UC Davis Stores’ TechHub recently received the 2018 Excellence in Technology Retail Award from the National Association of College Stores, representing nearly 4,000 campuses in the United States and Canada.

Jason Lorgan, executive director of Campus Recreation and Unions, which oversees UC Davis Stores, commended the entire TechHub team. He offered special praise for “one of our incredible UC Davis students,” Linda Zhang, who assembled the award-winning submission, and for “our incredibly talented technology sales and service leader,” Beth Mason, saying the award entry reflects “our strategic vision and Beth’s work.” Mason, by the way, is a UC Davis alumna, class of 2008.

The award recognizes exemplary operations in marketing and promotions, business operations, outreach and advocacy, and value-add services. The TechHub’s award application touts success with Apple One-Day Sales, Staff Pin Program, repair services, payment options and Medical School iPad Lending Program.

The application notes how the TechHub’s Apple sales are held in conjunction with storewide events so that “our measurement of success reaches far beyond the quantity or dollar value of Apple products sold; instead, we are able to focus on happy customers throughout the store as well as bringing in new visitors who might not otherwise have found a reason to come by the Campus Store.”

In partnership with Staff Assembly, the TechHub offers $25-off computer hardware coupons to people who buy Staff Pins (proceeds go to staff scholarships). “Our hope is that this partnership will work to increase interest in the pins while also increasing staff awareness of the Tech Hub’s offerings.”

And, in an effort to “give the customers what they want,” TechHub employees visit places in town and on campus where students spend time (shopping centers, coffee shops, library, etc.) to see firsthand what devices they use. “For example, we noticed more students using Airpods on campus, so, after months of refusing to carry them for fear of sticker shock and customer disinterest, we relented and have sold 51 pairs in four months, 25 of those in December alone.”

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Tom Buckley, an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences has moved up to chief editor of AoB PLANTS, an open-access, online journal emphasizing environmental and evolutionary plant biology.

A member of the faculty since January, Buckley studies the biology of plant responses to environmental stressors such as drought and heat, to develop better ways to manage crop and forest resources in a changing climate.

He served as an associate editor of AoB PLANTS for two years before starting a five-year term as chief editor. The journal publishes double-blind, peer-reviewed research articles, along with reviews, commentaries and short communications.

“AoB PLANTS is a spinoff of The Annals of Botany, which is one of the oldest plant journals,” Buckley said. “There’s so much good and impactful research that doesn’t fit into traditional journals, (so) AoB PLANTS was created eight years ago ... to help fill the need for high-quality journals that publish reputable science.”

Read about his plans as chief editor, in this article on the Plant Sciences News Blog.

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Caitlin Patler, assistant professor of sociology in the College of Letters and Science, is the recipient of a 2018 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, as announced by the National Academy of Education, or NAEd.

The program for early-career scholars is designed to promote scholarship in the United States and abroad on matters relevant to the improvement of education in all its forms. 

Patler is one of 30 to receive NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowships this year out of a pool of 200 applicants. Each fellow receives $70,000 to focus on his or her research and attend professional development retreats.

Her fellowship-supported study centers on undocumented children and youths and their changing legal status under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhoods program), and how those changes impact the young immigrants’ educational disadvantages.

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Three faculty members and a staff member are the recipients of NACADA Global Awards for academic advising — three for “outstanding” work (the top rating) and one a certificate of merit.

• Amber Boydstun, associate professor, Department of Political Science — outstanding in the category of new faculty advisor.
• Jordan Dade, international academic counselor, College of Engineering — outstanding in the category of advisors for whom advising is their primary role.
• Sue Ebeler, professor of viticulture and enology, and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences — certificate of merit in the advising administrator category.
• Louie Yang, associate professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology — outstanding in the faculty advisor category.

Earlier this year, NACADA’s Region 9 presented Excellence in Advising awards to Dade, Ebeler and Yang.

NACADA evolved from the National Academic Advising Association; today it is an international organization, “the global community for academic advising,” but the original acronym remains.

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A team comprising Bruce Linquist of UC Davis and researchers from Arkansas and Louisiana recently received the Distinguished Rice Research and Education Award from the national Rice Technical Working Group, for a project dealing with irrigation management.

Linquist is a Department of Plant Sciences faculty member and Cooperative Extension specialist.

The award presentation took place at the Rice Technical Working Group’s conference in Long Beach. UC hosted the conference and Linquist served as chair.

The working group fosters information exchange, cooperative planning and research among federal and state entities and industry.

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The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America's list of award recipients for 2018 includes:

• Professor Jay Rosenheim — Distinction in Student Mentoring Award
• Doctoral candidate Jessica Gillung, affiliated with Professor Lynn Kimsey’s lab and the Bohart Museum of Entomology — Student Leadership Award

Other entomology awards:

• Eric Mussen, retired Cooperative Extension apiculturist, is the recipient of the 2018 Founders Award from the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees, presented at the 75th annual conference of the American Beekeeping Federation. Read more about Mussen and the award.
• Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology, Cooperative Extension entomologist and specialist in integrated pest management (IPM), received a lifetime achievement award at the ninth International IPM Symposium. Read more about Zalom and the award.

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Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards, for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

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