Studies how growing practices, cultivars, rootstocks, and postharvest handling influence the productivity and fruit quality of subtropical crops, particularly avocado and citrus.

Contact Info:
Title: Cooperative Extension Specialist, Subtropical Horticulture
E-mail:   marylu.arpaia@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/marylu.arpaia

Studies how plants sense and survive flooding and other environmental stresses, with an emphasis on gene regulation and developing climate-resilient crops.

Contact Info:
Title: Distinguished Professor and Geneticist
E-mail: julia.bailey@ucr.edu

 https://profiles.ucr.edu/julia.bailey

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Develops improved turfgrasses and management practices for drought, heat, and water-limited environments, with a particular focus on reducing landscape water use.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor 
E-mail:   james.baird@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/james.baird

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how biodiversity and ecological communities respond to environmental change and how those changes affect ecosystem function, resilience, and restoration.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor 
E-mail: christopher.catano@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/christopher.catano

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses genetics, biochemistry, and chemical biology to understand and manipulate plant hormone signaling, particularly abscisic acid and plant responses to drought.

Contact Info:
Title: Distinguished Professor and Plant Cell Biologist
E-mail: sean.cutler@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/cutler

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how chloroplasts and other organelles communicate with the nucleus and each other, and how metabolic signals coordinate plant development and environmental stress responses.

Contact Info:

Title: Distinguished Professor and Molecular Biochemist
E-mail:  katayoon.dehesh@ucr.edu 

https://profiles.ucr.edu/katayoon.dehesh

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the physiology and management of citrus and grape, including crop responses to heat, drought, nutrition, and other stresses.

Contact Info:
Title: Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension

E-mail ashraf.elkereamy@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/ashraf.elkereamy

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how plant genetics and root-derived chemicals shape soil microbial communities, with the goal of understanding and improving beneficial plant–microbe interactions.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Plant Genetics

E-mail mariaflorencia.ercoli@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/mariaflorencia.ercoli

Studies the molecular and epigenetic regulation of plant immune responses and develops chemical approaches to activate disease resistance.

Contact Info:
Title: Department Chair, Professor and Plant Cell Biologist
E-mail: thomas.eulgem@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/teulgem

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Develops nanotechnology-based approaches to study and engineer plant and algae physiology, including precision delivery carriers, sensors, therapeutics, and biomolecule-nanomaterial interaction systems.

Contact Info:
Title: Associate Professor and Plant Physiologist
E-mail: juanpablo.giraldo@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/juanpg

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Develops computational methods and open-source software for analyzing genomic, multi-omics, and small-molecule data in plant and other biological systems.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor of Bioinformatics

E-mail thomas.girke@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/thomas.girk

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how gene regulation, cell-to-cell signaling, and cell identity control stem-cell maintenance and growth in the plant shoot meristem.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Plant Cell Biologist

E-mail venu.gonehal@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/venu.goneha

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how vegetation, climate, water, carbon cycling, and biodiversity interact across natural, agricultural, and urban landscapes.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Landscape Ecologist
E-mail: darrel.jenerette@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/gdjen

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Develops statistical and genomic approaches to understand complex traits and improve breeding, including genomic selection and multi-omics analyses in crops.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Geneticist
E-mail: arthur.jia@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/zhenyuj

Faculty website:  Jia Lab

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the biosynthesis and diversity of plant natural products using metabolomics, mass spectrometry, biochemistry, and genomics.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Molecular Biochemistry
E-mail: adamj@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/adam.jozwiak

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses comparative and single-cell genomics to investigate how gene regulation and regulatory evolution shape plant development and adaptation to environmental stress.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Plant Resilience
E-mail: sunilkumar.kenchanmaneraju@ucr.edu 

https://profiles.ucr.edu/sunilkumar.kenchanmaneraju

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses genetics and genomics to understand how plants evolve and adapt, including the genetic basis of natural variation and domestication.

Contact Info:
Title:  Associate Professor and Geneticist
E-mail: daniel.koenig@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/dkoenig

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the ecological processes that determine plant community diversity and invasion and applies this knowledge to ecosystem restoration and management.

