May 18, 2022 – Our diets provide us with the building blocks we need to stay healthy and fight disease. The nutrients in foods and beverages can be tallied up to know if we are getting what our bodies need. Yet what if a nutrient has been overlooked? For instance, friendly microbes in raw and […]
UC Davis
Posted inCalifornia
UC Davis Welcomes Native American Opportunity Program for Students
May 5, 2022 – In a continuing effort to make college more affordable and accessible to California Native American students, University of California, Davis, is working now to implement the UC Native American Opportunity Plan, announced by University of California. The plan provides for in-state tuition and fees to be fully covered for admitted students who […]
Posted inRegional
UC Davis Report: California’s 2020 Wildfire Season
Just over 9,900 wildfires burned about 4.3 million acres in 2020. That’s more than twice the previous record of acres burned in California. Yet it is about average compared to burn rates likely experienced before Euro-American settlement, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, that summarizes the 2020 fire season and examines […]
Posted inEnviro
Pathogens Can Hitch a Ride on Plastic to Reach the Sea
Microplastics are a pathway for pathogens on land to reach the ocean, with likely consequences for human and wildlife health, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, is the first to connect microplastics in the ocean with land-based pathogens. It found that microplastics […]
Posted inRegional
UC Davis: Empowering landowners to learn to burn
Smoke billows over the forest like a slow-moving fog. Dried oak leaves singe, crackle and curl into ash. Neighbors, scientists and agency staffers rake the embers, directing the flames with calm, careful control. Ted Odell’s grandson runs along his namesake trail, Henry’s Hill, to adjust a hose. This is Odell’s property in Placer County, where […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Older wildfire smoke plumes can affect climate
Aerosols carried in wildfire smoke plumes that are hundreds of hours old can still affect climate, according to a study out of the University of California, Davis. The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, suggests that wildfire emissions even 10 days old can affect the properties of aerosols — suspended liquid or […]
Posted inLife
People turned to gardening for stress relief, food access during pandemic
People who turned to gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic did so to relieve stress, connect with others and grow their own food in hopes of avoiding the virus, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) and international partners. The survey report, “Gardening during […]
Posted inCalifornia
Natural Habitat Maximizes the Benefits of Birds for Farmers, Food Safety and Conservation
A supportive environment can bring out the best in an individual — even for a bird. After an E.coli outbreak in 2006 devastated the spinach industry, farmers were pressured to remove natural habitat to keep wildlife — and the foodborne pathogens they can sometimes carry — from visiting crops. A study published today from the […]
Posted inEnviro
How politics, society, and tech shape the path of climate change
Politics and society largely dictate climate policy ambitions and therefore the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, yet climate change models and projections rarely include political and social drivers. A study from the University of California, Davis, simulated 100,000 possible future policy and emissions trajectories to identify relevant variables within the climate-social system that could impact […]
Posted inEnviro
A Possible COVID-19 Silver Lining for Great Ape Conservation
Respiratory illness outbreaks among wild mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park have declined since the start of COVID-19, according to a “Correspondence” report in the journal Nature from Gorilla Doctors and the Rwanda Development Board. Mountain gorillas are susceptible to human-transmitted respiratory pathogens. Respiratory illness is the second leading cause of death in wild, human-habituated […]
Posted inRegional
Amid Snow and Ice Declines, What Happens to Sierra Lakes in the Winter?
How small mountain lakes spend their winters is largely unknown to scientists, despite winter representing nearly half the year in such environments. A study by the University of California, Davis, helps demystify what happens above and below the ice. The study, published in a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, is the first […]
Posted inRegional
Just What Is a ‘Resilient’ Forest, Anyway?
January 19, 2022 – What does a “resilient” forest look like in California’s Sierra Nevada? A lot fewer trees than we’re used to, according to a study of frequent-fire forests from the University of California, Davis. More than a century ago, Sierra Nevada forests faced almost no competition from neighboring trees for resources. The tree […]
Posted inCalifornia
UC Davis: Evidence for shared earthquakes between San Andreas and San Jacinto Faults
The San Andreas and San Jacinto faults have ruptured simultaneously at least three times in the past 2,000 years, most recently in 1812, according to a new study by geologists at the University of California, Davis, and San Diego State University. The work was published Dec. 7 in the journal Geology. Large earthquakes involving multiple […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Denisovans or Homo Sapiens: Who Were the First to Settle (Permanently) on the Tibetan Plateau?
The Tibetan Plateau has long been considered one of the last places to be populated by people in their migration around the globe. A new paper by archaeologists at the University of California, Davis, highlights that our extinct cousins, the Denisovans, reached the “roof of the world” about 160,000 years ago — 120,000 years earlier […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Most Dog Breeds Highly Inbred
Dog breeds are often recognized for distinctive traits — the short legs of a dachshund, wrinkled face of a pug, spotted coat of a Dalmatian. Unfortunately, the genetics that give various breeds their particular attributes are often the result of inbreeding. In a recent study published in Canine Medicine and Genetics, an international team of […]
Posted inCalifornia
Pesticides Can Affect Multiple Generations of Bees
November 29, 2021 – A new study from researchers at the University of California, Davis, finds that pesticides not only directly affect bee health, but effects from past exposure can carry over to future generations. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that bees may require multiple generations […]
Posted inRegional
Annual ‘Roadkill’ Report Identifies Hot Spots and Paths Forward – including Hwy 49
November 10, 2021 – In the past five years, collisions between wildlife and vehicles cost California at least $1 billion and potentially up to $2 billion, according to estimates in an annual report by the Road Ecology Center at the University of California, Davis. The report presents an overview of collisions with large and small animals […]
Posted inLife
Common household noises may be stressing your dog
November 9, 2021 – Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found that people may not recognize that their dog is stressed when exposed to common household noises. While it’s well established that sudden loud noises, such as fireworks or thunderstorms, commonly trigger a dog’s anxiety, a new study finds even common noises, such […]
Posted inSci/Tech
Facial Recognition, Cameras, Other Tools Police Use Raise Questions About Accountability
Facial recognition, body cameras and other digital technologies are increasingly used by police departments, municipalities and even gated communities, but these tools manufactured by private companies raise the specter of unchecked surveillance, a University of California, Davis, researcher, suggests. “These tools raise concerns about a lack of balance between police, who need tools to do […]
Posted inCalifornia
Oiled Wildlife Care Network Comes Full Circle in Orange County
Responders with the UC Davis Oiled Wildlife Care Network, a program managed by UC Davis, continue to provide veterinary care for animals impacted by the Orange County oil spill, which has leaked at least 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean since early October. While devastating, it could have been even worse. The spill […]