UC Davis Stands Out in the Rankings

Learn why graduate studies at UC Davis are a notch above the others.

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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.

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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.)

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Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Awards 2008

Congratulations on winning the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award for 2008:

• Cassandra Brown, Anthropology
• Patrick Dragon, Mathematics
• Benjamin Fell, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Laura Z. Hall, Nutritional Biology
• Mary Frances Keller, Entomology
• Vannarith M. Leang, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
• Laurence Lemaire, French
• Eric O’Brien, English
• Christopher Schaberg, English
• Brant Schumaker, Epidemiology
• Lisa Sperber, English
• Eva Strawbridge, Applied Mathematics
• Diana Webb, Mathematics
• Hongtao Xie, Biomedical Engineering
  

The Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award recognizes the contributions of graduate students to teaching and learning at UC Davis.

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UC Davis Collaboration Helps West African University Student Make History

We’ve known all along that our support of graduate education reaches far beyond our own UC Davis campus, and Robert (Bob) Gilbertson’s recent trip to Mali, West Africa is one example of our global collaboration and impact.
 
Bob (Professor, Plant Pathology) was in Mali participating in the Ph.D. dissertation defense exam of student Moussa Noussourou. Bob was a co-adviser of Moussa, along with Dr. Rick Foster of Purdue University and Professor Hamidou Maiga of the University of Bamako.
 
When Moussa passed his examination on March 13, he not only received his well-earned doctoral degree, he also made history – his Ph.D. degree is the first one granted by the Department of Biology at the University of Bamako. “We are all so very proud of Dr. Noussourou and what he has accomplished,” says Bob.  
 
The title of Moussa’s thesis: The complex of viruses infecting tomatoes in Mali: Characterization of the virus species involved, identification of tolerant and resistant tomato varieties and the effect of a host-free period on disease development in the irrigated perimeter of Baguineda, Mali.
 
The support Moussa received from Bob and his colleagues is an example of the collaborative research partnership between UC Davis and Mali – addressing a critical agricultural issue impacting the Malian people. This research also benefits the people in California and throughout the U.S., as these same viruses impact crops grown in our country and the results from this important research in Mali can be applied to these viruses.
 
This research was supported by a grant from the USAID as part of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP).

Top picture from left to right: Bob Gilbertson, Dr. Hamidou Maiga (Moussa's adviser at the University of Bamako), and graduate Dr. Noussourou.
Bottom picture shows Dr. Noussourou along with his University of Bamako advisors, family, Bob Gilbertson, and Rick Foster of Purdue University.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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IGERT Awarded

Due to the strong effort of a multidisciplinary faculty team - lead by Karen McDonald, College of Engineering Associate Dean and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, with the assistance from Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of Research - we are proud to announce that the campus has received a new Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award from the National Science Foundation.

The award was based on the team's project: "Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural Technologies and Engineering" (CREATE). This multi-institutional IGERT establishes a research and educational partnership between UC Davis, Tuskegee University, University of Ireland, Maynooth and the Teagasc Oak Park Research Center in Carlow, Ireland.

Out of 443 IGERT pre-proposals received this year, 98 full proposals were selected, and out of those only about 20 will receive the prestigious award. This award is a continuing grant and will be awarded $600,000 in the first year and up to $3.1 million over the five-year period.