese faculty member last fall.International work allows our faculty to understand thediversity of the eld beyond our borders. R.D.

Vietnam learns the UC Davis way

UC Davis has a long history with Afghanistan,stemming back to a more stable time in its history.In the 1940s, viticulture and enology professorHarold Olmo traveled there to collect wild grapevinesfor breeding with California stock. Afghanistanshares a climate and many crops in common withCalifornia in addition to grapesalmonds, citrus,stone fruits, pomegranates, pistachios, and apples.

In other rebuilding efforts, UC Davis and thenonprot Roots of Peace provided training in vineyarddevelopment and postharvest handling of grapes and

raisins. Another project is training Afghan nurserymen toimprove almond seedlings. UC Davis is leading a projectwith Purdue and Cornell to help Afghanistan improve itsagricultural extension service.

You have to start somewhere, says CA&ESassociate dean Jim Hill. We are also initiating effortsto get the brightest young Afghan students to theUnited States and other countries for better trainingand a different perspective. Young, enthusiastic,well-trained scientists will be instrumental inrebuilding Afghanistans agriculture. J.S.

GLEN

NyOUNG/UCDAVIS

Tropical fruits are increasingly important to farmers in Vietnam.


18/28


Rapid industrialization in China in recentyears has led to severe environmentalcontamination. Scientists fromUC Davis are collaborating with Chineseresearchers to monitor water quality andto seek solutions for mitigating pollution

in the inland port of Wenzhou, a delta town south ofShanghai with rivers that drain into the East China Sea.

The river water in Wenzhou is not suitable for humancontact, said Professor Minghua Zhang, a hydrologist inthe Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. Thewater has huge concentrations of nitrates, ammonia,heavy metals, and phosphorus. It has garbage oatingin it. The Chinese government and the people who livein Wenzhou are very concerned about cleaning it up.

A native of China, Zhang is part of a large teamof researchers from UC Davis, Wenzhou Medical

College, and her alma mater, Zhejiang University,who are collaborating to improve the water quality in

Wenzhou. The research team includes Randy Dahlgrenand Jan Hopmans, professors of land, air and waterresources. The Chinese government has funded athree-year research project to clean up the river.

In the past decade or so, the city of Wenzhouhas mushroomed from a population of a millionpeople to almost seven million. Untreatedwastewater and industrial discharge contaminatesurrounding waterways, where people do theirlaundry, raise ducks for consumption, and sh.

In March 2008, several CA&ES faculty membersProfessor Mark Schwartz of environmental science andpolicy, Professor Shu Geng of plant sciences, as wellas four faculty from land, air and water resourcestraveled to Wenzhou to meet with ofcials, examinethe watershed, and take samples from the river.

One problem they observed was inadequate efuentcontrol. Zhang notes that mitigation is important butineffective when local residents and businesses continuedumping contaminants into the rivers. She and otherresearchers analyze polluted water from Chinese riversin laboratories at Zhejiang University and at UC Davis.

From an environmental standpoint, watercontamination in China and other rapidly developingcountries affects people worldwide since pollutantsdont observe national boundaries. Global issuesrequire a global team, said Zhang. Water quality is not

just an issue for China; it impacts all of us. R.D.

Chinese sCholars a major presenCe

The late food chemist Bor Luh, who moved with thefood science department from Berkele to the Daviscampus in 1950, helped facilitate an exchangebetween UC Davis facult and peers in China.

He had man friends and contacts, said food sci-ence professor Charles Shoemaker. When Chinabegan to open up, that reinvigorated his contactseven more and, as a consequence, we had someof the rst faculty visitors from China in the 1980s.

Toda, about 20 percent of the 2,500 internationalscholars visiting UC Davis are from China. Collab-oration between UC Davis and Chinese universitieshas given rise to the International Conference onFood Science and Technolog, held ever three

ears and next scheduled at UC Davis June 45.

The Chinese have alwas looked at food asmedicine, Shoemaker sas of future researchpossibilities. In foods for healthand in otherareasthe present a great opportunit. J.S.

