Awards & Laurels

The Phi Sigma Honor Society’s Gamma Delta chapter at UC Davis recognizes and celebrates the academic excellence of students in the College of Biological Sciences. In the spring of each year, select undergraduates are invited to join this distinguished community, marking a milestone in their academic journey.

Meet the eight faculty members who comprise the newest class of Chancellor’s Fellows, given to early career academics doing exemplary work in their fields. One of the new fellows, Kassandra Ori-McKenney, is a an associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and four others are affiliated with the college's interdisciplinary graduate groups. 

Victoria Watson-Zink, Ph.D. ’22, a postdoctoral evolutionary marine biologist, received the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Hanna H. Gray Fellowship last month. This year’s fellowship supports the transition of 25 early-career scientists to leading labs and becoming tenured faculty.

In the last week of President Biden’s term, the White House honored over 700 scientists and engineers, including three CBS faculty. 

A battle around the world is raging between plants and the changing environment, and UC Davis researchers are on the front lines.

For example, the microbes are constantly creating new types of illnesses, while the plants — sometimes with the help of breeders — are developing new immunities.

It’s something plant geneticist Luca Comai, Ph.D. ’80, a distinguished professor of plant biology, has seen firsthand through his decades of research into plant chromosomes.

Three members of the CBS faculty community have been named Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) scholars. The prestigious honor provides mentorship, support and community to new faculty members.

The work of 12 early-career faculty members will get a boost as this year’s class of Hellman Fellows. They will receive grants ranging from $16,000 to $49,000, for a total of $330,000 awarded.

Their work covers a wide range of topics, from the educational experiences of Venezuelan immigrants to a wireless device that monitors for seizures.

Wolf Dietrich-Heyer, a Distinguished Professor and chair in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics was among three members of the UC Davis community recognized for their remarkable efforts to steward donors and raise the culture of philanthropy across the university. 

The Office of Development and Alumni Relations and the UC Davis Foundation presented the 2024 Faculty and Staff Stewardship Awards during a ceremony on Oct. 19. The recipients are:

A flowering plant might not be able to tell how many fingers you’re holding up, but it can tell whether it’s light or dark outside and might grow differently if it suddenly finds itself in the shade of another plant.

Plants do that through photoreceptors, which are a major focus of research for John Clark Lagarias, a distinguished professor emeritus of molecular and cellular biology.

Photoreceptors have important uses, like measuring the length of the day; plants can tell when seasons change because the days get longer or shorter.

The American Physiological Society recently named UC Davis Professor Manuel Navedo the 2025 recipient of the Robert M. Berne Distinguished Lectureship. This award is presented annually by the society’s Cardiovascular Section to an established leader in cardiovascular research.