Evolution & Ecology

UC Davis Cracks the Walnut Genome

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have for the first time sequenced the genome of a commercial walnut variety. The information should accelerate the rate of breeding and variety improvement in walnuts and help breeders select for desired traits such as insect and disease resistance, and drought tolerance.

UC Davis Unit Aids Wildlife Rescue Effort

Team members from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at UC Davis have joined crews responding to the oil spill in Santa Barbara County. They are coordinating the wildlife response effort as part of the unified command interagency emergency response team.

ELECTED: Hastings to NAS; Strauss, Wainwright to AAAS

Three UC Davis ecologists are being recognized nationwide: Alan Hastings, newly elected to the National Academy of Sciences; and Sharon Strauss and Peter Wainwright, newly elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The National Academy of Sciences announced its new class today (April 28). Election to the academy is one of the highest science honors in the United States — and UC Davis now counts 27 members.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announcement of Strauss’ and Wainwright’s election came last week, one day after Dateline came out.

Spawning Success for White Abalone

Efforts to bring populations of endangered white abalone back from the brink of extinction through captive breeding appear to be working, according to scientists at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.