Chancellor's brown bag

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef's winter quarter brown bag chat on the Davis campus is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Cabernet Room at the Silo.

Academic Federation awards

The Academic Federation has put out a call for nominations for two sets of awards for non-senate faculty:

• Excellence in teaching — "Any member of the campus community can make nominations, and we particularly encourage students to nominate their outstanding instructors," said physical education lecturer and men's head water polo coach Steven Doten, chair of the federation's Award for Excellence in Teaching Committee.
• Excellence in research — Nominations are welcome from students, faculty, staff and alumni.

More information is available online: academicfederation.ucdavis.edu (click on "Awards"). Questions should be directed to Edwin Arevalo, (530) 754-7468 or emarevalo@ucdavis.edu.

Nominations for both awards are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 29.

Campus advisory committees

Mrak Hall is seeking applications for membership on administrative advisory committees for 2008-09.

"I encourage you to become involved in issues affecting the UC Davis community," Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in a campuswide e-mail.

"The committees address topics such as arts, athletics, child care, student services and research, and provide an opportunity for all constituencies — Academic Senate and Academic Federation members, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students — to participate in governance of the campus."

The application form and more information, including a list of the committees with brief descriptions, are available online: chancellor.ucdavis.edu/aac. Applications are requested by March 10.

Tea in the herbarium

The UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity and the Davis Botanical Society this week hosted the first of three Botanical Teas in the Herbarium.

Anyone interested in plants is welcome to enjoy a cup of tea, a botanical activity or two, discussion, and a display of specimens of local and-or seasonal interest.

The remaining sessions are scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 20 and March 5 at the Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building.

For more information, contact plant sciences professor Dan Potter at dpotter@ucdavis.edu or teaching assistant Jennifer Petersen at jjpetersen@ucdavis.edu.

Staff receive emergency training

Three staff members from UC Davis recently underwent training by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security aimed at helping health care professionals better respond to large scale disasters involving weapons of mass destruction or widespread illness.

Glynis Foulk, John Johnson, and Jerry Street, completed the training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala. Operated by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agenc, the center is the only federally chartered weapons of mass destruction training facility in the nation. Foulk is the health system's emergency preparedness coordinator, Street is the health system's emergency preparedness planner, and Johnson is a lieutenant in the UC Davis Police Department.

Responders attending the center's training are selected from among the nation's 11 million emergency responders.