A Love of Wildlife Inspires a Gift for Graduate Student Research
A fellowship that honors a late UC Davis alum who loved wildlife is now helping a graduate student study the future of California’s native fish.
Ronald Ringen earned his veterinary degree from UC Davis and was an avid birder and fisherman. After he passed away in 2023, his wife, Sara, wanted to honor his love of animals in a way that would help others. Her generosity established the “Ronald R. Ringen Endowed Fund for Fish Conservation,” to support graduate student research and teaching in fish physiology, ecology and conservation within the Departments of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, and Animal Science.
As the first recipient of the Ringen fellowship, Cassidy Cooper, a Ph.D. candidate with the Animal Behavior Graduate Group, is studying how Chinook salmon respond to environmental challenges, including rising temperatures. Her research examines the physiological and behavioral strategies salmon use to cope with changing conditions as they grow and migrate through California’s waterways.
The work is especially important in the Sacramento River, where salmon can face high temperatures, limited food and other environmental pressures. By understanding how fish respond to these challenges, Cooper hopes her findings can help inform conservation efforts.
The fund is giving Cooper support to share her research with conservation organizations and local fly fishers, connecting scientific discovery with the people who care deeply about this threatened species.
“Especially in today's world, funding can be hard to come by, and this is such a treat to know not only is there a value in supporting this kind of research, but the people who are conducting it,” Cooper said. “It's not necessarily always about buying equipment. Sometimes it's about funding to support communicating that science and being able to make sure it gets out into the world, so I’m really happy that the fund is going to support me in that way,” said Cooper.
