About the Program
The food systems minor, hosted by the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management (ESPM) at the College of Natural Resources (CNR), is an interdisciplinary program of study that explores the role of food within the environment and society. Drawing from diverse fields as far-ranging as ecology, sociology, the humanities, nutrition, history, and economics, the food systems minor critically examines issues of contemporary food and agriculture from a whole-systems perspective.
Students take five courses, one of which can be lower division and one of which can overlap with their major. A required community engagement project during the junior or senior year allows students to bring together what they have learned in a real-world setting.
Students who complete the minor will gain a broad and interdisciplinary understanding of critical themes and concepts related to the social, political, economic, environmental, cultural, nutritional, and public health issues of contemporary food and agriculture systems both domestically and internationally.
Minor Requirements
General Guidelines
Courses must be taken for a letter grade unless the course is only offered on a Pass/No Pass basis. The student must achieve at least a C (2.0) average in the courses taken in satisfaction of a minor program. Students may take one lower division course to count toward the major requirements and may overlap one course, lower or upper division, with their major requirements. The five courses taken for the major, two core courses, two elective courses, and the experiential learning course must total at least 15 units.
All minors must be declared no later than one semester before a student's Expected Graduation Term (EGT). If the semester before EGT is fall or spring, the deadline is the last day of RRR week. If the semester before EGT is summer, the deadline is the final Friday of Summer Sessions. To declare a minor, contact the department advisor for information on requirements, and the declaration process.
The requirements of the minor include:
1. Two Core Courses
Choose two courses, from two different categories listed below.
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Sciences | ||
| Agricultural Ecology [3] | ||
| Science of Soils [3] | ||
| Sustainable Water and Food Security [4] | ||
| Environmental Plant Biology [2] | ||
| Social Sciences | ||
| Sociology and Political Ecology of Agro-Food Systems [4] | ||
| Food and the Environment [4] | ||
| Selected Topics in Social Inequality: Social Problems of the Food Industry [3] (topic must be: Social Problems of the Food Industry) | ||
| Cultural Perspectives of Food [3] | ||
| Food and Community Health | ||
| Introduction to Human Nutrition [3] (*) | ||
| Special Topics in Public Health [1-4] (Topic must be Global Nutrition***) | ||
2. Two Elective Courses
Choose two courses from the categories below. A minimum of one elective must be from the category not chosen for a core course. Core course options not taken to fulfill the core course requirement can be counted toward the elective requirement.*
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Sciences | ||
| Insect Ecology [2] | ||
| Urban Garden Ecosystems [4] | ||
| Agricultural Ecology [3] ** | ||
| Science of Soils [3] ** | ||
| Soil Microbiology and Biogeochemistry [3] | ||
| Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology [3] | ||
| Special Topics in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management [2-4] (Topic Green Water, Brown Ground and Global Food Security***) | ||
| Biodiversity Conservation in Working Landscapes [4] | ||
| Sustainable Water and Food Security [4] | ||
| Management and Conservation of Rangeland Ecosystems [4] | ||
| The (Secret) Life of Plants [3] | ||
| Physiology and Biochemistry of Plants [3] | ||
| Modern Applications of Plant Biotechnology [2] | ||
| Environmental Plant Biology [2] ** | ||
| Social Sciences | ||
| History 2 Foodways: A Global History*** | ||
| The Anthropology of Food [4] | ||
| Planning for Sustainability [3] | ||
| Economics of Race, Agriculture, and the Environment [3] | ||
| Industrial Organization with Applications to Agriculture and Natural Resources [4] | ||
| Economics of Poverty and Technology [3] | ||
| Economics of Water Resources [3] | ||
| FROM FARM TO TABLE: FOOD SYSTEMS IN A CHANGING WORLD [4] | ||
| Sociology and Political Ecology of Agro-Food Systems [4] | ||
| Environmental Justice: Race, Class, Equity, and the Environment [4] | ||
