Channel Islands National Park Ranger Bill Struble talks to the five UC Davis alumni to whom he presented National Park Service Citizens Awards last month for rescuing two paddlers off Anacapa Island in Southern California. Pictured from left to right are award recipients Henry Shiu, Anne Demma, Mark Duvall, John Lane and Carrie Lane in a ceremony that took place at Outdoor Adventures. While on a private trip in August, the group, who had just left the water themselves, spotted two kayakers who were struggling to return to shore with their boat. The sun was setting and water conditions were growing rough. Struble, far right, remarked that the stranded couple could easily have perished if not for the act of heroism that followed, especially considering the stranded kayakers had no signaling devices to pinpoint their location in the darkness and inclement conditions. While Demma, Duvall and Carrie Lane alerted authorities, Shiu, a development engineer assistant in the College of Engineering, and John Lane, who did have a signaling device, paddled out to assist the couple. Struble presented each member of the group with a plaque and a pin. — By Mike Sintetos