This column offers a sampling of honors recently awarded to UC Davis faculty, staff and units:

Kurt Rohde, a faculty composer at UC Davis, recently departed for Vietnam, where he was invited to participate in a cultural exchange program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. An associate music professor, Rohde will spend three weeks in Vietnam, teaching music composition and analysis at top music schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Professor Heath Schenker, Department of Environmental Design, has published a new book on public parks called Melodramatic Landscapes: Urban Parks in the Nineteenth Century (University of Virginia Press, December 2009).

Frederick J. Meyers, executive associate dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, has been awarded the prestigious Lane Adams Quality of Life Award from the American Cancer Society, which recognizes excellence in the provision “of compassionate care and support to individuals with cancer.” Meyers will accept the honor at a special American Cancer Society event in Atlanta on May 6. The award recognizes caregivers who provide extraordinary and compassionate care to their patients.

Andreas J. Baumler, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunity, has been elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.

Fellows of the Academy are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

Elena Siegel, a nursing researcher with a first career as a certified public accountant and controller, has been appointed assistant professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. She began her appointment on March 1. As an assistant professor, Siegel develops education programs, teaches and conducts research in the area of health systems. She mentors Nursing Science and Health Care Leadership Graduate Group students as well.

William Casey, a professor of chemistry, has received the inaugural Stumm Medal/Science Innovation Award for 2010, awarded by the European Association for Geochemistry. It recognizes mid-career scientists who have made oustanding and innovative contributions to geochemistry.

Alexandra Navrotsky, a distinguished professor in chemical engineering and materials science, was recently awarded a fellowship from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Navrotsky also received the Roebling Medal, the highest award of the Mineralogical Society of America for scientific eminence as represented primarily by scientific publication of outstanding original research in mineralogy.

Professor M. Levent Kavvas in the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering received the Ven Te Chow Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was recognized for his notable contributions to engineering hydrology and water resources management, outstanding service to the profession through the founding of the ASCE’s Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, and mentoring of young hydrologic engineers.

Jill Falman, administrative assistant and docent volunteer coordinator for the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village, Nev., and Jim Markle, a volunteer docent at the center’s Thomas J. Long Foundation Education Center, received Community Service Awards from the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce.

Professor Peter Moyle, an expert on native freshwater and anadromous fishes (such as salmon) of California, was recently enshrined in the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and recognized for his contributions, dedication and service to the freshwater sportfishing industry. Moyle is in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology.

— Dateline staff