Research

UC Davis to Lead Groundwater and Irrigated Agriculture Sustainability Study

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $10 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to find ways to sustain irrigated agriculture while improving groundwater quantity and quality in the Southwest under a changing climate.

Engineers invent machine to shake up UC Davis’ COVID-19 testing

UC Davis engineers have invented shaking and inversion machines that are a critical part of the UC Davis Genome Center’s award-winning asymptomatic COVID-19 testing. These machines, designed and built in just six weeks, help treat saliva samples so they can be tested for the virus.

Keeping Youth Safe on Agricultural ATVs

Researchers in the department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) are working to make agriculture safer for children. With a new five-year project funded through the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (NCCRAHS), assistant cooperative extension specialist Farzaneh Khorsandi and professor Fadi Fathallah will study all-terrain vehicle (ATV) safety to prevent childhood injury.

UC Davis engineers fight food insecurity through sustainable agriculture

As the world’s population is expected to reach 9–10 billion by 2050 according to the U.N., the world must double food production to meet demand while using and reusing the resources we have left in a sustainable manner. Ruihong Zhang and Isaya Kisekka at UC Davis are rising to meet the challenge by finding new ways to sustainably produce food, while conserving resources by using microbes to produce new sources of protein and managing and irrigating crops with pinpoint precision.

Study on robotic weed control wins outstanding paper award

A 2019 paper from the UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department recently received the European Society of Agricultural Engineers (EurAgEng) Outstanding Paper Award. The award is given every other year by the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) to two to three standout papers published in the Biosystems Engineering journal.

Between farm and fork

Though many restaurants and markets pride themselves on serving “farm to fork” food, what happens between those steps is one of the most important part of the food production process. With improper handling and storage, food can start to rot or grow mold, which makes it unusable and unsafe for consumers.

Precision Agriculture: Genetic Research Aids in Food Production

Vivian Vuong’s ’17, Ph.D. ’21, drive to study agricultural engineering stemmed from her undergraduate research with Biological and Agricultural Engineering Professor and Smart Farm Big Idea Champion David Slaughter. Today she’s working on gathering genetic data on plants to increase yield in the field – a method that can improve food access and the environment.