Great News!

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Graduate Studies Welcomes New GSADC

The Office Graduate Studies welcomes Abigail Boggs, Graduate Student Assistant to the Dean and Chancellor (GSADC) for 2009-10. Abbie is a fourth-year graduate student in Cultural studies and is working in the area of internationalization of higher education. As GSADC, Abbie will be interested in developing a project on the impact of globalization of higher education on the lives of both domestic and international students. In particular, she is interested in helping improve the quality of live and academic experiences of international students. Welcome, Abbie!

Grad Student Wins Sylvia Rivera Award in Transgender Studies

Congratulations to grad student Toby Beauchamp! Toby has won the Sylvia Rivera Award in Transgender Studies from the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at the Graduate Center at City University in New York for his article, “Artful Concealment and Strategic Visibility: Transgender Bodies and U.S. State Surveillance After 9/11,” (which will appear in Surveillance and Society, a special issue on gender and sexuality). The Sylvia Rivera Award in Transgender Studies honors the memory of Rivera, a transgender activist, and is given for the best book or article to appear in transgender studies each year. Toby was also the Graduate Student Assistant to the Dean and Chancellor for 2007-08 and has been busy this past year working on his dissertation, “Going Stealth: Transgender Bodies and U.S. Surveillance Practices.” Congrats, Toby!

Presidental Award Goes to Microbiology Alumnus

Alum Artist Receives Highest Honor and is Named to the Order of Canada

Recent Awards for Ecology Grad Students

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) Mercer Award went to Ecology graduate group alumnus Rick Lankau (and Professor Sharon Y. Strauss) for Rick’s dissertation, “Mutual feedbacks maintain both genetic and species diversity in a plant community.” For more information about the award program, go to http://www.esa.org/aboutesa/awards.php.

Graduate Student Researcher Shawn Kefauver has been awarded a competitive three-year NASA Earth Sciences Graduate Fellowship. Shawn is currently working on his master’s thesis on the hyperspectral remote sensing of air pollution impacts on forest health using bioindicators in Yosemite and Kings Canyon National parks. For more information about the fellowship program, go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external.

Lauren Garske was awarded a Nancy Foster Scholarship from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – a competitive and prestigious scholarship in oceanography and marine biology that will fully support Lauren’s studies. The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program provides support for outstanding scholarship and encourages independent graduate-level research in oceanography, marine biology, or maritime archaeology, particularly by women and members of minority groups. For more information about the scholarship program, go to http://fosterscholars.noaa.gov.

Andy Chang has been awarded a Smithsonian Institution postdoctoral fellowship. Andy’s Research interests include biological invasions, estuaries, and community ecology. His current project: Functional diversity and salinity stress effects on estuarine community assembly, stability, and invasion resistance. For more information about the fellowship program, go to http://www.si.edu/ofg/fellowopp.htm.

Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award Winners

Student Wins Conservation Grant

Congratulations go to ecology graduate student, Kelly Garbach, who has won a $10,000 grant from Brita's College Filter For Good Eco-Challenge. Go to the story at http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1679075.html.

New Cohort of TA Consultants

Sharada Balachandran-Orihuela (English), Travis Berge (Economics), Cristian Castro (History), Ezra Gouvea (Mathematics), Cara Harwood (Geology), Cassandra Paul (Physics Education), Sumer Seiki (Education), Fei Shi (Comparative Literature), and Julia Svoboda (Science Education) have been awarded Teaching Assistant Consultant Fellowships for 2008-2009. Sumer Seiki will also serve as the TA Consultant Coordinator.  

The TA Consultants will run the New TA Orientation, provide free individualized consultations to graduate students, and run a certificate-bearing workshop series on teaching, among other activities. Congratulations to this excellent group!

Alumnus recognized by the California Department of Fish and Game for his work in the field of conservation of wild sheep in North America.

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=24422.

UC Davis HumanCorps' 2007-2008 Community Service Awards

Congratulations to two recipients of the UC Davis HumanCorps' 2007-2008 Community Service Awards. The Graduate Student Community Service Committee (GSCSC), with over 350 collective service hours contributed during the last school year, was the proud winner of a Group Award. Brandy Wiegers, doctoral candidate in Applied Math, earned the distinction of Outstanding Graduate Student for her work with the GSCSC and the Explore Math program. For a complete list of honorees, see the HumanCorps Web site (http://humancorps.ucdavis.edu/CSA/CSARecognition.htm).

AAUW Awarded to Cultural Studies Grad Student

For the third year in a row, a Cultural Studies grad student has been awarded the prestigious American Association of University Women (AAUW) dissertation fellowship. Big congratulations go out to Winnie Tam! (And “great job” to her dissertation director, Michael P. Smith.)

