Agroecological Research, Extension, and Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz

This paper highlights how agroecological research, extension, and education have been conducted at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) for over four decades. UCSC has one of the world’s oldest formal agroecology programs, known today as the Center for Agroecology. Located near the largest strawberry production area in the US, UCSC’s agroecological research and extension have primarily focused on solving various challenges for organic strawberries using a grower’s participatory approach. Agroecological education has been conducted at the interdisciplinary Department of Environmental Studies, Division of Social Sciences, since 1981. An agroecology major (B.A.) created in 2020 offers lectures, labs, and field quarters for students to learn about ecological concepts of sustainable agricultural systems and develop an understanding of agriculture’s social, political, and economic aspects. The organic campus farm, established in 1971, and organic Chadwick Garden, established in 1967, are managed by Center for Agroecology staff and students and provide the campus and local community with fresh organic produce, hands-on educational opportunities, and fields and facilities for research. Agroecology programs at UCSC continue to evolve to provide opportunities to study, learn, and collaborate in agroecological research, extension, and education for present and future generations to transform entire food systems into more sustainable ones.