David J. Mackill

Education: 

• Ph.D., University of California, Davis; Genetics, 1981
• M.S., University of California, Davis; Agronomy, 1977
• B.S., University of California, Davis; Plant Science, 1976

Research interests and expertise: 

Most of my career has focused on the genetics and breeding of rice, with an emphasis on abiotic stress tolerance. I was previously head of plant breeding and program leader at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. My work on submergence tolerance of rice has resulted in development and dissemination of tolerant varieties in Asian countries. I have extensive experience in international agricultural development. More recently, I worked for Mars Inc. on genetics and breeding of cacao and peanut.

Current teaching: 

• Chocolate Covered: The Past, Present and Future of Cacao (PS 13, fall quarter)

Prizes, Awards, Honors:

• Tech Award Lauriat, Economic Development, 2012
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, 2011
• Award of Distinction, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, 2010
• Gold medal for contributions to Agriculture, Government of Vietnam, 2010
• National Research Initiative Discovery Award from U.S. Department of Agriculture for discovery of the SUB1 gene, 2008
• Best Scientific Article Award of the CGIAR for the paper Xu et al. (2006) Nature442:705-708, 2007
• Fellow, American Society of Agronomy, 2007
• Honorary Fellow, Crop Science Society of the Philippines, 2006
• Fellow, Crop Science Society of America, 2003

Keywords:

• Cacao
• Peanut
• Rice
• Genetics
• Plant breeding
• International agriculture
• Sustainability
• Abiotic stress
• Germplasm
• Cocoa
• Database