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Joanna Chiu, of the Genome Center and Department of Entomology and Nematology, was named one of the recipients of the UC Davis Academic Senate's 2022 Distinguished Teaching Award. Chiu earned this award via her dedication to students at all levels, as well as the training programs she has led to increase diversity and inclusivity.

Read more about Joanna Chiu's award on Entomology & Nematology News.

Studies comparing animal genomes generally focus on the DNA sequence itself. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis shows how the three-dimensional scaffolding of chromosomes is related across several species of carnivores, offering a new approach of “comparative scaffotyping” that could be used to identify related genes across species and place them in context. The work, published the week of Feb.

Congratulations to David Coil who has been selected as the recipient of the 2022 Academic Federation Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes meritorious contributions through service of Academic Federation members. This award recognizes David’s efforts in coordinating COVID-19 testing activities.

Pamela Ronald, of the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, was named the 2022 Wolf Prize laureate in Agriculture. The Wolf Prize is awarded to notable scientists and artists from around the world for achievements in the interest of humankind. The award to Pamela Ronald is "for pioneering work on disease resistance to environmental stress tolerance in rice."

Read the full award notice here.

Dean and Professor Emeritus Ken Burtis is the recipient of the 2022 UC Davis Distinguished Emeriti Award. This award is given by the UC Davis Emeriti Association and honors outstanding scholarly work or service performed since retirement.  The award decision was based on Burtis' essential contributions since retirement to the successful Healthy Davis Together program.

Michele La Merrill was named one of the 12 Chancellor's Fellows this year. Chancellor's Fellows receive funding to conduct research in their respective fields and teach students to become critical thinkers. Michele La Merrill, of the Department of Environmental Toxicology and the Genome Center, investigates how environmental exposure to chemicals can impact people's risk for metabolic diseases.

Read the full press release here.

The Earth BioGenome Project, launched in 2018, is moving from planning and pilot projects to major production sequencing. The goal of the project is to complete reference genomes for all species of eurkaryotic life on Earth: animals, plants, fungi, algae and other organisms that package their DNA into a nucleus.

C. Titus Brown was named a 2021-2022 Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow by UC Davis. C. Titus Brown is a Genome Center faculty member and an associate professor in the Department of Population Health, School of Veterinary Medicine. The Public Scholarship program supports faculty members in developing publicly engaged research.

Megan Dennis is one of the recipients of a 2022 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. An NSF CAREER Award is NSF's most prestigious grant in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. With five years of support, Dennis' research will focus on transcriptional regulation of primate genes and research opportunities for high school and first-generation undergraduate students.  

Scientists are a step closer to breeding plants with genes from only one parent. New research led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Nov. 19 in Science Advances, shows the underlying mechanism behind eliminating half the genome and could make for easier and more rapid breeding of crop plants with desirable traits such as disease resistance.