Looking for a thesis research project? The research interests of the members of the Forensic Science Graduate Group span multiple disciplines. In the fall or winter of their first year, we encourage students to contact faculty whose areas of research are of interest to them to discuss possible projects.
Graduate Group Members
Ralph C. Aldredge Ph.D., P.E. | Academic Senate | 2090 Bainer Hall |
Dr. Aldredge is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at UC Davis and a licensed professional engineer. He performs research investigations and consulting in areas relating to energy conversion, biotransport, failure analysis and accident reconstruction. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1988 and 1990, respectively.
James M. Angelastro Ph. D. | Academic Senate | 2221 VM3B |
Dr. Angelastro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences within the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara in Chemistry. His interests are in developing novel biologics and chemically synthesized peptides to target transcription factors for the treatment of brain cancer and other cancers. His expertise is in pharmacology, with an emphasis on the delivery of biologic/synthesized peptides. His skills also include immunostaining tissues. His lab has developed protocols to stain for specific biomarkers expressed during the pathology of disease (cancer) and includes biomarkers expressed resulting from the regression of cancer. Also, he has expertise in non-invasive image monitoring of cancer treatment and molecular biology.
Matthew P. Augustine Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 69 Chemistry Building | 
Dr. Augustine is a professor and a physical chemist and has been in the UC Davis Chemistry Department since 1998. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University and did postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley. Professor Augustine received the National Science Foundation Career Award in 2000, developed and filmed “Chemistry of Everyday Life” for the Discovery Channel in 2003, developed Wine Scanner, Inc. to screen full bottles of wine for contaminants in 2004, received the ASUCD Excellence in Education Award in 2004, was a visiting research scientist at the Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille from 2005-2008, and is active in the UC Davis-Peking University 10+10 program. Dr. Augustine’s principal research interests include wine analysis, ion binding, luminescence, ultrasound, non-linear dynamics and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
Rebecca Bellone Ph.D. | Academic Federation| Old Davis Road |
Dr. Bellone's research interests involve investigating the genetics of traits that are economically and medically important and/or are useful models for other species, including humans. She is investigating the genetics of several pigmentation phenotypes and associated ocular disorders, among these is the second most common tumor in the horse, ocular squamous cell carcinoma. The primary goal of her research program is to develop tools that will assist animal breeders in making informed mating decisions and work towards better management practices by understanding the biological mechanisms behind complex heritable traits. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky, Lexington in 2001.
Christyann Darwent Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 320B Young Hall |
Dr. Darwent is an associate professor of anthropology at UC Davis. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 2001. She has had an interest in forensic anthropology since she was an undergraduate at the University of Calgary, Canada, where she focused on human skeletal remains. Her current work is in the high arctic of Greenland and Alaska and she currently has two NSF-sponsored projects in these locations. Her own research focuses on animal bones and taphonomic analysis of those remains (i.e., what happens during the death, burial and recovery sequence). She uses this taphonomic information as a means of assessing climatic changes and prehistoric and historic human hunting and butchering of animals. She also oversees any human remains recovered in their archaeological excavations.
Cristina Davis Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 101 TB 207/1240C Bainer Hall |
Dr. Davis is currently a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the UC Davis. She earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia. Her main research interests are in chemical and biological sensing applications, use of technology to speed biomarker discovery novel bioMEMS devices, and bioinformatics interpretation of sensor output.
Ruth Dickover Ph.D. | Forensic Science Center |
Dr. Dickover earned her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences, her Ph.D. degree in Microbiology, and her M.S. degree in Forensic Science all from UC Davis. She has worked as a Criminalist and DNA Technical Lead at the Kern Regional Crime Laboratory where she gained practical experience in Forensic Biology, DNA and Crime Scene Investigation. She also worked as a Research Specialist at UCLA School of Medicine where she served as Director of the UCLA Pediatric Immunology Core Laboratory. She is currently serving as a thesis committee chair and/or advisor for several students with projects related to both forensic DNA and chemistry. She has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and given invited presentations in the field of HIV research as well as published/presented abstracts in the field of forensic DNA analysis at various national and international symposia.
Jelmer W. Eerkens Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 306 Young Hall |
Dr. Eerkens is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at UC Davis. Dr. Eerkens earned his masters and doctorate degrees in anthropology from UC Santa Barbara, and directs the Archaeometry lab at UC Davis. His research interests include stable isotope and trace element studies of human remains, especially bone, teeth, hair, and dental calculus, and how these signals can change from exposure to natural and artificial factors, such as fire and decomposition. These biomaterials provide insight into human diet, migration patterns, and health. This information can be used in both forensic, especially missing person and other cases of unidentified remains, and anthropological and archaeological contexts, especially for tracing human evolutionary processes in diet and health. Dr. Eerkens has published over 100 academic articles in a wide range of scientific journals and edited volumes.
