The ninth annual International Connections Reception, which will be hosted by Global Affairs on March 7, 2024, will bring together the UC Davis community to celebrate several award and grant programs, including the 2023-24 recipients of Global Affairs Seed Grants for International Activities. Partnering with UC Davis colleges and schools, the Office of Research and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Global Affairs provides Seed Grants for International Activities to faculty taking on innovative research, service and engagement projects around the world.

Seed Grant projects foster long-term international research collaborations, create innovations in internationalizing the curriculum in support of the Global Education for All initiative and grow or build global partnerships. Since 2001, the program has supported more than 280 diverse projects, generating significant international partnerships, research outcomes and external funding.  

This year’s 12 projects bring together more than 20 researchers across UC Davis and collaborating institutions worldwide, fostering collaborations to advance groundbreaking discovery. 

2023-24 Grant Recipients

Ermias Kebreab

Professor and Sesnon Endowed Chair, Animal Science
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Erin McGuire

Director, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture
Plant and Environmental Sciences
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Cultivating Equity: Building International Partnerships for Sustainable Horticulture and Food Systems Research

AFRICA

Anya Brown

Assistant Professor, Evolution and Ecology
College of Biological Sciences
CAMPOS Scholar

Rachael Bay

Assistant Professor, Evolution and Ecology
College of Biological Sciences

Can Genotypic Diversity Help Save Rarotonga’s Reefs?

COOK ISLANDS (OCEANIA AND THE POLAR REGIONS)

Philipp Zerbe

Associate Professor, Plant Biology
College of Biological Sciences

Anna Cowie

Graduate Student, Plant Biology
College of Biological Sciences

Project Amazon Link: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration for Sustainable Applications in Plant Biotechnology

BRAZIL AND ECUADOR (LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)
Supported by the Gurdev S. and Harwant K. Khush Seed Grant

Yayoi Takamura

Professor and Chair, Materials Science and Engineering
College of Engineering

Low Temperature Synthesis of Complex Oxide Thin Films for Sustainable Energy Technologies

CHILE (LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)

James Smith

Professor, Anthropology
College of Letters and Science

Donald Donham

Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Anthropology
College of Letters and Science

Regime Change in Ethiopia: Culture, Violence, and Local Resilience

ETHIOPIA (AFRICA)

Megan Welsh

Associate Professor
School of Education

Enactment of Classroom Assessment Standards in Chilean Teacher Preparation Programs

CHILE (LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)

Shayak Sarkar

Professor
School of Law

Leticia M. Saucedo

Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law
Co-Director, Labor and Community Center of the Greater Capital Region
School of Law

Domestic Workers’ Collective Bargaining in the 21st Century

INDIA, MEXICO AND UNITED STATES
(ASIA, LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN AND NORTH AMERICA)

Lisa Evangelista

Associate Clinical Professor, Otolaryngology
School of Medicine

Developing a Sustainable Community-Based Educational, Clinical, and Research Outreach Program for Swallowing Disorders in Head and Neck Surgical Patients in Kenya

KENYA (AFRICA)

Patrick Marius Koga

Associate Adjunct Professor, Public Health Sciences
Director of Ulysses Refugee Health Research
School of Medicine

Mapping Turkish and Syrian Refugee Mothers' Vulnerability

TURKEY (TÜRKIYE) (MIDDLE EAST)
Supported by the Richard F. Walters Seed Grant

Laura Van Auker

Associate Clinical Professor
Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Stephen Cavanagh

Dignity Health Dean’s Chair for Nursing Leadership, Dean and Professor
Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Debra Bakerjian

Associate Dean for Practice and Clinical Professor
Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

UCD School of Nursing and Health, University of Nairobi Schools of Nursing and Medicine Partner: Modeling Advanced Practice Nursing Interprofessional Medical Care Teams in Kenya

KENYA (AFRICA)

Tierra Evans

Assistant Researcher, One Health Institute
Chief Veterinary and Scientific Officer, Gorilla Doctors
School of Veterinary Medicine

Julius Nziza

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Gorilla Doctors
School of Veterinary Medicine

Global Collaboration to Understand Impacts of Microbiome on Mountain Gorilla Health

RWANDA (AFRICA)

Monica Aleman

Professor, Medicine and Epidemiology
School of Veterinary Medicine

Improving the Clinical and Diagnostic Skills for Equine Neurological Diseases of Veterinarians and Veterinary Medicine

COLOMBIA (LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN)

Made Possible by Donor Support 

Register to attend the International Connections Reception on March 7, 2024

About Global Affairs at UC Davis

Global Affairs brings the world to UC Davis, welcoming more than 10,000 international students, scholars and leaders, and hosting programs that inspire global curiosity, understanding and engagement. Compelled by the valuable outcomes of thinking globally, we make transformative opportunities a reality by supporting the thousands of students and faculty learning and researching globally—and by facilitating collaborations that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges through more than 150 global partnerships.

Putting our vision of a UC Davis community that engages, thrives, and leads in this interconnected world into action, Global Affairs is in pursuit of an ambitious goal: Global Education for All.