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

Pierre Merel, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, was recently presented with the Best Paper Award for an economist under 35 years of age by the European Association of Agricultural Economists. Merel's winning paper was from his dissertation, "Is There Market Power in the French Comte Cheese Market?" He was presented with the award in a ceremony at the EAAE Congress in Ghent, Belgium, in August 2008.

Keith David Watenpaugh, associate professor of religious studies, has been named one of eight new members of the 22nd class of the Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship Program by the United States Institute of Peace. The highly competitive international program awards fellows with a 10-month residency at the Institute, where they will spend time reflecting and writing on pressing international peace and security challenges.

Julie Sze, associate professor of American studies, has been awarded the John Hope Franklin Award for her book Noxious New York: The Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice (MIT Press, 2007). The award, marking the year's "best published book in American Studies," is given every year by the American Studies Association, the country's leading professional association of scholars in the field and is accompanied by a prize of $750.

The Australian city of Maribyrnong is installing a sculpture by Tom Bills, a professor of art. This is not a first for the sculptor, who has had other sculptures installed in cities in Poland, Germany, Wales, Israel and India. Bills owns a sculpture studio in Woodland.

In July, Professor Colin Carter and Associate Professor Aaron Smith of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics were awarded the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Award for Quality of Research Discovery for their paper, "Estimating the Market Effect of a Food Scare: The Case of Genetically Modified StarLink Corn." Fellow agricultural and resource economics faculty members Professor J. Edward Taylor and Professor emeritus Alex McCalla were both elected to the Executive Committee of the AAEA International Section in the same month.

Peter Moore, a professor of veterinary medicine, recently received the 2008 International Award for Scientific Achievement from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association and WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition. The award, funded by WALTHAM, a division of Mars Inc., is presented annually to individuals who have had a "significant impact on the advancement of knowledge concerning the cause, detection, cure and/or control of disorders of companion animals."

Moore was recognized because of his pioneering work in the investigation and diagnosis of immune system neoplasia, or tumor formation, in dogs and cats.

Quirino Paris, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, has been named a fellow of the Board of the European Association of Agricultural Economists. The award recognizes relevant and continuous contributions to the advancement of agricultural economics in Europe. He received the award at a ceremony held at the EAAE Congress in Ghent, Belgium in August.