The university has selected its newest Chancellor's Fellows: six professors who, early in their careers, have already distinguished themselves in teaching, research and public service.

The fellows for 2006-07 are Tonya Kuhl, chemical engineering and materials science; Lori Lubin, physics; Simon Sadler, art history; Anne Schilling, mathematics; John Stachowicz, evolution and ecology; and Rosie Woodroffe, wildlife, fish and conservation biology.

Each fellow receives a $25,000 prize from private contributions to the UC Davis Annual Fund and Davis Chancellor's Club, with the money to be used for research, teaching or service activities. The honored professors are allowed to use the "Chancellor's Fellow" title for five years.

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said: "These young faculty made it through three difficult evaluations — at the chair's level, then the dean's and finally our own at the campus level. They are the best of the best, and I couldn't be more pleased or encouraged. They are, after all, our future."

Vanderhoef launched the fellows program in 2000-01, and 42 fellows have been named so far. Fellows from years past are among those invited to a reception to honor the newest fellows. The reception is planned for April 25 at the chancellor's residence.

Here are brief descriptions of the research that the 2006-07 fellows are doing, with the information coming from nomination letters written by deans and other faculty members. They also offered comments on the fellows' status in the academic world:

Tonya Kuhl, associate professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science — Her research interest is in the area of soft materials, biosensors, lipid bilayers, nanostructures and interfacial films with an emphasis on biological systems, leading to a joint appointment with biomedical engineering. "She has pioneered the use of X-ray and neutron scattering to understand interactions of toxins with lipid monolayers and bilayers," wrote Enrique Lavernia, dean of the College of Engineering.

"The students utilizing the department's undergraduate computer room and unit operations laboratory consider her very approachable, as she is often there," Lavernia said. "This type of involvement is commendable."

Lori Lubin, associate professor, Department of Physics — She is "an active and innovative astrophysicist in the highly competitive field of the evolution of clusters of galaxies," said Shirley Chang, chair of the Department of Physics. She said Lubin invented the matched filter algorithm, a cluster-finding technique that uses both galaxy position and brightness information to detect galaxy clusters objectively.

Chang said Lubin has been active in instructional improvement and curricular development, and in outreach activities for female and minority students.

Simon Sadler, professor, Department of Art, Art History and Technocultural Studies — His primary research area is the history of art and architecture, specializing in post-World War II British, American and European avant-gardes. Patricia Turner, in a letter she wrote while serving as interim dean of the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, noted that Sadler had "three solid books to his credit" within five years of earning his doctorate. "This is a remarkable level of productivity and reflects his strong passion for his field," Turner wrote.

She described him as "a solid campus citizen," and said he has been particularly engaged with responsibilities for graduate students.

Anne Schilling, associate professor, Department of Mathematics — Dean Winston Ko of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences said Schilling speaks two languages, mathematics and physics, and that her expertise ranges widely from discrete mathematics to algebraic combinatorics, to representation theory and to statistical mechanics. "The community of researchers in these areas coined a new word, 'physical combinatorics,' to describe her both deep and broad research activities," Ko wrote.

He commended her work as department vice chair in reviewing all undergraduate mathematics courses, refiguring the curriculum and modernizing the entire structure of course offerings.

John Stachowicz, associate professor, Section of Evolution and Ecology — Section Chair Maureen Stanton said Stachowicz "has already distinguished himself internationally as a rising star in marine and community ecology — indeed, his citation record is comparable to that of a stellar young full professor." His research broadly concerns the fundamental ecological problem of understanding the causes and consequences of species diversity, primarily in marine systems.

Stanton added that Stachowicz has been very active in curriculum development, and has served on at least 10 significant committees above the department level.

Rosie Woodroffe, associate professor, Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology — Her research has focused on the conservation of the critically endangered African wild dog, and links between the European badger population and tuberculosis in cattle.

Since coming to UC Davis, she has expanded her work to include conservation strategies for the island fox on the Channel Islands, off Southern California, and studies of conservation of cougars and black bears in the context of increasing human interaction and habitat fragmentation.

She has developed two new courses, Conservation Biology, and Infectious Diseases in Ecology and Conservation.