[image caption]

Left: Assistant Professor Patricia Lang (back to camera), discusses her research on plant response to climate change. Right: Under Secretary Jacobs-Young (center) in discussion with Katerina Estera-Molina (left), Rausser College Director of Agriculture and Natural Resource Programs Dennis Baldocchi (right), and Vice Chancellor for Research Katherine Yelick (far right). Photos by Mathew Burciaga.

By Julie Gipple

As part of a visit to campus last week, Rausser College of Natural Resources was honored to host Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics and USDA's Chief Scientist, for a visit at the UC Berkeley’s Oxford Facility. 

Located on the northwest side of the Berkeley campus, the Oxford Facility provides specialized plant growth facilities, an insectary, field space, services, and expertise to support the University’s plant science research and teaching needs. The Oxford Facility has long served as a core research infrastructure supporting Rausser College’s role as an Agricultural Experiment Station, along with counterparts at UC Davis, Riverside, Santa Cruz, and Merced.

[image caption]

Myeong-Je Cho (right) explains his group’s work on gene editing for disease resistance in cacao plants to Under Secretary Jacobs-Young (far left) and other tour visitors. Photo by Mathew Burciaga

After attending a Climate Summit held at the Innovative Genomics Institute, the Under Secretary was able to join Rausser College for a tour of the Oxford Facility’s greenhouse and field space, during which she heard from graduate students, researchers, and early-career faculty about various research projects being conducted there. 

“Students, staff and faculty were able to show the Under Secretary their cutting edge research on agriculture and plant science. These projects are examples of the kinds of efforts needed to develop sustainable, productive agricultural systems of the future,” said Dennis Baldocchi, Rausser College’s Executive Associate Dean Baldocchi is also the College’s Director of Agriculture and Natural Resource Programs, a  role that involves serving as the UC Berkeley representative to UC's Agricultural and Natural Resources (ANR) Program Council, which advises the Vice-President of ANR. “This work can only flourish with proper facilities and equipment. Support and updates for the Oxford Facility will be instrumental in ensuring their continuation and success,” Baldocchi added. “Because many agricultural research facilities supported by USDA are suffering from deferred maintenance, this visit by the Under Secretary was timely and allowed us to show her the state of our facilities.” 

“Fortifying agriculture's scientific infrastructure at colleges, universities and federal facilities across the nation is critical for the future of food, fiber and fuel,” said Jacobs-Young. “Our world-class scientists deserve well-equipped, modernized buildings and equipment to tackle our biggest challenges, protect our food supply, and keep innovating at the pace that has historically given us all an abundant, safe and nutritious food supply.”

During the tour, the group visited six stations. Myeong-Je Cho, director and principle investigator of the Innovative Genomics Institute’s Plant Genomics Transformation Facility, discussed his group’s work on cacao transformation and gene editing for disease resistance in cacao plants. He noted that major portions of the world’s cacao—crucial for the production of chocolate—are grown in areas that are severely impacted by the stressors of climate change. When factoring in the impact of untreatable diseases like black pod disease and cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV), cacao production worldwide is expected to drop by 11% this year alone. Cho outlined his group’s CRISPR-based genome-editing and genetic transformation strategies being explored for their potential to make cacao plants with more robust immune systems and increased resistance to infections.

Patricia Lang, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, discussed her work studying how plants respond to climate change. Currently focusing on the model plant Arabidopsis, Lang’s lab combines bioinformatics and molecular biology and utilizes historical collections to understand how and why plants are flowering earlier than they used to. They identify historical changes and then re-engineer them and “de-extinct” them into plants to test their effects on a phenotype in the greenhouse and under simulated climate change conditions, both past, present, and future.

[image caption]

Kiflom Aregawi outlines the Lemaux lab’s research on techniques aimed at increasing carbon sequestration capabilities of sorghum. Photo by Mathew Burciaga.

Researcher Katerina Estera-Molina explained research going on in the Environmental Plant Isotope Chamber Dynamic Ecosystem Labeling Facility. Chambers in the facility are used to verify and quantify agricultural crops being developed for climate change mitigation. They can control carbon dioxide and methane conditions in growing chambers and later measure how much carbon ends up in the soil, the microbes, and the plants themselves, thus quantifying if the developed plants are “doing better” than their “wild type.” Estera-Molina, who is a project manager in the labs of Jennifer Pett-Ridge and Professor Mary Firestone, highlighted an IGI project involving growing different rice genotypes with the intent of elongating plant roots to potentially store carbon in the ground. 