Allison Ehrlich Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 4239A Meyer Hall|
The overall goal of Dr. Ehrlich’s research is to identify mechanisms by which the environment influences susceptibility to immune-mediated disease. Environmental factors, including diet and microbiome, are associated with the recent rise in type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells. One potential mechanistic link between the diet, gut microbiome and T1D is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor that can be activated by diverse ligands found in the diet, microbiome, chemical contaminants, and drugs. Activation of AhR in the intestines plays a role in the maintenance of mucosal immune cells and influences the type and abundance of intestinal bacteria. Dr. Ehrlich recently found that AhR acts as an immunological molecular switch where the same ligand can dose dependently induce both proinflammatory Th17 cells and type 1 regulatory T cells. Consistent with this finding, Dr. Ehrlich found that strong activation of AhR completely prevents the development of type 1 diabetes in NOD mice. Dr. Ehrlich’s research aims to identify the mechanisms by which AhR activation leads to divergent CD4+ T cell fates, and tests the hypothesis that the interaction between diverse AhR ligands and the microbiome influences susceptibility to type 1 diabetes. While Dr. Ehrlich’s current focus is on type 1 diabetes, the research has implications for susceptibility to infectious diseases and cancer. With primary research interests centering around immunotoxicology, Dr. Ehrlich also has an ongoing project in the area of microbial forensics. In this arena, the goal of the research is to determine how the host microbiome at the time of death (which is influenced by a variety of host and environmental factors) alters the post-mortem microbial clock.
Carrie Finno Ph.D., D.V.M. | Academic Senate | 280 CCAH |
Dr. Finno is an equine internist that received her D.V.M. from the University of Minnesota in 2004. She completed an internship in large animal medicine and surgery at UMN in 2005 and then went on to complete a 3-year residency in large animal internal medicine at UC Davis, culminating in board-certification in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Dr. Finno elected to pursue a career in equine genetic research, with a strong focus on neuromuscular disease, and obtained her Ph.D. in 2012 from UC Davis. Dr. Finno is currently an assistant professor at UC Davis in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction. Dr. Finno’s research is focused on equine genetic diseases, including equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (NAD/EDM), equine shivers, myofibrillar myopathy and immune-mediated myositis. In conjunction with equine studies, she is researching the interaction of vitamin E and neural development, using a well-established mouse model.
Cecilia Giulivi Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 3009 VM3B |
Dr. Giulivi is a professor in Molecular Biosciences, the director of the Redox Biology Core at UC Davis, and a member of the MIND Institute. She received her doctorate in Biochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires. After completing her post-doctoral training at the University of Southern California, she joined the faculty at that Institution, then at the University of Minnesota, and finally in 2004, at UC Davis. Her expertise resides in the area of mitochondria bioenergetics, free radical biochemistry and oxidative damage. This is reflected in her more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Her current focus is on understanding the underlying molecular mitochondrial mechanisms in several pathophysiological situations such as autism, fragile X tremor and ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), and Huntington’s disease and how genetic background imparts susceptibility to sub-toxic exposures of common flame retardants.
Peter Green Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 3136 Engineering III |
Dr. Green is a Research Engineer with the College of Engineering at UC Davis. After receiving his doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Green joined the Environmental Engineering Department at Caltech as a Senior Scientist. In 2000, Dr. Green joined the UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering where he conducts research in air and water quality, pollutant sources, and remediation and mitigation. His current research projects include arsenic speciation and transport in rice production; biogas impurities, purification, and air quality impacts; remediation of metals released from abandoned mines; uptake of toxic chemicals from fracking water into wheat; and emission and mitigation of nitric oxides from ensiling corn.
Ashley Hall M.S., Ph.D. | Academic Federation| Forensic Science Center|
Dr. Hall is the Director of the Forensic Science Graduate Program at UC Davis. She earned a M.S. in Forensic Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Biomolecular Science, both from the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on the use of touch DNA to inform activity-level propositions, and the development of a DNA profile database, FauxDIS, for use in educational and research endeavors.
Brenna Henn Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 211 Young Hall|
Dr. Henn is a population geneticist in the Department of Anthropology and in the Genome Center at UC Davis. She began her research by studying the deep population structure and complex migration patterns of African hunter-gatherer groups. Motivated by her Ph.D. training in anthropology, she aims to approach questions of genomic and phenotypic diversity from an interdisciplinary standpoint. She continues to primarily focus on African populations. Her field sites include efforts to collect DNA samples, demographic data and biomedical phenotypes in the Kalahari Desert, Cederberg Mountains and the Richtersveld of South Africa, as well as collaborations in Namibia and Ethiopia.
