General News

Four years after plant sciences professor Kentaro Inoue was struck and killed while riding his bike, the last three graduate students from his lab are ensuring his scientific legacy lives on through their published research, careers in industry and academia, and mentoring of future science students.

Philip Day, Laura Klasek and Lucas McKinnon successfully completed their doctoral degrees in the past year, having continued their studies with the support of plant biology professor Steven Theg, one of Inoue’s colleagues, and the Department of Plant Sciences.

UC Davis graduate student Nicole Claiborne and her advisor, Professor Karen Zito, are among the 45 doctoral students and their advisers awarded the  Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Gilliam Fellowships to advance diversity and inclusion in the sciences.

On August 19, Graduate Studies hosted a special webinar designed to support you in the continued pursuit of your graduate education in an era marked by rapid change and disruption. 

Building Academic Resilience:
Pursuing Your Graduate Education in the Age of a Pandemic
Wednesday, August 19, 2020 
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Watch the Webinar Recording

Drawing from the Foundation’s $5.8 million endowment, the awards support Icelandic students attending graduate school in the U.S. and American graduate students studying or doing research in Iceland. The grants are open to students from all disciplines enrolled in any graduate program in the U.S. or Iceland.

Robinson (right) is studying the domestic demand for Icelandic-grown vegetables and fruits, as well as local knowledge of agroecosystem management. He will work with the Faculty of Life and Sciences at the University of Iceland.

"Ten years ago I arrived alone in the US with nothing but a dream. Now I am proud to call myself a scientist, a Ph.D. student, and a mentor. My family, while loving and supportive, never imagined that I would become a scientist. To be honest, neither did I."

The UC Information Technology Leadership Council has announced that Graduate Studies' Student Progress Assessment project was selected for honorable mention in the 2020 Larry L. Sautter Award Program. 

The honorable mention is one of six awards and four honorable mentions that was presented at the Virtual UC Tech Webinar, hosted by UCLA on August 11, 2020.

On July 1,  Graduate Studies announced 34 recipients of the Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Awards. Faculty were nominated by their graduate programs for outstanding excellence in advising and mentoring of graduate students. Graduate programs highlighted faculty for their service to the program, commitment to advising and mentoring, and positive impact on graduate students and colleagues.  

Devin Horton, Ph.D, the Graduate Diversity Officer for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines at the University of California, Davis, is among the scientists and leaders recognized in a list of 100 inspiring Black scientists in America, published last month.

After 20 years of service to Graduate Studies and 37 years of service to the University of California, Davis, Graduate Financial Support Specialist Lisa Finnegan retired at the end of June 2020. 

Zafarullah, a Ph.D. student in the Integrative Genetics and Genomics Graduate Group, investigates the pathology of a rare neurodegenerative disease called Fragile X- Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS). Predominantly affecting men, this debilitating disorder typically manifests after the age of 50. Its progression can be rapid, with symptoms including a substantial decline in movement and cognition. Currently, there are no cures or treatments available for FXTAS.