The California Agricultural Experiment Station
In 1862, the Congress of the United States passed the Morrill Act donating public lands to the several states and territories for the establishment of colleges "for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts." Later, Congress recognized the need for continuing research and study of agricultural problems and in 1887 passed the Hatch Act establishing an agricultural experiment station (AES) in each state in connection with the land-grant colleges.
At the University of California, the Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) is the Director of AES and Cooperative Extension, and is headquartered in Oakland in the Office of the President of the University.
At UC Riverside, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences houses AES and was created in 1974 by a merger of the physical sciences with the biological and agricultural sciences, but our teaching and research traditions go back a century to the Agricultural Experiment Station-Citrus Research Center, founded in 1907 as the Citrus Experiment Station. See a timeline of notable events during that 100-year history.
At UC Riverside, over 100 CNAS scientists hold joint research and teaching positions with the College and the Experiment Station, and over 20 CNAS scientists hold joint research and cooperative extension positions.
View the History of the Land-Grant College
Mission Statement
The mission of the Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) is to discover and disseminate research-based knowledge to ensure an abundant and nutritious food supply, protection of natural resources, healthy people and communities, and economic and ecological sustainability for the future of California, the nation, and the world.