Cultivate Summer 2017
Endless Opportunities
Dear CAFES Alumni and Friends,
One of the many great joys of my job is having a front row seat to the future. The many achievements of our students this year provides a glimpse into the success they’ll have in their careers. And every day I see faculty, staff and students working together in discovery – conducting applied research, finding solutions to problems and fueling passions that will last a lifetime.
In our cover story, we share how several of our faculty are developing breakthrough solutions to global issues, and providing students the opportunity to work alongside them to gain practical and invaluable experience.
Throughout the summer, the students and faculty participating in the college’s second annual Summer Undergraduate Research Program will also work together to advance the issues facing the agriculture, food and environmental science industries. They will spend significant hours over the summer in the college’s various labs, production facilities and fields, seeking solutions.
All of this underscores our critical need for improved facilities to ensure students and faculty alike are able to discover in environments similar to industry, with the most current technology and equipment. Our key priorities continue to be the J.G. Boswell Agricultural Technology Center, housed within the Science and Agriculture Teaching and Research Complex, Center for Wine and Viticulture, and Plant Sciences Complex.
We are grateful for your partnership in this endeavor. Your support, both financial and otherwise, makes the future one of endless opportunities.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.
My door is always open.
Warmest regards,
Andrew J. Thulin | Dean
Features
Meeting the increasing demands of food production to feed an ever-growing world population, with fewer natural resources available to do so, necessitates advances in innovative technologies.
Alumna Yvonne Sams’ (Agricultural Engineering Technology, ’95) path to where she is today as the director of logistics of G3 Enterprises, working with wineries on transportation, warehousing and distribution services, has been defined by a series of firsts.
The Plant Sciences Complex will be comprised of a learning center, next to Cal Poly’s plant production fields, to support various crops, soil health, organic growing and managed environment production.
Professor Stephanie Jung, originally of France, joined the Food Science and Nutrition Department from Iowa State. She is one of the leading researchers in using high pressure processing in food production.
A look at the achievements of CAFES students over the course of the year.