Dr. Louise Ferguson is team leader and responsible for Objective 2: Preparing the tree canopy for better fruit removal.

| Louise Ferguson Extension Specialist 2037 Wickson Hall Department of Plant Sciences Mail Stop #2 Davis, CA 95616-8683 U.S.A. |
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- Ph.D. Plant Physiology and Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1984
- M.S. Plant Physiology and Horticulture, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1980
- B.S. Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 1969
- Extension Specialist, Pomology, University of California, 1980 - present
- Assoc. Editor, Plant Growth Regulator Applications: HortScience, 1993 - present
- Director, Fruits and Nuts Information Center, University of California, 1996 - present
- California Ag Leadership Program, Class XXX
- Vice President and President, Plant Growth Regulator Society of American, 2002 - 2005
Career Research Focus
Improving production efficiency and cultivar and rootstock evaluation. Under this general heading, Dr. Ferguson's research has concentrated in these specific areas:
Pistachios
Determining salinity tolerance of 4 major pistachio rootstocks; pistachio rootstock trials to determine the contribution of rootstock and scion in alternate bearing, and to evaluate the horticultural performance of four major pistachio rootstocks; pistachio cultivar development and evaluation.Citrus
Evaluation of citrus rootstocks for Satsuma and Clementine mandarins and red grapefruit; evaluation of Satsuma and Clementine mandarin introductions.Olives
Evaluation of foliar urea sprays on olive; developing mechanical pruning of olives; Investigation of etiology of oil scum in canned olives.Figs
Breeding new cultivars of non-caprifying Calimyrna type figs; investigating effect of pruning on Black Mission fig size.Relevant Papers & Presentations
- Developing Mechanical Harvesting for California Table Olives (PowerPoint to pdf)
Louise Ferguson, Plant Sciences Department Seminar, UC Davis, December 5, 2007. This 57-slide presentation discusses and summarizes on-going research- Trends in Olive Harvesting (pdf) Louise Ferguson. in Grasas y Acietes (57) 1, enero - marzo 2006 (in English and Spanish)
- Mechanical Harvesting of California Black Ripe Table Olives (PowerPoint to pdf) Presentation to California Olive Committee Dec 2006. Jacqueline Burns, Uriel Rosa, Dave Smith, William Krueger, Rich Rosecrance and Louise Ferguson
- Research in Argentina. Louise Ferguson, William Krueger and Paul vossen, 2008