Student Life

Studying in Nepal: Students Find Adventure, Friendship and Purpose

UC Davis professors with a longstanding connection to Nepal, along with their Nepalese colleagues, lead a learning exchange program that offers students a profound immersion in the country’s vibrant culture, environment and history. Through hands-on projects designed with a small rural village, students gain a unique perspective on global citizenship and community engagement while creating special bonds with new friends.

Fungi Scouting Field Trip Yields Edible Finds, Plus Poisonous Ones, too

They had names like Galerina marginata, Helvella dryophila and Ramalina menziesii.

Such was the bounty collected by students from UC Davis and other Bay Area colleges during a weekend fungi hunt field trip along the California coast.

The trip is a beloved tradition and a sought-after adventure for students taking PLP 148: Introductory Mycology, which is the study of fungi like mushrooms, molds and yeasts.

Enhancing Student Learning with Virtual Reality

In a peach processing facility, the air might be filled with the sweet aroma of ripe peaches and the sound of equipment humming as it carries out the canning process. At the California Processing Tomato Industry Pilot Plant on campus, students within the Department of Food Science and Technology (FST) get to see that action firsthand. They can also now experience it – virtually.

New ‘Coffee Chat’ Series Aims to Build More Inclusive Learning Environments

Students often thrive when they feel seen and heard. Faculty members from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are launching a new discussion series for educators to explore ways to further encourage inclusivity in the classroom and ensure all voices are heard.

The first “Coffee Chat” event is scheduled for 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28 in the Plant and Environmental Sciences building (details here).

Guiding the Way to Healthy Living on Campus

In a matter of minutes, UC Davis student Wendy Liang effortlessly sets up a table in the lobby of the Activities and Recreation Center just near the entrance to the gym, but the information she provides to those who stop to chat has the potential to guide and nourish them throughout their lives.

Science-y Summers

They woke up gasping for air. At 14,505 feet, Mount Whitney is not the typical place to take a nap. But if a spectacular sunrise is the goal, braving out the bone-chilling cold and lack of air is the price to pay. 

Grace Cureton, a fifth year Community and Regional Development major at UC Davis, spent their summer high in the alpine. For 41 days without service, a massive backpack, heaps of dehydrated food, and a small crew of researchers were all they knew. 

 

“It's a hard transition back. Everything is very stimulating now,” Cureton admitted.

Summer Scholar Mentoring and Research Program a Pathway for Diverse Students

This summer, four students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, came to UC Davis for seven immersive weeks of research, field work, training and mentoring.

The students from Fort Valley State University in Georgia and Florida A&M University worked with faculty studying plant, food and other sciences as part of the Plant Agricultural Biology Graduate Admissions Pathways, or PABGAP, program.

Setting the Tune: Exploring Soils Inspires New Song

From Fort Bragg to the Mojave Desert – a group of UC Davis students spent part of their summer analyzing the soils of California ecosystems. For graduate student Yuanxin Ji, the experience inspired him to craft a heartfelt song with lyrics about the intricate world of soils set to a catchy tune.

Teaching Lands Nourish Hungry Aggies

Red, ripe cherries hide in small clusters amid long leaves in the UC Davis teaching orchard. They’re sweet, juicy, beautiful. In area grocery stores, such delights cost up to $8 a pound, but these would have gone to the birds. They must be harvested by hand, and at the price of labor, they’re too expensive to pick, said orchard manager Victor Serratos of the Department of Plant Sciences.