Department News and Updates: March 22, 2019

Congratulations to Alison Van Eenennaam, recipient of the 2019 James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award!
Ann Holmes received the Garden Club of America Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies to fund biodiversity research in Suisun Marsh (San Francisco Estuary) using environmental DNA metabarcoding. Ann also received the William and Linda Sullivan Environmental Sciences Scholarship. Congratulations!
2019 UCD Animal Science Pack Team try-outs were held at the Horse Barn. Two teams will be selected to represent UCD at Bishop Mule Days, May 20th—26th.
Wired featured a story on gene edited livestock, the research of Alison Van Eenennaam, including the cover picture of the polled bull’s offspring.

Aviva Fiske, Joel Van Eenennaam, Anne Todgham, and Andrea Schreier published "A comparison of methods for determining ploidy in white sturgeon" in Aquaculture.
ABG graduate student Maci Mueller authored "Comparison of gene editing vs. conventional breeding to introgress the POLLED allele into the US dairy cattle population" in the Journal of Dairy Science.
Alison Van Eenennaam, Kevin Wells and Jim Murray authored “Proposed U.S. regulation of gene-edited food animals is not fit for purpose” in npj Science of Food.
Amy McLean and colleagues published “Insulin Resistance as a Result of Body Condition Categorized as Thin, Moderate and Obese in Domesticated U.S. Donkeys (Equus asinus)” in Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

Ermias Kebreab and Dan Sehnert presented to the World AgriTech Summit delegations’ visit to UC Davis.
Faculty, staff and students attended the California Cattlemen’s Association legislative breakfast. Frank Mitloehner was the key speaker. Jim Murray, Jim Oltjen, Dan Sehnert, Marissa Fisher and Sarah Klopatek also attended and represented the department.
GVL members Alisha Goodbla, Grace Auringer, Ravi Nagarajan, Ann Holmes, and Thiago Sanches attended the Interagency Ecological Program workshop in Folsom, California. Thiago gave a talk on the optimization of eDNA methods for detecting Chinook salmon in an estuary environment and Ann presented a poster entitled "How low can you go? Limits of detection and quantification for Delta Smelt environmental DNA."
Alison Van Eenennaam spoke at the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit in San Francisco on “Gene Editing: Designing the Farm Animals and Fish of Tomorrow” and at World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit on the “A Deep Dive into Next Generation Breeding Technologies” Panel. She also presented on “Genetic Improvement of Beef Cattle: Current Practice and Future Prospects” at the 2019 March Cattlemen's Meeting in Pleasant Grove, CA and gave an internet lecture on “Gene Editing in Agrifood: Its promises and Prospects” to The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) Hill Class on Tech Policy 202.