For her work in teaching and mentorship, Professor JoAnne Engebrecht, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, was awarded the 2017-2018 College of Biological Sciences Faculty Teaching Award.
For his discovery of a new type of insulin-producing cell, Associate Professor Mark Huising, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, was awarded the 2017-2018 College of Biological Sciences Faculty Research Award.
Last year, UC Davis undergraduate student Kelsey Klein began a project close to her heart. With assistance from the National Society of Leadership and Success, her idea to create a nonprofit organization benefiting prostate cancer research took shape. For her outstanding community service, research activities and scholarship, Klein is recognized with the College of Biological Sciences Medal.
Graduating senior Bita Shahrvini will leave UC Davis with two of the College of Biological Sciences undergraduate research accolades, the Ronald and Lydia Baskin Award and the Undergraduate of the Year Award.
For excellence in biological sciences research, senior biochemistry and molecular biology major Benjamin Mallory is one of two recipients recognized with the Ronald and Lydia Baskin Award.
The UC Davis College of Biological Sciences has named Oliver Fiehn, professor of molecular and cellular biology, to the Paul K. and Ruth R. Stumpf Professorship in Plant Biochemistry.
An internationally recognized scholar, Fiehn has more than 220 publications to his name. He has driven significant developments in the field of metabolomics, the study of small molecules known as metabolites. Metabolites are the end products of cellular processes and form the chemistry of all life.
When it comes to plant rhythms, Stacey Harmer, a professor of plant biology at the University of California, Davis, is hip to the groove. Her research, which appeared in the August 5, 2016 journal of Science, describes how sunflowers track the sun, beginning each morning with their heads facing east, slowly swinging west throughout the day and then resetting eastward at night.
The College of Biological Sciences Faculty Teaching Award has two recipients for the 2016-2017 year. Luca Comai, professor of plant biology, and Michele Igo, professor and vice chair of microbiology and molecular genetics, are recognized for their excellence in teaching through enthusiasm and effectiveness of instruction, application of technology and innovation in the classroom, and mentorship and motivation of students.
Each year, the College of Biological Sciences honors its top undergraduate students for their research contributions. The following students will be recognized during the commencement ceremony on June 16.
Savithramma Dinesh-Kumar, a professor of plant biology and interim chair of the Department of Plant Biology at the University of California, Davis, has received the College of Biological Sciences 2015-2016 Faculty Research Award. He was recognized for his groundbreaking research in plant immunity and the role of chloroplast stromules in programmed cell death.