You-Lo Hsieh Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 227 Everson Hall |
Dr. Hsieh is a professor in Textiles and Clothing at UC Davis, specializing in fiber and polymer science. Her research focuses on fiber and polymer chemistry, with active projects related to fiber chemistry and structure (natural and synthesized), functional fibers and membranes (nanofibers, nanoporous), polymer synthesis and chemistry (bio-based, stimuli-responsive, functional), encapsulation of biomolecules (proteins, enzymes, sugars, chemicals, etc.), and conversion and utilization of bio-based materials and renewable natural products.
Edward J. Imwinkelried Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 1119 King Hall |
Dr. Imwinkelried is the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Professor of Law Emeritus at UC Davis. He is the co-author of Scientific Evidence (4th ed. 2007) and the author of The Methods of Attacking Scientific Evidence (4th ed. 2004). He is the expert testimony columnist for National Law Journal and a contributing editor on forensic science for Criminal Law Bulletin. Imwinkelried was a member of the Legal Issues Working Group of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence and served as the legal consultant to the Surgeon General’s Commission on urinalysis testing in the Armed Forces. He is currently a member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s expert group on human factors in latent fingerprint analysis.
Lynn Kimsey Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 1124 Academic Surge |
Dr. Kimsey is the Executive Director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a Professor of entomology at UC Davis. Dr. Kimsey’s specialties are insect diversity, urban entomology, civil forensics and insect-related industrial hygiene. In addition to her faculty position, she is the CEO of The Glen Craig Institute, which provides specialized, science-based classes to law enforcement and court personnel. Through her leadership the Bohart Museum of Entomology now houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America of nearly 8 million specimens, and annually provides public programs to more than 13,000 school children throughout Northern California, and diagnostic services to the public, governmental agencies and businesses, as well as supporting the international research community.
Robert B. Kimsey Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 396 B Briggs Hall |
Dr. Kimsey is an associate adjunct professor and lecturer of entomology investigating epidemiology of tick-borne Zoonoses in Northern California. He received his Ph.D. in entomology at UC Davis in 1984 and then conducted postdoctoral research in that department. In 1987 he joined the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Tropical Public Health as a research associate. Dr. Kimsey was a visiting lecturer in parasitology in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University during this period. He teaches a graduate-level seminar in forensic entomology at UC Davis and continues to consult for law enforcement as well as law firms.
Donald P. Land Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 208 Chemistry Building |
Dr. Land has been a professor in the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis since 1991. He served as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow (1990-1991). His specialty is analytical and physical chemistry studies of solids and surfaces with applications in biology, medicine, catalysis and the environment. Dr. Land uses microscopy, spectroscopy, lasers and mass spectrometry to analyze solids and surfaces to study trace evidence and to elucidate the relationship between structure and function in surface chemistry, often using custom-designed instrumentation. His forensic applications include the study of soot composition, elemental analysis of glass fragments and GC/MS studies of clandestine lab materials.
Pamela J. Lein Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 2009 Vet Med 3B |
Dr. Lein is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She received an M.S. in Environmental Health from East Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her interests are in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurotoxicology and a major goal of her research is to identify novel biomarkers of neurotoxicity. Specific areas of expertise include the neurotoxicity of compounds considered credible terrorist threat agents.
Benjamin Moeller Ph.D., DABT | Academic Senate |
Dr. Moeller earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from UC Davis and works in the field of analytical chemistry and toxicology. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology. His expertise is in the use of analytical chemistry techniques, including mass spectrometry, to analyze analytical and bioanalytical specimens for pharmaceutical agents. This area has great relevance for current problems in the use of drugs by individuals and is directly applicable to drug testing (workplace, pain management, and forensic), drug metabolism, and pharmaceutical development.
Sascha Nicklisch Ph.D. I Academic Senate I 4117 Meyer Hall I
Dr. Nicklisch has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The University of Cologne (Germany) and works in the field of Molecular Toxicology. His research focuses on identifying molecular mechanisms underlying accumulation of toxic chemicals in humans and food organisms. This area has great relevance for current problems in food quality and safety authentication. A major part of Dr. Nicklisch’s current research focuses on identifying and quantifying unintended food contamination and intentional adulteration, including seafood and honey. The techniques to investigate those food contaminations range from DNA/RNA extraction and purification, over protein expression and activity assays, to mass spectrometry analysis of toxicant concentrations in food organisms and products.
