News & Events

Ecological medicine is a new approach to health science that draws on a very old idea: connecting with each other, with animals and plants, and with the natural world fosters health and well-being for people and the planet.

Sebastian Smith is making less of a career pivot than a total revamp. At age 48, he is getting his B.S., with the goal of earning  a doctorate and becoming a scientific researcher. Just three years ago, he was retiring after a 20-year career in the Air Force. 

Mutations drive evolution, but they can also be risky. New research led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Nov. 10 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals how plants control mutation rates in different stem cells to balance adaptability with safety and stability. The findings have implications for breeding some of the world’s most important fruit and vegetable crops, such as potatoes and bananas.

We are in the tail-end of the year. The quarter is in full swing, midterms are behind us and campus continues to bustle. There’s been no shortage of activity this fall, and I was very pleased to see UC Davis recognized as one of the top 10 public universities in the nation. 

Weeks-long lab experiments on color-changing soil microbes and live mosquitoes, small-group discussions, and conceptual course design: these might sound like the hallmarks of upper-division science courses, but they’re all part of the BIO123 Series, the innovative new UC Davis introductory biology curriculum.