We are two months into the new year, and our college is thriving and alive with activity. This month has been busy for our college and the entire campus! As the days slowly lengthen, the number of prospective students coming to visit us grows. I love seeing groups of families on tours, threading their way through the Arboretum, past the Eye on Mrak, and along the bike path towards the Coffee House while listening to the guides give bits of information about why they love UC Davis. 

Last week, we hosted Slice of Advising, a great event that connects students with CA&ES advisors over pizza. This event is always well attended and gives students a chance to talk with our staff about academic plans and the campus community in an informal setting.

We also sent a delegate of students, staff and faculty to the World Ag Expo for the first time since the pandemic. Several college experts in viticulture and enology, engineering and economics were available to discuss agricultural issues and visit with attendees. Aggie Ambassadors and undergraduate student advisors were on hand to answer questions about UC Davis majors and campus life and to welcome back our alumni. It was great to be back in the Central Valley and to visit with agricultural leaders from around the world.

In the spirit of future leaders in agriculture, we are hosting high school FFA and 4-H members at the 47th Annual Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Field Day, next week on March 3-4. Students come from all over the state to compete in 21 agriculturally-based judging contests in farm business management, livestock, veterinary science, floriculture and vegetable crops, to name just a few categories. Our UC Davis students are actively engaged in coordinating and judging the contests, many of whom attended Field Day when they were in high school and are now giving back to this campus tradition.

And if all of that weren’t enough, this month’s Highlights features several stories and accolades celebrating research and solutions coming out of our college, including using artificial intelligence to increase safety from food-borne bacteria in processed foods, a look at how climate change could affect breeding patterns of songbirds in California, the launch of a database that allows cities and counties access and compare General Plans, data on high-severity wildfires in recent years, AAAS Fellow and Chancellor’s Fellow honors, and several crowdfunding opportunities.

All of these activities--student engagement, education, prolific research and dedicated efforts of everyone in our college—bring me joy and remind me of how much we continue to contribute to, move forward and support the campus and our greater community.