/ University News for UC Davis en /magazine/asking-students-how-did-pandemic-affect-your-life <p>Five years ago, the global COVID-19 pandemic changed the trajectory of lives all around the world. For many students, it served as a defining moment in their academic careers. To mark this five-year milestone, we asked seven UC Davis students to reflect on their pandemic experiences and how it affected their educations and perspectives on the future.</p><p>Photography by Gregory Urquiaga</p> March 18, 2025 Russell L Thebaud /magazine/asking-students-how-did-pandemic-affect-your-life /news/sacramento-proud-local-businesses-build-aggie-square <p>If the walls at Aggie Square could talk, they would tell stories that go beyond the upcoming launch of the innovation district rising on the UC Davis Sacramento campus. They would also speak to local history and the role of regional enterprises in building the ambitious project that will open in May.</p> March 18, 2025 Cody Kitaura /news/sacramento-proud-local-businesses-build-aggie-square /news/new-dean-named-college-agricultural-and-environmental-sciences <p>Ashley Stokes, professor and dean emeritus at the University of Tennessee, will join UC Davis as its new dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on July 1.&nbsp;</p> March 18, 2025 Amy M Quinton /news/new-dean-named-college-agricultural-and-environmental-sciences /health/news/milestones-covid-19-timeline <p>Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, its effects still pervade our lives. Millions of Americans still wear masks at times, carry hand sanitizer and work from home. We also have a heightened understanding of the role that health care providers, government and public institutions must play during a public health crisis.&nbsp;</p> March 18, 2025 Jocelyn C Anderson /health/news/milestones-covid-19-timeline /news/rankings-recognize-global-leadership-uc-davis The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 rank UC Davis second in the world and first in the nation for veterinary science and agriculture and forestry. March 12, 2025 Julia Ann Easley /news/rankings-recognize-global-leadership-uc-davis /health/news/covid-timeline/preparing-for-future-pandemics <p>&nbsp;</p>Expert Panel — Savor: Food Shortages in a Pandemic<p>May 12, 2020<br>An expert panel of UC Davis researchers, policymakers and food purveyors discussed how our food supply chain works, why the COVID-19 pandemic has been so disruptive, and what changes can be made to make food systems more resilient.</p><p><a class="btn--primary" href="https://video.ucdavis.edu/media/Expert+Panel++++Savor%3A+Food+Shortages+in+a+Pandemic%2C+May+12%2C+2020/0_opnsnzms">Watch the expert panel</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p> March 12, 2025 Tatiana Muniz /health/news/covid-timeline/preparing-for-future-pandemics /health/news/covid-timeline/community-immunity <p>&nbsp;</p>Keeping Our Hospital and Clinic Patients Safe from COVID<p>September 2020<br>Among patients going to hospitals and clinics, there is an undercurrent of worry: “Could I catch COVID by being here, among sick people?” But doctors encourage patients not to postpone needed care, warning that delays can lead to complications. From hospital-wide testing to separate air supplies for COVID patients, this video explains exactly what UC Davis Health is doing to keep patients, visitors, employees and the community safe.</p> March 12, 2025 Tatiana Muniz /health/news/covid-timeline/community-immunity /health/news/covid-timeline/vaccine-milestones &nbsp;UC Davis Health Is Chosen as a Site for the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Trial<p>August 2020<br>UC Davis Health patients become the first in the Sacramento area to be part of a major worldwide clinical trial for a possible COVID-19 vaccine. Headed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech, the trial involves 40,000 participants worldwide. It seeks to determine the efficacy of a new mRNA vaccine against the virus.</p> March 12, 2025 Tatiana Muniz /health/news/covid-timeline/vaccine-milestones /health/news/covid-timeline/medical-innovations A 19-Day Sprint to Develop a COVID Test<p>March 2020<br>UC Davis Health develops its own coronavirus test from scratch in just 19 days. The goal is to identify patients with COVID-19 as quickly as possible so they can be quarantined. The effort is led by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory medicine and involves experts from both campuses.</p><p>We felt as though we were in a race against this virus. All the lights are programmed to go off at 2 a.m. We would have to turn them back on and go back to work.</p> March 12, 2025 Tatiana Muniz /health/news/covid-timeline/medical-innovations /health/news/covid-timeline/first-response <p>&nbsp;</p>UC Davis Treats First Community-Spread COVID Case<p>February 26, 2020<br>UC Davis announces a Solano County woman is being treated at UC Davis Medical Center for symptoms of what’s referred to as the novel coronavirus. She is the first patient in the nation to have no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual.