Office of Technology Partnerships

Joyce is a founding member of UCR’s Office of Technology Commercialization where she has managed the Plant IP portfolio for 10+ years. She is engaged with UCR Plant Breeders to anticipate new materials that are in the pipeline and is responsible for licensing plant innovations to industry which include two of the largest citrus grower and marketer in the western United States: The Wonderful Company and Sun Pacific. Through international licenses, she has facilitated the commercialization of UCR’s patented plant materials in 20+ countries across Asia, Australasia, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. She co-negotiated UCR’s first international license of the mandarin ‘Tango’; UCR’s unprecedented innovation that revolutionized the citrus industry worldwide generating $29+ million in royalties to date. In addition to licensing, she has been instrumental in translating licenses into research collaborations securing additional funds for UCR’s breeding programs and ag-related research totaling $4+ million over the last 10 years. Currently, she is part of a team working to build a global partnership that would strengthen UCR’s avocado research and define future development and advancement of this commodity.