Ken Brown, a pediatrician and a professor of nutrition, and Manuel Ruiz, a nutrition researcher at the University of Chile, are co-recipients of the 2012 Rainer Gross Prize for their efforts to control zinc deficiency in lower-income populations.

Brown

The prize, for innovation in nutrition and health in developing societies, is from the Munich, Germany-based Hildegard Grunow Foundation.

The award’s namesake headed the UNICEF Department of Nutrition until his death in 2006. The foundation established the memorial award in 2010 and plans to present it every two years.

This year’s award announcement came Nov. 15 in Havana, Cuba, during the 16th meeting of the Latin American Nutrition Society.

In his research career, Brown has focused on improving nutrition and health, especially among young children and women in developing countries. One of his areas of emphasis has been control and prevention of zinc deficiency, which threatens childhood wellness, survival and physical growth.

He plays a key role in the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group, which helps interpret the policy implications of zinc-related research and develop strategies to control zinc deficiency.

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Siobhan Brady, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Biology and at the Genome Center, is among the leaders of tomorrow in genomics, investigators who are “putting ’omics tools to use to study the most fascinating problems,” says Genome Technology magazine.

The December-January cover features the headline, “Tomorrow’s PIs,” surrounded by photos of two dozen young investigators.

In formulating its list — now in its seventh year — the magazine sought advice from established principal investigators — people like UC Davis’ Harris Lewin, vice chancellor of the Office of Research.

Lewin recommended Brady, who uses a variety of RNA and DNA sequencing and high-throughput tools to understand how plant roots develop, grow and function. 

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Look for Dean Kevin R. Johnson of the School of Law in the January issue of National Jurist magazine among 25 of the most influential people in legal education, as selected by the magazine.

The magazine revealed the 25 “finalists” in late November, and plans to list them in order of influence in January.

Johnson, the Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies, is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law and civil rights.

“The list is a who’s who of the people who have shaped the discussion over the past year, which has been a challenging and pivotal year,” said Jack Crittenden, National Jurist’s editor-in-chief. “While some have shaped discussion through traditional means, others have stirred the pot more. But even though there has been much criticism about their means, it is clear that those who spoke up about legal education were heard.”

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He is already certified in grounds management by the Professional Grounds Management Society, and now he has been elected to the society’s board of directors, as a member-at-large. He is Cary Avery, associate director of Grounds and Landscape Services.

The society, comprising more than 900 members representing about 550 institutions, promotes the dissemination of reliable and pertinent grounds management information to others in the industry, with an emphasis on landscape sustainability.

Avery, for example, can talk about his unit’s contributions to the development and maintenance of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, including best practices learned from landscape conversions and information about the benefits of partnerships with academic units.

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Valerie Eviner, associate professor of plant sciences, has been elected vice president for science in the 10,000-plus member Ecological Society of America, for a term beginning in August.

She will be responsible for developing policy for and oversight of the scientific programs of the society. “What I’m most excited about in this position is the ability to bring together a diverse set of ecologists to tackle our most pressing environmental issues,” she said.

Eviner’s research focuses on plant-soil interactions and applying this understanding to ecosystem management and restoration within a changing environment.

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Distinguished Professor David Pines has been named the recipient of the 2013 John David Jackson Award for Excellence in Graduate Physics Education, given by the American Association of Physics Teachers.

According to a news release from the association, the award recognizes Pines’ authorship of The Many-Body Problem and Elementary Excitations in Solids, and the two-volume text-monograph, The Theory of Quantum Liquids, written with Philippe Nozieres. 

“These publications served to define and describe significant subfields of physics,” the news release states. Additionally, Pines is recognized as the founder of the innovative series, Frontiers in Physics, comprising more than 100 volumes, for which he has served as editor since its inception in 1961. “The series has been a significant source of knowledge and inspiration for graduate students in all fields of physics,” the news release states.

The award presentation is scheduled in early January in New Orleans, during the association’s winter meeting.