Contact Info:
Title: Associate Professor and Plant Ecologist
E-mail: loralee.larios@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/loralee

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses mathematical, computational, and systems approaches to understand ecological complexity across populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Ecologist

E-mail bai-lian.li@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/bai-lian.li

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses phylogenetic and population genetic methods to undersatnd patterns of species and genetic diversity in native plant species.

Contact Info:
Title: Associate Professor and Plant Evolution & Develop Biologist
E-mail:  amy.litt@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/amylitt

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies chromosome biology in crop plants, particularly meiotic chromosome pairing and the use of cytogenetics to introduce useful genetic variation into crops.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Geneticist

E-mail adam.lukaszewski@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/adam.lukaszewsk

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how environmental and biological stresses affect subtropical fruit crops such as avocado, citrus, dates, and mango.

Contact Info:
Title: Director of Agricultural Operations

E-mail peggy.mauk@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/peggy.mauk

Studies vegetable production, weed management, organic agriculture, and the environmental sustainability of cropping systems.

Contact Info:
Title: Cooperative Extension Specialist, Vegetable Crops

E-mail milt.mcgiffen@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/milt.mcgiffe

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies plant nutrition, physiology, fertilizers, growing media, cultural practices and environmental management in nursery, floriculture, and landscape production systems.

Contact Info:

Title: Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist, Horticulture

E-mail donald.merhaut@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/donald.merhau

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how the plant circadian clock and gene-regulatory networks control responses to temperature and other environmental stresses.

Contact Info:
Title: Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics
E-mail: dawn.nagel@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/dawnn

https://dawnnagel.wixsite.com/nagelucr

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the mechanisms and molecular evolution of plant hormone signaling and metabolic pathways, particularly for strigolactones and karrikins from smoke.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor of Genetics
E-mail: david.nelson@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/davidn

https://nelsonlab.ucr.edu

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the ecology, genetics, and management of agricultural weeds and invasive plants, with the goal of developing sustainable weed-management strategies.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Cooperative Extension Weed Management Specialist

E-mail sara.ohadi@ucr.edu

Studies how the cytoskeleton determines where plant cells divide and how division orientation contributes to plant shape, tissue organization, and development.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Plant Cell Biologist
E-mail:  carolyn.rasmussen@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/crasmu

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies diseases and other stresses that limit the productivity of perennial crops and develop sustainable strategies for maintaining plant health.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor Coop Extension Specialist, Subtropical Crops
https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/philrols

https://ucanr.edu/sites/Rolshausen/

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies how climate, water, soils, and other environmental factors control plant physiology and productivity across diverse ecosystems.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Physiological Ecologist
E-mail:  louis.santiago@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/santiago

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Uses genetics and genomics to understand agriculturally important citrus traits and accelerate the development of improved varieties.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Genetics
E-mail:  danelle.seymour@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/dseymour

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Studies the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control plant form and development, including leaf and shoot architecture and traits relevant to crop productivity.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor of Genetics

E-mail patricia.springer@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/patricia.springer

Uses analytical and computational metabolomics to investigate chemical interactions among plants, animals, microbes, and their environment.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Ecological Metablism

email maggie.sogin@ucr.edu

Studies the physiology and management of citrus and other specialty crops, with an emphasis on rootstocks, root systems, and strategies to sustain productivity under disease and environmental stress.

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor of Horticulture
E-mail:  caroline.tardivo@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/caroline.tardivo

Studies how plants recognize and defend themselves against insect herbivores and the signaling networks that activate wound and defense responses.

Contact Info:
Title: Professor and Geneticist
E-mail: linda.walling@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/lwalling

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station

Develops synthetic biology tools for engineering plant plastids to uncover fundamental principles of organelle biology and create sustainable biological solutions for food, chemicals, and the environment. 

Contact Info:
Title: Assistant Professor

E-mail qiguo.yu@ucr.edu

Develops statistical and computational methods for quantitative genetics, QTL mapping, genomic analysis, and plant breeding.

Contact Info:
Title: Distinguished Professor and Geneticist

E-mail shizhong.xu@ucr.edu

https://profiles.ucr.edu/shizhong.x

Member of the UC ANR – UC Agricultural Experiment Station