Clean waterways for China

RANDy

DAHLGREN/UCDAVIS

For UC Davis scientists, analyzing pollution from Chinese riversis an opportunity to track what happens to high quantities ofchemicals as they degrade and move downstream.


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La

Ameca

Ateam of UC Davis researchers isdeveloping analytical tools to helpBrazil make the most of its abundantwater supplies to promote ruraldevelopment, enhance food security,alleviate poverty, and maintain

environmental quality.The effort is a project funded by the Consultative

Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR),

a global network of 15 research centers working in col-laboration with hundreds of governments, nongovern-mental organizations, businesses, and universities.

The project focuses on the 1,100-mile long So Fran-cisco River Basin, a region that has experienced uneveneconomic development. The team is led by Steve Vosti,adjunct professor of agricultural and resource econom-ics, and Wes Wallender, professor of land, air and waterresources, and of biological and agricultural engineering.

Brazil plans for sustainable water management

uC da aca ccresearcher Marcelo Torres (top)discusses water allocation witha Brazilian scientist.


20/28


They assessed rural poverty, agricultural activities,and access to water in 469 districts and developedhydrologic and economic models that includedupstream-downstream interrelationships. These modelscan be used to predict the effects of alternative policieson agriculture and on water use.

According to CGIAR, economic development hascome at a price in the So Francisco River Basin.Pollution and land degradation threaten not onlythe regions rich biodiversity but also the livelihoodsof marginalized groups, water supplies, and health.

Urban sewage, industrial efuents, and agrochemicals(mainly in irrigated areas) have seriously pollutedmajor tributaries. The regions traditional shery isin decline due to lower sh populations, partiallya result of the construction of large hydroelectricdams. Conicts over water use are becomingmore frequent as the quality and quantity of theavailable supply falls short of increasing demand.

Policymakers lacked a scientic basis forunderstanding the consequences of policies that couldaffect agricultural water-use decisions, Vosti said.

To ll these knowledge gaps, we quantied wateravailability throughout the basin and sought tounderstand its relationship to agricultural developmentand rural poverty. We also developed the rst hydro-economic models capable of examining the effects ofpolicies on groundwater use.

According to Wallender, the hydro-economic modelswere developed by UC Davis doctoral students studyingthe effects of reduced water deliveries to the west side ofCalifornias San Joaquin Valley. The predicted reductionsin economic returns were less than the forecast

reductions in water delivery, as farmers in Californiaadapted to water shortages, he said. We predictedsimilar results for Brazilian farmers as they changed theircropping patterns during a drought.

The UC Davis group worked with Embrapa,Brazils national corporation for agricultural research,to conduct the studies and to publish ndings in theresearch community and for government ofcialsin Brazil. To learn more about this project, link toCGIARs Challenge Program on water and food:http://www.waterandfood.org/about-cpwf.htm l. J.S.

On a small-scale farm inPetrolina, Brazil, two womenclean table grapes with smallscissors to meet demandingproduct quality standards ofthe European market.

STEVEVOSTI/UCDAVIS


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C

hile and California make good partners.The two share similar geography andclimates and grow many of the samecrops. UC Davis has been at the heartof teaching and research collaborations

with Chile, which began in the 1960sand 70s, when more than 50 Chilean students didgraduate work in agricultural sciences in our college andreturned to Chile to transform their countrys agriculture.

The partnership between California and Chile workswell because our locations in different hemispheres cre-ate opposite growing seasons, which means that most ofChiles fresh produce exports complement rather thancompete with those grown here. Having high-qualityfresh fruit available during the offseason creates greaterdemand overall, says Dean Neal Van Alfen. It getspeople consuming, so our collaborations with Chile have

increased the total overall market.

In June 2008, the relationship between UC Davis andChile bloomed anew when Dean Van Alfen, ChancellorLarry Vanderhoef, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,

and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed agree-ments that pledge Chilean funding for new research andteaching collaborations in viticulture, enology, plantbreeding, and genetics. Using prots from copper ex-ports, the Chilean government has also promised schol-arships for Chilean students to study at UC Davis andother University of California campuses.