| International Rural Development Policy [4] | ||
| Political Ecology [4] | ||
| Food and the Environment [4] ** | ||
| Special Topics in Geography [3] (Topic must be The Political Ecology of Land Grabs: Food, Resources, Environment and Development) | ||
| Perspectives For Sustainable Rural Development [4] | ||
| Comparative World History [4] (Topic must be Foodways: A Global History to count towards minor) ** | ||
| Advanced Studies in International and Area Studies [4] (***Topic must be: Climate Change and Agriculture in Latin America) | ||
| Edible Education: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement [2] | ||
| Human Diet [4] | ||
| Food, Culture, and the Environment [2] | ||
| Food, Culture, and the Environment AC [3] | ||
| Selected Topics in Social Inequality: Social Problems of the Food Industry [3] (Topic Social Problems of the Food Industry***) | ||
| Cultural Perspectives of Food [3] | ||
| Global Sociology [3] | ||
| Food and Community Health | ||
| Human Diet [4] | ||
| Environmental Health and Development [4] | ||
| Introduction to Human Nutrition [3] ** | ||
| Nutrient Function and Metabolism [3] | ||
| Food, Culture, and the Environment [2] | ||
| Introduction and Application of Food Science and Application of Food Science Laboratory | ||
| Food Systems Organization and Management [4] | ||
| Pesticide Chemistry and Toxicology [3] | ||
| Metabolic Bases of Human Health and Diseases [4] | ||
| Nutrition in the Community [3] | ||
| Global Health: A Multidisciplinary Examination [4] | ||
| Drinking Water and Health [3] | ||
| Special Topics in Public Health [4] (Topic Global Nutrition only*** ) | ||
| *Only one lower division class OR up to two units of relevant upper division DeCal credit can count toward the minor. DeCal classes must be approved by the minor adviser and are considered outside the three elective categories: therefore they do not satisfy the requirement of a minimum of one elective taken from the category not chosen for a core course. Students can petition to include other relevant classes, including graduate or study abroad classes. | ||
| **Course is also a core course | ||
| ***Only this course topic is eligible for the minor | ||
| Only one overlapping course (upper or lower division) between this minor and a major | ||
3. Community Engagement Project
Students will complete three (3) units of experiential learning through ESPM 197, consisting of two hours/week of in-class time with approximately 7 hours per week spent on-the-ground with a partner organization.
Experiential Learning through Engagement in Food Systems
Central to the goal of the minor is an experiential learning internship, to be taken during the student’s junior or senior year. During an entire semester (or longer if they choose), students will work with an organization focused on some aspect of food system change. Students will work with the Community Engagement Faculty Coordinator to identify a community engagement partner organization that fits best with the student's interest. Students will receive credit for community engagement through enrollment in ESPM 197.
Learn About Experiential Learning through Engagement in Food Systems
Faculty and Instructors
+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Faculty
Rodrigo P. P. Almeida, Associate Professor. Disease ecology, vector, plant disease, Xylella fastidiosa, emerging.
Research Profile
Miguel A. Altieri, Professor. Agriculture, environmental science, pest management.
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Ronald Amundson, Professor. Pedology isotope biogeochemistry, impact of climate and life on earth processes, soils in biogeochemical cycles, human impacts on soils and ecosystems.
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Gary Anderson, Adjunct Professor. Microbial ecology, genomics, diversity in extreme environments.
Jodi Axelson, Assistant Cooperative Extention Specialist. Forest Health, insect outbreaks, forest ecology, resource management, Dendrochronology and wood anatomy.
Dennis D. Baldocchi, Professor. Biometeorology, biosphere-atmosphere trace gas fluxes, ecosystem ecology, climate change.
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Jillian Banfield, Professor. Nanoscience, Bioremediation, genomics, biogeochemistry, carbon cycling, geomicrobiology, MARS, minerology.
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John J. Battles, Professor. Forest Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics.
