November 2020

FDA Partners with CDFA, WCFS and California Agricultural Stakeholders to Enhance Food Safety

FST researchers (Harris Lab) and the Western Center for Food Safety (WCFS) are partnering with FDA, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and agricultural stakeholders from the California Central Coast in the launch of a multi-year study to improve food safety through enhanced understanding of the ecology of human pathogens in the environment that may cause foodborne illness outbreaks, specifically focusing on leafy greens. 

New grant for Dr. DiCaprio will help small-scale fruit & vegetable processors

FST's Dr. Erin DiCaprio, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in Community Food Safety, has been awarded a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) grant to assist small-scale fruit and vegetable processors to be in compliance with food safety regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act.  The grant will fund new low-to-no-cost online education and in-person workshops which will be offered in both English and Spanish by the team of collaborators, which also includes Cal-Poly Pomona, Purdue, and the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. 

Erika Estrada is featured visitor in virtual course interview

Erika Estrada, a Ph.D. student in Harris Lab, participated as one of 25 attendees chosen (out of more than 160 applicants) for the Advanced Sequencing Technologies & Bioinformatics Analysis Course (Virtual) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Meetings and Courses Program.  She was selected as the featured student in the course for CSHL's "Visitor of the Week" interview, in which she shares her future career goals to inspire, mentor and teach future generations of students and her current research aimed at understanding microbial contamination in pistachios.  Very inspiring, Erika!  

Dr. David Mills is Highly Cited for the third year in a row

Congratulations to FST's Dr. David Mills, who joins ten other UC Davis researchers on the 2020 Clarivate Web of Science Group annual Highly Cited Researchers list.  This is the third year in a row that Mills has been on the list - quite an accomplishment! The list identifies exceptional scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant influence by publishing multiple papers that rank in the top 1 percent by citations in a particular field and year, over a 10-year period.  

Selina Wang wins 2020 Achievement Award from Olive Wellness Institute

Congratulations to Dr. Selina Wang, the winner of the Olive Wellness Institute's inaugural Achievement Award!  Dr. Wang is a Cooperative Extension Specialist in our FST Department, and Research Director of the Olive Center at UC Davis.  The Olive Wellness Institute Achievement Award is awarded to someone who has contributed most to olive science or olive related research in the past 5–10 years.