One of the new accords with Chile proposes researchcollaborations on grapes and winewith an emphasison sustainable production and improving wine avor.The Department of Viticulture and Enology is workingwith partners in the Chilean wine and vineyard industry,

along with several Chilean universities, to developpotential projects that will benet growers and vintnersin both hemispheres.

Another agreement supports collaborations on cropgenetics and plant breeding. The UC Davis Seed Biotech-nology Center will work with the Chilean seed industryand academic partners to educate the next generation ofplant breeders and to develop new crop varieties.

California tomato, potato, and strawberry growershave benetted from collecting expeditions in Chile,where these plants grow wild. Roger Chetelat is director

of the C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center oncampus, which holds one of the largest collections oftomato seeds in the world and includes species fromChile. A geneticist, Chetelat has collaborated withChilean researchers on two trips to collect wild tomatoesin Chile and intends to return to do eld studies on atomato relative that thrives in the Atacama Desert, thedriest desert in the world. R.D.

Chile and California: fruitful partners

University of Chileprofessor Luis Fandezcollects seeds froma wild tomato in theAtacama Desert.

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, Chilean President MichelleBachelet, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chileanbusinessman Rafael Guilisasti look on as Dean Neal Van Alfen

signs a new teaching and research agreement with Chile.

UCDAVISPOOLPHOTO

GRAPy

CARLJONES/UCDAVIS

Having high-qualit fresh fruit

available during the offseason

creates greater demand overall.


22/28


akinG a diffErEnCE

in 1984, KEn-iChi KOSUnAfounded Amino Up, a Japanesebiotechnology company that looksto nature for products contribut-ing to human health. The company

develops mushrooms, herbs, andother plants into patented high-techextracts that promote heart health,ght allergies, and help treat cancer.

Kosuna has long been a sup-porter of UC Davis nutrition re-search. His gifts to UC Davis since1998 have topped more than $1million in unrestricted support,earning Amino Up a distinction asone of the Chancellors Laureates.

I am a strong believer in the

power of partnerships betweenuniversity research and industry,Kosuna says. That is what we havedone in Japan and what we do atUC Davis because of its preemi-nence in nutrition research, and thequality of its faculty and students.

In 2005, Amino Up endowedboth the Kosuna Doctoral Fellow-ship and the Kosuna DistinguishedLecture in Nutrition series. Nutri-

tion doctoral student Tony Mommawas the 2008 fellowship recipient.

The Kosuna fellowship willhelp send me to an internationalmeeting where I can share my

latest research with the top scien-tists in the eld, Momma said.

In June 2009, the fth KosunaDistinguished Lecture will be de-livered at UC Davis by Dr. MichaelDubrick, senior scientist at theU.S. Armys Institute of SurgicalResearch. His talk will focus onpolyphenols and health promotion.

Kosunas support has also helpedfund research into heart-healthycompounds called avanols, which

are found in abundance in someplants. UC Davis research nutrition-ist Robert Hackman investigatesavanol-rich botanical extracts. Heand his colleagues will soon publisha paper on a unique lychee-fruitextract developed by Amino Up.

We are very grateful for thisresearch support, Hackmansaid. Mr. Kosunas contributionsto UC Davis help strengthen

our work on avanols. Clinicalresearch like this is the foundationof safer and more effectivefoods, beverages, and dietarysupplements that ultimatelybenet the consumer throughimproved health and nutrition.

Melissa Haworth

Ken-Ichi Kosuna (center) with fellowship awardees Erik Froyen and Roberta Holt.

FrAnCisCo

demingo/Amino

up

Back tO natuRe

Japanese business supports nutrition research

Gift planninG tip

you can support our favoritecampus program b listing theUC Davis Foundation as abeneciary of your retirementaccounts, life insurance polic,

or other specic assets.This revocable designationoffers ou the satisfaction ofknowing that our future giftwill make a difference.

