by CA&ES Communications team

Quarantine time or not, the livestock and other animals at UC Davis need to be fed and tended to every day. Thanks to dedicated staff and students like Jackson Sawyer, they will be.

Sawyer is a senior in animal science and management. He lives and works at the UC Davis sheep barn, part of a program that gives students a place to live rent free in exchange for managing the animals.

By Tanya Perez

This Global Disease Biology major is driven deeply to help others, even among the most harrowing of circumstances. Joseph Laughlin is a Navy veteran who worked as a hospital corpsman, a military medical specialist. For more than two years of his enlistment, Laughlin was attached to a Marine unit in Afghanistan and helped provide primary care for 80 Marines, sometimes in the midst of combat situations.

Strawberry growers now have a free smart phone application tool to predict spray coverage to combat such pests as two-spotted spider mites, lygus bugs and leafrollers, thanks to a three-year collaborative project involving UC Davis agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen and several UC Davis computer science majors.

Article courtesy of UC Davis Global Affairs

Rylie Ellison is the 2019 recipient of the Neal Van Alfen and James MacDonald Graduate Student Support Fund Award for her research and leadership on treating animal waste to improve its potential for use as a fertilizer in agriculture.

Each year we honor a handful of undergraduate students who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in the areas of academic excellence, distinctive leadership and community or public service. Eight of these students will be honored at the CA&ES commencement ceremonies at UC Davis on Sunday, June 16. The awards include the College Medal for scholastic excellence, the Mary Regan Meyer Prize for serving humanity, the Charles Hess Community Service Award for outstanding public or community service and the Dean’s Circle Award for outstanding academics and community service.

Why do some tropical birds adapt better than others to changes in climate and land use? The answer will help conservationists protect wildlife as the Earth’s temperatures rise and rainforests give way to livestock production and other agricultural uses.

The Meat Lab’s student employees found the right cure — with beef jerky — to regain the team title in the college section of the California Association of Meat Processors’ Cured Meat Competition.

With the recent win, UC Davis has now had possession of the Norm Eggin Championship Cup for six years out of the seven years it has been awarded.

“After losing the trophy to Cal Poly by a mere 10 points last year, our returning juniors and seniors really wanted to get it back,” said Caleb Sehnert, UC Davis Meat Lab manager and team coach.

UC Davis students competed well in the university’s inaugural trip to the Animal Welfare Judging Contest sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) at Colorado State University in November.

Altogether, 145 participants representing 22 universities competed in four categories: dairy goats, egg laying ducks, green iguanas and polo ponies. The species evaluated vary year to year. UC Davis had 14 undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students compete, as well as two coaches.