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Finding a Passion for Community Nutrition

Growing up as the oldest of five children in a single-parent home, Britt Loofbourrow, Ph.D. ’22 remembers a difficult decision her family had to make every month. 

“There were questions of, OK, what’s going to be the most important thing? Hot water, electricity, or food?” she recalls.

Her personal experience with food insecurity has not only inspired her doctoral research and degree in nutritional biology, but also her volunteerism with the Graduate Student Association Pantry and her future career.

A Commitment to Community

When United Way California Capital Region President and CEO Dawnté Early ’05, M.S. ’08, Ph.D. ’11 was an undergraduate at UC Davis, she had an unlikely classmate who inspired her studies beyond anyone else. It was her infant son.

Early, who is a City Council Member of West Sacramento in addition to being a leader in the Sacramento region, transferred to UC Davis from Alabama A&M after her sophomore year to be closer to her family to help with her son.

Inside Higher Ed: The Pivotal Role of the Graduate Program in Student Mentoring

In graduate education, the faculty mentor plays the primary role in guiding a graduate student from recruitment through graduation—and often on to job placements—for several formative and demanding years. Faculty mentors also play an increasing role in responding to the mental health needs of graduate students, who face the stressors of the pandemic, ongoing racial injustice, climate change and political unrest. While this mentoring relationship is central for graduate students, it is one often fraught with challenges.

Bells to Ring for Grand Opening of Graduate Center at Walker Hall April 8

Bell ringing, shouts of joy and clapping in the Graduate Studies office celebrate the moment when a student completes all requirements and final paperwork for a master’s or doctoral degree.

'Ring that bell!'

The tradition will sound, this time, for the grand opening ceremony of the Graduate Center at Walker Hall on Friday, April 8.

Graduate Studies Announces 2022 UC Davis Grad Slam Top 10

Graduate Studies is thrilled to announce the 10 finalists that will compete in the 2022 Semi-Final Grad Slam competition at the University of California, Davis.


In the annual Grad Slam tournament, master’s and doctoral students are challenged to share their research stories, concisely and compellingly, in three minutes or less. The top 10 finalists will present their research to an audience and panel of external judges for a chance to win $2,500.

Update: Graduate Program Coordinators Lauren Worrell and Rosaisela Rodriguez Recognized By NACADA

Update

Graduate Program Coordinators Lauren Worrell and Rosaisela Rodriguez, recipients of 2021-2022 Outstanding Graduate Program Coordinator and Innovation Awards, were recently awarded further honors by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising

Lauren Worrell has been awarded Winner of Region 9 Excellence in Advising - Advisor Primary Role and Rosaiela Rodriguez received the Certificate of Merit of Region 9 Excellence in Advising - Advising Administrator.

Ph.D. Student William Turner IV Explores How Weather and Climate Intertwined With Slavery and Conflict

The story was originally published on the UC Davis news site.

El Niño, an oceanic phenomenon that affects worldwide weather patterns, significantly affected the number of enslaved Africans transported from West Africa to the Americas between the mid-1600s and mid-1800s, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. 

A Long Walk to Freedom

Celebrating Black History Month is part of my daily practice of gratitude that honors the freedom fighters in history. That includes those within my family and their long walks to freedom that paved the way for my liberation. Their strength from extraordinary accomplishments empowers my work as a change agent, one that I cherish and preserve. My heritage has a profound legacy fighting for voting rights and calls me to continue working on critical issues today.

Remote Participation for QEs in Spring 2022

Dear All,

The recommendation for Qualifying Examinations scheduled for Spring 2022 will be the same as this quarter: we encourage all graduate programs to hold QEs in person. However, we recognize that continued flexibility may be needed. Thus, the process for reviewing and approving Spring 2022 QEs will be the same as that for Winter 2022. 

Students may request any of the following formats for their Spring 2022 QE:

I Need More Cowbell: A History of Graduate Studies Bell Ringing Ceremony

A dull, metal-infused, quasi-melodic clanking reverberates off the walls of the Graduate Center at Walker Hall with an erratic rhythm. A smile spreads across UC Davis doctoral student Jackson Badger’s face as a small circle of his friends, family and lab mates applaud him. Badger’s shoulders drop as a deep exhale of relief washes over him. He knows that now, with the ringing of this bell, his doctoral degree at UC Davis is complete.

Accidents and Determination: Professor and Chancellor Emerita MRC Greenwood’s Unlikely Career

When MRC “Marcy” Greenwood was 19 years old and pregnant, she never thought her career would progress beyond being a cashier at the local grocery store. Greenwood, however, would end up having a notable career in the sciences including being the Dean of Graduate Studies at UC Davis, the Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz and associate director for science at the White House.

Finding Love in Walker Hall

From 1928 until 2011, Walker Hall was a place where faculty, staff and students engaged in a wide range of cutting-edge research and development.

UC Davis retirees Ted and Silvia Hillyer are no exception. As a mechanical engineer, Ted joined UC Davis staff in 1974, having been recruited by the chairman of the Department of Applied Science, which was primarily housed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  Ted was responsible for designing graduate research laboratories at Walker Hall.