International programs

Crump aims to improve food in rural markets

People in rural regions like mountainous Nepal produce plenty of food. But before it can get to local markets and into people’s homes, much of it spoils. What’s left often has lost much of its nutritional value. Now, Amanda Crump and team are working on a way to get more nutritious food into the homes of Nepalese people

Taylor to help write roadmap for a sustainable planet

How can nations avert planetary catastrophe? Gail Taylor, chair of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, has been asked to help write a United Nations report offering practical ways to put Earth on a path to sustainability by 2050.

The U.N. Environmental Program has brought together hundreds of scientists from around the world to examine current national policies and offer action plans for tackling climate change, biodiversity loss, energy, pollution, waste and land degradation. The report, Global Environment Outlook, will be released in 2026.

Crump, Zepeda win grant for sustainability in Mexico

Ana Zepeda has received a $7,300-grant to help women in southern Mexico plant a community garden, intended to provide better nutrition for their children and keep them in school.

Zepeda developed the project as part of her doctoral dissertation in the lab of Amanda Crump, and she’ll start the work later this year. The grant, from the UC Davis Advancing Sustainable Development Goals program, furthers the university’s commitment to support development at home and around the world.

Vergara presents findings on farmer-to-farmer education in Panama

Farmers from rural Panama are learning a more sustainable way to graze their cattle, and now are sharing that knowledge with other farmers who want to learn, too. But, they view the relationship as an informal exchange, rather than a teacher-student relationship  ̶  and agricultural extension programs can learn from that view, graduate student Marina Vergara found.

Miller remembered for international development

G. David Miller, founder and director of the UC Davis Global Fellowships in Agricultural Development program and a collaborator in the Horticulture Innovation Lab, died Dec. 1, 2022, in Davis. A memorial service was held Dec. 4 at Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis.

Miller was a lecturer within the international agricultural development track in the Department of Plant Sciences, and faculty adviser in the IAD Graduate Group. “For many years, he was the heart of the IAD programs, teaching, hunting up fellowship and scholarship money, and more,” said Amanda Crump.

African scientists embark on pioneering CRISPR course

Top plant scientists from across Africa have just completed the first phase of a ground-breaking course in gene editing for crops: It aims to harness a cutting-edge breeding tool to adapt African agriculture to growing populations and the threat of climate change.

“The talent’s there. We just need to enable it,” said Allen Van Deynze, of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences. “We’re enabling it with training, with tools and with support for their labs. That’s part of our program.”

Poudel wins AAUW International Fellowship

Isha Poudel has been awarded a fellowship by the American Association of University Women. Poudel is a second-year master’s student in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences majoring in international agricultural development, with a focus on gender equities and disaster resiliency in food systems. She is in Amanda Crump’s research lab group that focuses on agricultural equity and social inclusion.

The AAUW award will support Poudel in her graduate education and further advance her research project in Nepal.