News

People often say things like Phoenix has always been dry; Seattle has always been wet; and San Francisco has always been foggy. But “always” is a strong word. 

Congratulations to Genece Grisby, a UC Davis Marine and Coastal Science undergraduate major, who is one of the recipients of a 2023 Aquarium of the Pacific African American Scholarship.

Two professors and 11 associate professors have been honored with an additional title: Chancellor’s Fellow.

“Our newest fellows represent the very best of UC Davis and I congratulate them,” Chancellor Gary S. May said in announcing the new fellows. “The knowledge, expertise and excellence these faculty demonstrate across a range of disciplines positively impacts our university’s mission of research, teaching and public service.”

Distinguished Professor Walter Leal is shining a spotlight on some of our newest emeriti, featuring them in a video and a lecture series. The next talk, by paleobiologist Geerat Vermeij, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15.

All seven of the United States’ abalone species that live on the West Coast are listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, Red List of Threatened Species. This is the first global Red List assessment of the species. The West Coast listings were based on an abalones assessment led by Laura-Rogers Bennett of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW, and University of California, Davis.

As winter approaches, many species of animals — from bears and squirrels to parasitic wasps and a few lucky humans — hunker down for some needed rest. The northern star coral (Astrangia poculata) also enters a hibernating state of dormancy, or quiescence, during this time. But what happens to its microbiome while it’s sleeping?

Under the right living arrangement, disease-resistant corals can help “rescue” corals that are more vulnerable to disease, found a study from the University of California, Davis, that monitored a disease outbreak at a coral nursery in Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. 

Congratulations to Dr. Rachael Bay, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at University of California, Davis, who was recently selected by Popular Science as one of “The Brilliant 10: The top up-and-coming minds in science”. 

Bay developed an approach that could help make specific predictions about how at-risk species might evolve over the coming decades. “Injecting evolution into conservation questions is really quite novel,” she says.

Sentiments of gratitude for commitment and personalized attention to graduate students were among the testimonials spoken about this year’s winners of Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award winners.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Andrew Whitehead, a professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California Davis, who was among the 30 faculty members who won the 2022 award.

The UC Davis Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) welcomes six new faculty to its 2022 cohort of Faculty Scholars! They will be officially recognized during the CAMPOS Induction Ceremony on November 4, 2022 at the Manetti Shrem Museum.