Kiflom Aregawi, a research associate in the lab of Cooperative Extension Professor Peggy Lemaux, discussed their group’s research on sorghum, a crop that originated in East Africa and is known for its resilience to drought, flooding, and high temperatures. The crop is used for food for both humans and animals, as well as for bioenergy. However, previous genome modification attempts on sorghum were not efficient—only 5% of plants were engineered. Recently, the group utilized new approaches to increase the engineering rate to 50% and the editing rate to 95%. With the new transformation and editing strategies Aregawi and others are exploring multiple target genes related to photosynthesis, root architecture, and root exudates—all plant traits related to potentially improving carbon sequestration capabilities.

Armen Kelikian, a graduate student working in the lab of Professor Krishna Niyogi in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, discussed their group’s work related to photosynthetic efficiency in rice and other crops. The group is specifically focused on photoprotection, which plants modulate as light conditions change. Using CRISPR-Cas9, the team was able to alter the regulatory sequences of three photoprotective genes, which resulted in plants being able to respond more rapidly to changing light conditions. 

[image caption]

Left: Graduate student Armen Kelikian explaining the Niyogi lab’s work related to photosynthetic efficiency in rice and other crops. Right: Graduate student Miguel Ochoa showed the tour group a field site for his research on cover crops and soil health. Photos by Mathew Burciaga.

 

Miguel Ochoa, a graduate student working with Professor Timothy Bowles in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, led the group to a research field outside the greenhouse buildings, one of two agricultural research sites at Berkeley. The other is the Gill Tract, three miles north of the main UC Berkeley campus. Both sites are open to student projects, and the Gill Tract is also home to a community farm. Ochoa’s doctoral research focuses on cover crops and soil health. Cover crops are not grown for commercial production but instead to conserve soil water and recycle nutrients back into soils. With support from a USDA-NIFA grant, Ochoa is leading a four-year trial to explore the tradeoffs involved in growing cover crops rather than commercial crops. Collaborators on the project include UC Santa Cruz researchers and thirty commercial partners. 

Over lunch, leaders of the Berkeley Food Institute, including Faculty Directors Susana Matias and Isabel ​Madzorera, shared the Institute’s work bringing Berkeley food and farm systems research to policymakers and community partners through its outreach and education efforts as part of BFI’s mission to support sustainable and just food systems. Matias and Madzorera highlighted the Institute’s Farm to School Incubator Grant Program Evaluation, looking at farmer benefits and environmental impacts of the state’s program, among other policy-oriented research initiatives. They also discussed the evaluation of Senate Bill 1000, a city and county planning law in California aimed at improving local planning to incorporate environmental justice elements into General Plans, including how to improve food access.  

For more information about research happening at the Oxford Facility, visit the Facility news page. 

Research News

Image:  Date:  Tuesday, October 22, 2024 - 10:45 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Tuesday, October 22, 2024 - 10:45 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Image:  Date:  Monday, October 21, 2024 - 16:00 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Monday, October 14, 2024 - 16:00 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Image:  Date:  Thursday, October 17, 2024 - 16:00 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Thursday, October 17, 2024 - 16:00 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left News/Story/Content tag(s):  Research News Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Image:  Date:  Thursday, October 17, 2024 - 15:30 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Monday, October 14, 2024 - 15:30 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Image:  Date:  Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 16:15 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 16:15 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left News/Story/Content tag(s):  Celebrating 50 Years Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

MCB postdoc Akanksha Thawani (Nogales & Collins Labs) was selected as a 2024 STAT Wunderkind. This award recognizes Thawani as an outstanding early-career scientist and is for her research on Unraveling the mysteries of ‘the next CRISPR’. Read more about the STAT Wunderkind award and Thawani. 

Image:  Date:  Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 16:45 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - 16:45 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left News/Story/Content tag(s):  Student Stories Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

It is with great sadness we report the passing of Bruce N. Ames, who served as professor of biochemistry from 1968 to 1989, and then professor of molecular and cell biology from 1989 to 2000, and thereafter as a senior scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute from 2000 to 2018. Bruce was best known for the development of the Ames Test, a screen that made use of bacteria to test the mutagenic potential of natural and synthetic chemicals as a means to pinpoint possible carcinogens. He received many honors including the National Medal of Science, election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal of the Genetics Society of America.
 

Former MCB graduate student David Baker (PhD 1989) shared in this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for computational protein design". While at Berkeley, he conducted his doctoral dissertation research on protein transport and protein trafficking in yeast in the lab of Professor Randy Schekman. Read more about Baker's research and Nobel Prize. 

Image:  Date:  Wednesday, October 9, 2024 - 16:45 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Tuesday, October 8, 2024 - 16:45 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left News/Story/Content tag(s):  Student Stories Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Image:  Date:  Tuesday, October 8, 2024 - 16:15 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Tuesday, October 8, 2024 - 16:15 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology Bronwyn Lucas and Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Molecular Therapeutics Ziyang Zhang are both among the 2024 NIH Director's New Innovator Awardees.

Adobe Stock 

A new study by a multi-university team of economists shows that electric vehicle tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) decreased climate pollution and benefited US vehicle manufacturers but have mixed benefits relative to taxpayer costs.

