Graduate Education Awards

Recognizing Excellence in Graduate Education

CA&ES offers numerous awards recognizing exceptional achievements in our graduate education community.

  • Dean’s Circle Graduate Student Award

  • The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences established the Dean’s Circle Graduate Student Award, a $30,000 award, to support a new to UC Davis, incoming graduate student to help ensure a successful transition to campus for their academic and research pursuits. This fellowship supports and encourages students pursuing careers in teaching and research and is awarded to a top entering Ph.D. student based on their prior academic or career-related achievements or activities. 
     

    Application Procedure 

    Each graduate group/program under the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Lead Dean Ashley Stokes is invited to nominate a single, incoming to Fall graduate student applicant. Nominations from the graduate group/program chair should include: 
     

    • • The name of the nominee
    • • The name of the graduate group/program making the nomination
    • • a paragraph describing the basis for the nomination. This should include the student’s area of academic or research interests.
    • • Nominee’s CV


    A call for nominations will be issued annually from the Dean’s Office directly to the programs. For questions, please contact Brenda Nakamoto ([email protected] or 530-752-1606) in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Office, 150 Mrak Hall. A single fellowship will be awarded, as selected by the CA&ES Graduate Education Committee after its review of nominations and student application materials.

  • Kinsella Memorial Prize

  • The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) established the Kinsella Memorial Prize in honor of late Dean and Professor John E. Kinsella. The annual award of $3,500 is given to an outstanding individual(s) who submits his/her Ph.D. dissertation to Graduate Studies within the specified nomination period. The major professor (advisor) of the recipient must have an appointment in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. 

    Each graduate group/program may submit one nomination, which should include:

    • • The name and department of the major professor (advisor)
    • • A one-page abstract of the dissertation
    • • A short bio (maximum of 300 words) of the nominee
    • • Nominee’s CV and unofficial UC Davis transcript
    • • A nomination letter (maximum 3 pages total) from the graduate group/program chair or major professor (advisor)


    The nomination letter should address:

    • • Academic performance in graduate school
    • • Scholarly activities, including quality and originality of the student’s work
    • • Service to their campus or community
    • • Multidisciplinary impact of the research and potential importance of the research to the college’s mission to serve agriculture, the environment, and human health and development. A call for nominations will be issued annually from the Dean’s Office directly to programs.


    For questions, please contact Brenda Nakamoto ([email protected] or 530-752-1606), in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Office. The CA&ES Graduate Education Subcommittee will make the selection.

  • Nor Cal United Growers Association Graduate Fellowship

  • The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) established the Nor Cal United Growers Association Graduate Fellowship to support continuing graduate students doing research related to the production of a crop regularly grown in the California counties of Yolo, Solano, Sutter or Colusa. 

    A single $16,000 fellowship will be awarded and can be used for Tuition & Fees or Stipend. Masters and PhD students are eligible to apply. The recipient must be enrolled for a minimum of one quarter immediately following receipt of the award allocation(s) starting in the Fall Quarter. 
     

    Application Procedure

    Each graduate group/program under the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Lead Dean Ashley M. Stokes is invited to nominate a single graduate student applicant. Nominations from the graduate group/program chair should include:

    • • The name of the nominee
    • • The name of the graduate group/program making the nomination
    • • A short bio (maximum 300 words) of the nominee
    • • Degree objective and years in graduate program
    • • Nominee’s CV and unofficial UC Davis transcript
    • • A letter of recommendation from the major professor (advisor) (maximum 2 pages)
      • • A letter from the nominating graduate group/program (maximum 2 pages) Letters from the major professor (advisor) and nominating graduate group/program should address the following:
      • • Academic performance in graduate school
      • • Scholarly activities, including quality and originality of the student’s work
      • • Research focus must be related to the production of a crop regularly grown in the California counties of Yolo, Solano, Sutter or Colusa.
      • • The potential importance of the research to the college’s mission to serve agriculture, the environment, and human health and development.
         

    A call for nominations will be issued annually from the Dean’s Office directly to the programs. For questions, please contact Brenda Nakamoto ([email protected] or 530-752-1606) in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Office, 150 Mrak Hall. A single fellowship will be awarded, as selected by the CA&ES Graduate Education Committee.

  • John F. Steindler Fellowship

  • The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences established the John F. Steindler Fellowship. This is a 21-month fellowship open to entering Ph.D. students studying in the general areas of Agricultural Production, Food and Nutrition, Molecular Biology in Plants, Agricultural Commodity Marketing, and Rural/Urban Social Studies. The student’s prospective major professor must have an appointment within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This fellowship provides a stipend, fees and tuition, and nonresident supplemental tuition (if applicable) for one year. One fellowship will be awarded. 

    Application Procedure

    Each graduate group/program is invited to nominate a single incoming Fall Ph.D. graduate student applicant. To be eligible, the student must be willing to work with a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Nominations from the graduate group/program chair should include:

    • • The name of the nominee
    • • The name of the graduate group/program making the nomination
    • • The student’s area of academic or research interests and the name of the faculty member with an appointment in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences that will serve as the major professor.
    • • The basis for the nomination that addresses the student’s academic preparation, scholarly potential, alignment with the fellowship, and notable achievements or activities, including leadership roles and contributions to their communities.
    • • Nominee’s CV


    A call for nominations will be issued annually from the Dean’s Office directly to the programs. For questions, please contact Brenda Nakamoto ([email protected] or 752-1606) in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Office, 150 Mrak Hall. The CA&ES Graduate Education Subcommittee will make the selection.

  • Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald Graduate Student Award

  • The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) established the Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald Graduate Student Award to acknowledge the contributions of Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald for their service as dean and executive associate dean, respectively. The award supports continuing graduate students who are studying in the general areas of agricultural, environmental or social/human sciences and who have a major professor (advisor) with an appointment in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Recipients of the $7,500 award must have a strong academic record and have demonstrated a commitment to service of their campus or community. The recipient must be enrolled for a minimum of one quarter immediately following receipt of the award allocation(s) in Fall Quarter. Each graduate group/program may submit one nomination that includes the following:

    • • Nominee name and department of the major professor (advisor)
    • • A short bio (maximum 300 words) of the nominee
    • • Degree objective and years in graduate program
    • • Nominee’s CV and unofficial UC Davis transcript
    • • A letter of recommendation from the major professor (advisor) (maximum 2 pages)
    • • A letter from the nominating graduate group/program (maximum 2 pages)


    Letters from the major professor and nominating graduate group/program should address the following:

    • • Academic performance in graduate school
      • Scholarly activities, including quality and originality of the student’s work
    • • Service to their campus or community
    • • The potential importance of the research to the college’s mission to serve agriculture, the environment, and human health and development.


    A call for nominations will be issued annually from the Dean’s Office directly to the programs. For questions, please contact Brenda Nakamoto ([email protected], 530-752-1606), in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Office, 150 Mrak Hall. The CA&ES Graduate Education Subcommittee will make the selection.