Bay Area  ·  Central Valley

Early-career plant scientists, growing a network across the Bay and the Valley

BayLeaf is a peer-led community of early-career researchers in academia and industry — undergraduates, PhD students, postdocs, and scientists early in their careers — building connections, sharing resources, and supporting each other's research.

UC Davis UC Berkeley Stanford
About us

A peer-led community of early-career researchers in the plant sciences spanning the Bay Area and the Central Valley. We build connections, share resources, and support each other's research.

Long term

We want to help translate basic science into impactful, sustainable technologies — the kind that address real challenges in food, agriculture, and climate. That work starts with researchers who know each other, and are open to building networks across sectors and disciplines.

Community

Eighty researchers, and growing

Undergraduates, PhD students, postdocs, and early-career scientists within academia and industry who study plant biology, plant pathology, agriculture, and its sub-disciplines.

80Members
3Institutions
4Meet-ups a year
  • UC Davis
  • UC Berkeley
  • Stanford
  • Plant biology
  • Plant pathology
  • Agriculture
  • Agrifood tech
  • Climate tech
BayLeaf members sitting together on the grass at a summer picnic in a San Francisco park.
Community picnic · Summer 2026

Our Slack is where the community talks day to day — questions, resources, opportunities, and plans.

Request to join
Events

We meet in person, on purpose

Quarterly

Field trips to Northern California research institutes

Rotating visits that show us what facilities, programs, and opportunities are actually within reach — at universities, institutes, and companies alike — and introduce us to the scientists behind them.

Annually

Bay Area Plant Hub Symposium

A yearly opportunity for the whole community to gather in one place alongside the wider regional plant science field.

Team

Founded and run by researchers

BayLeaf's two co-founders at the Bay Area Plant Hub Symposium.
Bay Area Plant Hub Symposium · 2026

Erin Huiting

Co-Founder & Co-Director · UC Davis

LinkedIn

Vivian Zhong

Co-Founder & Co-Director · Stanford

LinkedIn