Endowment Supports Student Research in Fish Physiology, Ecology and Conservation

Doctoral student Cassidy Cooper is the first recipient of a fellowship supporting conservation research at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Funded by an endowment honoring a late UC Davis alum who loved wildlife, the fellowship supports her research on how temperature affects native fish in California.

Cooper’s research is centered on understanding how fish adjust their physiology and behavior to deal with shifting environmental conditions. Her recent work focuses on Chinook salmon and how they manage these challenges as they grow and migrate through highly variable environments.

“My research looks at, in a warming world, what strategies salmon have available to sort of eke out the most tolerance they have, especially in environments like the Sacramento River, which can be impacted by a lot of factors such as limited food and high temperatures,” Cooper said.

Her work aligns with the fellowship created by the generous donation of Davis resident Sara Ringen to support graduate student research and teaching focused on fish physiology, ecology and conservation within the Departments of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Animal Science. The “Ronald R. Ringen, D.V.M. Endowed Fund for Fish Conservation” honors Ringen’s late husband, Ron, who passed away in 2023. Ron earned his veterinary degree from UC Davis and was an avid birder and fisherman. 

“Ron was really a wildlife person and an outdoorsman. I thought this would be a way to honor him because he always loved being in the outdoors,” Ringen said. “I like to help students, and Ron was willing to do whatever to help them. I want this to support the students in any way is necessary for both departments.” 

Conservation in motion

Cooper, a Ph.D. candidate with the Animal Behavior Graduate Group, said she’s grateful for this support, which will help her share her research with conservation groups and even local fly fishers.

“It feels really awesome. Especially in today's world, funding can be hard to come by, and this is honestly such a treat to know not only is there a value in supporting this kind of research, but the people who are conducting it; that is really cool,” 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.”

Cooper began her studies in physiology as an undergraduate at California State University San Marcos, where she first researched alligator hatchlings and tropical fish. She was drawn to UC Davis to join the lab of Nann Fangue, chair and professor with the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, for its focus on applied conservation and collaborative research on native California fish. She’s working on her dissertation now and is excited that support from the Ringen endowment will help her make a lasting impact on wildlife and conservation.

“I think that the best part of my science is not just learning cool things and working with fish, but that it is this awesome melding of minds to work toward a common goal of doing what is best for our environment and the species in it,” Cooper said.