Mar Baer included a generousgift in her estate plans to theCollege of Agricultural andEnvironmental Sciences andthe UC Davis Arboretumwith specic annuities andinvestment accounts. WhenMs. Baer passed in 2006,the Mar Baer Endowment forAgricultural and EnvironmentalSciences and the Mar BaerEndowment for the UC DavisArboretum were establishedwith her contributions. Aportion of Ms. Baers gift is alsohelping launch the GATEwasproject in the arboretum.

To designate UC Davis as abeneciary, please specifythe UC Davis Foundationand note the program ouwould like to support. Donorswho include UC Davis intheir estate plans ma jointhe Peter J. and Carolee W.Shields Societ and are invitedto special campus events.

For more information, contactChristine Schmidt, (530) 752-6414, [email protected]. Or go online: http://plannedgiving.ucdavis.edu.


23/28


makinG a diffEr

UC dAviS ALUMnUS AndNew Zealand native George Mason

(Ph.D., 60, plant physiology)is using his knowledge of andpassion for plants in worthyendeavors ranging from helpingthe poor in India to improvingthe UC Davis Arboretum.

He and fellow Rotarians fromNew Zealand initiated a project tohelp Indian peasant farmers in aHimalayan border region improvewater supply for households,animals, and crop irrigation. They

made improvements to water catch-ments, tanks, and dams in order tocapture summer monsoon rains.

I have also been involved inthe selection, propagation, anddevelopment of different cultivarsof vegetables, fruits, and cut ow-ers introduced from New Zealand,he said. These plants are beingsupplied to local farmers for salesas novel produce items for nearbymarkets in Chandigarh and Delhi.

Mason was a graduate student atUC Davis in the late 1950s, a timewhen the campus was a sprawlingcollection of rec halls, farm build-ings, and post-war Quonset huts

around the Quad. He received ateaching assistantship in weed sci-ence courses in the Departmentof Botany, an experience that hada major inuence on his life.

Plant physiology is funda-mental to the understanding ofplant growth and selective plantmanagement as used in the weedcontrol industry, Mason says. I

am still involved in that industry.Today, Masons nancial sup-

port and international connec-tions are helping UC Davis createa southern hemisphere garden inthe campus arboretum with plantsfrom Australia and New Zealand.

The area is ideal because existingtrees will provide summer shadefor plant establishment. Amongthe heat-tolerant plantings will bea ghost gum woodland and NewZealand sedges, herbs, and axes.

This project will provideanother opportunity to connect

people with plants that promotesustainable gardening practices,

said arboretum director KathleenSocolofsky. Both the horticulture

industry and home gardeners willbenet from new informationabout the performance ofsouthern hemisphere plants inCentral Valley conditions.

Masons home in NewPlymouth, on New Zealandsnorth island, is a region similar toNorthern California with similaropportunities and challenges inlarge urban plant collections.

A key feature of the UC Davis

Arboretum is the management ofwater quality and ows in PutahCreek, Mason says. Likewise,there is a parallel in water qualityin Pukekura Park Lake, centered inthe New Plymouth urban environ-ment. I view this as a critical aspectof sustainable management of thesetwo world-class plant collections.

Deborah Rice

aRdOR fOR the aRBORetum

Zeal for plants from Down Under spreads from India to UC Davis

This project will provide another opportunit

to connect people with plants that promote

sustainable gardening practices.

George Masons support is helping

establish a new southern hemispheregarden in the UC Davis Arboretum.


24/28


lumni spOtlight

OnE OF thE wOrLdSleading plant scientists, UC Davis

alumnus Gurdev Khush built acareer as an eminent rice breederthat spanned more than three de-cades. For the last seven years hehas been back on campus inspir-ing a new generation of inquisitiveminds as an adjunct professor.

Khush (Ph.D., 60, Genetics),a native of Punjab, India, led thebreeding program at the Interna-tional Rice Research Institute (IRRI)in the Philippines for 34 years until

2002. Under his leadership, morethan 300 breeding lines developedat IRRI have been released as newvarieties by rice improvement pro-grams throughout the world. Heis credited with ushering in thegreen revolution in global riceproduction with the release of thevariety IR36, the most widelyplanted cultivar ever grown.