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Steven R. Beissinger, Professor. Conservation, behavioral and population ecology.
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Gregory Biging, Professor. Forest Biometrics and Remote Sensing.
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Carl Boettiger, Assistant Professor. Theoretical ecology, ecoinformatics, modeling, data science, resilience, early warning signals, decision theory.
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Timothy Bowles, Assistant Professor. Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture.
Justin S. Brashares, Associate Professor. Wildlife, biodiversity, ecology, conservation, human livelihoods.
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Eoin Brodie, Assistant Adjunct Professor.
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Thomas D. Bruns, Professor. Microbial biology, plant biology, fungi, nucleic acid sequences, basidomycetes, ectomycorrhizal fungi communities.
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Stephanie M. Carlson, Associate Professor. Fish ecology, freshwater ecology, evolutionary ecology.
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Claudia J. Carr, Associate Professor. International and rural resource development.
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Ignacio Chapela, Associate Professor. Agriculture, biotechnology, environmental science, microbial biology, policy and management.
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Paolo D'Odorico, Professor. Ecohydrology, surface hydrology, ecosystem ecology, Aeolian processes, desertfication, stohastic, nonlinear environmental dynamics, water and food security.
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Todd Dawson, Professor. Physiological plant ecology, evolutionary plant ecology, ecosystem processes, adaptations of plants, carbon, water, nitrogen.
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Kathryn De Master, Assistant Professor. Sociology and political ecology of agriculture, agrarian change, rural conservation and development, agri-environmental policy, food justice/sovereignty movements, heritage and terroir, diversified farming systems, participatory mapping.
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Perry De Valpine, Associate Professor. Population ecology, mathematical modeling and statistics.
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Richard S. Dodd, Professor. Tree genetics and systematics.
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Damian O. Elias, Assistant Professor. Neuroethology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology of arthropods.
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Mary K. Firestone, Professor. Soils, environmental policy, environmental science, policy and management, wildlife, miicrobial biology.
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Brian L. Fisher, Associate Adjunct Professor. Entomology, Ants.
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Gordon Frankie, Professor. Urban entomology, policy, environmental policy, environmental science, pest management, management.
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Inez Fung, Professor. Global change, environmental policy, ecosystem scienes.
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Matteo Garbelotto, Adjunct Professor. Forest pathology, forest mycology, forest and tree management.
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Wayne Marcus Getz, Professor. Africa, disease ecology, wildlife conservation, resource management.
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Rosemary Gillespie, Professor. Evolutionary ecology, systematics, spider biology, conservation.
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+ J. Gilless, Professor. Environmental policy, resource economics, forestry, forest economics, wildland fire.
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Allen Goldstein, Professor. Global change, air pollution, environmental science, biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry.
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Charles Griswold, Adjunct Professor. Entomology.
John Harte, Professor. Global change, ecology, sustainability, energy policy, theoretical ecology, biodiversityl.
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Susan Hubbard, Adjunct Professor.
Lynn Huntsinger, Professor. Rangeland conservation and management.
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Alastair Iles, Associate Professor. Science, technology and environment, green chemistry, sustainability learning, environmental policy.
David Kavanaugh, Adjunct Professor. Systematics, biogeography, evolution, and natural history of carabid beetles.
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Maggi Kelly, Professor in Residence. Remote sensing, wetlands, ecosystem sciences, forests, geoinformatics, participatory web, GIS.
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Siamak Khorram, Adjunct Professor. Remote sensing, image processing.
Claire Kremen, Professor. Conservation Biology, Pollination, Agroecology, Entomology.
Isao Kubo, Professor. Agriculture, insect biology, pest management.
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Laura N. Lammers, Assistant Professor. Environmental geochemistry, crystal growth, mineral-fluid and fluid-fluid interfacial processes, contaminant transport.
Jonas Meckling, Assistant Professor. Climate policy, energy policy, political economy.
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Carolyn Merchant, Professor. Environmental history, philosophy and ethics.
