Rate My Professor Aaron Fox

Aaron Fox is an Associate Professor of Urban and Community Agriculture in the Department of Plant Science within the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). He holds a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University and a Ph.D. in Crop Science and Entomology from North Carolina State University. Fox joined the Department of Plant Science as an Assistant Professor in early 2016 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2022. His academic career emphasizes hands-on, learn-by-doing approaches integral to Cal Poly Pomona's educational philosophy, particularly in sustainable agriculture practices.

Fox's research specializations include sustainable agriculture, organic farming, pest management, beneficial insects, cover crops, biofuel cropping systems, natural enemy communities, biological control services, habitat manipulations, weed seed predation, and cereal aphids. He co-developed the Urban and Community Agriculture minor, accessible to students from all majors, fostering interdisciplinary interest in urban farming. Fox oversees the student-run campus micro-farm and contributes to Spadra Farm initiatives, including a California Department of Food and Agriculture-funded Healthy Soils Demonstration Project and an agrivoltaic research project in partnership with the Robert Redford Conservancy. The Farm to Pantry program, delivering fresh produce from campus farms to the food pantry and which Fox nominated, received the 2023 One Team Award. Key publications encompass 'Potential of Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) for Dual-purpose Vegetable and Cover Crop Production' (HortScience, 2023), 'Harvesting biofuel grasslands has mixed effects on natural enemy communities and no effects on biocontrol services' (2017), 'Cover crops have neutral effects on predator communities and biological control services in annual cellulosic bioenergy cropping systems' (2016), 'Crop and field border effects on weed seed predation in the southeastern US coastal plain' (Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2016), and 'The Influence of Habitat Manipulations on Beneficial Ground-Dwelling Arthropods in a Southeast US Organic Cropping System' (2015). Fox has presented on healthy soils at Spadra Farm events and mentors students in research projects examining insect movement and beneficial insects.