The Switzer Fellowship Program supports highly talented graduate students working towards environmental improvement and who demonstrate the potential for leadership in their fields. This year two of the 20 new 2011 Fellows are from UC Davis and join the Switzer Network of nearly 500 Fellows. Newest Switzer Fellows, Mark Elbroch and Tavis Forrester, are doctoral candidates in the Ecology graduate group.

On January 31, the Allen G. Marr Prize Distinguished Dissertation Award Plaque Presentation luncheon took place at UC Davis. Kathryn Marr, wife of the late UC Davis Dean of Graduate Studies and Research Allen G. (Jerry) Marr, was the guest of honor.

Graduate students, new and returning, were welcomed to the UC Davis campus during Graduate Studies' Week of Orientation and Welcome (WOW!).

Nearly 30 activities and workshops were highlighted during the weeklong event including a vigorous "Fitness Ride with the Dean"; an interactive "Student Panel Discussion and Q & A" with current graduate students; and "Building Community Dinner", where students mingled and became familiar with campus resources and departments. All of the week's activities and events were free and open to all graduate students.

The University of California, Davis is characterized by a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to research and graduate education that affords students an opportunity to undertake broad-based inquiry in areas of interest. Our campus is also characterized by a long-standing commitment to civility, acceptance and community.

California Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has appointed Pharmacology and Toxicology alumnus, George Alexeeff, as director of the Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment at the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Alexeeff has been the deputy director at the Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment since 1998. He also served as chief of the Air Toxicology and Epidemiology branch from 1990 to 1998 and chief of the Air Toxics Unit from 1988 to 1990. Alexeeff received his doctorate from UC Davis.

Arts, humanities and social science students entering their studies during the next academic year have something to be excited about! Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter and Jeffery Gibeling, Dean of Graduate Studies, are thrilled to announce a major new fellowship initiative to support Ph.D. and M.F.A. students. The Provost's Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences program is scheduled to begin the 2012-13 academic year.

Ph.D. candidate Nick Valvo was awarded a prestigious American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowship for his project, titled "Penurious Payments: Debt, Dependence, and Communal Form in Eighteenth-Century Britain." Valvo's dissertation focuses on the literary history of debt in the eighteenth century in literary texts by Defoe, Goldsmith, Mackenzie, Garrick and Chatterton, and homiletic and controversialist texts by Tillotson, Wesley, Sherlock, South and Challoner.

After UC Davis graduate students raised concerns with Chancellor Katehi about the highly decentralized graduate financial support on campus, administrators have been busy working to see that their concerns are addressed.

The second annual Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium is taking place from Thursday, April 26 to Saturday, April 28, 2012 in the ARC Ballroom. Terri Harris, a graduate student in the Community Development Graduate Group, is helping organize the upcoming symposium. “For three days, graduate and professional students from across the UC Davis campus will share their research and interests, and work with one another,” said Harris.

The first weekend of February 2012, UC LEADS (University of California Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees) Undergraduate Research Program students from each University of California campus traveled to UC San Diego to attend the annual UC LEADS Symposium. They had a common goal of presenting poster presentations about their research and participating in seminars such as "Leadership That Matters in Science".

Graduate Studies at UC Davis is pleased to announce new services and resources for graduate students, faculty and staff members via their new Graduate Student Life unit.

Dr. Vincent Seaman, a UC Davis alumnus of the Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Group, is helping to eradicate polio. He found his way to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after graduating in 2006.

During his four years at UC Davis, he gained the background and experience necessary for the work he does today. His research and dissertation, "The Origin and Occurrence of Acrolein in Ambient Air", focused on developing an analytical method to determine potential human exposure levels to a known air pollutant.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided almost 300,000 participants — chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential — with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

One event that encompassed both the social and informational aspects of the week was the Resource Fair and Graduate Student Association BBQ, where students were able to grab some good food while casually browsing booths set up by different campus resource groups. “The booths were able to connect students to particular people,” said Earl. “I saw a lot of conversations going on and friendships being made. It was a fun and engaging atmosphere

!” Many student organizations attended the BBQ, including different cultural groups and student clubs.

Lynne Arcangel, the program coordinator of the UC LEADS Program, brings the warm and fuzzy side to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students at the University of California, Davis. With a background in psychology and career counseling, being a part of the UC LEADS program has been an eye opening experience for Arcangel (she steered away from the science courses during her undergraduate years).