Jodie Holt, UC Riverside Professor Emerita, former Chair of the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, former Divisional Dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and former director of the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens, passed away on April 27.
For more than four decades, Holt served at UC Riverside as a faculty member, researcher, mentor and campus leader. She joined the UCR faculty in 1982 and built an internationally respected career in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, where her research advanced the understanding of weed ecology, invasive species and plant physiology.
“Jodie was a leader in teaching, research, outreach and administration,” said her longtime friend and colleague Edie Allen, emeritus UC Cooperative Extension specialist and professor in UC Riverside’s Department of Botany and Plant Sciences.
“During the 25 years we worked together, I attended many ANR meetings with Jodie statewide where she interacted with academics and did outreach with the public,” Allen said. “She had the cleanest desk of any faculty member I ever knew. As an administrator (department chair, associate dean and Botanic Garden director) she maintained her high level of efficiency while being open-minded and approachable.”
Allen recalled how Holt expanded her research program to meet a growing interest in invasive plant species in natural landscapes.
“When the field of agricultural weed science was no longer attracting many graduate students in the 1990s, she repositioned herself as an invasive plant biologist and soon had a large lab of enthusiastic ecologists who went on to productive careers in land management and research,” Allen said.
Justin M. Valliere, assistant professor of Cooperative Extension specializing in invasive weed and restoration ecology at UC Davis, was one of those graduate students drawn to Holt’s program.
“When I first started graduate school, Jodie was one of the faculty members in Botany and Plant Sciences at UCR who made me feel especially welcome and supported at a time when I often felt out of my element,” Valliere said. “She was incredibly approachable and generous with her time, and she encouraged students not only to pursue strong science, but also to think carefully about how that science could be applied to real-world problems.”
Joseph DiTomaso, emeritus UCCE weed specialist at UC Davis, met Holt when she was studying at UC Davis with Steve Radosevich for her Ph.D.
“When I started my career as a weed scientist, a colleague asked me who I would like to emulate,” DiTomaso said. “Without hesitation, I replied, ‘Dr. Jodie Holt.’ She was intelligent, kind, patient and professional. These and other qualities made her special.”
Holt extended her outreach to the public through the entertainment industry. She served as a scientific consultant for the 2009 science fiction film Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron. To bring scientific realism to the portrayal of ecological research in the film, she advised the production team on plant biology and contributed insights into how scientists might study plant life in extraterrestrial environments.
Her scholarly contributions were recognized nationally with the Outstanding Research Award from the Weed Science Society of America in 2010, honoring her impactful work in weed science. In the same year, she received the Paul Ecke Jr. Award of Excellence from the San Diego Botanic Garden, recognizing her exceptional achievements in inspiring people of all ages to connect with plants and nature and her leadership in education about plants and their role in the environment.
Holt was an active member of numerous professional societies, including the Botanical Society of America, the Weed Science Society of America, and the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
“I miss her greatly for her collegiality and friendship,” Allen said.
Read more about Holt’s career in “In Memoriam: Remembering Jodie Holt, Scholar, Educator, and Campus Leader,” by Thomas Eulgem, chair of Botany and Plant Sciences; Patricia Springer, professor and divisional dean, Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Joann Young, CNAS Communications and Strategic Initiatives; and “A Vision Rooted in Wonder: Remembering How Jodie Holt Helped the World See Plants Again.”