Elena Suglia, a soon-to-graduate Ph.D. candidate in the Population Biology Graduate Group, has spent her time at Davis tackling the “inextricably intertwined issues” of environmental protection, environmental justice, and equity.

In recognition of her leadership in working at the intersection of science and public policy, Suglia was awarded the 2023 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

Birth defects related to chromosomal abnormalities often stem from exposure to chemicals early in the mother’s life. But determining which chemicals are at fault poses a serious challenge — akin to solving a hit-and-run case, decades after the fact. Two College of Biological Sciences researchers are developing a method that could identify harmful chemicals far more quickly, with the help of red- and green-glowing zebrafish.

When the late Judith Simpson Schreider ’76 started giving informal advice to students interested in the health professions, she couldn’t have imagined that nearly 50 years later her generous spirit would live on, serving thousands of UC Davis students annually. Yet it does, in the form of the College of Biological Sciences’ distinctive, holistically supportive Health Professions Advising (HPA) office.

Donors to the University of California, Davis, gave robust support to the university during the last fiscal year, exceeding its annual fundraising goal by more than $27 million. Data announced August 8 show the university raised $253 million in FY22-23 in 56,071 gifts and pledges from 31,078 donors.

Abiel Malepeai is guided by an old Samoan proverb that translates to English as “The pathway to leadership is service.” The recent UC Davis graduate has advocated for Pacific Islander students, served as a student EMT with the UC Davis Fire Department and helped meet the basic needs of students.

2023 signals the 101st year of microbiology at UC Davis. From the discipline’s humble beginnings as a one-person research and teaching unit in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, microbiology at Davis has grown and diversified.

An artificial intelligence model has successfully identified coronaviruses capable of infecting humans, out of the thousands of viruses that circulate in wild animals. The model, developed by a team of biologists, mathematicians and physicists at the University of California, Davis, could be used in surveillance for new pandemic threats. The work was published June 8 in Scientific Reports. 

In track and field, the “staggered start” is a mechanism used to account for the fact that runners in the outer lanes of the track have a longer distance to run than those in the inner lanes. Like the staggered start, affirmative action is intended to account for historical inequities experienced by marginalized communities in higher education and other endeavors. Today, the Supreme Court has decided that this tool is no longer appropriate.

Chancellor Gary S. May and the Academic Senate’s Committee on Affirmative Action and Diversity recently announced their selections for the 2023 Chancellor’s Fellowships for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Four are members of the Academic Senate:

It’s that time of year again. Campus is quiet. There are only a few bicycles on the streets. The halls and classrooms are empty. But it’s a joyous time. The class of 2023 has crossed the commencement stage and is embarking on the next stage of life, which is sure to be successful.