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The Carnegie Institution of Washington selected Distinguished Professor Alexandra Navrotsky, director of the NEAT research unit (Nanomaterials in the Environment, Agriculture and Technology) as the 2012 Cecil and Ida Green Senior Fellow at the institution's Geophysical Laboratory.

Navrotsky spent Oct. 8-11 at the lab and delivered the Cecil and Ida Green Lecture.

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The American Mathematical Society has named its inaugural class of fellows, including five UC Davis professors: Joel Hass (chair of the Department of Mathematics), Greg Kuperberg, Bruno Nachtergaele, Abigail Thompson and Craig Tracy.

The new program recognizes members of the society who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication and use of mathematics.

A welcome event for the 1,000 new fellows is scheduled in January amid the Joint Mathematics Meetings of the AMS and the Mathematical Association of America.

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The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has conferred fellow status on two UC Davis professors and given an award to a third.

The new fellows are Michael Savageau, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Qing Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The IEEE board bestows fellow status for extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest.

Anna Scaglione, professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is a co-recipient of the 2013 Donald G. Fink Award for the most outstanding survey, review or tutorial paper published in any of the IEEE’s publications in the previous year.

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Sarah B. Hrdy, professor emerita of anthropology, has become the first person to win the W.W. Howells Book Prize in Biological Anthropology a second time. She is the 2012 recipient for Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding, and she received the award in 2000 for Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants and Natural Selection.

The Biological Anthropology Section of the American Anthropological Association has been presenting the Howells award annually since 1993.

Hrdy’s Mothers and Others already had earned her the 2012 J.I. Staley Prize, given by the School for Advanced Research in recognition of innovative works that go beyond traditional frontiers and dominant schools of thought in anthropology and add new dimensions to our understanding of the human species.

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Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology, has been elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences — in his native country. The induction ceremony is scheduled for May 7 in Rio de Janeiro.

“Let me say that your election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences is a well-deserved recognition for your accomplishments as a distinguished scientist in your field of studies, entomology, and also for the very important role you have been playing in promoting cooperation among Brazilian and U.S. universities and, through those arrangements, fostering scientific development in our country,” said Ambassador Eduardo Prisco of the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco.

Leal is a liaison between UC Davis and the Brazilian government’s Scientific Mobility Program, an exchange program for graduate and undergraduate students.

He is a pioneer in the study of insect communication, investigating the molecular basis of olfaction, and the biochemical and physiological interactions among insects. His research is aimed at finding environmentally friendly alternatives to control insects of medical importance, as well as agricultural pests. 

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The teaching awards keep on coming for Tom Famula of the Department of Animal Science.

The latest — for regional excellence in college and university teaching in the food and agricultural sciences — is from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Earlier this year the Princeton Review named Famula one of “The Best 300 Professors” in the nation, and, in 1999, he received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the Davis Division of the Academic Senate. 

Famula, a member of the Department of Animal Science since 1981, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, including upper-division animal genetics.

Once a year (since 1990) he teaches a course on domestic animals and people — enrolling more than 400 freshmen from across the campus. The course is distinguished by its hand-on opportunities for students to work with livestock, helping hundreds of urban and suburban students better understand and appreciate the livestock industry and the critical role that domestic animals play in the nation’s economy and culture.

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What’s the “best locavore find” in the Sacramento area, i.e., the best place for food that is grown, raised or produced locally? The UC Davis Meat Lab, according to Sacramento Magazine’s “Best of Sacramento” issue for 2012.

“Everything’s local and fresh,” lab manager Caleb Sehnert told the magazine for its November issue.

Run by the Department of Animal Science, the lab is a classroom for hands-on training in the various steps of meat processing. It’s in Building C next to the arena in the Harold Cole Facility on La Rue Road.

The lab is federally inspected and open to the public, for meat sales, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. every Thursday and Friday (except university holidays). Products range from dry-aged rib-eye steaks and racks of lamb to extra-lean ground beef and homemade pork sausage. Custom-cut and wrapped beef, pork and lamb can be special-ordered.

Meat Lab products and prices. Cash or checks only.

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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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