Campus & Community

Each year, the college presents teaching, research and Principles of Community awards to recognize exceptional contributions by CBS faculty and staff.

The teaching and research awards, given to faculty, recognize impact by faculty in the classroom, the laboratory, and within their disciplines. This year, two faculty members received the teaching award, and one received the research award.

Almost overnight, the season changed from the usual Davis summer heat to fall, which is a welcome shift—the wind is up, the skies are a little grayer, the days are shorter and, most importantly, the students are back.

The college is very pleased to have welcomed four new faculty during the 2025 calendar year. Joining the Departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Evolution and Ecology, and Molecular and Cellular Biology, each new faculty member adds expertise and breadth to the college’s research and teaching portfolio.

The UC Davis College of Biological Sciences (CBS) is launching a major revision of its introductory biology curriculum, known as the BIO123 Series, beginning this academic year. This initiative modernizes the long-standing BIS2A/B/C sequence, which was introduced in 2008 and has grown to serve over 9,000 students annually. Offering introductory biology comprises over 30% of CBS’s total student credit hours.

Vision neuroscientist Marie E. Burns has been appointed the sixth director of the Center for Neuroscience (CNS), effective July 1, 2025, after serving as interim director for the past year.

A professor with joint appointments in the departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and Cell Biology and Human Anatomy in the School of Medicine, Burns brings more than 20 years’ leadership experience to the role.

After a decade of leadership marked by growth in research, student success and interdisciplinary advances, Mark Winey will step down as dean of the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences in 2026. A national search for his successor will begin this fall.

Winey, the college’s longest-serving dean, said he was first drawn to UC Davis by its uniquely expansive and collaborative biology community—and by the opportunity to serve on a broader scale.

Though there is much turmoil in the higher education landscape—and though it will continue, and may even worsen—one thing remains the same: commencement is a joyful time.

And it’s that time of year. Students are in their caps and gowns, families are here and the stage is set. This year, UC Davis commencements will see approximately 8,000 students complete their undergraduate journeys.

Spring began just two months ago, and already here in Davis it’s starting to feel like summer. There’s just about a month of the quarter left, during which our students will be preparing for final exams and then, for many, commencement. There’s still much to do between then and now, but the excitement of graduation season is already being felt in our classrooms, labs and across campus.

It is with great sadness that I am announcing a significant reduction in services to our students provided by the college’s Educational Enrichment and Outreach Programs (EEOP).

Faculty members in the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) and graduate student teaching assistants who support CBS undergraduates have been named Aggie Well-Being Champions. The new award recognizes instructors who prioritize students’ well-being and cultivate spaces where undergraduates can thrive. 

Researchers in the College of Biological Sciences (CBS) are driving breakthroughs in one of the thorniest problems in science: understanding and combating cancer. 

On April 29, the first webinar in a new series called “Under the Microscope” will offer the public an inside look at their innovative research, which is changing our understanding of breast, lung, and pancreatic cancer. 

Houseplant aficionados, start your engines! More than 60 species of tropical plants—including some rare species, carnivorous plants, succulents, and more—will be on offer on Saturday, April 19 from 10:00am until 2:00pm at bargain prices, as the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory resumes its highly popular plant sales.

Spring quarter just started, and the trees outside Green Hall are in bloom. There’s pollen in the air (and on the cars — a quintessentially Davis occurrence) and our students are back. It’s always a welcome and comforting sight to see our CBS Aggies on their bikes and scooters, in the classroom and lab, and studying in our lobby. It helps us remember that things continue to move forward.

Meet the eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields. One of the new fellows, Kassandra Ori-McKenney, is a an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and four others are affiliated with the college's interdisciplinary graduate groups. 

Our nation is reckoning with unprecedented threats to the future of discovery, advancement, and innovation. But we are not without hope. 

Though the scientific and research landscape has weathered significant upheavals lately, scientists persevere. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all, and with changing circumstances comes the need to innovate in new and different ways. And that’s just what researchers in the college have been doing.