Jonna Mazet arrived at UC Davis as an undergraduate curious about veterinary medicine in 1986, and is retiring four decades of groundbreaking campus initiatives later, having built a legacy of cross-discipline innovation on global health problem-solving, particularly regarding emerging infectious diseases and conservation challenges.

"I am always motivated by the excellence, innovation and the collaborative spirit at UC Davis," she said.

She is the vice provost of Grand Challenges and the Chancellor’s Leadership Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology. Mazet is also the founder of the UC Davis One Health Institute, which works from the intersection of animals, people, plants and the environment to solve global problems related to health and conservation. She was also the Global Director of the viral emergence early warning project PREDICT, developed with the Emerging Pandemic Threats Program of the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.

In 2013, Mazet was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for her work and research on emerging environmental and global health threats. The prestigious induction was shaped by Mazet’s cross-campus collaboration.

"Being able to be in a situation where I can hear from our campus community and pull together interdisciplinary, large, research teams is a dream job," she said.

Mazet has extensive experience in developing innovative and collaborative approaches to what she calls the world’s "large-scale, wicked problems." Through a combination of transdisciplinary collaboration and a social and environmental justice approach, the Grand Challenges addresses improvements to food and agricultural systems to reduce hunger, repair land-grant universities’ impact on indigenous populations, address emerging public health threats and more. 

"We convene groups that normally don't get together, including faculty from different disciplines that work on the same issues," Mazet explained, noting the program also put entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in conversation with faculty tackling key problems. "They get to know each other and catalyze collaborations. Sometimes that’s creating a product, sometimes that’s a policy."

In 2024, the Grand Challenges worked with the School of Veterinary Medicine to host an emergency consultation to combat H5N1 influenza, or avian flu, months before it was declared a state emergency. The project also facilitated a nearly $5 million grant to convert food waste into sustainable power sources for Unitrans buses. 

After transitioning to emerita status, Mazet will continue to represent UC Davis on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Board of Governors Science and Technology Committee; she will continue to her role as a Lancet Commissioner on US Societal Resilience in a Global Pandemic Age. 

Early appreciation of nature

Mazet’s journey to campus began in Marin County, where she grew up with family members who taught her about the relationship between the environment and addressing inequities.

"From a planetary health and justice perspective, I think my grandfather, a great outdoorsman, shaped my interests understanding the natural world and appreciating wildlife,” Mazet recalled. "That's where the wildlife conservation and veterinary medicine came in.”

It was at veterinary school in a class with epidemiologist Ian Gardner that marked "a turning point" for Mazet. 

"I think I was very motivated when I was introduced to epidemiology, like, 'Oh, there are tools that I can use to tease this stuff apart and make good recommendations,'" she described, which rebuts the idea to many that the field is defined by "sobering numbers, statistics," Mazet noted. 

Once at UC Davis, Mazet earned four degrees: a bachelor’s degree in veterinary science, a master's degree in preventative veterinary medicine, a doctor of veterinary medicine, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology. She joined the faculty in 1998.

Though Mazet worked outside of UC Davis, including stints at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, she maintained adjunct professor positions. 

"I've never left," Mazet said. "I still think Davis is the right place to be for making the biggest impact on the world."