Professor Khush is a member ofthe National Academy of Sciences

and Royal Society (London) and isa fellow of numerous professionalsocieties. His accomplishments haveearned him some of agriculturesmost prestigious awards, includingthe Borlaug Award for Achieve-ments in Plant Breeding (1977), the

World Food Prize (1996), and theWolf Prize in Agriculture (2000).He is also a recipient of the Emil M.Mrak International Award (1990).

Gurdev Khush epitomizes the

marriage of science and art relatedto improvement of food produc-tion, said colleague and UC Davisplant sciences professor emeri-tus Calvin Qualset. As an IRRIscientist, he tirelessly conductedgenetic research on rice traits im-portant to the adaptation of riceto the elds of Asian farmers.

As a UC Davis graduate studentin the late 50s, Khush studied

under legendary geneticist Le-dyard Stebbins and also workedas a postdoctoral researcher withfamed plant breeder CharlesRick on the tomato genome.

I learned to maintain the high-est standards of research from

them, Khush said of his men-tors. Their passion for scienticinquiry inspired me, and I havefond memories of get-togethersat their homes and going on sci-entic outings with them.

Experiences like these are part ofthe reason Khush decided to returnto UC Davis upon his retirementfrom IRRI in 2002. He leads a fallseminar on international agricul-ture and also shares his worldly

experience as an adviser to graduategroups in International AgriculturalDevelopment and in Genetics.

Its very enjoyable to in-teract with students, he says.We have fascinating discus-sions on the world food supply,world hunger, genetic modica-tion, and many other areas.

John Stumbos

full ciRcle

UC Davis alumnus and green revolution pioneer returns to campus

Their passion forscientic inquiry

inspired me, and I

have fond memories

of get-togethers at

their homes and

going on scientic

outings with them.

EUGENEHETTEL/IRRI

Rice varieties developed by Gurdev Khush (second from right) at the International RiceResearch Institute in the Philippines have fed millions of people.


25/28


alumni spOt

UC dAviS ALUMnUSPaulHicks (M.S., 99, International

Agricultural Development) isleading a rewarding life helpingpeople in developing countriesbecome better stewards oftheir land and water.

He works for Catholic ReliefServices (CRS) managing a waterresources program funded by theHoward G. Buffett Foundationthat covers 20 watershedsin El Salvador, Guatemala,Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Hicks joined the Peace Corpsin 1993 and was assigned toHonduras, where he began workingon water and sanitation projects.

About six months into myservice, tropical storm Gert hitthe north coast of Honduras andblew out most of the bridges inthe area where I lived, Hicksrecalls. So my commutes involvedbiking, climbing trees, and wadingthrough rivers. While this was

horribly inconvenient for myHonduran friends and neighbors,I dont think I ever got over theidea, Im in rural Honduras, on amountain bike, wading through atropical river to get to work!

For two years Hicks helpedHondurans rehabilitate andbuild community water systemsthreatened by watersheddegradation. His goal was to workwith CRS, which urged him to

consider the UC Davis InternationalAgricultural Development (IAD)graduate program after the PeaceCorps. In his successful graduateschool application, he articulatedhis belief that using resourceswisely and providing opportunitiesto help people become agentsof their own development couldlead to a more peaceful world.

What I liked about IAD was

the focus on international rural

development, and the integratedcourse work in agriculture,ecology, agricultural economics,and community development, hesaid. I focused my own coursework on soils and ecology, andworked on the Student Farm,where the crew out there taughtme how to weed a eld of lettuce,prune a fruit tree, and drive atractor in a fairly straight line.

Hicks credits his graduate

training with developing the rightprofessional tools to manage a largeprogram spanning four Central

American countries. Youre alwaysworking in a team and interactingwith partner organizations, localgovernments, donors, and others,Hicks says. To be successful inthis kind of work requires a broadset of skills that are hard to ndin any one academic program.

The IAD program at UC Davis

offers a rare opportunity to accessa range of relevant courses.