Graduate Students Excel in Community Service

Congratulations to two recipients of the UC Davis HumanCorps' 2007-2008 Community Service Awards. The Graduate Student Community Service Committee (GSCSC), with over 350 collective service hours contributed during the last school year, was the proud winner of a Group Award. Brandy Wiegers, doctoral candidate in Applied Math, earned the distinction of Outstanding Graduate Student for her work with the GSCSC and the Explore Math program. For a complete list of honorees, see the HumanCorps Web site (http://humancorps.ucdavis.edu/CSA/CSARecognition.htm).

Alumna Honored in Fellow Publication

UC Davis graduate student alumna Dr. Emily Prieto was highlighted in the spring 2008 issue of “ADELANTE!”, a newsletter created by National Hispanic Science Network (NHSN) and the Summer Research Training Institute (SRTI) and distributed to their Fellows.

Emily attended SRTI in 2004 when she was a doctoral student at UC Davis. While at UC Davis, Emily won the Walker Award for Outstanding Academic Staff Adviser in 2005. Her graduate work focused on HIV interventions for hard-to-reach populations in Mexico.

In July 2007 she received her doctorate in education with a specialization in language, literacy and culture. Currently, Dr. Prieto is the Director of the Latino Resource Center at Northern Illinois University. Emily says, “One of the most critical aspects of my position is ensuring that there is a welcoming and supportive environment for the Latino campus community and to develop program initiatives that enhance the undergraduate experiences of Latino students, including areas of service learning and community activism.”

The J. Robert Oppenheimer Goes to UCD Postdoc

Congratulations to UC Davis postdoc Dr. Moran Wang, who has been awarded the prestigious J. Robert Oppenheimer (JRO) Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

The JRO fellowship is awarded to individuals who display extraordinary ability in scientific research and show clear and definite promise of becoming outstanding leaders in the research they pursue.

After receiving his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Thermophysics from Tsinghua University in China, Moran spent one and a half years working as a postdoc in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Johns Hopkins University. He then came to UCD and joined the research group of Professor Ning Pan, a faculty member in Textile & Clothing, Biological & Agricultural Engineering, NEAT and Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, to continue his work on computational modeling of multi-physical behaviors of complex materials systems. In less than two years, Moran has published more than 10 scientific research papers focusing on transports and properties of various porous media, composites, functional gradient materials, and multiphase material systems.

UC Davis Graduate Student Wins National Council of Graduate Schools "Distinguished Dissertation Award"

UC Davis Graduate Student, Cristobal Uauy, was awarded the national “Distinguished Dissertation Award” by the Council of Graduate Schools and University Microfilms International. Cristobal’s dissertation, “Positional Cloning of Gpc-B1, a Wheat Quantitative Trait Loci Affecting Senescence and with Pleiotropic Effects on Grain Protein, Zinc, and Iron Concentration,” was the sole winner under the Biological and Life Sciences field category.

The distinguished award was presented to Cristobal at the Council of Graduate Schools’ annual meeting, held on December 6 in Seattle, Washington.

Cristobal was also the 2007 Allen G. Marr Prize winner— awarded through the Office of Graduate Studies for dissertation excellence and presented to Cristobal at the June 13, 2007 Graduate Studies commencement ceremony.

The Great Firewall of China

Grad researchers work on the country's Web censorship. Real all about it!

$3.1 Million IGERT Award

Establishes a research and educational partnership between UC Davis and international universities. Read all about it here and here!

Postdoc Researcher Makes National News With Eerie Eel Discovery

Read about the fascinating discovery.

$100 Million Donation

Continuing its commitment to improving the quality of patient care and fostering nursing excellence through education, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation announced $100 million in founding support to launch the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the UC Davis. Pending approvals, UC Davis anticipates admitting its first students in master’s and doctorate programs in the fall of 2008. Read all about it.

Grad Alumnus is NASA Astronaut

Dr. Tracy Caldwell (Chem. ’97) is a recent Space Shuttle crewmember. Read about it here and here.

Grad Students in the Media

Cristobal Uauy, a postdoc in Plant Sciences, is featured in the July 20, 2007 issue of Dateline.

Michael Sockol, Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology, is featured in the July 19, 2007 issue of Dateline. Sockol’s research (as well as his narration) are also featured in a 2006 National Geographic video, as well as CNET and Science Daily (online).

Doctoral Student Wins Spot in National Program

Kathryn Jackson (Ph.D. Student in Animal Biology) has been selected to participate in "Debating Science", a graduate education program that teaches the skills of ethical public discourse and their application to issues in science and technology. The program is being funded by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by the University of Montana-Missoula. It is an intensive four-day workshop that will take place in August, followed by an online discussion course through the University in the Fall. The Foundation group says, “We are looking for graduate students who are inspired by their own research, but who are also interested in exploring the social, political, and philosophical context of that work, and who are committed to sharing science with nonscientists, in a genuine hope for a better world.” And Kathryn fit the bill! She won the spot after knocking the group’s socks off at their incredibly competitive national competition – they only accept 33 students each year!