The Seed Biotechnology Center at the University of California Davis
recognizes University Research Partner
Dr. Pamela Ronald

Dr. Pamela Ronald is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. She also serves as Director of Grass Genetics at the Joint Bioenergy Research Institute in Emeryville. 

The Ronald laboratory studies the role that genes play in a plant’s response to its environment. Much of her work focuses on rice, a staple for 50% of the world’s people. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding, both of which are serious problems of rice crops in Asia and Africa. Recent collaborative projects she has been involved in include:

• Molecular and genomic characterization of submergence tolerance in rice in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute and researchers at the University of California, Riverside. In 2008, Ronald and her collaborators received the USDA Discovery Award for this research.

• Construction of a the Rice Glycosyltransferases Database to integrate and host functional genomic information for all putative rice GTs, as a part of a Joint BioEnergy Institute initiative to elucidate the mechanisms of grass cell wall synthesis.

• Establishment of a K-12 plant genomics education program with support from the NSF and Chevron (http://pgp.ucdavis.edu/outreach)

In addition, Dr. Ronald is coauthor, with her husband an organic farmer, of “Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food”
(http://pamelaronald.blogspot.com/) 

For further discussions with Dr. Ronald, please contact her directly at pcronald@ucdavis.edu.