Hicks, whose career has alsotaken him to Afghanistan, Albania,and the Philippines, has discoveredthat people the world over are muchmore alike than they are different.

Within CRS we recognizesolidarity as a powerfully richprinciple that gets to the root ofour shared humanity, he said.The real reward is experiencing

solidarity in very tangible ways:eating baked wheat bread and goatsmilk with an Afghan on his farm,or handmade corn tortillas and hotbeans in the shack of a Nicaraguanfamily. Thats good stuff.

John Stumbos

shaRed humanity

Altruistic intentions and hard work lead Paul Hicks to a global career

International Agricultural Development graduate Paul Hicks (right) has led anadventuresome and rewarding life since leaving UC Davis.


26/28


Six wOMEn FrOM CEntrALand Northern California who havemade signicant contributions toagriculture and to their communitieswere honored at UC Davis on March5. The annual Common Threadsevent is sponsored by CA&ESand the California AgriculturalLeadership Foundation.

Award recipients include MollyWatkins, a rancher and familyfarmer from San Joaquin County;Francine Bradley (B.S., M.S.,avian sciences, Ph.D., physiology),a poultry specialist at UC Davis;Eloise Fischer Spence, a rancherfrom Calaveras County; Caroline

Vann, a cattle rancher from ColusaCounty; Barbara Ohlendorf, apublications coordinator fromUC Davis; and Ann Silva, a dairyfarmer from San Joaquin County.In addition to distinguishingthemselves in their careers, thesewomen have all given back totheir communities and educatedthe public about agriculture.For additional information, visithttp://commonthreads.ucdavis.edu.

COnStrUCtiOn OF thE nEwTeaching and Research Wineryand the August A. Busch III Brewingand Food Science Laboratoryanintegral part of the Robert MondaviInstitute for Wine and Food Science

at UC Davis will begin this year.The project will be constructedto achieve LEED (Leadership inEnergy and Environmental Design)Platinum certication throughthe U.S. Green Building Council.Design features include onsitesolar power generation, rainwatercapture and water conservationand recycling, energy efciency,carbon dioxide containment and

removal, use of local and recycledconstruction materials, andreduction of building site waste.

The winery, which has yetto be named, will include a largeexperimental fermentation area,

controlled temperature roomsfor large-scale testing, barreland bottle cellars, a testing lab,a classroom and a special

bottle cellar for donated wines.Landscaping outside thewinery features a 12.5-acreteaching and research vineyard,and educational gardens.

The August A. Busch III Brewingand Food Science Laboratory will

house a exible food processingpilot plant for tomatoes, oliveoil, fruits and other Californiaproducts, a dairy processingfacility, and a pilot brewery.

The new facilities are being

constructed entirely with privatefunds. The 34,000-square-foot building housing thewinery and the laboratory willbe completed in fall 2010.

For more information,please contact Kathy Barrientes,[email protected],(530) 752-1602, or MelissaHaworth, [email protected], (530) 754-8562.

ROund the cOllege

cOmmOn thReads

College honors six women in agriculture

ANN FILMER/UC DAVIS

Common Threads participants (from left), CA&ES dean Neal Van Alfen, BarbaraOhlendorf, Francine Bradley, mistress of ceremonies Clare Hasler, Eloise FischerSpence, Caroline Vann, Molly Watkins, Ann Silva, CALF interim CEO Charlie Crabb,and UC Davis Provost Enrique Lavernia.

sOmethings BRewing

Work to begin on winery, brewery, and food science laboratory


27/28


thE intErnAtiOnAL AgriCULtUrALDevelopment Graduate Group at UC Davis is really goingplaces. IAD graduates are spread from California to theHorn of Africa, making a difference wherever they go.

We have alumni placed all over the world, workingfor the federal government, foundations, and manynongovernmental organizations, says program chair andplant sciences professor Richard Plant. Our graduates areequipped with knowledge and skills that enable them toimplement, facilitate, and manage programs in agriculturaldevelopment, resource management, and rural life.

