November 18, 2021 | Issue 23
A Message from the Vice Provost

Last month, I introduced Community Campus Connect, a new initiative that our office is developing in response to the feedback we heard from community-based organizations, public agencies, and business associations about strategic university priorities for community engagement.

We know it is important these relationships are cultivated and stewarded over time and also heard from faculty and researchers that early investment in these relationships is key to demonstrating to community partners that we are sincere in our commitment to the co-creation of knowledge.

One of the ways in which we support these types of relationships is by providing seed funding for collaborative research projects through our Public Impact Research Initiative (PIRI). Now in its third year, PIRI has been pretty instrumental in developing and deepening relationships between university scholars and non-profits, community organizations, public agencies, and business associations. 

We encourage all eligible public scholars to apply for a PIRI grant. We know from experience that a small initial investment can in time pay huge dividends.

For example, Professor Leigh Ann Simmons and Associate Project Scientist Jennifer Phipps from the Department of Human Ecology received PIRI funding in 2020 for a community data mapping project done in partnership with Resilient Yolo. Building upon this foundation, they received funding for a collaboration with Duke University called Data+ to create a data dashboard to visualize what they had been identifying and generating through their work with Resilient Yolo. Earlier this year, they received a $3 million award to implement a trauma-informed network of care in Yolo County (with Communicare, Winters Healthcare, First 5 Yolo, and Yolo County Children’s Alliance).

Beyond grant support, PIRI enables the types of dialogues and relationships we support and champion. Collaborative research is built on a strong foundation of trust; it requires both flexibility and creativity and cannot be bound to a rigid agenda; it respects the experience, knowledge and expertise that all those involved bring with them. We look forward to learning more about the collaborative work underway or under consideration at UC Davis through the next round of PIRI applications.

In community,


Michael Rios
Vice Provost, Public Scholarship and Engagement  
Updates and Announcements
headshots of two women, the one on left with long dark hair, the one on right in a suit
Dr. Clare Cannon, Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow and associate professor of community and regional development and Dr. Katherine Kim, Public Impact Research Initiative grantee and adjunct associate professor of public health sciences and health informatics, were recognized by the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).
The Public Impact Research Initiative (PIRI) was established to recognize and support research that is cogenerated with community partners, is of mutual benefit, and has a positive public impact. Grants are for new collaborations or sustaining relationships that will support publicly engaged research with non-university partners. These awards are intended to position researchers for future funding, capacity building, and growth in research areas that include mutually beneficial partnerships.

Deadline: January 7, 2022
Public Engagement Champion
Man in glasses and button up shirt smiles to the right in front of a blurred out map with text on the map that says Center for Regional Change
“We live in the real world. We don’t live in an academic journal. If we, at the university, are doing work that is really affecting people’s everyday lives and these larger socioeconomic, political, and ecological systems, then we really are doing something meaningful," says Associate Professor Jonathan London from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Recognitions and Celebrations
With support from the Mastercard Foundation and educational NGO Kepler, 20-21 Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow Keith Watenpaugh's Article 26 Backpack project is expanding to empower refugees in Rwanda and Sub-Sarahan Africa.
21-22 Public Scholarship Faculty Fellow Naomi Hauser, assistant clinical professor at UC Davis Health, and Provost's Workgroup Member Irva Hertz-Picciotto, professor of epidemiology in the School of Medicine, weigh in on the possible long-term health effects of air pollution from wildfires.
Tools and Resources
We've created a new hub for publicly engaged scholars at UC Davis. You'll find programs that Public Scholarship and Engagement offers to Academic Senate and Federation members, as well as resources we recommend for anyone interested in public engagement work, and ways to access additional support.
We've curated a collection of resources from across UC Davis and beyond to help you engage with public audiences, share your expertise outside the university setting, and create meaningful public impact. Have an idea you want to talk through? Send us an email or sign-up for a 30-minute consultation with our staff.
Events and Opportunities
In a multi-year project (2018-2020) funded by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, researchers from UC Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC) and UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) conducted applied research to guide the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake in improving the environmental quality and economic outcomes for the communities surrounding Clear Lake in Lake County, California. Join the UC Davis Office of Research, Dr. Jonathan London (CRC), Dr. Geoff Schladow (TERC) and Dr. Alicia Cortes (TERC) in a discussion about this research and the rehabilitation of Clear Lake.

Event: November 19, 2021 | 10:30—11:30 a.m.
Join the design department for a public forum and workshop to learn about opportunities for open-source design and environmental stewardship through citizen science. Plus you can bring your own freshwater samples to examine and view on the big screen learn how to build and use a PlanktoScop!

Event: November 19, 2021 | 2:30—5:30 p.m.
The fifth annual UC Davis Human Rights Film Festival began last week and runs through November 23. This year’s virtual festival includes online film screenings as well as live Q&A events with the filmmakers behind the documentaries.

Event: November 23, 2021
Global Affairs, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Sustainability offers grants to promote multidisciplinary collaborations focused on one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One award will go to a proposal that is focused on ensuring equal opportunity and reducing inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies, and action in this regard (SDG 10.3), and one award for CAMPOS/CAMPSSAH scholars.

Deadline: January 4, 2022
Published by the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Office of Community Engagement, ENGAGE! is committed to advancing the field of community-engaged research (CEnR) and community-based participatory research (CBPR) evaluation and assessment in urban settings, nationally and internationally. A key component of the journal is that articles must be conceptualized, written and disseminated with a community partner. We invite empirical, conceptual, and theoretical articles that make substantial contributions to the field.

Deadline: February 1, 2022
“Professors Leveraging A Community of Engagement (PLACE) with CAMPSSAH” is an interdisciplinary hub for research activities for faculty of color, URM faculty and those faculty whose work forms the foundation of inclusive excellence at UC Davis. There are multiple award and grant opportunities currently open for applications and submissions. Visit their website for more information.

Deadline: April 15, 2022
In Other News
Peter Torres honored with Elizabeth Dayton award for collaborative linguistic work
Science teachers at Rio Tierra Junior High School and researchers at the UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute partnered together to deliver a two-day lesson on air quality to about 150 eighth-grade students
Partnering for the Public Good
At a time when our planet and its people face unprecedented challenges, UC Davis is reimagining the vital links that connect university, community and society. Philanthropic support plays a vital role in advancing UC Davis research, education and collaborations that make the world a better place. We invite the partnership of university friends who share our vision of discovery, learning and engagement for the public good. 
About Public Scholarship and Engagement
Public Scholarship and Engagement is building and supporting meaningful relationships between communities and UC Davis scholars that work together to solve today’s problems and tomorrow’s challenges. We envision a university unbound that seeks to serve the public, equitably and inclusively, resulting in reciprocal and mutual benefit to California’s communities and beyond.

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