BFTV Cluster News

FST Undergrads Turn Out for 35th Annual Research Conference

The UC Davis 35th Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference (April 26-27, 2024) was well-represented by 13 FST undergraduates. The conference is designed to acquaint undergraduate students with the process and academic rigors of presenting research in a scholarly manner and in an affirming environment, and is open to all academic fields.

Their names and presentation titles are below, as well as their faculty lab affiliation. For more about the conference, see the link below.

Selina Wang awarded the AOCS Timothy L. Mounts Award

Food Science and Technology

Congratulations to Dr. Selina Wang for winning the 2024 Timothy L. Mounts award, given by the American Oil Chemists Society Edible Applications Technology Division. The award recognizes research related to the science and technology of edible oils or derivatives in food products, which may be basic or applied in nature. This award commemorates Timothy Mounts as a distinguished scientist and leader who made numerous contributions to the science and technology of edible fats and oils.

Big Data Comes to Dinner

Food Science and Technology

Artificial intelligence is already changing how people work, communicate online, create art and manage businesses. Now the technology is being used in every aspect of our food systems.

1st Place NCIFT Poster Award to Chenxi Guo

Food Science and Technology

Please join me in congratulating Chenxi Guo, a second year Ph.D. student in Dr. Luxin Wang’s Lab, for winning first place in the student poster competition at the Northern California Institute of Food Technologists (NCIFT) annual meeting held on April 23, 2024.

Homemade nut-based dairy analogs raise questions about bacterial risks

Food Science and Technology

Trio of Journal Articles Highlights Consumer Knowledge Gaps in Safe Preparation Methods. Many consumers know the food safety risks of dairy products, eggs and raw meat. But they are less likely to understand the risks associated with dry goods, including tree nuts such as almonds, cashews, walnuts and pistachios

Luxin Wang and jelly ice product mentioned in NYT story on plastic packaging

Food Science and Technology

In 2021, FST's Luxin Wang and a team of colleagues developed a reusable jelly ice product that was lighter than ice, didn't melt, and could be reused multiple times and then disposed of in green waste or trash. The invention was covered widely at the time. We're pleased to see the jelly ice get a recent mention in the story "So Much Produce Comes in Plastic.

Nitin part of UC Davis project selected by DOE for Industrial Decarbonization Initiative

Food Science and Technology

The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, has selected a University of California, Davis, collaboration to receive $1.98 million in funding as one of 49 projects aimed at decarbonizing the industrial sector and moving the nation closer to a net-zero economy.

Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein to Launch at UC Davis Jan. 17

Food Science and Technology

(Chris Simmons, Food Science and Technology Department Chair, is working with Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein Director David Block to make sure that FST faculty are well-positioned to engage ICAMP resources for cultivated meat research and production.

UC Davis Scholars Receive $225K for ‘Food Justice’ Seminar

Food Science and Technology

(This article by Maria Sestito, March 20, 2024 is cross-posted from Letters & Science Magazine, UC Davis College of Letters and Science.)

Graduate Student Exit Seminar - April 3, 2024 at 3:00 pm

Food Science and Technology

A Graduate Student Exit Seminar will be held Wednesday, April 3rd from 3:00 - 4:00 pm.

In-person in room 1207 Robert Mondavi Institute South, or you can attend remotely by Zoom.

Greenwood and Parikh win prize in the 2024 Little Bang! Competition

Food Science and Technology

The idea to participate in the UC Davis Little Bang! Pitch + Poster Competition started from a very casual conversation between Brittany Greenwood and Shruti Parikh, grad students in Chris Simmons’ lab, which focuses on waste degradation and sustainable agricultural practices. With a shared background in microbiology and interest in biotechnology, there was no question that a partnership would produce something fruitful. Their “PlasticEaterPro” team was one of eight teams that won a prize of $1000 in the competition, held February 1, 2024.

Comstock's features UC Davis breast milk science

Food Science and Technology

In a Comstock's Magazine article from Dec. 4, 2023, FST Distinguished Professor and Chemist J. Bruce German shares how a visit to the UC Davis Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the early 2000s provided the emotional and motivational underpinning for the study of breast milk science at UC Davis since then. The article describes the formation of the Milk Bioactives Program within the Foods for Health Institute, and also features Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Nutrition Jennifer Smilowitz, as well as FST Distinguished Professor David Mills.

Research Profile, Luis Diaz-Garcia

Viticulture and Enology

Dr. Luis Diaz-Garcia is an Assistant Professor and Grape Breeder in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. He succeeded Dr. Andrew Walker, who led winegrape and rootstock breeding efforts at UC Davis for over 30 years. Dr. Diaz-Garcia earned his bachelor's degree in Agronomy from Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico. He then completed his master's degree in plant biotechnology at the National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO) in Mexico, where he used systems biology and bioinformatics to study yeast stress. Subsequently, he obtained his Ph.D.

New article on Beer, Live Microbes and Health

Food Science and Technology

Congratulations to Maany Ramanan, Food Science Graduate Group Ph.D. student, who initiated and led work on the new review paper, “Beer for live microbe delivery”, in the February 2024 issue of Journal of Functional Foods.

Using Yeast to Convert Almond Hulls to Animal Feed

Food Science and Technology

Yeast grown on almond hulls could be a new, sustainable route to produce high-protein animal feed from an agricultural waste product, according to research from UC Davis published Nov. 15 in PLOS One.

Raising animals for meat requires livestock feed that is high in protein, especially essential amino acids that animals need to grow. That makes feed the most expensive input in meat production.