Recent News
City Farm SLO's Youth Empowerment Program Visits the Center
Jul 23, 2024
The Strawberry Center team is hosting a series of tours for the students participating in the City Farm SLO's 2024 Youth Empowerment Program. This program provides exceptional leadership development opportunities to teens of all backgrounds through career/college readiness workshops and technical instruction in regenerative agriculture. https://www.cityfarmslo.org/yep
The students are able to explore the fields and hoop houses, visit the entomology lab, and pack their own strawberry clamshells! We love the opportunity to educate the younger generation about the strawberry industry.
NEW BLOG POST: Macrophomina's host range was exaggerated
Jul 17, 2024
How many plant species does Macrophomina attack?
A paper by Pennerman et al. sheds new light on this question. Learn more in our latest research blog post:
"Macrophomina's host range was exaggerated"
New podcast episode with Redox Grows
Jul 17, 2024
We had the pleasure of collaborating with Redox Grows for a podcast episode on our mission and contributions to the industry. Have a listen here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/redox-grows/id1633277681?i=1000660312561
Thank you to Redox Grows for this opportunity!
Dr. Frank Louws visits the Strawberry Center
Jul 10, 2024
Dr. Frank Louws (Dept. Head in Horticultural Science at NC State University) recently visited the Strawberry Center. Dr. Louws is a renowned plant pathologist who has worked many years researching strawberry diseases in North Carolina. It was our pleasure hosting him for a visit of the Strawberry Center where he met with staff and students sharing his knowledge of strawberry disease research.
Thank you Dr. Louws for visiting and sharing your knowledge with us! On a personal level, it was a pleasure to reconnect after working together at NC State for 12 years. Who knew that strawberries would offer the platform for reconnecting.
Field Day is officially 1 month away!
Jul 8, 2024
Field Day is officially one month away! Be sure to RSVP
Join us again this year as over 400 strawberry growers, researchers and industry representatives from all over California (and beyond) gather for the 8th Strawberry Center Field Day! Participants rotate through Automation, Entomology and Plant Pathology stations. Topics range from the newest automation technology to predatory mites to soil-borne pathogens of strawberry, and much more!
> Check-in opens at 7:30 am
> Lunch by Taco Man will be provided.
> Learn more about the eighth annual field day
> Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available, until July 19
Glean SLO's first strawberry harvest
Jul 5, 2024
We are pleased to announce our collaboration with Glean SLO in their first strawberry glean, where they harvested an impressive 578 pounds of over 60 varieties of strawberries. Glean SLO will be joining us weekly to continue gleaning berries. We are deeply grateful to organizations like Glean SLO for helping us give back to the community that supports us. 
2024 CAFES Commencement
Jul 1, 2024
Congratulations to our amazing student employees and Master's students who officially graduated this year! We're proud of your hard work, dedication and achievements.
This year's graduates who are affiliated with the Strawberry Center and the Strawberry Academy wore a new red-green-gold cord with their graduation cap and gown as a show of pride for the Center and the graduate. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions, creativity and drive.
Best wishes in all your future endeavors, Class of 2024! 
Cooper Calvin successfully defends his master's thesis
Jun 26, 2024
CONGRATULATIONS to Cooper Calvin who successfully defended his master's thesis this week. His thesis is titled "Emerging Diseases, Abiotic Disorders, and Macrophomina Root Rot Management of California Strawberry" and you can watch his presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjhEvhiLqDY
His thesis committee is comprised of Drs. Shashika Hewavitharana (chair), Gerald Holmes and Charlotte Decock.
Best wishes to Cooper on the next steps in his career!
Alison Stevens receives CAFES "Outstanding Staff Award"
Jun 24, 2024
Alison Stevens received the “Outstanding Staff Award” in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Alison has been working at the Strawberry Center for 8 years and her skills and leadership role have grown along with the Center. She exemplifies the ideal team player; always aware of the needs of the organization and the people in it and working hard to see that those needs are met.
Congratulations to Alison on this prestigious and well-deserved honor!
Strawberry Center students present research at 2024 CAFES Spring Student Research Symposium
Jun 20, 2024
Congratulations to Strawberry Center students who presented their research at this year’s CAFES Spring Student Research Symposium. Our students won 3 of the 6 awards and were competing against the entire college (9 departments) with over 70 research projects. This is the 3rd consecutive year that a Strawberry Center student has won 1st place in the graduate student research competition. That’s an impressive record!
Awards:
- Cooper Calvin: 1st place, graduate student research, "Crop termination and cover cropping to manage Macrophomina root rot of strawberry"
- Joseph Ramirez: 2nd place, graduate student research, "California survey of Botrytis fruit rot in Santa Maria strawberry fields with and without fungicides applied"
- Stephen Pryor: 2nd place, undergraduate student research, "Relationship between Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae and Meloidogyne hapla in strawberry cropping system"
We are also very proud of these student research posters:
- Samantha Simard, "Survey of Soilborne Pathogens Infecting Strawberry in Ventura County, California"
- Marina Gutierrez, "Implementing UV-C Treatment Following Fungicide Application for Control of Gray Mold in California Strawberry"
- Colin Koubek, "Effect of Chloropicrin and Metam Sodium on Nitrogen Mineralization and Preplant Fertilizer Release in California Strawberry Production"
- Maria Guadalupe Alvarez Arredondo (PLSC) and Jake Sporleder (BRAE), "Can microwave be a fumigant alternative to control Macrophomina root rot in strawberries?"