The study, published today as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that compared to pre-IRA policy, the IRA subsidies produced $1.87 in US benefits per dollar of government spending. These subsidies cost taxpayers $32,000 per additional electric vehicle (EV) sold, since 75% of funds went to consumers who would have bought an electric vehicle anyway. Compared to a scenario with no electric vehicle subsidies, however, the IRA policy generated only $1.02 in US benefits per dollar of government spending.

The IRA is considered by many to be the largest climate change investment in human history, with total costs forecast at up to $1 trillion. In addition to addressing climate change, the law sought to protect domestic manufacturing, secure supply chains, and achieve political sustainability across elections.

“Three compelling questions drove this research,” said Joseph Shapiro, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley and co-author of the paper.  “First, how have IRA EV credits affected vehicle markets? Next, should vehicle electrification policies reflect differences in climate damages across different EV models? And finally, how do green industrial policies like the IRA EV credits pit trade versus the environment and foreign countries versus the US?”

The research team from Duke, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the University of Chicago analyzed detailed sales data from dealerships, which let them conclude that most of the spending benefited electric vehicle buyers rather than auto manufacturers. “The IRA EV credits are not a home run,” said Hunt Allcott, a professor at Stanford University and co-author of the study. “While the IRA’s electric vehicle tax credits have slowed climate change and shifted production to US manufacturing firms, they also impose high costs on US taxpayers.”

The study also found that the IRA could have generated far larger US benefits if it provided larger tax credits to cleaner EVs, since the environmental costs of driving an electric vehicle vary substantially across EVs due to variations in weight. For example, switching from a lighter Toyota Prius gasoline vehicle to a heavier Tesla Cybertruck supports vehicle electrification but actually increases climate pollution.

For purchased vehicles, the IRA subsidies require a vehicle to be assembled in North America and have sufficient supply chain content from the US and allied countries.

“These subsidies have both helped and hurt US allies," said co-author Felix Tintelnot, an associate professor at Duke. “Many US benefits came from shifting profits from foreign to US vehicle manufacturers. This profit shifting hurts our allies, but the climate benefits to US allies somewhat offset those costs.”

The researchers obtained these conclusions from comparing vehicle prices, leases, and purchase decisions in the months before and after specific vehicle models gained and lost eligibility for the IRA subsidies. The team also developed a model of consumers’ decisions about which vehicles to buy and auto manufacturers’ decisions about which vehicles to sell.

“This ‘Buy American’ policy pits trade versus the environment,” said Shapiro. “The IRA subsidies have advanced vehicle electrification by partially closing US markets. This is driving ahead on global climate policy but making a U-turn on global trade cooperation.”

The study also analyzes the IRA’s “leasing loophole,” which lets any vehicle leases qualify for subsidies, bypassing the trade restrictions. The study found that this loophole has negative US benefits, since it mostly encourages substitution to foreign vehicles without substantially benefiting the climate.

The study was funded in part by the Becker Friedman Institute of the University of Chicago and by grant funding from the National Science Foundation.

READ MORE

• Electric car subsidies are a plus, but could be improved, study finds (NY Times)
• The Effects of “Buy American”: Electric Vehicles and the Inflation Reduction Act (NBER)
• Will the IRA’s “Buy American” Tilt Help US Electric Vehicles? (Energy Institute at Haas blog)

CONTACTS

• Hunt Allcott, allcott@stanford.edu, (617) 256-9282
• Joseph Shapiro, joseph.shapiro@berkeley.edu, (617) 821-4333
• Felix Tintelnot, felix.tintelnot@duke.edu, (814) 321-7730

Image:  Date:  Monday, October 7, 2024 - 13:15 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Thursday, October 3, 2024 - 13:15 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left News/Story/Content tag(s):  Research News Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

Assistant Professor Daniel Okamoto will co-lead a new center to advance use of seaweed in the global economy. The International Bioeconomy Macroalgae Center (IBMC) at UC Berkeley, will address the need for foundational knowledge, technological approaches, supply chain designs, policy frameworks, community engagement, and educational materials for businesses and consumers to build sustainable macroalgal-based bioeconomies. Read the full article here

Image:  Date:  Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - 09:45 Legacy:  section header item:  Date:  Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - 09:45 headline_position:  Top Left headline_color_style:  Normal headline_width:  Long caption_color_style:  Normal caption_position:  Bottom Left Expose in main "News river"?:  yes

 A*STAR Graduate Academy is offering a 2 to 6-month research attachment through the Singapore International Pre-Graduate Award (SIPGA) for undergraduate and master’s students in STEM fields. Students can gain hands-on experience working with world-renowned researchers in Singapore from May 2025. Eligible applicants must be in their 3rd or 4th year or enrolled in a master’s program, […]