-- James Seiber, former UC Davis associate dean for research in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and ex-chair of the environmental toxicology department, has been named director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's largest scientific laboratory in the Western states, the Western Regional Research Center in Albany. In his new position, he directs a staff of about 200 and manages an $18 million annual budget. Studies at the center include boosting nutritional value of foods, genetically improving crops for better disease resistance and developing new ways to thwart foodborne pathogens like E. coli.