Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi is one of California’s Leading Women in STEM, as announced this week by an organization dedicated to improvements in the teaching of science, technology engineering and math.

Katehi

The California STEM Learning Network honored Katehi and 11 others for their achievements in advancing innovative and effective STEM education initiatives across the state, and for being exemplary role models for California women and girls.

The awards presentation came during the 2012 California STEM Summit in San Diego.

Katehi is an electrical engineer by training, with 19 U.S. patents to her name. She has been a member of numerous national boards and advisory committees on science, engineering and education, including serving as chair of the National Academy of Engineering's Committee on K-12 Engineering education from 2007 to 2009.

Since her early years as a faculty member, Katehi has focused on expanding research opportunities for undergraduates and improving the education and professional experience of graduate students, especially from underrepresented groups.

Recently, she received a National Science Foundation grant of nearly $4 million for a program aimed at increasing the participation of women, especially Latinas, in academic STEM careers.

“For our economy to thrive in the future, we need more young women, as well as young men, to have opportunities to study science, engineering and mathematics and pursue careers in these areas,” Katehi said. “The California STEM Learning Network is a leader in advancing STEM education, and I am honored to receive this award.”

Read the complete news release.

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When Professor Randy Dahlgren next visits Wenzhou, China, the city has something special to give to him: the Yandang Friendship Award, recognizing his help with cleaning up the delta waters of the Wenzhou region in southeastern China.

Dahlgren

Dahlgren holds the Russell L. Rustici Endowed Chair in Rangeland Watershed Sciences, and serves as chair of the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources.

He began working in Wenzhou in 2008 in collaboration with a department colleague, Professor Minghua Zhang, and their collaboration has continued since then.

Dahlgren, recipient of the 2012 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement, travels twice a year to Wenzhou, where he carries out his water quality research as a visiting professor at Wenzhou Medical College.

The Yandang Friendship Award is given to foreign experts who help with Wenzhou’s reform, development and construction.

Dahlgren’s research is focused on the main stem of the Wen-Rui Tang River, which runs for 20.4 kilometers (12 miles) in the urban area and flows through a network of urban waterways with a total length of 1,178 kilometers (731 miles).

Urban and agricultural pollutants have turned the waterways into dead zones, due to persistent hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen).

“The water that passes through the city is too polluted to drink or even swim in,” Dahlgren said. “Our primary focus is to reduce pollution to improve aesthetics, human health from water contact, and aquatic ecosystem restoration (allowing fish to live in the waters again).”

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Three UC Davis professors — Alan Hastings, Thomas Schoener and Don Strong — are among the inaugural class of 121 fellows of the Ecological Society of America.

Hastings is a member of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, while Schoener and Strong are in the Department of Evolution and Ecology.

The society’s fellows are elected for life. “Our goals are to honor our members and to support their competitiveness and advancement to leadership positions in the society, at their institutions and in broader society,” said Hastings, awards committee chair.

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Professors Alan Brownstein and Thomas W. Joo have joined 17 of their law school colleagues in being elected to the American Law Institute.

Brownstein, a nationally recognized scholar on constitutional law, holds the Boochever and Bird Endowed Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality. Joo specializes in the areas of corporate governance, contract law, white collar crime and critical race theory.

The American Law Institute, a nongovernmental organization, oversees legal reform projects across the country — spurring new laws that become standard citations in legal opinions, briefs and scholarly articles. 

Among all law schools, UC Davis boasts one of the highest proportions of faculty members who are members of the institute — which limits membership to 3,000, excluding life, honorary and ex-officio members).

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An international engineering society recently presented its highest award to Katherine Ferrara, professor of biomedical engineering.

The Achievement Award is from the Ultrasonic Ferroelectric and Frequency Control Society, part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Ferrara received the award in Dresden, Germany, during the society’s annual meeting.

Selection criteria for the Achievement Award include significant technical publications in the field of ultrasonics, ferroelectrics or frequency control, as well as contributions to these technical fields, and service to the society.

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News from the American Phytopathological Society, dedicated to the study and control of plant diseases:

• Plant pathology professor Richard Bostock is a new fellow of the society, one of nine members accorded the honor this year in recognition of distinguished contributions to plant pathology or the society.

The society cited Bostock’s seminal contributions to understanding the interaction between plant pathogens and environmental stress through fundamental studies of signaling in plant-oomycete interactions and through translational research on the etiology and management of fungal diseases of orchard crops.

• The society’s Pacific Division presented a distinguished service award to Doug Gubler, a Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology. The award recognizes exemplary commitment, leadership and service to plant pathology and the society.

Gubler’s research interests include the biology, epidemiology and control of foliar pathogens of fruit crops with emphasis on grapevine and strawberry diseases. He is an international authority on grape diseases and has visited countries around the world to lecture or provide advice on plant disease problems.

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The American Chemical Society announced that Professor Susan Kauzlarich will receive the society’s 2013 Francis P. Garvan­John M. Olin Medal, recognizing distinguished service to chemistry by female chemists. A cash award of $5,000 comes with the medal.

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The School of Veterinary Medicine recently honored two faculty members for distinguished teaching and another for research excellence.

The school’s Distinguished Teacher Award went to Christine Kreuder Johnson, associate professor of ecosystem health and epidemiology; and the Pfizer Distinguished Teacher Award to Fern Tablin, professor of cell biology and chair of the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology.

Peter Dickinson received the Pfizer Animal Health Award for Veterinary Research Excellence. He is a professor of surgical and radiological sciences and chief of service for neurology-neurosurgery at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

He is particularly recognized for his research on malignant primary brain tumors in dogs — work that includes collaborative efforts to test the effectiveness of several treatments.

These clinical trials have not only provided the animals with the potential for longer and higher-quality lives, but also contribute to new developments in human medicine.

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Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards, for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

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