Human Ecology

Four faculty and staff members from UC Davis are being recognized for their outstanding global engagement work with two key awards: the Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement and the Excellence in Teaching for Global Learning Award. These awards recognize the outstanding work of UC Davis faculty and staff in international education, research and service.  

Everyone ruminates about the bad things that happen to them. Whether it’s a nasty breakup, an embarrassing failure or simply when someone is mean, it can be hard to stop thinking about what happened and why. For people who ruminate too much, this negative thought pattern can cause lasting problems with mental health. 

Charred land may not look like much at first glance, but a controlled burn can benefit a landscape by rejuvenating the soil, maintaining healthy ecosystems and reducing the impact of future wildfires.

For many people, especially younger generations, social media is an integral part of their daily routines. Platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have changed the way people communicate, share information and connect.

UC Davis Professors Joanna Chiu and Andrew Whitehead have been appointed as the new chairs of the Departments of Entomology and Nematology and Environmental Toxicology, respectively. Mary Delany has also been appointed as interim chair for the Department of Human Ecology. As the academic year gets underway, these visionary leaders are set to steer their departments toward groundbreaking research, interdisciplinary collaborations and exceptional experiences for students.

On a sunny day in June, about 30 acres of land tucked along rolling hills just north of Capay were set on fire. Wearing a bright yellow, long sleeve shirt, long pants, leather gloves, hard hat and heavy-duty goggles, UC Davis Assistant Professor Emily Schlickman participated in her first prescribed burn, a planned and controlled fire that aims to help reduce wildfire risk.

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Researchers analyzed the checkout lanes in 102 food stores in Davis, Sacramento, Oakland and Berkeley, California.

The study was published in Current Developments in Nutrition.

Bernardo “Bernie” Bastien-Olvera, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the Geography Graduate Group at UC Davis, is this year’s recipient of the Kinsella Memorial Prize for his doctoral research on the effects of climate-driven impacts on global ecosystems and the influence on human well-being.

Laughter bounces off the tile floor in the Davis Senior Center as small groups of UC Davis students huddle with older adults around laptops. They are working together to price flights to visit family, write emails or buy medicine online.

“Let’s see what happens when I do this,” said Christine Adams, of Davis, as she pecks at a key on her laptop. “OK, now how do I pick an emoji using the keyboard?”

Finding digital solutions to help bring fresh produce from the farm to the table was a viable way for many farmers to stay afloat during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.