Each year, the College of Biological Sciences honors its top undergraduates at a special awards ceremony attended by friends, family, mentors, and donors. The 2025 recipients were recognized for their academic excellence, commitment to building community, service to campus and peers, and exceptional achievements in research.
Four students from the College of Biological Sciences have been recognized with 2025 Norma J. Lang Prizes for Undergraduate Information Research, awarded annually by the UC Davis Library.
The prestigious award celebrates undergraduates who demonstrate exceptional skill in finding, evaluating, and synthesizing information to support original research. Now in its ninth year, the prize honors the legacy of the late Professor Emerita of Botany Norma J. Lang, a beloved UC Davis faculty member whose gift to the university continues to support and inspire student scholarship.
Only on annual visits to India was Avantika Gokulnatha able to help care for her now late grandfather as his health failed. But the San Jose resident endeavored to help others near her.
Gokulnatha did just that as she studied biological sciences, majored in genetics and genomics, and researched aging at the University of California, Davis. She volunteered with a local hospice, revived a student organization to help seniors with technology, and led other undergraduate volunteers at a clinic providing free medical care to uninsured and marginalized people.
Driven by a passion to heal and discover, two UC Davis third-year biological science students received the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship for their research focused on the improvement of care for critically ill children and tissue regeneration.
At UC Davis, undergraduates have opportunities to dive into independent research at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML) through the EVE Scholars Program. Students like Aishu Santosh and Caroline Donohew are pushing the frontiers of marine science while discovering a lot about themselves in the process.
Each year, the Dean’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) helps provide vital support to students wishing to stay on campus —and in the lab — over the summer term.
Each year, the college’s top graduating seniors are recognized for their outstanding achievements at an awards ceremony attended by friends, family, mentors and donors. This year’s graduating senior and university award recipients were honored for their academic excellence, commitment to fostering community, service to campus and their peers and for exceptional research efforts.
Three UC Davis students, including two from the College of Biological Sciences, have won the highly prestigious and competitive Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Every year, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation honors fewer than 500 undergraduate second- and third-year students from across the country with scholarships recognizing their science, technology, engineering and mathematics research accomplishments and future potential.
Many students who embark on research projects during the academic year face a roadblock during summer break when they leave campus to seek employment and have to shelve their scientific pursuits. To bridge this gap, the CBS Dean's Circle Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) offers an invaluable opportunity.
The program provides undergraduates with mentorship, financial support and enables them to extend their research through a 10-week summer quarter. Generous contributions to the CBS Dean's Circle Fund make this annual initiative possible.
The college’s top graduating seniors were honored for their achievements at an award ceremony on Saturday, June 3. The event included both college and campus awards.
With promising futures ahead for each, the students took to the mic upon receiving their awards to share their post-graduation plans, including remaining at UC Davis for graduate school, attending medical school and continued volunteer and community service efforts.
