UC Davis: FRIDAY UPDATE

Spotlight on…
A new era of marine sciences The new Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute will bring a new undergraduate program in marine sciences, a spruced-up Bodega Marine Laboratory, and enhanced opportunities for collaboration and education among marine scientists spread across UC Davis. "One of our goals is to pull together an exceptionally strong and diverse group of faculty and really build the health of the coastal ocean," says the founding director, Professor Rick Grosberg, pictured. [ More, with slide show… ]

Spotlight on…

A new era of marine sciences

The new Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute will bring a new undergraduate program in marine sciences, a spruced-up Bodega Marine Laboratory, and enhanced opportunities for collaboration and education among marine scientists spread across UC Davis. "One of our goals is to pull together an exceptionally strong and diverse group of faculty and really build the health of the coastal ocean," says the founding director, Professor Rick Grosberg, pictured. [ More, with slide show… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

IET to roll out Google Apps for Education

Google Drive (file storage and sharing), Google Docs (document creation and collaboration), Google + and more, with twice the storage (30 GB) than what's available to the general public, along with ad-free service and privacy protection. Faculty and staff can get it all for free, starting next Friday (Aug. 30), at cloud.ucdavis.edu. IET is also introducing Box.com accounts (by early October) and new email services. [ More… ]

Primate center research links chemical BPA to asthma

Research from UC Davis' California National Primate Research Center adds a new layer to the debate over the chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, found in plastic bottles and many other products, even cash register receipts. The study shows an increased risk of asthma in rhesus macaque monkeys when they are exposed to BPA as fetuses. "This is the first study to show a cellular and functional change in the lungs of animals exposed to BPA during the third trimester — a critical window of development," Professor Laura Van Winkle, lead researcher, tells The Sacramento Bee. [ More… ]

Biological Sciences researchers unravel a cancer mystery — literally

Kateryn Feoktistova and Christopher Fraser show how one protein activates another, which then unties the knots in messenger RNA, thereby unleashing the mRNA as an agent in tumor growth. The discovery may lead to new, highly specific cancer treatments that will act only on growth-promoting cells as opposed to all cells. [ More… ]

Wheat geneticists deliver 1-2 punch to stem rust disease

If one cloned gene is not enough to stop the deadly stem rust disease in wheat, then how about two? Professor Jorge Dubcovsky worked on one of them, Sr35, and Professor Jan Dvorak worked on the other, Sr33. Both professors served as co-authors for study reports that appear in the journal Science, in the Aug. 16 edition on "Smarter Pest Control." [ More… ]

An apple a day … and about four dozen Bing cherries!

The School of Medicine conducts a small, in-depth study, revealing the Bing benefit — eating 45 a day has been shown to lower levels of a variety of indicators for chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. [ More… ]

A piece of the Sutter's Mill meteorite finds a home here

UC Davis has acquired a 10-gram section of the Sutter's Mill meteorite, a piece of the largest chunk to be recovered after the meteorite exploded over the Sierra foothills in April 2012. Four other institutions, including the Smithsonian, joined with UC Davis in splitting the 205-gram "main mass." "It leaves it in a pristine condition to preserve for future generations to study," geology professor Qing-zhu Yin says. [ More, with video… ]

Revolutionizing the university lecture hall

UC Davis is at the center of what many faculty and students point to as the real revolution in e-learning: hybrid instruction, blending online coursework that students can do in their bunny slippers, and meaningful face time with faculty. For more on hybrid instruction, see this article in the winter 2013 issue of UC Davis Magazine. [ More… ]

NEWS BRIEFS: Campus firefighters assist on Yosemite-area blaze

Five campus firefighters are now assigned to the Rim fire, which, as of this morning (Aug. 23) had burned more than 105,000 acres in and around Yosemite National Park. … With $134 million in NIH funding so far in 2012-13, UC Davis ranks 21st among 50 universities. … They have Arboretum Drive mostly to themselves these days, but pedestrians and bicyclists are being asked to stay away for a few days to make way for maintenance work. … Preorders are being taken for the 2013-14 campus calendar, arriving soon from the printer. … The Organizational Excellence-Shared Services Center brown bag scheduled for Aug. 28 has been canceled. [ More… ]

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public forums for VC and med school dean

Public forums continue Aug. 26 and Sept. 4 with candidates for vice chancellor of Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. (The Aug. 29 forum is off, because the candidate withdrew from being considered.) [ More… ]

EVENTS

Football or soccer? We have 'em both this weekend!

Today-Sunday, Aug. 23-25, Aggie Soccer Field and Aggie Stadium

The women's soccer team hosts Sacramento State at 5 p.m. today (Aug. 23), and the men's team hosts Chico State at 5 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 25); free admission to the men's game. Aggie football has the Women's Huddle tonight (Aug. 23), 6:30-8:30 (discounted price for UC Davis staff), and the fan fest tomorrow (Aug. 24): Watch the Aggies as they practice (10:15 a.m. until approximately 12:20 p.m.), then come down onto the field to participate in drills, and meet the players and coaches; free admission to the fan fest. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…

News and information for faculty and staff