In the College of Biological Sciences, principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are guiding principles. As such, an array of special DEI-related programs led by graduate students, each of whom was awarded a Graduate DEIJ Leader Fellowship for the 2022-23 academic year, will culminate in an open house event highlighting their achievements from 1:00-3:00pm on June 8, in Walker Hall. 

UC Davis molecular exercise physiologist Keith Baar spoke with UC Davis Health about how our body responds to physical activity and why intense exercise is better for your heart than walking more steps.

In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution — overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all humans. The new research was published today, May 17, in the journal Nature.

Using a specially designed capsule, researchers can now voyage through the digestive system, collecting new data about digestion and microorganisms. The work by a team including researchers at the University of California, Davis, Stanford University and Envivo Bio Inc., is published May 10 in papers in Nature and Nature Metabolism.

Three professors from the University of California, Davis, have been elected as members of the National Academy of Sciences. They are among 120 new members and 23 international members announced by the academy May 2. Members are elected in recognition of their contributions to original research. Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

Life sciences industry expert Deborah Neff ’76 is giving $8 million to the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences for two endowments, one for the deanship and the other for the Center for Neuroscience for research into Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The gift is the largest by an individual in the college’s history.

This week saw rain here in Davis. After a week of 90-degree heat, we’d gotten used to summer feeling closer. Seasons seem to last only a few days at a time now. It’s more like winter again, and though campus is on alert because of recent events in our community, I am glad to say that our spring quarter has seen many notable achievements.

Growing up, Majken Horton (pronounced MY-ken; B.S. ’22) always wanted to know how things worked. She’d study the property she lived on with her parents in Loomis, Calif., and spend summers exploring Alaska with them. Her parents, both UC Davis alumni and salmon biologists, encouraged her to investigate the tiny ecosystems she found and look them up in books to learn their ways.

Mammals are an extraordinarily diverse and successful group of animals, from the tiniest pygmy shrew to the mighty blue whale, and including, of course, ourselves. In a special issue of the journal Science published today (April 27), the Zoonomia Consortium shows how comparing the genomes of 240 modern mammals sheds light on mammalian evolution, with implications for conservation and understanding human and animal health.

We all know that exercise and a good diet are important for a healthy body. But how much exercise, and what is a good diet?