News Articles

Nobody knew that badgers were inhabiting an ecosystem near Davis until recently — and finding them is the kind of discovery that would excite any seasoned biologist. But that’s not who identified the rare species just last year. It was spotted by undergraduates in Laci Gerhart’s popular “Wild Davis” course (EVE 16), who have also had rare glimpses of ringtails and other species. 

Neil Hunter, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society in London.

This prestigious appointment, announced May 20, was offered to only 70 scientists across the world.

“I’m thrilled and surprised,” said Hunter. “The acknowledgment means a great deal to me, because it’s an election by some of the best scientists in the world.”

When drug breakthroughs happen, the medical community rejoices. But some people can be left behind. Case in point: Rapamycin. Now a UC Davis professor is investigating how to bring back the benefits of a revolutionary drug to the people who were there from the beginning.

Spring began just two months ago, and already here in Davis it’s starting to feel like summer. There’s just about a month of the quarter left, during which our students will be preparing for final exams and then, for many, commencement. There’s still much to do between then and now, but the excitement of graduation season is already being felt in our classrooms, labs and across campus.

The single-celled parasite Entamoeba histolytica infects 50 million people each year, killing nearly 70,000. Usually, this wily, shape-shifting amoeba causes nothing worse than diarrhea. But sometimes it triggers severe, even fatal disease by chewing ulcers in the colon, liquefying parts of the liver and invading the brain and lungs.

It is with great sadness that I am announcing a significant reduction in services to our students provided by the college’s Educational Enrichment and Outreach Programs (EEOP).

Graham Coop, professor of evolution and ecology and director of the Center for Population Biology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his exceptional contribution to his field. Coop is one of nearly 250 new members announced by the academy on April 23.

Some reef fish have the unexpected ability to move their jaws from side to side, biologists at the University of California, Davis have discovered. This ability – which is rare among vertebrate animals – allows these fish to feed rapidly and efficiently on algae growing on rocks. The work is published May 5 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Developmental biologist Alice Accorsi, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is the recipient of the 2025 UC Davis Early Career Faculty Award for Creativity and Innovation.

Driven by a passion to heal and discover, two UC Davis third-year biological science students received the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship for their research focused on the improvement of care for critically ill children and tissue regeneration.