The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, a prestigious program bringing accomplished mid-career professionals from countries around the world to host universities throughout the United States, returns to UC Davis as 12 Fellows from 12 different countries arrive on campus. During the 2023-24 academic year, the UC Davis Humphrey Fellows will focus on strengthening their professional skills, improving their leadership abilities and engaging in meaningful collaboration and connections across campus. 

“We are excited to welcome our 2023-24 Humphrey Fellowship cohort with a robust and engaging program,” said Jennie Konsella-Norene, associate director of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship in UC Davis Global Affairs.

This is the 32nd cohort of Humphrey Fellows hosted by UC Davis.

Visit the Global Affairs website to read more about the fellows, who come to UC Davis from Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Fiji, Iran, Israel, Liberia, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkmenistan.

—Jana Sanders Perry

Tessa Hill named Rachel Carson Lecture recipient

Earth and Planetary Sciences Professor Tessa Hill is the recipient of the 2023 Rachel Carson Lecture, the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, announced this month. The honor is bestowed upon individuals for meritorious work or service toward the advancement and promotion of discovery and solution science. 

The Rachel Carson Lecture is presented annually and recognizes cutting-edge work in ocean science research by a woman scientist. Named in honor of the life and work of marine biologist Rachel Louise Carson, this lecture is presented by a scientist whose work in the field of ocean science is particularly relevant to current societal concerns.

As a scientist with the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department and UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, Hill studies climate change, ocean acidification and the response of marine species to environmental disturbance. She is also the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Programs in Public Scholarship & Engagement at UC Davis. 

AGU is the world's largest Earth and space science association. Hill is recognized by the global Earth and space sciences community for tremendous personal sacrifices and selfless dedication to advancing Earth and space sciences. 

Hill will be recognized at AGU23, which will convene more than 25,000 attendees from over 100 countries in San Francisco and online everywhere Dec. 11-15.

—Kat Kerlin

Kari Cooper receives Norman L. Bowen Award

Kari Cooper, a professor of earth and planetary sciences, has won the American Geophysical Union’s Norman L. Bowen Award, which honors a mid-career or senior scientist for outstanding contributions to the fields of petrology, volcanology and geochemistry. 

Cooper shared a landmark discovery about volcanoes, describing them not as a pot of bubbling soup but something more akin to a snow cone, a mixture dominated by shaved ice, much like how a magma chamber is predominantly solid, in at least some cases, for roughly 90% of its total storage duration.  

“Personally, it’s very meaningful for me,” Cooper said of the new award, noting that the list of past Bowen awardees reads like a who’s who list of her scientific heroes. “Norman Bowen was one of the first people to say that magmas will crystallize in an orderly sequence of minerals. Every petrology student learns Bowen’s reaction series for crystallization, so it’s a meaningful award because it really taps into the history of this field.”   

Read more on the College of Letters and Science website.

—Greg Watry