As Black History Month draws to a close, we celebrate and reflect on the many outstanding achievements and contributions Black Americans have made to our state, our nation and to the world at large.
“Throughout UC’s history, Black alumni, faculty and students have been integral to our excellence, making pioneering advances in science, medicine, the humanities, the law and other fields,” said Michael Drake, president of the University of California.
Somehow it feels like February is the start of the new year. Maybe it’s because, after an initial delay in returning to the UC Davis campus after the winter break, the college and its students are finally back on campus. In October, I wrote that it was nice to see students biking past Green Hall again, and in the Science Lab Building. In that way, not much has changed. It is nice to see them back – again!
This year has started with a familiar feel. Campus is quiet, students are attending remote instruction and a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded. It sounds almost like nothing has changed since the beginning of the pandemic. Thankfully, that isn’t the case.
For the 2021-2022 academic year, the college is proud to welcome three new members to its faculty. Below you’ll learn more about the research interest of each faculty member, and what brought them to UC Davis.
Xiaomo Chen
Xiaomo Chen joined the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior as an assistant professor in September 2021. Before joining the UC Davis faculty, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.
Somehow December is here already. With the end of the year just around the corner, we can look back on what we have accomplished over the last 12 months, and reflect on how far we’ve come.
The Biology Academic Success Center (BASC)—the one-stop-shop for academic support and advising services for undergraduate students in the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences—welcomed five new employees to the Aggie family this year. The additions include four new academic advisors and a program coordinator, who will all assist in guiding the academic journeys of the over 6,500 undergraduate students spread across the college’s 11 majors.
Things in Davis are getting cooler, our state has started to have much-needed rain and it gets dark early. Fall is definitely in full swing, and there is no shortage of activity on campus.
Our first full month back to campus saw several milestones. The Genome Center ran its 1 millionth saliva sample since COVID testing became available for students, faculty and staff in September of last year. As a result, positivity rates in our community remain exceptionally low.
With nearly 6,000 new and returning CBS students on campus, things in the college are starting to feel a little more like normal. I’m pleased to say that vaccination rates among CBS students, faculty and staff are at almost 100%. For those on campus, the Campus Ready website is where you will find the latest guidance, answers to common questions, and a full list of resources.
The University of California flag was flown at half-staff at the Memorial Union, Mark Hall and the UC Davis Airport recently to honor the memory of Professor Emeritus of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior Edmund Bernauer. Born on Sept. 27, 1926, Bernauer passed away on Aug. 12, 2021, at the age of 94.
Mark Winey has been reappointed as the dean of the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) and will serve a second five-year term, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan announced today (August 24). Concurrent with his leadership of CBS, overseeing all aspects of its work and the advancement of its excellence and impact, he will continue to serve as a professor in the college.
It may not have been their first choice, but new graduates were thankful to walk across a stage and celebrate commencement with family members last week.
“I just felt grateful that we get to have anything in person,” Nicole Johnston, a human development and psychology double major, said as she waited in a line on Hutchison Field to participate in the 8 a.m. processional for undergraduates. “After a long and trying last year of college, I feel grateful that the university was able to put this on.”
One year ago today, news of George Floyd’s death in police custody reverberated across the country and around the world, leading to Black Lives Matter protests and, at UC Davis, a strengthening of the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Longtime faculty member and wife had ‘amazing partnership’
After 23 years, the Life Sciences building is getting a new name that befits its purpose: Melvin M. and Kathleen C. Green Hall.
The building — which opened in 1997 as an addition to Briggs Hall and houses the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences’ research laboratories, faculty and staff — will honor the late pioneering biology faculty member and his late wife, a biologist and a local politician.
The unrest this weekend and earlier ignited by the violent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis weighs on us all. I am deeply saddened by every aspect of these events, from the death of a black man in police custody to widespread rioting and violence.