</p> March 12, 2025 Tatiana Muniz /health/news/covid-timeline/first-response /news/project-helping-instructors-improve-accessibility A UC Davis education specialist is designing and leading a course to equip instructors with the tools to make digital course materials more accessible. March 11, 2025 Julia Ann Easley /news/project-helping-instructors-improve-accessibility /news/sue-ebeler-wins-2024-women-philanthropy-impact-award <p>For Sue Ebeler, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’93, the most rewarding part of her career isn’t the research awards or the international recognition — it’s the students whose lives she has changed.</p><p>As a professor of viticulture and enology and associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Ebeler has spent more than 30 years at UC Davis building a culture of belonging, mentorship and opportunity. Her leadership has empowered countless students — especially women — to find their place and thrive.</p> March 11, 2025 Anila Mary Lijo /news/sue-ebeler-wins-2024-women-philanthropy-impact-award /news/academic-senate-and-federation-2025-awardees <p>Presenting their top academic honors for 2025, the&nbsp;<a href="http://academicsenate.ucdavis.edu/">Academic Senate</a> and <a href="https://academicfederation.ucdavis.edu">Federation</a> recognize and showcase faculty not just for their expertise, but also for their impact across campus, mentorship roles, excellence in teaching and overall public service.</p><p>The full list of winners, with profiles submitted by awards committees from the senate and federation, follow:</p> March 10, 2025 Jose Antonio Vadi /news/academic-senate-and-federation-2025-awardees /news/campus-book-weathering <p>A packed audience at the Mondavi Center’s Vanderhoef Studio Theatre gathered Tuesday, March 4 for a presentation by Arline T. Geronimus, author of the&nbsp;<a href="/news/weathering-new-book-project-title-health-equity">2024-2025 selection</a> of the&nbsp;<a href="https://diversity.ucdavis.edu/initiatives/campus-community-book-project">UC Davis Campus Community Book Project</a>, Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society.</p> March 10, 2025 Jose Antonio Vadi /news/campus-book-weathering /health/news/awareness-rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-saves-lives <p>Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a bacterial infection spread by biting ticks to humans and dogs. Found on every continent except Antarctica, the infectious disease has been spreading since the early 2000s, most notably in Mexico and Brazil. Of the cases reported, more than half of infected people and dogs die.</p><p>A paper led by the University of California, Davis, highlights one of the most effective but often missing solutions to surviving this preventable, deadly disease: awareness. Most fatal cases stem from delays in diagnosis and treatment.</p> March 06, 2025 Katherine E Kerlin /health/news/awareness-rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-saves-lives /news/tariffs-and-trade-policies <p>UC Davis sources for media on tariffs and trade policies</p> March 05, 2025 Karen Michele Nikos /news/tariffs-and-trade-policies /news/construction-managers-come-full-circle-aggie-square <p>For Joshua Chavez, working on Aggie Square was something of a homecoming, even though he’d only passed by the site of the Sacramento innovation district.</p><p>A 2021 graduate of UC Davis who majored in managerial economics, Chavez helped to manage some of the early, pivotal work on the Aggie Square site in 2023 — such as bringing power, water and sewer lines to the 11-acre site, which is a partnership between the �ԹϺ��� and Wexford Science &amp; Technology LLC.</p> March 04, 2025 Anila Mary Lijo /news/construction-managers-come-full-circle-aggie-square /news/uc-davis-achieves-reaccreditation-10-years <p>The Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission cited UC Davis’ “shared purpose, professional pride, and inclusive belonging that fosters active engagement and shared governance across the �ԹϺ���” as the regional accreditation agency renewed the �ԹϺ���’s accreditation for 10 years.</p> March 04, 2025 Anila Mary Lijo /news/uc-davis-achieves-reaccreditation-10-years /magazine/what-explains-increase-online-hate-speech <p>Over the past few years, there have been extensive changes in content moderation policy on social media platforms. As companies like X and Meta loosen these policies, users have reported an&nbsp;<a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/02/13/study-finds-persistent-spike-in-hate-speech-on-x/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20found%20that%20the%20relative,such%20speech%20across%20the%20platform">increase in hate speech</a>. So what caused this shift?</p> March 04, 2025 Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/what-explains-increase-online-hate-speech /news/uc-davis-celebrate-alumni-and-friends-52nd-alumni-awards-gala <p>The University of California, Davis, Cal Aggie Alumni Association has announced the recipients of its 2025 Alumni Awards, celebrating extraordinary alumni and friends who have made a lasting impact on their communities and the �ԹϺ���.</p><p>This year’s honorees are trailblazers in their fields — driving innovation, championing equity, and transforming the future of science, technology and veterinary care. They are also committed to supporting students by providing mentorship, resources and opportunities for success at UC Davis and beyond.</p> March 04, 2025 Anila Mary Lijo /news/uc-davis-celebrate-alumni-and-friends-52nd-alumni-awards-gala