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A person wearing a white lab coat, safety goggles, and blue gloves uses a pipette at a lab workstation. The workstation is filled with colorful lab supplies including microcentrifuge tubes, racks, pipette tips, and various containers. The individual is smiling slightly and appears to be in the middle of an experiment.

Early research opportunities accelerate career options

  • by Ginger M Welsh

From funded scholar programs to an annual research conference, the UC Davis Undergraduate Research Center connects students to hands-on research experiences.

Last year, more than 1,000 students participated in the center’s programs, courses, workshops and annual research conference.  With the start of the fall quarter, the center offers new ways students can build skills that go far beyond the classroom — such as learning transferable research skills — and may open doors to career pathways.

A person wearing a white EEG cap covered with numerous electrodes and wires sits facing the camera. Additional sensors are attached to their face, including one on the forehead with a circular black-and-white target design and another near the cheek. The person is wearing a light-colored sweatshirt and is seated against a dark background,

UC Davis puts student researchers in the forefront

  • by Ginger M Welsh

Undergraduate students find pathways to research in traditional and avant-garde ways at the University of California, Davis. For many undergraduates, early exposure to research sculpts their career journeys in new direction. Every year, the Undergraduate Research Center introduces and connects students to hands-on research through programs, conferences, workshops, awards and mentor-mentee opportunities.

A person wearing a white mask and black T-shirt stands outdoors on a sunny day, holding up both hands covered in black dirt or grease toward the camera. The person has light-colored hair pulled back and is standing in a gravel lot with metal buildings and trees in the background.

Research conference shares innovative undergraduate-led projects

  • by Ginger M Welsh

Over 1,000 student researchers presented projects on topics ranging from accelerating jalapeno growth to studying links between Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes at the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference on April 25 and 26.

 

Undergraduate researchers recognized with awards

Several research-related awards honor UC Davis undergraduate students.  The Undergraduate Research Center manages three awards:

Natasha Bibbs holding a key

Students Prepare for Undergraduate Research Conference

  • by Julia Ann Easley

UC Davis student Natasha Bibbs of Sacramento has already gone places with academic research — and she hopes to go even further.

The fourth-year student travelled about 2,000 miles to Louisiana and more than 150 years back in time to discover how someone she believes is an ancestor — perhaps her great-great-grandfather — became one of the first Black doctors in his community and used his status to contribute to the African American community.

A group of people in a medical or research lab interacting with robotic surgical equipment. One person in the foreground is seated at a Da Vinci surgical console, while another is taking a photo with a smartphone. Several individuals in the background are gathered around a screen displaying a 3D model, while others are observing robotic arms covered in blue surgical drapes. The room is well-lit, with advanced medical technology and monitors mounted on the ceiling.

UC Davis taps donors for student support

  • by Ginger M Welsh

The current Crowdfund UC Davis project offers donors the opportunity to support undergraduate students. The Undergraduate Research Center and experiential learning programs seek financial support from alumni, faculty and the community to enhance student learning experiences, near and far.

Large group of students gathered around multiple tables set up in rows.

Second Undergraduate Research Fair kicks off Oct. 10

  • by Ginger M Welsh

UC Davis undergraduate students who want to conduct research can meet with more than 37 faculty at the second-ever Undergraduate Research Fair Oct. 10.

The fair, which runs 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 10 in the ARC Ballroom and Courtyard, provides students information about how to participate in research projects, learn about research programs and explore opportunities to work in labs.

OppoSits exhibit

OppoSits

  • by Korley Reese

Faith is a 3rd year English and Design major who is passionate about design and how it can revolutionize everyday objects. Madilynn is a 3rd year landscape and architecture design student who focuses on community involvement and connection to landscape. 

Both Faith and Madilynn’s research is called “OppoSits” excerpt below:

OppoSits

By Faith Arnett and Madilynn Abe

Mind Over Matter

  • by Korley Reese

Ember is a 4th year Psychology student who transferred from a small community college in  San Jose California. Embers’ research takes place at the  T-PAL (Translational Psychophysiology and Assessment Lab) lab at the Center for Mind and Brain Institute which focuses on working with people with intellectual disabilities. 

Ember found this specific area of research through a Psychology newsletter and applied there. 

Prairie Vole image

Pair Bonding in the Bales Lab

  • by Korley Reese

Albatool is a 5th year Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior major and a Psychology minor from Saudi Arabia. She moved from Saudi Arabia to the United States in 2019 for her undergraduate education at UC Davis. Albatool’s field of research is neurobiology of pair bonding in the Bales Lab.

 

Lauren Image

Lauren Ward - Evolution, Ecology and Biodiversity

  • by Michelle Funes

Among the coastal dunes at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory or the fields of wildflowers at McLaughlin Natural Reserve, you might find Lauren Ward, a senior undergraduate student with the Gremer lab collecting plants and soil for research where her passion resides in plant-microbe interactions and finding answers to bigger questions in ecology.

Jasmine Esparza holding certificate of award

UC Davis Graduate Student Recognized at SACNAS with Life Sciences Award

  • by Michelle Funes

At the end of October, SACNAS held its National Diversity in Stem Conference, where UC Davis Graduate student Jasmine Esparza won the SACNAS Life Sciences award for her poster presentation. 

With over 1,000 other poster presentations, Esparza won for her “MCAF2 directs meiosis-specific regulation of H3K9 methylation,” a research project she had worked on the past year. 

A photo of UC Davis SACNAS conference in Puerto Rico participants, mostly in blue t-shirts with a #thinkbigdiversity design on them, posing in front of a photo backdrop with SACNAS logos

UC Davis Represents at SACNAS in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Over 45 UC Davis students, faculty, and staff attended this year's 2022 SACNAS National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico (October 27-29, 2022).  NDiSTEM is the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country with the goals to equip, empower, and energize participants for their academic and professional paths in STEM.  The Undergraduate Research Center (URC), in partners

Screen shot of virtual NSF CAMP Symposium with three hosts and a kudo board on screen

NSF CAMP Scholars Showcase their Research in the 2021 NSF LSAMP/CAMP Statewide Virtual Symposium

UC Davis students, faculty, administrators and staff celebrated the accomplishments of undergraduate research scholars from across the state at the 2021 NSF LSAMP/CAMP Statewide Virtual Research Symposium (see linked video), featuring research presentations of CAMP Scholars from 9 UC campuses, with 12 scholars from UC Davis participating.  Lolita Adkins, the UC Davis CAMP program manager, and Nhi Tran, the UC

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