Creating new, real-world opportunities to build upon classroom learning
The Challenge
The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences engages students in innovative and integrated learning. Students develop solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges alongside leading scientists. Teaching and research outside the classroom gives students opportunities to sharpen their critical thinking skills and experience how science is applied in real-world settings, whether it be inside a dairy, at an orchard, or by the river. Field courses, site visits and other off-campus opportunities show students the relevance of their academic studies to issues in their area of study.
The Solution
Every student needs the opportunity to enrich classroom learning with on-the-ground experiences. In addition to valuable campus assets such as our teaching laboratories, the UC Davis Student Farm and UC Natural Reserve sites, we take students to watersheds to learn about ecosystem health, to farms and ranches to learn how science underlies best practices and to businesses that rely on UC Davis innovations to stay on the cutting edge.
The Philanthropic Opportunity
Our faculty strive to provide the best opportunities for learning and development of our students. Gifts supporting this initiative will create the additional support needed to travel off campus with students. In some cases, all that may be needed is a small gift to rent a bus, but in other cases an additional instructor may be required to facilitate off-site field courses. The vision for this initiative is to give faculty a “green light” to put together the best possible educational experiences for our students.
Because of past donor support, our landscape architecture students have received hands-on experience in design-build projects, our agriculture students have traveled to the Salinas Valley to connect with the produce industry, and our coastal and marine science students have studied extensively and engaged in research projects at the Bodega Marine Laboratory. Our goal for this new fund is $5 million to be invested as an endowment for future students.