Education

While the wettest storm season in California’s recorded history crushed roofs and swelled snowbanks in the Sierra Nevada, the state’s coastal communities suffered plenty of their own losses. The casualties included waterside businesses swamped by storm surges, fishing piers smashed by rising seas, and coastal roads collapsed by debris flows.

CMSI Affiliate Mei Blundell is among the winners of the 2023 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards. The purpose of the NSF GRFP is to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. GRFP seeks to broaden participation in science and engineering of underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans.

Brian Gaylord, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, part of the College of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a Distinguished Teaching Award for outstanding undergraduate teaching. An enthusiastic and passionate lecturer, Professor Gaylord creates a learning environment that supports students tackling difficult topics, together. He emphasizes critical thinking and understanding processes over memorization, and he engages students in effective and thought-provoking ways.

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.

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.

You can find us in the middle of everywhere! Join UC Davis interns Dawson and Alexa on a journey to the coast, where they meet up with Dr. Ellie Fairbairn and Dr. Suzanne Olyarnik at the Bodega Marine Laboratory and Bodega Marine Reserve. Along the way, they'll see the gorgeous coastline, meet furred, feathered and finned friends, and show you where to grab a tasty meal in Bodega Bay.

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.

"Interacting with your professors can be one of the most rewarding parts of your experience as an undergraduate student. Many students benefit greatly from having a professor who serves as a mentor — that is, someone in your area of interest who guides, advises, and supports you to help advance your education and career." 

Kordi Kokott is a biology student who recently graduated from the SRJC with an Associates in biology. She’s moving on to become a student at UC Davis to get her bachelor’s in biotechnology. She was an intern at the Bodega Marine Lab in the summer of 2022 and was mentored by Sara Boles.