News
Ocean Acidification Creates Legacy of Stress for Red Abalone
Stressful childhoods can affect an individual’s adult years and influence future generations. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, found a similar pattern holds true for red abalone exposed as babies, and again as adults, to the stress of ocean acidification.
Their study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, found that the negative impacts of ocean acidification — a byproduct of carbon dioxide emissions — on red abalone can last within and across generations. Buffering against ocean acidification at crucial life stages can help ease these effects for captive- and commercially raised red abalone, while informing efforts to conserve wild abalone, the study said.
Renowned Marine Ecologist Jay Stachowicz Wins Teaching Prize
When Professor Jay Stachowicz heard that UC Davis’ chancellor needed to speak to him urgently, he worried he had done something wrong.
In fact, it was quite the opposite: Chancellor Gary S. May informed Stachowicz, of the Department of Evolution and Ecology, that he was the winner of the 2023-24 UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement, an award honoring faculty for exceptional teaching and scholarship. The donor-funded $60,000 prize, established in 1986 and supported by the UC Davis Foundation, is among the largest of its kind in the country.
Jay Stachowicz named Interim Director of Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, Succeeds Founding Director Rick Grosberg
Jay Stachowicz, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, has been named the interim director of the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute (CMSI). Stachowicz succeeds the institute’s founding director, Rick Grosberg, a distinguished professor emeritus of evolution and ecology who retired from the university earlier this year.
Longtime colleagues, Stachowicz, who studies the biodiversity and resilience of coastal ecosystems, and Grosberg, a leading researcher on the ways marine invertebrates recognize and interact with one another, share a common passion for fostering community and collaboration in marine sciences.
Eric Sanford chosen as Naturalist of the Year by the Western Society of Naturalists
Congratulations to Professor Eric Sanford, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology in the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis, who was recently chosen by the Western Society of Naturalists as their Naturalist of the Year.
What Shells Tell: Studying Abalone with Meghan Zulian
White abalone shells are magnificent structures. Translucent during the marine snail’s juvenile days, the extremely durable shell increases in opacity as the organism ages, gaining its paint-splatter-esque red, brown and white coloring from the algae it eats.
CMSI Announces the Appointment of a New Interim Director
The Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute (CMSI) is thrilled to announce that Professor Jay Stachowicz has accepted the role of interim Director of CMSI.
With Jay at the helm, CMSI launches into the second decade of its exciting journey. His vision and dedication will be pivotal in cementing CMSI’s leadership of coastal and marine science at @ucdavis; we look forward to stronger connections and collaborations between researchers and students across our campus and beyond.