Associate Professor Rishidev Chaudhuri’s research sits in the nexus of mathematics,
physics and neuroscience. Chaudhuri studies processing strategies in the brain using
mathematics and physics. One direction of his research concerns the neural
underpinnings of decision-making, an avenue of research that’s making neuroscientists
rethink longstanding narratives about how the brain functions.
In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution — overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all humans.
We’ve all heard the advice, “Eat more fiber.”
But the reality behind that seemingly simple recommendation is much more complex when it comes to human health. As part of a $3.7 million National Institutes of Health-funded project, UC Davis scientists are building a library of biomarkers associated with specific fiber food sources as they pass through the gut. The goal is to build a comprehensive understanding of the structural diversity of fibers and how those structures influence digestive health.
Torn between two academic paths — genetics and political science — graduating senior finds her passion in analysis of world response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. UC Davis undergraduate Quincy Kumfert was an aspiring scientist participating in a study abroad program in France in December 2021 when world events changed the course of her life.
Liza Grandia, associate professor in the Department of Native American Studies and an internationally acclaimed public scholar, was barely drinking age when she stopped the World Bank and an international oil company from building a pipeline through the rural regions of Guatemala. The lesson Grandia learned then — that one is never too young to become engaged in public scholarship — is something that she emphasizes to her students at UC Davis.
Anyone who traces their family history knows the challenges and triumphs of documenting the lives of their ancestors. Multiply that effort by thousands and you’ll glimpse the daunting scope of Santiago Pérez’s economic history research, which he recently spoke about at the International Book Fair in Buenos Aires.
A UC Davis history doctoral candidate who blends multiple disciplines in his study of Mexico’s mining industry has been awarded a $50,000 fellowship for pathbreaking dissertation research.
Mauricio Ernesto Ramírez, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, first walked through Balmy Alley when he was a student at a nearby elementary school in San Francisco’s Mission District. The block-long alley contains the most concentrated collection of murals in a city that’s a tapestry of murals. The alley’s art — which first began appearing in the early 1970s —has long been about issues relevant to the many Mission residents who trace their roots to Mexico and Central America.
As the fruit trees bloom, seeds sprout and gardens fill with flowers, the UC Davis Humanities Institute will delve into the rich cultural landscape of California in the next few months with its year-long public initiative, “CULTIVATION: Food, Farming, and Heritage in the Sacramento Valley and Beyond.” The upcoming events are focused on Asian and South Asian contributions.
Social media connects people and amplifies different aspects of humanity in good and bad ways. But the effects of social media appear neither universally good nor bad, but rather present an oscillating, dynamic system that can be divisive but also uniting, a new UC Davis study suggests.
About 30 scholars, including many UC Davis graduate and undergraduate students, will present research at a two-day Department of Spanish and Portuguese colloquium titled “Digital Landscapes: Paths to Reparative Justice in a Technological World.” The 16th annual Samuel G. Armistead Colloquium in Latin American and Peninsular Languages, Literature and Cultures will delve into the relationship among the humanities, technological resources and social justice. The hybrid event, mostly in Spanish, takes place April 6 and 7 in person with virtual options.
This article highlights and summarizes a policy brief written by Marianne Bitler, professor of economics at UC Davis, about Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Some previous studies have found that food insecurity and food-bank utilization increased when children age out of WIC eligibility, while others have found no such effects. In a study, Bitler and colleagues explored the spillover effects of child WIC participation on other family members’ food consumption, biomarkers, and food security.
Melinda Guzman, Cathy Rodriguez Aguirre and Lydia Ramirez attended UC Davis at different times, pursued different majors in the College of Letters and Science, and followed different paths to successful careers in law, business advocacy and banking. Their paths converged at various times, most recently with a shared honor: each was named to The Sacramento Bee’s inaugural list of Top 25 Latino Change Makers for leading positive transformations in their communities.
Geared toward mathematics, statistics and computer science graduate students, MAT 280: “Fairness, Privacy and Trustworthiness in Machine Learning” aims to elevate tenets of social responsibility when it comes to developing machine learning and artificial intelligence-based systems. The special topics class focuses on the mathematical concepts underlying machine learning and how these concepts can be used for the better.
