Just outside a classroom in the Sciences Laboratory Building is an engraved sign that reads “McNamee Biochemistry Lab.”
The classroom is one of the College of Biological Sciences’ undergraduate biochemistry teaching labs, where upper-division biochemistry students learn the fundamentals of conducting experiments in a laboratory setting. The sign just outside its door refers to Mark and Carole McNamee, who recently made a $100,000 gift to name the classroom in support of future generations of scientists.
Early in 2021, students in the College of Biological Sciences were already playing an integral role in the UC Davis effort to provide free, effective and rapid COVID testing for the Davis community.
Students who enrolled in the college’s “Mass Testing for COVID-19” course helped testing staff administer COVID saliva tests, gained hands-on experience working at the UC Davis COVID Testing Kiosk, and deepened their knowledge of coronavirus spread, treatment, and prevention while performing duties that improved kiosk efficiency.
Thanks to the generosity of over 700 donors, the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences set a new fundraising record during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, raising more than $11.5 million.
In Richard McKenney’s lab, Wenzhe Li studies the motor protein cytoplasmic dynein. Aided by her interest in psychology, Li aims to link cellular and molecular biology processes to mind and behavior. For her work, she was awarded the Ronald and Lydia Baskin Research Award.
For her outstanding research activities and scholarship, Joleen Cheah was awarded the College of Biological Sciences Medal. She was also recently awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and the University Honors Program’s Research and Innovation Award.
Senior biochemistry and molecular biology student Lynne Hagelthorn is one of the recipients of this year’s Ronald and Lydia Baskin Award, which recognizes a graduating senior for excellence in biological sciences research.
An advocate for computational and quantitative biology, Professor Mark Goldman has been appointed to the Joel Keizer Endowed Chair in Theoretical and Computational Biology. The position honors the late Professor Joel Keizer, a pioneering UC Davis faculty member and theoretical biologist who spent 28 years on campus.
For 30 years, the Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program has created opportunities in life sciences education and research for over 1,500 students. Over the Picnic Day weekend, BUSP friends and alumni celebrated the program.
In the last year, the Young Scientist Program has engaged roughly 1,100 students across the San Joaquin and Sacramento counties, bringing science education with a flair to underserved and poverty-stricken communities in the region.
The UC Davis College of Biological Sciences named Professor W. Martin Usrey, a neurobiologist interested in the physiology of vision, to the Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Endowed Chair in Physiology.
