UC Davis made a significant advance in the just released UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, which put UC Davis in the top 10 for campus sustainability and environment-friendly management.
In Universitas Indonesia’s fourth annual rankings, for 2013, UC Davis is ninth overall (up from 17th a year earlier) and fourth in the United States. The rankings take in 301 universities.
Out of all the UC campuses, only Davis made the top 10.
“Being ranked in the top 10 globally is a great honor for UC Davis,” Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi said. “Our commitment to the environment and sustainability permeates everything we do, and the solutions being realized on our campus are helping to transform the world.”
Napolitano plans first Google Hangout
A week from today, UC President Janet Napolitano will be hanging out with students in a Google Hangout, or online forum, the first in a series that she plans to have with the UC community.
The first one, focusing on students, is scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, at this link: ucal.us/hangoutwithjanet. Learn more about Google Hangouts.
Napolitano will join a panel of students for a discussion and also take questions from the online audience. Topics will include tuition, undocumented students, diversity, climate change and student veterans.
A UC spokesman said Napolitano wants to talk about her priorities, and hear directly from students about their concerns, hopes and challenges.
Software upgrade follows email and Web outages
Information and Technology Services has explained what went wrong with campus email and Web services on Jan. 10 and 11, and how IET identified and solved the problem.
The basic cause was a bug in storage area network software code at a Sacramento data center, according to IET’s TechNews.
IET, working with the software vendor, researched and stabilized the problem the afternoon of Jan. 11. The problem returned in a milder form the next morning. IET made further adjustments, made a software upgrade last week, and services have been functioning normally.
‘Pope of Foam’ video wins Taste Award
A taste of beer equals a taste of victory for UC Davis and Charlie “The Pope of Foam” Bamforth, star of a short video that won a Taste Award last week in Hollywood.
The video, The Art & Science of Beer, produced as part of UC’s Onward California campaign last year, earned the viewers choice award for short documentary (5-10 minutes long). That translates to a lot of viewers (and voters) who got a good taste of UC Davis.
“I guess it feels a bit special to be the star of a film that wins on the red carpet in Hollywood,” said Bamforth, who was unable to attend the awards presentation. “Seriously, I am grateful to the production company that really helped us put across our mantra that beer is fascinating, intriguingly complex, but also a fun and wide-ranging vehicle for studying great science.”
Read more and watch the video.
Victory once again for Shapiro in butterfly contest
“Watchful waiting” on Jan. 13 turned to evolutionary elation the next day when Art Shapiro once again won his own beer-for-a-butterfly contest.
“I got it in midair with a (purely lucky!) jump shot,” he wrote in an email describing how he netted the cabbage white butterfly that turned out to be the first one submitted in his 43rd annual contest. He’s lost only three times in all those years.
The contest isn’t just about beer: The distinguished professor of evolution and ecology uses the emergence data in his research into biological responses to climate change.
Wildlife Health Center renamed
The Wildlife Health Center has a new name: the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, honoring Drayer’s role in establishing the center more than 15 years ago.
Drayer’s passion for pets and wildlife, sea otters in particular, led her to become involved with the School of Veterinary Medicine, after learning of its work on otter health in Monterey Bay.
In 1998, she and her husband, Phil, partnered with the school to provide funds and “the genesis of a vision,” as described by Dean Michael Lairmore, to develop the Wildlife Health Center.
Read more about the Drayers’ connection to the center and about the surprise ceremony where Karen Drayer learned of the renaming.
Media Resources
Dave Jones, Dateline, 530-752-6556, dljones@ucdavis.edu