L&S FACULTY CALL FOR SMALL GRANT MATCHING PROGRAM

Apply by March 30

March 2023

FEATURED NEWS

The Nuances of Memory with Charan Ranganath

Why does memory fade? Why does it stay? Professor of Psychology Charan Ranganath and his colleagues are uncovering the science behind memory to develop biomarkers that can identify individuals with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Focused on an area of the brain called the lateral entorhinal cortex, the team hopes that early detection will allow for successful intervention.

Receptor Location Matters for Psychedelic Drug Effects

It’s all about location, location, location. A new paper published in Science shows that location is key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness. UC Davis Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics researchers discovered that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections, but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not.

How Earthquakes Grow with Alba Rodríguez Padilla

For roughly five years, Alba Rodríguez Padilla, a doctoral student in the UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has studied the physics and geology underlying earthquakes. Her research on how earthquakes grow will help inform policymakers and engineers responsible for creating earthquake insurance policies and building new infrastructure.

Babies Remember Faces Despite Face Masks

During the pandemic, many parents and childhood experts worried about possible developmental harm from widespread face-masking during the pandemic. A study by researchers in the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis allays those concerns, finding that 6- to 9-month-old babies can form memories of masked faces and recognize those faces when unmasked.

HONORS

The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS) recently named Professor Anne Schilling, chair of the Department of Mathematics, as the 2024 AWM-AMS Emmy Noether Lecturer.

Jessica Bissett Perea, associate professor of Native American studies; Rana Jaleel, associate professor of gender, sexuality and women’s studies; Xiaodong Li, associate professor of statistics; David Olson, associate professor of chemistry; and Caitlin Patler, associate professor of sociology, are among 13 faculty campuswide selected to the 2022-23 class of Chancellor’s Fellows.

Jesús M. Velázquez, assistant professor of chemistry, and Alexander S. Wein, assistant professor of mathematics, are among 125 recipients of this year’s Sloan Research Fellowships, which are prestigious awards given by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to early-career scientific researchers seen as emerging leaders in their fields.

Jessie Ann Owens, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Music, has been awarded the prestigious Paul Oskar Kristeller Lifetime Achievement Award by the Renaissance Society of America. 

MEDIA MENTIONS

(Some external links require a paid subscription.)

This artist is sharing his journey with aphasia on TikTok

CNN

David Hollowell, professor emeritus of art



Why the snowfall in the Colorado Rockies isn’t likely to alleviate the drought

The Hill

Nicholas Pinter, professor of earth and planetary sciences

After bringing her ancestor home, Lauren Peters shares journey

KCAW.org

Lauren Peters, doctoral student in Native American studies

Myth America review: superb group history of the lies that built a nation

The Guardian

Ari Kelman, professor of history

Stargazing could soon be a thing of the past as satellites clog up space

The Telegraph Magazine

Tony Tyson, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Mike Henderson’s American odyssey on view at University of California, Davis

Forbes

Mike Henderson, professor emeritus of art

Babies remember faces despite face masks: Study

Asian News International

Lisa Oakes, professor of psychology

Some deportees make it back, but the shadow stays with them

KPBS Public Media

Robert Irwin, professor of Spanish

CBS Sacramento: UC Davis announces new institute to study psychedelics

CBS News

David Olson, associate professor of chemistry

Why it’s so hard to predict an earthquake

The Washington Post

John Rundle, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Meet the people working on getting us to hate each other less

The New York Times

James Adams, professor of political science

The 8 traits that can help you identify a psychopath, according to experts

Salon

Robert Faris, professor of psychology

The metric that shows why the world’s three biggest economies could be in serious trouble

MarketWatch

Giovanni Peri, professor of economics and director of the Global Migration Center

How therapy-speak took over dating

The New York Times

Paul Eastwick, professor of psychology 

Historians tackle biggest lies about America's past

Voice of America

Eric Rauchway, professor of history

Understanding the Turkey-Syria earthquake

Capitol Public Radio “Insight”

Baki Tezcan, professor of history 

Love and the brain: how attached are we to attachment styles?

Scientific American

Phillip Shaver, professor emeritus of psychology

Forward thinking on what deep history might tell us about today’s turbulent times with Alan Taylor

McKinsey Global Institute

Alan M. Taylor, the C. Bryan Cameron Chair in International Economics and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance

In a bid to become a destination for Latino art, the Blanton Museum in Texas just acquired more than 5,000 works

ArtNet

Maceo Montoya, professor of Chicana and Chicano studies and English

Malaquias Montoya, professor emeritus of Chicana and Chicano studies



Thanks for reading! Send us research news by emailing Greg Watry of the College of Letters and Science Marketing and Communications team.