THE DOWNLOAD: Scientific Films, Helping Australian Wildlife

Graduate students studying ecology are learning to communicate about their research through short films, and now all 11 videos from a fall seminar can be watched online.

Students the “Scientific Filmmaking” seminar led by evolution and ecology professor Eric Sanford focused on such topics as the hidden biodiversity of streams, the importance of “mussel” memory, black bears in Lake Tahoe and tiny birdhouses. Watch Ric DeSantiago’s film exploring what happens when native seaweed is displaced by an invasive version above, and see all the other films on the College of Biological Sciences website.

UC Davis vet helping animals in Australia

Jamie Peyton treats a koala bear.
Kangaroo wrapped in blanket

A UC Davis veterinarian is halfway around the world helping burned animals, and a fundraiser started by her traveling companion is nearing its goal.

Jamie Peyton, chief of Integrative Medicine Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, has been in Australia since late January helping animals injured in the massive bushfires there. She has been sharing updates on social media:

“These survivors always give me hope and make me cry and smile at the same time,” she said Feb. 2 as she shared a photo of a kangaroo in a scorched landscape. “Nature is truly an amazing, scary, beautiful, terrifying and humbling creature.”

She is traveling with Michelle Oakley, star of Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet on the Nat Geo WILD network. An online fundraiser started by Oakley is nearing its goal of $70,000 for medical supplies and equipment.

“I cannot simply stand by and watch all the damage happening in Australia and hear all the overwhelming numbers of animals lost,” Oakley wrote on GoFundMe. “My colleague Dr. Jamie Peyton and I will be donating all of our time while we are there, so that we can help animals who are suffering and in need of emergency veterinary care.”

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