An aspiring astrobiologist has been awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the nation’s leading scholarship for undergraduates pursuing research in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Early signs of spring’s renewal fed by hearty March rains are starting to bloom, adding vibrancy to the campus. These days also provide a chance to welcome the next generation of Aggies after UC Davis formally accepted thousands of new first year students. About 9,400 first year and transfer students are expected to enroll this fall.

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When UC Davis student Madison “Madi” Burns joined the Davis Rewilding Society during her freshman year, it helped bring her future into focus. The second-year landscape architecture major said she has developed a much better understanding of the importance of native plants from her involvement with the student-run organization.

I was a plant girl. As an undergraduate student at UC Davis, I’ve spent my summers restoring wetlands with native plants, summiting peaks to study alpine cushion plants, and dissecting seeds in labs. Animals were never in the picture, and birds were no exception. So when I kept seeing “Bird ID skills needed” on botany position advertisements, I knew my plant-only class days were over.  

A team of UC Davis doctoral and undergraduate students have something to celebrate as the fall quarter comes to a close. UC Davis sent a team to the Region 6 (southwest) Collegiate Soil Judging Competition, where groups are scored on their ability to describe and classify soils and landscapes.

There’s a type of olive oil that may lift spirits during the cold winter season. It’s called “olio nuovo,” which in Italian means “the new oil.” This oil is immediately bottled after the olives are harvested and milled, making it one of the freshest extra virgin olive oils you can get.

The fall colors are incredibly vibrant this year with their red, orange and yellow leaves glowing against a backdrop of bright blue sky. We have so much to be grateful for this November, and I want to express my gratitude for all of our dedicated faculty, staff and students who remain focused on the mission of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

An ordinary bus stop in Vallejo has a fresh new look. The local site got a makeover designed by UC Davis students Ashley Gear and Katie Wong, both seniors majoring in landscape architecture.

Solano County Transit (SolTrans), which runs the bus service in Vallejo, recently unveiled its newly transformed bus stop located at Gary Circle and Magazine Street. SolTrans chose the students’ design, which Gear and Wong created last spring for the “Plants in the City” course led by Assistant Professor Haven Kiers.

From concept to completion – UC Davis student Mariah Padilla has taken what she’s learned in class to help create a tool that aims to enhance a local community’s social and economic health and well-being. Padilla, a community and regional development major going into her senior year, took a community economic development course (CRD 156) last spring which empowered students to provide an assessment of food security and community violence in two neighborhoods located in South Sacramento.

Researchers at UC Davis are working to develop new and improved varieties of celtuce, a leafy green vegetable that plays an important role in Asian cuisine. The Student Collaborative Organic Plant Breeding Education (SCOPE) project, which works with local organic growers on improving crop varieties, is analyzing the traits of celtuce to improve seed availability for small scale farmers.