Graduate Studies Announces 2021-2022 Honors and Awards

by Elizabeth Lambert, Senior Director of External Relations and Strategic Communications
June 14, 2022

Graduate Studies is pleased to announce and celebrate the dedicated and talented individuals who have earned awards and recognition for their exceptional achievement in the 2021-2022 academic year.

The following graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and professors are recognized for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and mentorship.

Dissertation Awards

Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology

The Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology is awarded to the student who best demonstrates "scholarly achievement and promise for teaching and research.” The recipients of the Carlson Prize receive an award of $3,000, a certificate commemorating the Prize, and their name will be inscribed on the Carlson Prize plaque in the Carlson Library.

Awarded to Charles Kikutaro Crawford, Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Major Professor: Amir Kol
Dissertation Title: “The Mucosal Innate Immune Response to Cryptosporidium parvum, a Global One Health Issue”

Awarded to Regina Lenell Agulto, Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Major Professor: Kassandra Ori-McKenney
Dissertation Title: “Autoregulatory Control of Microtubule Binding in Doublecortin-like Kinase 1”

Max Kleiber Prize

This prize was established to honor the sixty-year career of Professor Max Kleiber in recognition of his outstanding success in elucidating metabolic relationships in intact animals. The award is given to a nominee who best represents the characteristics and high standards of scholastics and professional ethics that guided Professor Kleiber’s career.

Awarded to Jessica Huang, Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (GBCB)
Major Professor: Mark Huising
Dissertation Title: “Ablation of delta cells decreases the blood glucose set point”

John Kinsella Award

The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) has established the Kinsella Memorial Prize in honor of the late Dean and Professor John Kinsella. The annual award of $3,500 is given to two outstanding individuals based on the quality and originality of the work, the multidisciplinary impact of the research, and the importance of the research to the college’s mission to serve agriculture, the environment, and human health and development.

Awarded to Jiyoon Yi, Food Science
Major Professor: Nitin Nitin
Dissertation Title: “Novel Antimicrobial Compositions and Mathematical Models for Reducing Microbial Contamination of Fresh Produce and Food Contact Surfaces”

Allen G. Marr Prize

The Allen G. Marr Prize was established in honor of Allen G. (Jerry) Marr's 20-year contribution as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and his commitment to the highest standards of scholarship and professional ethics. A $1,750 prize is awarded by Graduate Studies to a doctoral student in honor of superior dissertation work. Each year the competition is in different discipline areas. The fields of competition for the 2022 award were Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering and the Social Sciences.

Awarded to Matthew McNulty, Chemical Engineering
Major Professor: Karen McDonald & Somen Nandi
Dissertation Title: “Techno-economic and virus-based nanomaterial research in plant-based manufacturing”

Zuhair A. Munir Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in Engineering

The Zuhair A. Munir Award for the Best Doctoral Dissertation honors former Dean of the College of Engineering Zuhair A. Munir. Munir led the College from 2000 to 2002 and acted as its Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for 20 years. This Award will not only honors the individual who submitted the best doctoral dissertation within the College of Engineering during the eligibility period and publicizes their outstanding research but also acknowledges the mentorship of the major professor. The award consists of a plaque and honorarium of $1000 for the student.

Awarded to Jovana Veselinovic, Chemical Engineering
Major Professor: Erkin Seker
Dissertation Title: Anomalous Trends in Nucleic Acid-Based Electrochemical Biosensors with Nanoporous Gold Electrodes

Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Awards

The Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award (OGTA) recognizes the contributions of graduate students to teaching and learning at UC Davis. This is a tremendously important award as it honors outstanding graduate students, reminds the campus that teaching is a central part of the university’s mission, and can inspire students and professors to give increased attention to the educational process.

Trace Manuel, Design
Hannah Nelson, Population Biology
Jessica Huang, Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Sidney Woodruff, Ecology
Evan Lauteria, Sociology
Kristen Fawole, Chemical Engineering
Mandeep Singh Basson, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shanon Rubin, Mathematics
Ross Wohlgemuth, Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology
Janis Eneida Patino Iguita, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sydney Wood, Psychology
Haley Rains, Native American Studies

Mentoring Awards

Distinguished Graduate and Distinguished Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring Award

Graduate Studies and the Graduate Council are pleased to present awards for outstanding mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The Distinguished Mentoring Awards recognize the vital role mentoring plays in the academic and professional development of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at UC Davis. A certificate and $1,000 will be conferred to each awardee.

Congratulations to the following recipients:

Paul Hastings, Professor, Department of Psychology
Thomas Hahn, Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior
Rachael Goodhue, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Postdoctoral Scholar Awards

Excellence in Postdoctoral Research Award

This distinction recognizes the vital role that postdoctoral scholars play in maintaining the reputation of excellent research at the University of California, Davis. Recipients of this award must be nominated by their sponsor or colleagues prior to undergoing a rigorous review of their achievements and research contributions.

Ryan Sanders, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Dake Hao, Department of Surgery
Fernanda Furlan Goncalves Dias, Food Science and Technology

For more information on Graduate Studies’ annual awards, visit the Graduate Education Awards page.

Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (CPFP) offers postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of California.