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.
Three faculty affiliated with the College of Biological Sciences are among the eight UC Davis faculty newly elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, announced March 27. They are: Frédéric Chédin, a professor and chair in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Dario Cantù, a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology; and Huaijun Zhou, a professor in the Department of Animal Science.
Sam Arcement—Director of Graduate Academic Programs for the College of Biological Sciences, and the program coordinator for the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MCIP) Graduate Group—has been honored with the 2024 Outstanding Graduate Program Coordinator Award from the Office of Graduate Studies. This year saw a record number of nominations. “Sam tirelessly ensures that our needs and concerns are heard and addressed,” said one MCIP student, who praised Arcement’s dedication to student advocacy.
Each year the college recognizes the importance of mentorship in the continued growth of both the undergraduate and graduate communities by awarding CBS Dean’s Mentorship Awards to graduate students. Funded by contributions to the CBS Dean’s Circle, the awards are open by faculty nomination to graduate students who have played a significant role in the growth and development of the younger generation of scientists.
The day that Josephine Hubbard met Twain, she didn’t realize at first how unusual the encounter was.
Hubbard, who earned a Ph.D. in animal behavior in the College of Biological Sciences, is now a post-doctoral researcher at UC Davis. She is 33, five foot seven, has kind, serious eyes, and grew up in upstate New York. She’s animated as she describes the afternoon, three summers ago in Alaska, when she met Twain. Yes, it was a stilted conversation — that’s often the case when there’s a language barrier — but she’ll remember it for the rest of her life.
The UC Davis College of Biological Sciences champions Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) through the Graduate Student DEIJ Leader Fellowship program. Now in its second year, the program empowers enterprising graduate students committed to enhancing DEIJ within the CBS community by supporting projects aimed at fostering a more inclusive academic environment.
The final round of the UC Davis Grad Slam had a flurry of PowerPoint slides, a giant deck of cards and a stuffed monkey, but in the end the top prize went to someone talking about genetic “ghosts.”
Three UC Davis faculty members are among 125 recipients of this year’s Sloan Research Fellowships, prestigious awards given by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to early-career scientific researchers seen as emerging leaders in their fields.
The 2023 fellows, including UC Davis’ Kate L. Laskowski, Jesús M. Velázquez and Alexander S. Wein, “represent the most promising scientific researchers working today,” the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation said in announcing its selections Feb. 15.
Despite their small size, dragonflies are arguably one of the most impressive predators in the animal kingdom. According to Rachel Crane, a biologist at the University of California Davis, dragonflies often catch up to 95% of the prey they go after, a rate she described as “wildly high compared to where most predators are.”
More incredible still, this prey capture all happens in midair.
“Dragonflies are doing these really, really fast, high-speed aerial captures,” said Crane.