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Adina M. Merenlender, Adjunct Professor. Conservation biology.
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Arthur Middleton, Assistant Professor. Wildlife ecology, management, and policy.
Nicholas J. Mills, Professor. Invasive species, Biological control, Population ecology, Entomology/Insect biology.
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Katharine Milton, Professor. Tropical ecology of humans and non-human primates diet parasite-host interactions.
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Rachel Morello-Frosch, Professor. Race and class determinants of the distribution of health risks associated with air pollution among diverse communities in the United States .
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Patrick M. O'Grady, Assistant Professor. Population genetics and phylogenetics of Drosophila, adaptive radiation, biogeography.
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Kevin O'Hara, Professor. Stand dynamics silviculture forest management.
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Kate O'Neill, Associate Professor. International environmental politics/ global political economy.
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Dara O'Rourke, Associate Professor. Environmental justice, globalization, industrial ecology, labor.
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Celine Pallud, Associate Professor. Biogeochemistry, iron reduction, metals and contaminants, soil aggregates, selenium kinetics of organic matter degradation, nitrate reduction, soil and environmental biogeophysics, biogeochemical cycles, fate and transport of nutrients, sulfate reduction, wetland soils, littoral sediments, spatial variation in biogeochemical processes.
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Nancy L. Peluso, Professor. Political ecology/resource policy and politics/forests/agrarian change/property and access.
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Matthew D. Potts, Associate Professor. Forest management, biofuels, plantation agriculture, land use planning, land use policy, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, tropical ecology, environmental economics.
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Robert Rhew, Associate Professor. Geography, terrestrial-atmosphere exchange of trace gases, atmospheric chemistry and composition, halogen biogeochemistry, stratospheric ozone depletion issues, coastal salt marsh, chaparral, desert, tundra, boreal forest, grassland.
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George Roderick, Professor. Invasion biology, Biodiversity science, Sustainability and global change, Insects.
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Erica B. Rosenblum, Assistant Professor. Evolutionary ecology, speciation and extinction, ecological genomics, herpetology, global change biology.
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Whendee SIlver, Professor. Ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry.
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Scott L. Stephens, Professor. Wildland fire science, fire ecology, forest ecology, forest policy, forest management.
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Mark A. Tanouye, Professor. Genetics, neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, mechanisms of nervous system structure and function, drosophila mutants.
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Neil Tsutsui, Professor. Genetics and behavior of social insects.
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Ian Wang, Assistant Professor. Landscape genetics, landscape ecology, ecological and conservation genomics.
Kipling Will, Associate Professor. Carabid beetles/ Insect Systematics/ Associate Director,Essig Museum of Entomology.
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David E. Winickoff, Associate Professor. Biotechnology, bioethics, environmental regulation, Science and Technology studies, geoengineering, technology transfer.
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Robert York, Adjunct Assistant Professor. Forest Ecology, Silviculture, Giant Sequoia restoration and ecology.
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Specialists
Van Butsic, Assistant Specialist. Land systems science, conservation, environmental economics and policy, coupled human natural systems, GIS applications.
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Kent M. Daane, Specialist. Control of insect pests in agricultural crops.
Christy M. Getz, Associate Specialist. Ethics, history, politics, rural development.
Ted Grantham, Assistant Specialist. Freshwater ecology, stream hydrology, climate risk assessment, California water management and policy.
Vernard Lewis, Specialist. Biology and management of structural and household pests .
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Max A. Moritz, Associate Specialist. Fire Ecology and Management.
Research Profile
Thomas A. Scott, Specialist. Wildlife conservation, human impacts on wildlife, wildlife/urban interface.
Jennifer Sowerwine, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist. Building equitable, economically viable and culturally relevant food systems in metropolitan areas that contribute to healthy communities, ecological diversity and sustainable livelihoods.
Richard B. Standiford, Cooperative Extension Specialist. Forest management.
