June 10, 2024

A RIPE team led by PMB professor Krishna Niyogi and alum Dhruv Patel-Tupper, PhD '22, used CRISPR/Cas9 to increase gene expression in rice by changing its upstream regulatory DNA.

Congratulations to José Pablo Vázquez-Medina for his promotion to the rank of Associate Professor. The Vázquez-Medina lab studies mechanisms of adaptation to natural and anthropogenic stressors in marine mammals and pre-clinical models of disease at the molecular, cellular and organismal level.
 

June 06, 2024

A new study by the lab of NST professor Ana Paula Arruda details how liver cells reorganize their internal membrane structures to adapt to changes in nutrient availability.

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A banner celebrating 50 years of the College of Natural Resoruces is installed on a light post in front of the Valley Life Sciences Building.

The banners commemorate groundbreaking research, educational excellence, and outreach and engagement across departments and disciplines.

Photos by Mathew Burciaga

For 50 years, the College of Natural Resources has helped propel UC Berkeley forward as a global academic leader. Formed during the merger of the School of Forestry and Conservation and the College of Agricultural Sciences in 1974, the College contributes to the societal understanding of natural and human systems from biological, ecological, economic, and social science perspectives.

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Students and researchers in the Tsutsui lab are featured on a banner near Sather Gate. 

To commemorate the past half-century of groundbreaking research, educational excellence, and outreach and engagement, 22 banners featuring Rausser College of Natural Resources students, faculty, and staff have been installed on light poles around campus. Among those featured on the banners are:

• Environmental Science, Policy, and Management professor Miranda Redmond and graduate student Alexis Bernal, who are enhancing our understanding of wildfire and forest management through research encompassing forest resilience, sustainable land management, ecosystem dynamics, and climate change.
• Plant and Microbial Biology professor Krishna Niyogi and graduate student Antonio Chaparro. They are two of Rausser College’s researchers who use cutting-edge synthetic biology and CRISPR gene editing techniques to help plants resist pathogens, improve crop yields, and remove carbon from the air.
• Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology instructor Mikelle McCoin and Master of Nutritional Science and Dietetics students Ghazal Rezaee and Paige Barrett. They build on the 50-year legacy of Professor Emerit Janet King and the College’s accredited dietetics program by translating scientific research into practical solutions for addressing nutritional challenges and promoting health and wellness.
• Agricultural and Resource Economics professor Meredith Fowlie, who holds the Class of 1935 Distinguished Professorship in Energy. Her extensive research on the economics of energy markets and the environment has supported the development of renewable energy projects and shaped policies like California's cap-and-trade program.
• Energy and Resources Group (ERG) graduate students Ari Ball-Burack, Jessica Katz, and Rachman Setiawan. They continue ERG’s 50-year track record of advancing interdisciplinary research and teaching across environmental economics, climate science, ecology, and other areas to create a more sustainable environment and an equitable society.

Each design showcases how the College’s more than 100 faculty and 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students work across departments and disciplines to advance research on equitable, scalable, and innovative solutions that address the climate crisis, promote ecological and economic sustainability, and improve human health and well-being. 

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From left: Bernal and Redmond are featured on a banner flying outside Mulford Hall. Fowlie is featured on a banner near the Memorial Glade. Niyogi and Chaparro are on a banner near Koshland Hall. 

The Rausser College communications office produced the new banners in partnership with the Office of Communications and Public Affairs. They will remain up for a year as the College continues its 50th-anniversary celebrations. Read more about our history, fun facts, and other points of pride on our 50th anniversary page.

Save the Date: A 50th anniversary celebration and special Albright Lecture in Conservation featuring Jill Tiefenthaler, CEO of the National Geographic Society, is planned for October 29, 2024. More details will be posted as they are available

Celebrating 50 Years

June 04, 2024

The Institute’s leadership—including its new Executive Director Jeanne Merrill—reflect on BFI’s impact and visions for the future.

June 03, 2024

Berkeley researchers identify gaps in California’s stream monitoring network and propose efficient remedies to improve water management

Assistant Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology Samantha Lewis recently received an NSF CAREER award for 2024-2029 for her research on Mitochondrial genome partitioning and quality control.   

May 29, 2024

The ESPM professor will receive two years of funding and research support for early career researchers from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

The Master of Engineering capstone design team advised by bioengineering faculty Kevin Healy and Syed Hossainy has won the 2024 Capstone Innovation Award. The team of Angana Dasgupta, Isabella Lopez, Natalie Saadeh, and Boyan Yin was selected for their project, “Experimental assessment of multiple cell lines’ function and morphology on piezo-responsive films under small amplitude […]

Congratulations to our MCB PhD and BA Class of 2024 graduates!

The MCB Department is proud of our newest graduates and all that they have accomplished! Please help us celebrate the 2024 MCB Commencement Honors awardees (below) as well as the success of our Senior Gift Campaign which raised funds to support undergraduate student research stipends and travel grants for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

 

2024 MCB PhD Commencement Honors
The following are the recipients of our annual graduate awards for research, academic, and community achievement.

We are excited to report that the MCB Class of 2024 senior gift campaign to raise funds for sponsored research stipends and travel grants has met their goal of $5,000! Thanks to the generosity of our community, more MCB students will be able to have transformative research experiences in the 2024-2025 academic year. The MCB Department will be matching the funds raised to bring the total support for students to $10,000. A special thanks to: David Bilder, Marla Feller, Bazilco Marveen Jean Simon, Mark Jenkinson, Roland Saekow, Raghavan Sarathy, Sum Ying Wu and all our anonymous donors. Go Bears! Learn more about the campaign here. 

May 28, 2024

Professor Emerit Brian Staskawicz and co-authors break down the last half-century of breakthroughs in the study of plant immunity in the 50th-anniversary issue of Cell.

Congratulations to the 2024 Bakar Fellows Program Spark Award recipients: Liana Lareau, Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development; Dan Nomura, Professor of Molecular Therapeutics; and Robert Saxton, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Molecular Medicine.

May 22, 2024

Professors Daniel Nomura, Joseph Shapiro, and Patrick Shih will receive funding, resources, and mentorship for entrepreneurial success from the Bakar Fellows Program.

Congratulations to Professor Liana Lareau, winner of a 2024 Spark Award from the Bakar Fellows Program.

Congratulations to our 2024 undergraduate award winners: Elena Maria Mujica, Departmental Citation, Cyrus Tau, Chair’s Award in Bioengineering, and Sarp Dora Kurtoglu, Bioengineering Service Award. Special honorable mentions under the Chair’s Award go to Justin Garlepp and Derrick Ma. Outstanding work by all! The Departmental Citation This is long-standing award is given to one bioengineering […]

Professor David Schaffer will lead the new Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub, an incubator that will provide resources and support to entrepreneurs in renewable energy and clean technology.

Professor of Molecular Therapeutics, Fyodor Urnov, was awarded the Horace Mann Medal from Brown University. This honor, given to a Brown Graduate School alumnus or alumna who has made significant contributions in his or her field, was awarded to Urnov for co-developing the toolbox for human genome and epigenome editing and his contributions to advancing the first-in-human applications in a clinic. Read more...

Professors John Dueber and David Schaffer are featured in this article highlighting campus research and entrepreneurship in sustainability.

May 17, 2024

The Environmental Sciences and Legal Studies graduate served as the undergraduate speaker for the 2024 Rausser College Commencement held on May 13.