The graduate group was created in the 1980s to prepare

students for careers in agricultural and rural developmentaround the world. The interdisciplinary program draws onthe knowledge of 80 faculty members in 31 departmentsacross the campus. The IAD masters program, whichadmits 1520 students annually, gives students anunderstanding of agricultural theory and application.

Many of our students come with some experience, suchas working with the Peace Corps or other organizations,says Plant. Many of them did not have an undergraduatebackground in agriculture, and only realized theimportance of agriculture after their own experience.

In addition to subject matter within agriculture

and social sciences, IAD students learn aboutdevelopment, leadership and managementtechniques, fundamentals of crop and livestockfarming systems, and agricultural economics.

For information about working internationally or formore training, check out the IAD Graduate Group onlineat http://iad.ucdavis.edu.

Elisabeth Kauffman

Anna Petersons spent two years with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Niger,West Africa, helping the small rural community of Holloballe nd solutionsto its water needs. I loved working with these small farmers in the middle ofnowhere, but with only a bachelors degree, I knew I wasnt qualied for a lotof jobs in agricultural development, she said. The IAD program has givenme what I was looking fora broader perspective on global agriculture.Petersons began her masters degree in the UC Davis IAD graduate programin 2007. Over the 2009 winter quarter she took some time off to work inIndia with a start-up company helping small farmers with drip irrigation.She returned for spring quarter to complete the masters program.

Zachary Bagley spent time as an undergraduate studying linksbetween wildlife conservation efforts and local poverty in Kenya.This experience opened my eyes to issues related to both humanwell-being and wildlife protection, says Bagley, now an IADmasters degree student. I chose UC Davis because of its positivereputation in the agricultural realm, its proven experience in theinternational arena, and its connections with the Peace Corps.

This experience opened m ees

to issues related to both human

well-being and wildlife protection.

aggies aBROad

Graduate students in agricultureput their passports to good use

studen


28/28

The troph wall in Ron PeachesSchulers (60, Agronom) billiards roomdisplas a collection of plaques andawards from UC Davis, including themost recentthe Jerr Fielder MemorialAward from the Cal Aggie AlumniAssociation. Ive alwas been involvedwith UC Davis, Schuler sas. I never left.

As Rons career led him through variousaspects of California agriculture, particu-larl the peach industr, he discovered atrue asset in his alma mater. I turned to mprofessors for guidance. I sought out advicefrom staff, facult, and other alumni. I wasable to use the newest technolog to moveforward and make m business decisionsbased on that knowledge.

True to the blue and gold, Ron has dem-

Council. He was instrumental in creating theL.D. Davis Professorship in Pomolog, anendowed chair. And he helped raise fundsfor a new food processing pilot plant thatwill be named in honor of the donors fromthe California processing tomato industr.As a member of the CA&ES Deans Circle,Ron knows that his unrestricted gifts are asimportant as focused gifts.

Help others, Schuler advises students.Do the best ou can. Sta in touch withk d l h UC D

JOIN THE CA&ES DEANS CIRCAs a CA&ES Deans Circle donor, our finasupport enhances the academic environmenfor the next generation of Aggies and creat

opportunities for our facult to achieve highlevels of excellence in teaching, research, apublic service.

ABOUT CONTRIBUTINGThe CA&ES Deans Circle is open to donorwho wish to make unrestricted annual gifts o$1,000 or more to the College of Agricultuand Environmental Sciences.

your donation is renewable annuall, and emploers matching gifts count toward the

Donors to the CA&ES Deans Circle are inv

to campus events such as an annual briefingwith the dean. Donors also receive recogniin college publications.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTEA response envelope is included in this issuof CA&ES Outlook so that ou can join ourprestigious circle of donors.

If ou have questions or need more informaplease contact the CA&ES Development Of

College of Agricultural andnvironmental Sciences #986H

Universit of CaliforniaOne Shields AvenueDavis, CA 95616-8571

Nonprofit O

U.S. Posta

PAIDUC DAV

COLLEGEOFAGRICULTURAL

ANDENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

www.caes.ucdavis.edu/g

ROn schuleRSupporting the collegeand our students

growing global - ca&es outlook - spring 2009

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