Professor & Plant Physiologist Department of Viticulture and Enology
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Ph.D., Crop Physiology, University of Illinois

Research

Dr. Matthews is an environmental plant biologist interested in understanding how plants interact with the physico-chemical environment, particularly with respect to water. Dr. Matthews' long-term objective is to contribute to the improved use of limited resources, especially water, in crop production by identifying and modifying the physiological mechanisms by which plants respond to limited resource availability. On the fundamental side, his investigations center around water transport, cell expansion and gas exchange. On the practical side, he focuses on improving the ability to identify and regulate vine water and nutrient status, as well as cataloging the consequences of resource limitations for growth and development of grapevines. Dr. Matthews is committed to working with the grapevine as an experimental system, and his research is largely directed toward creating knowledge that will allow viticulturists to improve water and nutrient use by better understanding the water and nutrient statuses of the vineyard and their consequences for yield and quality. Visit the Matthews Lab web site for more information on ongoing research, recent publicatons, lab members, and other information at - http://matthews.ucdavis.edu

Dr. Matthews instructs a number of courses, including VEN 110, Grapevine Growth and Physiology; VEN 181, Readings in Enology; VEN 291, Advanced Viticulture; and PBI 202, Advanced Physiology of Cultivated Plants. Dr. Matthews has served on panels in the Competitive Grants program at USDA and on the NSF panel on Integrative Plant Biology. He is widely sought out as a reviewer of proposals and for scientific journals and served five-year terms as editor of Plant Physiology and Physiologia Plantarum.