Peter Richerson Appointed to NAS/NRC Commission
Professor Peter Richerson, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, has been appointed a member of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC) Commission on Behavior and Social Science and Education's Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change. He serves for three years. Many committee members are social scientists interested in the implications required for social and economic policy changes to cope with and/or ameliorate global climate change. Richerson's main research interest is the theory of cultural evolution. The work, mostly theoretical and conceptual, is done in collaboration with anthropology professor Robert Boyd of UCLA. They use methods of analysis of evolution developed by evolutionary biologists to study the processes of cultural evolution. Richerson also conducts research in limnology, the study of inland waters.


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Edwin Frankel Recognized by ISI
Adjunct professor Edwin Frankel, Department of Food Science and Technology, was selected second most-cited author of the 1990s in agricultural science by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). ISI is an international database company that surveys the published literature of all journals and compiles "citation index" and "citation impact" of journals and authors based on the number of citations given in all publications in journals about each author. This information generally is regarded as one of the most reliable and unbiased criterion of the scientific impact of published papers. Frankel was cited a total of 586 times, making him the "second most-cited author of the 1990s in agricultural science." The agricultural science field is an umbrella term for the fields of agricultural chemistry, agriculture/agronomy and food science/nutrition. Not included in the survey was a paper on the antioxidant phenolic substances in red wine published in the Lancet in 1993 that was cited 498 times. The Lancet is not considered for the agricultural science field. Frankel's areas of research are lipid oxidation; food and biological antioxidants; lipid chemistry and technology; lipid peroxidation in biological systems; phytochemical antioxidants in wine, fruits, spices and beverages; and low density lipoproteins (LDL) oxidation.


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Carole Meredith Awarded Ordre du Merite Agricole
Professor and geneticist Carole Meredith, Department of Viticulture and Enology, was awarded the Ordre du Merite Agricole by the government of France in recognition of her service to agriculture. The medal was created in 1883 to honor Louis Pasteur. Meredith's research focuses on genetic manipulation and analysis of grapevines, including transfer and expression of foreign genes, DNA fingerprinting of cultivars, genetic analysis of wild Vitis populations and linkage mapping with molecular genetic markers.


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Dean MacCannell Appointed to UC Press Editorial Board
Professor Dean MacCannell, chair of the Landscape Architecture Progra, Department of Environmental Design, was named to the editorial board of the University of California Press. He will serve for five years. MacCannell will be asked to read and report on manuscript submissions in the areas of cultural studies, especially tourism; performance; architecture/landscape architecture; and social science (anthropology, geography and sociology) and to discuss editorial decisions in other areas. "I'm looking forward to this," MacCannell said. "I have a book with UC Press and have enjoyed working with them. This gives me a chance to continue that collaboration."


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Miguel Marino Honored
Professor Miguel Marino, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, was recognized by the Universities Council on Water Resources for dedicated service and leadership in advancing water resources research, education and public service. A Certificate of Recognition was presented at the council's annual conference in New Orleans in August. Marino's research interests include groundwater modeling, contamination and management; water resource planning and management; conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater; hydrologic systems analysis; and irrigation management.


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Martha Stiles Receives Certificate of Accomplishment
Staff research associate Martha Stiles, Department of Human and Community Development, successfully completed the Safe Communities Planning and Development process that complies with the California Safe Communities Program. She received a Certificate of Accomplishment from the State and Local Injury Control Section of the California Department of Health Services. Stiles has been recognized for developing and sustaining the Highway 16 Safe Communities Program from Woodland to Rumsey in Yolo County. The program began with preliminary research of crash data in an effort to understand how traffic directly impacts local residents. Since these data were published, a county-wide coalition of citizens and safety professionals meet regularly to focus on solutions. The project has been featured on television, National Public Radio and in local news media and was nominated for the Regional Sacramento Area Council of Governments Annual Award. Stiles expanded her Safe Communities work countywide and continues to focus on rural driver and safety issues.

Martha Stiles
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
mcstiles@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-2606

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Joe Cech Honored by AFS
The American Fisheries Society (AFS) presented two awards to Professor Joe Cech, Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology. At the group's annual meeting in Ventura, Cech received the California-Nevada Chapter's Award of Excellence for "outstanding contributions to fishery conservation and the fishery profession." He was one of five scientists inducted into the AFS Congressional Legion of Honor at the Physiology Section's International Congress on the Biology of Fish in Aberdeen, Scotland. Cech's research interests include physiological adaptations and adjustments of fishes to their environments.


