New Fellowship Established

Syngenta Produce Quality Fellowship

UC Davis food science graduate student Jennifer Shiu (left) confers with adviser Diane Barrett, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist (center), and Laurie Boyden, a research scientist with Syngenta Seeds, Inc., which created a graduate student fellowship.

If you like crisp and tasty watermelon, you’re in luck. Jennifer Shiu, a master’s degree student in the Food Science Graduate Group at UC Davis is researching how to make that watermelon even better.

Under the guidance of her adviser, UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist Diane Barrett, Shiu is screening different watermelon varieties and developing methods to quantify the crispness and juiciness of each.

Shiu is just the type of outstanding student Syngenta Seeds, Inc., was thinking of when it established the Syngenta Produce Quality Fellowship at UC Davis in 2008. The gift will support Shiu for her two years of graduate study.

"I was honored to be selected as the Syngenta Produce Quality Fellow for 2008–2010,” said Shiu. “The fellowship funding allows me to focus on my research goals and gain experience pertinent to furthering a career in the food industry after graduation."

“Supporting graduate student education at UC Davis is a great fit for us,” said Syngenta Seeds’ Laurie Boyden. “By providing a fellowship we are able to encourage outstanding students to work in the area of produce quality and help ensure a pipeline of future scientists for the seed and produce industries.”

Support for graduate students is one of UC Davis’ highest priorities as the campus competes internationally for the most outstanding candidates.

“Graduate student fellowships like the Syngenta Produce Quality Fellowship are vital to recruiting and retaining bright graduate students at UC Davis,” Barrett said. “I am grateful that Syngenta has recognized the quality of our graduate student program and supported one of our students so generously.”

For more information about philanthropic support for graduate students, contact Janet Berry at jsberry@ucdavis.edu or (530) 754-2001.

Media Contact(s):

• Melissa Haworth, CA&ES Dean’s Office (530) 754-8562, mdhaworth@ucdavis.edu
• John Stumbos, CA&ES Dean’s Office, (530) 754-4979, jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu
• Amber Hanes-Miller, Syngenta Seeds, (208) 327-7251, amber.hanes-miller@syngenta.com