April 22, 2020 | Issue 6
A Message from the Vice Provost
new yorker cartoon
As we find ourselves adjusting to this new normal, I can’t help but think about the impact the coronavirus will have on our future. Which habits will we take with us into the post-COVID-19 world and what will we gladly leave in the past?

Certainly, the past month has been filled with anxiety and discomfort. As Bernadette Austin, acting director of the Center for Regional Change mentioned in her last address, our discomfort and inconvenience pales in comparison to the realities our community partners face. While this pandemic has been an enormously disruptive time for many and we must not lose sight of the inequities being exacerbated, it also affords us an opportunity to imagine what societal shifts might be possible.

This Earth Day, the air feels cleaner and the roadways are less full of cars. Conversations around a livable wage are being revisited as farmworkers and grocery store clerks are finally acknowledged for being the essential employees they have always been. There is no question that access to affordable healthcare is a basic human right and that schools are the backbone of our communities. On a personal note, I am connecting with friends and family more deeply, and feeling grateful I have the privilege to see the beauty in slowing down.

Community engagement has been difficult (and that’s putting it mildly) but we’re no less committed to this work than we were before the coronavirus. We will continue finding ways to connect despite the barriers that make it so challenging and one day, we will be together again.

In community,

Michael Rios
Announcements from PSE

Following a nationwide search, we are pleased to welcome our new Director of Engagement, Stacey Muse. She will serve in a leadership role to administer, develop, and evaluate academic programs closely related to public service and outreach of UC Davis. Her prior work centered on increasing civic engagement, building the capacity of nonprofit organizations, and connecting research to action.

UC Davis faculty, staff and students are working tirelessly to transition to online instruction, but we know community engaged research and learning present unique challenges during mandated shelter-in-place. This webpage includes relevant resources, as well as information for current grantees and program participants. Browse the collection
Events and Opportunities

UC Davis has organized a Virtual COVID-19 Symposium for the public in general, including UC Davis staff, faculty, students, and international partners. Chancellor May will give the Welcome Address, and a panel of experts (mostly from UC Davis) will answer pre-submitted and real-time questions. If you are interested in attending please register.

Virtual Event: April 23, 2020 | 1:30 - 4 p.m.

Native American Studies has transitioned their upcoming workshop series focused on Building Community Engaged Scholarship to Facebook Live. Tune in for a conversation with Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy as she shares her experiences regarding collaborations and partnerships with Native American communities; knowledge production that supports Indigenous communities; and community engagement, scholarship, teaching, and mentorship.

Virtual Event: April 23, 2020 | 12 - 1 p.m.
10 Finalists in Abbreviated Grad Slam

Public Scholarship and Engagement was proud to sponsor a Public Engagement Prize at this year's Grad Slam, and even prouder to support all ten finalists who were unable to compete due to the coronavirus outbreak. Learn more about the ten finalists

The UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health opened Grad Innovator Fellowship for students to learn first-hand what it takes to have a successful startup and apply those learnings to your own innovation.

Deadline: May 15, 2020

For the 20th Anniversary conference, IARSLCE s eeks proposals for research-focused presentations that reflect and celebrate the field, discuss current research findings and issues, consider current and future research challenges, and presents new ideas and methods related to research on service-learning and/or community engagement in and across national and international contexts.

Deadline: May 1, 2020

Given the disruption to communities of COVID-19, Local Development & Society invites short commentaries on topics related to responses, issues, and challenges faced by towns, cities, and regions. The intent is to publish commentaries online and as soon as possible after editorial review. Responses to commentaries will be invited, after the initial round of publishing. Two types of commentaries are sought: 1) short, reflective essay type writing, up to 2500 words on a topic related to COVID-19 and communities and 2) longer article type manuscripts, up to 5000 words that can be published first as commentaries with editorial review, then peer reviewed if desired. These longer manuscripts can be case studies, original research, overview/review, or theory. 

Deadline: April 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020
Some Good News: UC Davis Edition
Since we began sheltering-in-place in March, there have been many wonderful examples of collaboration and resilience in the face of a global pandemic that is changing the world as we know it. From open access teaching and progress towards virtual learning to community service efforts and Aggies helping Aggies, our UC Davis community has risen to the challenge. 

The College of Biological Sciences , Bodega Marine Lab and College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences gathered their stores of personal protective equipment (PPE) to share with the UC Davis Medical Center and other local hospitals in need while Robb Davis took a leave of absence from his position within Global Affairs to serve as volunteer Coronavirus Response Coordinato r for the Yolo Food Bank.

Distinguished Professor Isabel Montañez , a field geologist and geochemist from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences gave a free virtual lecture about deep-time (geologic) insight into earth’s future, while Distinguished Professor Walter Leal f rom the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology made all material for his biochemistry class available to the public .

Staff from around campus teamed up to ensure students without computers of their own could continue to learn as instruction for spring quarter moved online while volunteers at Aggie Compass continued to distribute food during campus closure to ensure students would still have access to the things they need. Members of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences student team even used the budget from their winter finals event to stock up on essentials at Trader Joe’s to share with the Pantry. 

In case you missed them, below are a few more stories featuring UC Davis students, staff and faculty doing their best to make this difficult time a little more bearable.
Most operations at UC Davis have been suspended in response to California’s stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the infectious disease. Katharina Ullmann, Student Farm director, and a small, essential crew of staff and student employees work carefully to tend fields that feed local groups and provide a place where students can experience sustainable agriculture.
Anticipating a scarcity of medical devices and a lack of treatment options for COVID-19, engineering researchers at the University of California, Davis, are investigating innovative technology to manufacture masks, ventilators and other critical equipment.
With many K-12 schools closed nationwide, teachers and students can now get free access to tools for online learning in mathematics and computer science from the Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education, or C-STEM, at the University of California, Davis.
With most teaching going remote because of COVID-19, a new grant for the UC Davis LibreTexts project will help bring personalized online learning to students around the world.
As the global coronavirus outbreak has forced schools to close, many teachers have had to adapt to virtual learning. Peggy Harte, a science teacher at Gretchen Higgins Elementary School in Dixon, wanted to make sure students were continuing to learn important science lessons while also getting outside.
The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) is closed, but they are sharing with parents, teachers, students, caregivers a list of free STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) resources.
The California-History Social Science Project, headquartered at UC Davis, provides, among other things, the guidelines for California history and social science teaching. UC Davis and five other university locations have started posting resources for parents — lesson plans, reading lists, blogs of encouragement — as well as for teachers trying to teach remotely for the first time.
About Public Scholarship and Engagement
Public Scholarship and Engagement is fostering a culture of engagement at UC Davis that increases the university’s impact through mutually-beneficial relationships that have local, regional, statewide, and global reach. We envision UC Davis research, teaching and learning that serves society and makes a positive difference in the world.

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