The smell of crisp autumn air has arrived, and hustling bikers breeze a flurry of energy into campus.

This can only mean one thing: the Aggies are back from summer vacation and the fall quarter is upon us. 

For the new academic year, we are excited to welcome each student, which total more than 5,600 undergraduates in our college and 420 graduate students through the eight graduate groups we administer. While many are returning, others are making their way across campus for the first time.

We’re also thrilled to introduce these new professors to our faculty ranks. I invite you to learn more about their research and interests.

From environmental adaptation in flycatchers to the mathematics of neural networks to the impact of visual perception on movement—and much more—these talented researchers bring a diverse set of skills to our college. We’re excited to share more with you about their research in the coming months. 

Our students and faculty are at the core of everything we do, and make the UC Davis experience truly unique.

Go Ags!

In the early summer months, Emily Meyers would rise before the sun, sometimes around 3 or 4 a.m. Keeping time by the ocean tides, she’d cart her research materials to eelgrass beds near the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Rachael Bay and colleagues will investigate how the Willow Flycatcher deals with rapid environmental change, with the goal of linking physiology, morphology and genomics to create a comprehensive map of the species’ adaptation.

Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tools, Dan Starr created mutant versions of the worm C. elegans, to explore how the nucleus moves and repositions itself in the eukaryotic cell.

Even after being severely damaged by blast fishing and coral mining, coral reefs can be rehabilitated. The study is one of the last publications led by the late marine biologist Susan Williams.

As a cognitive neuroscientist, Professor Charan Ranganath studies memory and learning, exploring the intricacies of the mind. But outside of the lab, the UC Davis researcher trades the EEG cap for an electric guitar.