This week, Dateline UC Davis’ Laurels column is sharing honors for faculty members whose research focuses on bees, poultry and stem cell engineering and tissue regeneration. Read on for more information.

National Geographic to follow bee researcher

The National Geographic Society’s Wildlife Intelligence Project has named UC Davis Assistant Professor Felicity Muth as one of its featured researchers.

The project funds and follows three researchers as they embark on animal cognition and behavior research that will potentially adapt how humans view, interact and connect with wildlife. The National Geographic Society conducted a rigorous global search to find three of the best emerging early-career scientists whose work seeks to answer questions and provide us with better insights into the minds and behaviors of animals — and what drives their decisions.

Muth, who joined the UC Davis Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior in 2024, explores how ecology shapes the behavior of wild bees, specifically how environmental conditions affect the ways bees learn and make decisions. Muth is a prolific science communicator and recently published a children's book on bee diversity titled “Am I Even a Bee?”

— Evan White

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, or AIMBE, has inducted Aijun Wang, a professor of biomedical engineering, into its esteemed College of Fellows last week.

Election to AIMBE's College of Fellows represents one of the greatest distinctions given to medical and biological engineers, as it is reserved for the top two percent of individuals making outstanding contributions to these fields, from advancing engineering research to pioneering new types of biomedical technology. Members include Nobel laureates and awardees of the Presidential Medal of Science, among recipients of other signal honors. 

The College of Fellows elected Wang for his outstanding contributions to stem cell engineering and tissue regeneration applications, which include his groundbreaking work on a spina bifida treatment, the invention of a device to help kidney disease patients on hemodialysis, the development of a bioengineered scaffold to quicken recovery time after deep burn wounds and his research into extracellular vesicles as a next-generation drug platform. 

— Matt Marcure

Poultry Scientist of the Year

Simone Stoute, professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction and branch chief of California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory - Turlock, was recently named the Scientist of the Year by the Pacific Egg and Poultry Association, or PEPA.

In recognizing Stoute at the PEPA annual convention, poultry veterinarian Mark Bland praised her work, noting that she has an excellent reputation for her diagnostic acumen, is a leader in the laboratory, and is recognized by industry as a highly effective communicator.

— Rob Warren