--Carlos Estrada

A few miles west from California’s capital sits the city of Davis, touted as one of the best places to live in California due to its environmentally friendly policies, safety, superb K-12 schools, and an easy-going lifestyle enjoyed by its community. The city arguably owes such a high standard of living thanks to its world-renowned university, UC Davis, which employs a large number of the city’s inhabitants.

-- Celena Lozano

I began community college  with Intermediate Algebra, supplemented by Intro to Computers (“Hmm, I like computers. This may be fun.”) and Cultural Anthropology (no idea how I chose that). I did not speak to a counselor, so I was clueless. I figured that taking classes at a community college would help me look good when I went up for my juvenile court case.

If you need to know how to dissect zebrafish testes, look no further! PREP@UCD alumnus Ivan Olaya and his grad student mentor Yaka Blokhina show you how in this video.

Watch the video: only 8 minutes of your life and you'll see some cool microscopy too.

Congratulations to 2019 cohort members Colton Baumler, Celena Lozano, and Alyssa Paparella, three of NSF's newest Graduate Research Fellows! Carlos Estrada and Amy Leslie got honorable mentions too, as did 2017 cohort member Ivan Olaya! Woooooooo hoooooooo!!!!!

UC Davis is going to all-online courses for spring quarter so our meetings will be on zoom. We're discussing responsible conduct of research, holding journal clubs, writing blog posts, and planning final research presentations, with other activities TBA.

Stay safe, everyone!

-- Colton Baumler

I never thought I would be a research scientist until the opportunity was all but thrust upon me during my undergraduate tenure by Dr. Mary Ann Yang, a faculty member at my alma mater. Dr. Yang focused on my development as a researcher and in doing so, invited me into a career I had never considered.

-- Alyssa Paparella 

Our scholars rocked it!

We are so very proud of them. Check out @Dan Starr for more photos -- the flight to Long Beach, PREP meet and greet, plenary sessions, and our scholars' posters. And we enjoyed talking to prospective applicants to both PREP@UCD and UC Davis graduate programs too.

--Amy Leslie

The UC Davis Molecular and Cell Biology T32 Training Program Retreat was the highlight of my October. Why?

• A half day in the lab
• a scenic road trip with others in the PREP cohort to Fallen Leaf Lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
• A weekend filled with scientific talks in South Lake Tahoe.

Science + congenial company + recreation in a beautiful setting -- what more could you want?

Did you know that PREP mentors Aldrin Gomes and Joanna Chiu have received UC Davis Chancellor's Fellowships? This prestigious program provides support to exceptional early career faculty members. In this video, Aldrin and other awardees discuss the effect of this award on their work and subsequent careers.

Congratulations, Aldrin and Joanna!