William Stewart, Specialist. Watershed management, forest management, resource economics.
William D. Tietje, Specialist. Oak woodland ecology, human impacts on wildlife.
Lecturers
Kendra Klein, Lecturer.
Alan H. Krakauer, Lecturer.
Patina Mendez, Lecturer.
Kurt Spreyer, Lecturer.
Bridget M. Tracy, Lecturer.
Visiting Faculty
Daphne Miller, Visiting Associate Professor.
Emeritus Faculty
Barbara Allen-Diaz, Professor Emeritus. Rangeland ecology and management, Plant community ecology.
Research Profile
John R. Anderson, Professor Emeritus.
Reginald Barrett, Professor Emeritus. Wildlife biology and management.
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Frank Beall, Professor Emeritus.
David L. Brink, Professor Emeritus.
Leopoldo Caltagirone, Professor Emeritus.
+ Howell V. Daly, Professor Emeritus. Biosystematics of bees, traditional and modern taxonomic procedures, including use of computers in classification and data analysis and management.
Harvey Doner, Professor Emeritus. Chemistry of trace elements in soils, mineral-organic compound interactions, and chemistry of carbonates and more soluble minerals in soils.
John Doyen, Professor Emeritus.
Sally Fairfax, Professor Emeritus.
Louis A. Falcon, Professor Emeritus.
Louise Fortmann, Professor Emeritus.
Paul L. Gersper, Professor Emeritus. Soil/plant relationships, land use.
Research Profile
Peng Gong, Professor Emeritus. Remote Sensing and GIS.
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Andrew Gutierrez, Professor Emeritus. Systems ecology biological control.
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Joseph Hancock, Professor Emeritus.
Richard R. Harris, Specialist Emeritus. Forestry, resource management, riparian ecology.
John A. Helms, Professor Emeritus.
John Helms, Professor Emeritus.
Marjorie Hoy, Professor Emeritus.
Oenes Huisman, Professor Emeritus.
Robert S. Lane, Professor Emeritus.
William Libby, Professor Emeritus.
Werner Loher, Professor Emeritus.
+ Joe R. McBride, Professor Emeritus. Forest ecology and urban forestry.
Research Profile
John G. McColl, Professor Emeritus. Soil science: nutrient cycling, forest soils.
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Doug McCreary, Specialist Emeritus. Artificial regeneration of native California oaks.
Dale McCullough, Professor Emeritus. Wildlife biology and management.
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William Mckillop, Professor Emeritus. Forest economics, forest management, forest policy, timber supply, forestry economics.
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Gary Nakamura, Specialist Emeritus. Forestry and silviculture.
Nickolas Panopoulos, Professor Emeritus.
Rudolph Pipa, Professor Emeritus.
Jerry Powell, Professor Emeritus.
Alexander H. Purcell III, Professor Emeritus. Insect vectors of plant pathogens.
Stephen Quarles, Professor Emeritus.
Robert D. Raabe, Professor Emeritus. Ornamental pathology.
Jeffrey Romm, Professor Emeritus.
Vincent Rush, Professor Emeritus.
Milton Schroth, Professor Emeritus. Ecology, pathogen physiology, biocontrol.
John Shelly, Professor Emeritus.
Philip Spieth, Professor Emeritus. Population Genetics and Evolution.
Garrison Sposito, Professor Emeritus.
Robert Van Steenwyk, Professor Emeritus. Pest management, forestry, microbial biology.
Research Profile
Lawrence Waldron, Professor Emeritus.
Stephen C. Welter, Professor Emeritus. Plant-insect interactions and agricultural entomology.
W. Wayne Wilcox, Professor Emeritus.
David Wood, Professor Emeritus.
Eugene Zavarin, Professor Emeritus.
Contact Information
Food Systems Minor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management
College of Natural Resources
Phone: 510-642-0542
Undergraduate Advisor
Meaghan DeRespini
260 Mulford Hall
Phone: 510-642-2879