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James Thompson and Adel Kader Win ASAE Award
Cooperative Extension specialist James Thompson, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and Professor Adel Kader, Department of Pomology, were recognized by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in the organization's 2000 Educational Aids Competition. Their entry, "Marine Container Transport of Chilled Produce," was judged outstanding and awarded Blue Ribbon status. All 78 entries were displayed at the ASAE annual International Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Thompson's area of research focuses on postharvest operations including drying and refrigeration of fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, tree nuts and grains; transportation of agricultural commodities; energy management and alternative energy systems. Kader's research program focuses on quality of fruits and nuts in relation to their postharvest biology and technology in order to (1) define components of appearance, texture, flavor, and nutritional quality and their interrelationships for various fruits and nuts, and (2) evaluate the effects of controlled atmospheres on physiology and quality attributes of fruits and nuts.


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Ann Noble Receives Wine Society's Highest Honor
Professor and sensory scientist/flavor chemist Ann Noble, Department of Viticulture and Enology, received the American Wine Society's highest honor, the Award of Merit, which will be presented in November at the organization's national conference in Cleveland. The focus of Noble's research is the investigation of sensory and chemical factors which affect perception of flavor and acceptance with emphasis on wine. Sensory data for aroma, taste and mouthfeel (from studies using trained judges) is related to consumer preference data, physiological factors and/or wine composition using multivariate statistical methods.


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Susan Ebeler Selected 2000 Young Scientist Awardee
Associate professor and assistant analytical chemist Susan Ebeler, Department of Viticulture and Enology, was selected the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division's "Young Scientist" awardee for 2000 by the American Wine Society. She was cited for her research program on analysis, flavor and phytochemistry of wine and her determination that wine polyphenols can bind aroma substances and, thus, reduce aroma intensity. She was honored at the AWS fall meeting in Washington, D.C. in August. Ebeler's research is focused on interactions of flavors with non-volatile food components; correlation of analytical methods with sensory measures; health effects of wine fractions and individual components and their biochemical mechanisms; and development of analytical methodologies for measurements of volatile components in grapes, musts and wines.


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Adopt-A-Scientist Outreach Program
The Adopt-A-Scientist education outreach program is looking for volunteers - faculty, post-docs, staff, graduate students and advanced undergraduate scientists. Participation involves presenting science to the same class several times throughout the school year, usually five visits. There has been an increase in requests for partnerships this year, especially from South Sacramento elementary schools.

More information availableonline



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Arboretum Activities
26th Annual Plant Faire 
October 7, 2000 
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
Arboretum Headquarters 
Wildlife Events for Families 

Fridays at Putah Creek Lodge, 7 p.m.

September 22, 2000
"Life From The Hive: Bees"

October 20, 2000 
"Creatures of the Night"

November 17, 2000 
"Local Wildlife"

Classes & Trips

"Writing in the Garden"
September 28 - October 5, 2000 
6 - 8 p.m. 
$60 members/$75 general

"Gardens of Filoli" 
October 11, 2000 
7:45 a.m. - 5 p.m. 
$40 members/$50 general

"Botanical Illustration in Fall" 
October 14 and November 4, 2000 
9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
$35 members/$45 general


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Water Facilities and Fisheries Tour
The Water Education Foundation is presenting a tour of Northern California water facilities and fisheries October 4-6, 2000. The tour, leaving Sacramento International Airport at 9 a.m. Wednesday, October 4, and returns 6 p.m. Friday, October 6, is co-sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - Mid-Pacific Region and the San Francisco Foundation. Registration Deadline: September 15, 2000



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RFP: Life Sciences Informatics Program
The Life Sciences Informatics Program (LSI) funds research in the areas of bioinformatics, medical informatics, food and agricultural informatics, environmental informatics and geographical informatics. The program supports innovative interdisciplinary research in UC laboratories that have a significant informatics component - research involving the interface of life sciences (from the molecular level to complex biological systems) and mathematics, statistics, engineering, computational and informational sciences. LSI funds must be matched at least $1:$1 by private sponsors (20 percent in-kind allowed). Any scientist with principal investigator status at a UC campus or affiliated national laboratory may submit a proposal together with any company or other business entity (non-profit organization, commodity group, etc.) with an R&D presence in California. Deadline: October 24, 2000

Life Sciences Informatics Program online


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RFP: Catalonian Studies Program
The Autonomous Government of Catalonia and the University of California at Berkeley are soliciting applications from UC faculty for scholarly visits to Catalan universities and research institutes. The purpose of the exchange visit is to interact with colleagues in Catalonia and lecture. A separate program brings Catalan scholars to UC.

More information availableonline


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Visit CA&ES Currents online at http://caes.ucdavis.edu/NewsEvents/News/Currents/default.aspx. 

CA&ES Currents, the faculty/staff newsletter of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, is distributed every other Friday. News deadline is noon Monday preceding Friday publication. Send inquiries to Ann Filmer, afilmer@ucdavis.edu.

Issue Editor:
Rhoda McKnight
(530) 752-9328
rjmcknight@ucdavis.edu

Contributors: Donna Gutierrez, Thomas Kaiser, Susan Kancir, Rhoda McKnight, Neal Van Alfen, John Weston. 

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