--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!

When I first came into the Trimmer lab at the start of my PREP experience, I felt like I did not know anything. It was an overwhelming experience to be sure. Now, as I am leaving, I have learned how to execute new assays, navigate the lab space and design experiments. All of this has helped prepare me for the similar process at the start of graduate school. In this blog I want to offer the pieces of advice I would give myself if I were starting this year over again.

I've worked in a research lab since I was a freshman in college. I even worked full time in a lab during the summer, but doing a year of full-time research was a new experience, an exciting experience.

From our first NSF-GRFP writing seminar, to the day the application was due, I can wholeheartedly say that the most significant part of the experience was the constant support from Dan, Carole, my PI -- Dr. Anna La Torre, the two graduate student volunteers -- Sharon Lee and George Bell, and the other PREP scholars. I know undoubtedly that without their helpful comments and feedback, I would have not submitted a competitive application and I would not have the privilege to say I am an NSF GRFP Fellow. THANK YOU!

This week, the PREP cohort trekked to blustery and cold Indianapolis to present their research at the 2018 meeting of the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, a.k.a ABRCMS.

Some of us included houndstooth in our attire.

What did we gain from the meeting?

• a PREP-only meet-and-greet
• networking with other scientists
• inspiration
• reunions

I was very happy when I was invited to interview with the UC Davis Integrative Genetics and Genomics (IGG) graduate program and I immediately called my family and friends to tell them the good news. After that, I had two things I mind: what would the interviews be like and how do I prepare?