UC Davis is home to more than 40,000 students from all walks of life, each striving for success and creating positive change. But it’s not just the sheer number of students that is a hallmark of our college town. Their achievements beyond the classroom contribute to the Davis community while building the necessary skills to make a difference for our future.

You’ll find our students caring for animals and restoring local wildlife. They’re guiding students at our K-12 schools, teaching STEM concepts to local Girl Scouts and bringing history to life through public service.

UC Davis has a long history of community partnerships, connecting our students with real-world experience and mentorship. By working side-by-side with the community we call home, students build on the foundation of our public service, teaching and research mission.

At UC Davis, we’re committed to ensuring that our students graduate ready for careers or graduate school. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, recent graduates who participated in experiential learning reported higher career satisfaction and higher average salaries than those who did not.

Promoting human and animal well-being

For some of our students, that means wading in the waters of Putah Creek. For years, salmon have faced drastic declines across much of the West. But here at Putah Creek, UC Davis biologists restored a once-degraded stream, and the salmon are rebounding in a big way.

Student researchers helped measure the vitality of its salmon run in the restored creek after years of decline. Our undergraduate and graduate students were part of a team led by UC Davis and the Solano County Water Agency to study and quantify the run. Ultimately, they found that 2,100 Chinook salmon returned to spawn in Putah Creek this fall, largely due to habitat enhancements and water management efforts. Now, Putah Creek provides hope for degraded streams and salmon everywhere.

Students are protecting animal and human health around the region as well. Just north of UC Davis in Knights Landing, students pursuing medical degrees hold two different clinics for underserved people and their pets in rural Yolo County. They provide preventive veterinary services, along with a medical clinic where people can receive basic health care in a multilingual, multicultural setting.

These clinics also provide learning opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students in rural health, which nurtures their growth as community leaders and advocates. Our veterinary students also run the Orphan Kitten Project at UC Davis, among many other community outreach programs.

Enriching minds

UC Davis students support educational achievement across our community. Students from the College of Engineering engage in STEM education and outreach to youth and community organizations, such as local Girl Scout troops, through the UC Davis EcoCAR Team.

Since the team was established three-and-a-half years ago, they’ve conducted 32 outreach events that reached more than 1,200 community members. They connected with over 350 young people, sharing topics such as electric transportation and the importance of increasing women's representation in STEM fields. Overall, they’re looking to support the next generations of automobile engineers and inspire their interest in STEM.

The impact of UC Davis students is felt deeply in local K-12 schools, where more than 80 teaching credential candidates from the UC Davis School of Education are in the classroom. They student-teach throughout the academic year, working under the guidance of the classroom’s resident teacher and under the supervision of a School of Education faculty member. In the process, these student teachers inspire young minds while building confidence and skills for success in their future classrooms.

The presence of UC Davis students in local K-12 classrooms can produce powerful moments. Student researchers in a UC Davis history project helped uncover a little-known Black community in Woodland. They shared their work in local classrooms, sparking lively discussions about community and family.

The researchers also partnered with the Woodland Opera House to produce a display titled, “The Yolo Singing Club: Freedom, Family and Music.” It included original sheet music, photos, and news clippings that showed how this Black community from the early 20th century helped shape Woodland’s cultural life.

These are just a few examples of how UC Davis students contribute to the community in positive ways. To deepen our impact, we invite partners from government, business, and the community to join us in this work. To learn more about ways you can connect with the UC Davis community, visit our Government and Community Relations website and our News site to learn more about the work happening on campus every day.

Let’s carry this momentum into the new year, continuing to strengthen the bridge between campus and community to foster mutual growth and opportunity.