The following is a list of awards, honors, and announcements about Viticulture and Enology Faculty, Staff, Students, Executive Leadership Board members & UCCE Advisors.
Faculty
Congratulations to Professor Emeritus, Andrew Waterhouse, for being selected to present this year’s Honorary Research Lecture at the 75th ASEV National Conference in Portland, Oregon, on June 19. ASEV honors a research lecturer who is actively involved in scientific research and has a current national or international reputation in their field of research.
During three decades at UC Davis, Waterhouse was involved in the early work on resveratrol and health-related phenolic adsorption and metabolism studies. He has also worked in the areas of wine oxidation, phenolics in vineyard development, and more recently on a potential cause for red wine headaches.
Professor Waterhouse was appointed to several leadership positions during his tenure at UC Davis. He served as chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology and more recently as director of the Robert Mondavi Institute. He has also served as chair of two graduate programs, and later as associate dean of programs in Graduate Studies. He was in the inaugural class of Chancellor’s Fellows and held the John Kinsella Endowed Chair.
More information about Andy and his career can be found here.
Congratulations, Andy!
Staff
UC Davis Winemaker, Leticia Chacon-Rodriguez, is one of the recipients of the 2022-23 Outstanding Service Awards from UC Davis Continuing and Professional and Education (CPE). Every two years, UC Davis CPE honors outstanding instructors and program partners for their distinctive service and commitment to education. Whatever their background—academia, private industry or public service—these educators have a passion for what they do, and by sharing their experience and knowledge, have transformed the lives of students across our organization.
Jon Hughes, Director of Food & Agriculture Programs for UC Davis CPE, nominated Leticia and said the following:
“Leticia has been an amazing partner to UC Davis CPE since coming on as the head winemaker for the teaching and research winery in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. In addition to her already extensive duties, she has taught 10-15 short courses in winemaking both in-person and online. She was instrumental in converting courses to exclusively online modality during COVID lockdown, and has demonstrated tremendous care for students and pedagogical expertise in continuing to develop courses, refine curricula, and optimize virtual-hybrid modality considerations.”
Congratulations, Leticia!
Department of Viticulture & Enology Undergraduate Academic Advisor, Elizabeth Price, is the recipient of the 2024 Eleanor and Harry Walker Academic Advising Award. The award recognizes her outstanding contributions to Academic Advising in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis.
Liz was recognized for her deep dedication and commitment to students in Viticulture and Enology and for going above and beyond.
Congratulations, Liz, and thank you for everything that you do for the students!
Students
Congratulations to Fermin Barbosa and Tali Cooper, who just graduated with their undergraduate degrees in Viticulture & Enology, for winning the 2024 UC Davis Iron Brew competition with their beer “Brew La La”, a Belgian blonde ale.
The Iron Brew competition is held every spring with students in the practical malting and brewing course within the Department of Food Science and Technology. The participants formulate a beer recipe and spend weeks brewing batches of various styles of beer in the brewery at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. As the winning team, Fermin and Tali were invited to work alongside brewers at Sudwerk to produce their recipe on a commercial scale.
Sydney Rogers has been awarded an American Wine Society Educational Foundation (AWSEF) scholarship funded by the AWS Northern Loudoun County Chapter in Memory of Rick Adams and in Honor of Christy Adams. Sydney, a first-year graduate student in the Montpetit lab, will conduct research over the next year with Twomey to study native California yeast strains for their oenological potential at both lab and pilot production scales.
The American Wine Society Educational Foundation (AWSEF) annually awards academic scholarships to support students pursuing an academic program in enology, viticulture, and concerning business or health aspects of wine. AWSEF is sponsored by Banfi Winery in Italy.
Executive Leadership Board
UCCE Advisors
Congratulations to Mark Battany, Water Management and Biometeorology Advisor, UCCE San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties! Mark was selected as the American Society for Enology and Viticulture’s (ASEV) 2024 Extension Distinction Award recipient. He will present, "Flipping dimensions: A vertical weather view helps illuminate vineyard challenges," at the 75th ASEV National Conference in Portland, Oregon, on June 19, 2024.
The ASEV Extension Distinction Award is given to a current ASEV member and extension educator based on their contributions to enology or viticulture through their extension program, or the translation of novel research findings into commercially applicable tools for enologists or viticulturists. Read more about Mark’s career.