Today

Silk Footprints of Embiids: Does One Size Fit All?

Janice Edgerly-Rooks, professor of biology – Santa Clara University

122 Briggs Hall, 12:10 to 1 p.m.

Sponsored by entomology

Stamping Out Natural Selection

John Roth

1022 Life Sciences Building, 4:10 to 5 p.m.

Sponsored by microbiology

Thursday

Management of Invasive Aquatic Plants in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Lars W.J. Anderson, lead scientist – USDA-ARS Exotic and Invasive Weed Research

3201 Hart Hall, 12:10 to 1 p.m.

Sponsored by John Muir Institute of the Environment

Because of Science: Advances in Life

Douglas Osheroff, Nobel Laureate, professor of physics – Stanford University

AGR Hall, Buehler Alumni and Visitor Center, 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Sponsored by physics faculty and emeriti

Friday, Jan. 16

Photochemical and Thermal Fixation of Nitrogen on Arid Lands Soils

Glenn Miller, professor – University of Nevada, Reno and Valent USA Corporation

1007 Geidt Hall, 12 to 1 p.m.

Sponsored by environmental toxicology

Macrophages and the Host-Pathogen Balance of Chronic Infection

Corrie Detweiler

1005 Genome Biomedical Sciences Facility, 12:10 to 1 p.m.

Sponsored by the school of medicine

Tuesday, Jan. 20

UC Davis‘ Contribution to the Early History of AIDS

Murray Gardner, professor – Center for Comparative Medicine

California National Primate Research Center, 12 to 1 p.m. Sponsored by the Center for Comparative Medicine

A New ‘Silent Spring‘? Mari Golub – Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment3001 Plant and Environmental Sciences Building, 12 to 1 p.m. Sponsored by environmental toxicology More seminars can be found at calendar.ucdavis.edu. If you want to have a seminar published here, e-mail us at campus@theaggie.org.

UC Davis engineers, plant scientists and geneticists are heading a Chevron-sponsored project to develop the Jatropha curcas plant as a crop for biodiesel production in California. The three-year collaborative research program, now nearing its first year of completion, focuses on plant domestication, yield improvements and harvest optimization.

Oil extracted from jatropha seeds can be processed to fuel diesel engines while the plant’s remnants can be used to power electricity plants and create other practical byproducts including fertilizer.

Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 80 percent compared with petroleum diesel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The hardy jatropha plant, resistant to drought and pests, yields over four times more fuel per hectare than soybean and over 10 times more than corn. These major boons have boosted the plant’s status as one of the most promising renewable energy source substitutes for fossil fuels in India and other countries in Asia and the Americas.

“In my opinion, the major advantage of this crop is that it can grow on marginal land without displacing prime food growing land,” said Shrini Upadhyaya, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering at UC Davis who, along with department colleague Uriel Rosa, is developing techniques to mechanically harvest jatropha fruit.

There is an overall consensus that mechanical harvesting needs to be developed to establish jatropha as a sustainable biofuel crop, Rosa said.

Factors that affect seed yield, which can vary with the growing environment and with genetic diversity among plants, are also key issues being addressed by the collaborative studies.

Sham Goyal, a UC Davis plant scientist, is testing how effectively jatropha can grow on two-acre plots near Davis, Bakersfield and El Centro, three major crop growing areas that represent the varied climates in California’s northern, central and southern regions. According to Goyal, the plants are less than one year old but seem to be faring well in all the locales so far.

Jatropha typically starts to bear fruit roughly two years after planting and continues producing for about 40 years.

Besides the practicality of growing jatropha as an energy crop in California, concerns include seed toxicity and the plant’s potential to invade indigenous habitat.

“Jatropha is considered poisonous but not the kind where people or animals would potentially be dying left and right,” Goyal said.

If consumed, the kidney bean-sized seeds can cause some diarrhea and vomiting in adults as well as serious health problems in small children and infants.

It is not known to be an invasive species, meaning that it will not threaten native plants.

“I don’t believe that there is any evidence to show that it is invasive,” Goyal said. “In India, people have grown jatropha for about 500 years, and no one over there has told me that it is invasive. This is not to say that it could not be invasive in California though. We will simply have to watch closely.“

Goyal explained that jatropha should still be considered a “wild species” with room for much improvement.

“The plant needs to be domesticated,” he said. “Selection, breeding and other genetic manipulations must be done in order to enhance the plant’s potential for … higher yield and oil content, cold tolerance and de-toxification. To start with, we will be doing some [DNA] ‘finger-printing‘ to investigate the level of genetic variability.“

Genetic modification is also needed to improve the timing of fruit ripening so that fruits on the same branch mature simultaneously, which would make mechanical harvesting easier.

“We are thankful to Chevron for making it possible for us to do this research, which is cutting-edge and exciting,” Goyal said.

