News

When two major wildfires burned through the Sierra Nevada in 2020 and 2021, they took thousands of giant sequoia trees with them. Without prescribed burns, thousands more would have died, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. 

A summer beach day in Oregon often involves a cool, gray blanket of fog that not only shapes the experience of beachgoers, but also the coastal and inland environment. 

Now, commercially available surfing webcams are helping scientists measure Oregon’s coastal fog, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service. 

The University of California, Davis, Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) today released its “

If you've been reaching for chips, mayonnaise or salad dressing labeled "made with avocado oil," there's a good chance the oil inside isn't pure avocado oil, despite it being the only listed oil ingredient. University of California, Davis, researchers tested processed foods marketed as containing avocado oil. They found 48 of the 54 avocado oil-labeled products were adulterated with cheaper oils. The study was published in Applied Food Research. 

he University of California, Davis, raised more than $676 million in philanthropic support during fiscal year 2025–26, more than doubling the university's previous giving record and marking the strongest fundraising year in its history.

Donors’ unprecedented level of investment in UC Davis will expand opportunities for students, strengthen faculty excellence, accelerate discoveries that improve lives, and support new facilities and programs that elevate the university’s impact across California and beyond.

Dean Ashley M. Stokes and Associate Dean Anne Todgham with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis will participate in the first ever Agriculture Day at the California State Fair. 

The July 18 event is sponsored by the California Farm Bureau and the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom. Events will run from 10 a.m to 11 p.m. in the Tractor Supply Company Big Barn.

A bag of groceries can feed a family, but it may not always feel like home. New research led by the University of California, Davis, finds that labeling foods that are meaningful to different cultures can help local pantries better serve the communities they support.

Two new studies examining gray wolves in California paint a complex picture of life on California’s ranching landscapes: Wolves eat cattle more than anything else, and the presence of the predators causes significant stress among livestock.

California’s San Joaquin Valley produces an enormous share of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables. But it takes an unsustainable amount of groundwater to do it. New state rules aimed at reducing groundwater use are expected to force up to 20 percent of the valley’s irrigated fields out of production – a blow to farmers and communities.

Professors Johan Leveau and Jorge Mazza Rodrigues will take over as chairs of the Department of Plant Pathology and Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, respectively, Dean Ashley M. Stokes from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences announced. 

The appointments took effect July 1, 2026.

Leveau, who is a microbial ecologist and professor, has served as interim chair since January, replacing Dave Rizzo.