Chancellor Gary S. May has named the 2019 class of Chancellor’s Fellows and our own Associate Professor Stacey Combes, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, is among the 10 selected. 

While others have puzzled over insect flight, Combes is the first to study how insects such as flies, bees and dragonflies fly under realistic conditions, navigating obstacles and turbulence. Whether as pollinators, pests or predators, flying insects play a major role in ecosystems, and Combes' work has pushed forward our understanding across the field, from the biomechanics of insect wings to the foraging behavior of bumblebees.

"Dr. Combes represents the best of what UC Davis stands for, and we couldn't be more proud of her achievements," said College of Biological Sciences Dean Mark Winey and Mark Usrey, chair of the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, in a joint statement.