Five new faculty join AES at UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz
Since 2022, when UC President Michael Drake announced the expansion of the UC Agricultural Experiment Station (AES), UC ANR has partnered even more closely with UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz to integrate these two campuses into our UC ANR network.
“We are excited to share that five new AES faculty joined the founding nine AES faculty at these two campuses: Joshua Garcia, Andrea Joyce, Crystal Kolden, Madeleine Fairbairn and Pallab Sarker,” said Katherine Webb-Martinez, director of Program Planning and Evaluation. “Their AES projects have all recently been approved by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to start this federal fiscal year 2025-26.” See list below.
Please welcome our new AES colleagues to the UC ANR network and feel free to reach out to them to explore potential collaborations.
Learn more about our UC AES, which includes the list of AES faculty across the UC system to whom you can also reach out to for networking.
| Name | Dept./Campus | AES Project |
| Joshua Garcia | Life and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, UC Merced | Utilizing Organic Amendments to Improve Urban Soil Health and Plant Performance in Alameda County
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| Andrea Joyce | Public Health, School of Social Science, UC Merced | Enhancing Adoption of Ecologically-Based Insect Management for Sustainable Agriculture
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| Crystal Kolden | Management of Complex Systems, School of Engineering, UC Merced | Food as a solution to the wildfire crisis: assessing the flammability of cultivated agriculture in the western US
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| Madeleine Fairbairn | Environmental Studies, Social Sciences Division, UC Santa Cruz | Fostering land access for the next generation of California farmers
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| Pallab Sarker | Environmental Studies, Social Sciences Division, UC Santa Cruz | Microalgal By-Products as Innovative Aquafeed Ingredients: Developing Fish-Free and Soy-Free Feed for Sustainable Aquaculture
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