The $25 million five-year Chevron collaborative research investment, which began in 2006, is helping advance bioenergy research at UC Davis through the sponsorship of a number of projects.

“In my instance, [Chevron has] funded the purchase of farm and research equipment to help researchers around the state carry out applied work on biomass feed stock crops,” said Stephen Kaffka, executive director of the California Biomass Collaborative.

The statewide partnership of government, industry, environmental groups and educational institutions is administered for the state by UC Davis to enhance sustainable technologies for producing renewable energy and biofuel from plants and other biological material.

ELAINE HSIA can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Before taking a sip of bottled water, UC Davis‘ Frank Loge probably thinks about more than just drinking it.

A professor of civil and environmental engineering, Loge examines every aspect of the hydrogen oxygen combo – from the sky to the ground, from waste to our mouths and everything in between.

What do you teach at UC Davis?

I mainly teach classes related to green engineering and sustainability. I’ve developed three new courses on the UCD campus since arriving here in January of 2005, and plan to develop a couple of more in the coming year. Oddly, one of the greatest pleasures I get from teaching is instructing a class for the first time. There is a sense of wonder of how things fit together that is hard to capture when you teach a class multiple times – which is not to say that it cannot be done.

And what research do you do here?

One of my colleagues told me recently that my research appears eclectic. I had to look the word up. Just as in teaching, I like the exploration of ideas in research. This has led me down a path of a number of what may appear different research projects, but I’d like to assure my colleague that they are all in some way related to green engineering, with key focal areas in sustainability and health. My research group is currently involved in a human epidemiology study funded by the EPA focused on understanding relationships between acute gastroenteritis in a community and viruses in drinking water; conversion of soluble carbon in wastewater into natural biodegradable plastic; removal of phosphorous in wastewater biologically; impact of dams, chemicals and other stressors on fish health; and water and energy relationships.

What do you find most interesting about your research?

Two things. First, I really like to see the work that I am involved in integrated into a larger picture where it can help either humans or the environment. As examples, a lot of the fish work I am involved in helps action agencies develop management actions to save endangered species, and the epidemiology study will help the EPA develop revisions to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Second, I really enjoy integrating my research into teaching; it broadens the research, and makes teaching and learning much more enjoyable. As an example, last year a group in one of my classes expanded upon the biodegradable plastic idea and submitted it to the EPA People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3) competition, where they won both Phase I and Phase II, and they are now in the process of starting a company in the Sacramento area around this idea. The success of this student group is a testament to their abilities, not mine; I simply provided an opportunity for them to express that potential.

Where are some unlikely places we can find usable water?

This may sound crazy, and I really haven’t looked into this more, but I would say condensation. I think if you dug a hole in the Davis area, and designed it properly, you could collect water from the air most times of the year.

Are you ever skeptical of the water you drink, be it from tap or a bottle?

Ah, my answer could get me in trouble, so let me qualify my response with the following statement: the drinking water in the U.S. is some of the safest in the world, and there are no real regulations governing bottled water to ensure that it is safe. With that said, from what I have learned from the EPA epidemiology study has led me to drink only bottled water, whenever possible. Given that there are no real regulations for bottled water, I try to get water from places where I know the water is safe, like H2O to Go in Davis.

Has your research led you to any interesting locations?

I spent 12 days out at sea a year ago as part of a research project, and more recently traveled down the Snake and Columbia Rivers on a barge hauling millions of juvenile salmon to sea. I’ve recently wanted to travel out to the ‘plastic garbage patch‘ located around Hawaii to see if such a place actually exists – maybe someday.

Why do you like the combination of teaching and researching at the same time at UCD?

To me, they are one in the same. I learn every day from my research. Students learn every day from me in the classroom. So why not cut out the middle person: Why can’t students learn every day in an environment that they create as part of research, and in doing so, enjoy the world of discovery? I view my role simply as providing that opportunity.

Can we expect any exciting breakthroughs in your line of work any time soon? If so, what would they be?

There are several things that I could list, but the one thing that I am most excited about lately is the possible opportunity to build one or more small structures on campus that are very green and sustainable, and to integrate this effort into a series of classes. We are currently moving forward, and I say that delicately recognizing that there are many steps involved, in designing, and hopefully constructing, a kitchen for the Student Farm on campus, and later down the road, we are hoping to build a Sustainable Learning Laboratory.

Aside from water, what is something that all humans should be equipped with in life?

An appreciation of diversity. I strongly support travel, internships and any other mechanism to get students into places that they are not familiar with, whether it be nature or other cultures. As a second item, I’d add a sense of community.

What is something about your life that your students and colleagues might not know about you?

At one point in my life I considered living in a trailer and being a raft guide for the rest of my life. There are still days when I consider such a profession.

LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.