Sanjai J. Parikh Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 3230 Plant and Environmental Science Building |
Dr. Parikh is an associate professor of soil chemistry in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. Dr. Parikh teaches Environmental Soil Chemistry; Advanced Topics in Soil Chemistry; and Soil, Water and Civilizations. His research addresses a wide range of biogeochemical processes at solid-liquid interfaces in the soil and water environment. Examples include: (1) examining transport and degradation mechanisms for pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles, hormones, and personal care products in soil and water (ground, surface, wastewater); (2) identifying persistent degradation products of primary pollutants (organic and inorganic) and determining their bioavailability; (3) determining reaction rates of contaminant oxidation/transformation at mineral and bacteria surfaces; (4) elucidating the rose of bacterial surface biomolecules in cell adhesion and biomineralization/dissolution reactions; (5) investigating the rose of extracellular polymeric compounds in heavy metal biogeocycling; and (6) evaluating the potential of biochar soil amendments to impact soil fertility, greenhouse gas emissions and contaminant transport.
Glendon Parker Ph.D. | Academic Federation |
Dr. Parker is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at UC Davis and the inventor of Protein-Based Human Identification. He is actively engaged in researching and developing techniques to obtain forensically useful genetic data from proteomic datasets, primarily using hair shaft protein, but also including enamel, and bone tissue as well as sexual assault kits. He has worked closely with the Forensic Science Center at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and he has a history as an academic and life scientist, including at the Utah Valley University and the University of Utah. He has trained at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He obtained both his Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. at Monash University, Australia.
Sean Peisert Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 2089 Academic Surge|
Dr. Peisert leads computer security research and development at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is also chief cybersecurity strategist for CENIC and is both an associate adjunct professor of Computer Science at UC Davis and of Health Informatics at the UC Davis School of Medicine. His current research and development interests cover a broad cross section of usable and useful computer security and privacy solutions, particularly in enabling secure and privacy-preserving scientific data analysis, and improving security in high-performance computing systems, and power grid control systems. He is also a co-lead of Trusted CI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. He has led numerous cybersecurity-related working groups, including co-leading the 2012 Dagstuhl Seminar on Organizational Processes for Supporting Sustainable Security; leading two workshops in 2015 for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research examining research needs in high-performance computing cybersecurity; and leading formation of the DOE Integrated Joint Cybersecurity Coordination Center (iJC3) Cyber R&D Enterprise Cybersecurity Capability (ECC) — an R&D effort composed of 10 DOE National Labs.
Kent E. Pinkerton Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 103 Center for Health and the Environment |
Dr. Pinkerton serves as chair of the Forensic Science Graduate Group at UC Davis. He is a professor in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Pediatrics Unit at the UC Davis Health System. He is also the Director of the Center for Health and the Environment in Davis, dedicated to initiating and fostering research programs in environmental health and toxicology. Dr. Pinkerton has authored more than 200 articles and book chapters on the cardiorespiratory, immune and neurological health effects of gases, particles, fibers, and tobacco smoke in both indoor and outdoor environments. He is a leading expert in children’s health and particulate toxicity, with emphasis in lung development and the fetal basis of adult-onset respiratory diseases. He has mentored more than 40 graduate students and is a graduate faculty member in comparative pathology, immunology, pharmacology and toxicology at UC Davis.
Robert Poppenga D.V.M., Ph.D. | Academic Senate | Maddy Equine Analytical Lab |
Dr. Poppenga is a professor of clinical biosciences for the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and heads up the Toxicology Section at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS). He received both his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and his doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana. He has extensive experience in wildlife toxicology, adverse effects of pesticides on animals, comparative medicine and toxicology, and analytical methodologies for chemical contaminants. His current research focuses on a historical database of chemical contamination of animal feeds.
Bahram Ravani Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 1013 Academic Surge |
Dr. Ravani is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis. He received his M.S. from Columbia University in New York and his Ph.D. from Stanford University, both in mechanical engineering. His research areas include forensic biomechanics, forensic evaluation and analysis of injury accidents and accident reconstruction. He also specializes in kinematics and dynamics, mechanical design and robotics. Ravani uses the science bases of kinematics, dynamics and biomechanical engineering in forensic evaluation of accidents and injuries which includes multidisciplinary investigation of traffic, industrial and other injury accidents. He has been involved in research, investigation and analysis of many accidents evaluating causation and accident reconstruction.
Robert H. Rice Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 4243 Meyer Hall |
Dr. Rice is a professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology. His areas of emphasis include mechanisms of action of toxic and physiological agents affecting keratinocyte growth and differentiation, biochemistry and expression of specific keratinocyte markers, metabolic activation of toxic agents in epidermal cells, and proteomics of epidermis and appendages. He is also a member of the UC Davis Graduate Groups in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, and Pharmacology and Toxicology.
William Ristenpart Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 3012 Bainer Hall |
Dr. Ristenpart is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. His research area of interest is the behavior of electrofluids, biofluids and microfluids. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from UC Davis, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University. He did his postdoctoral research at Harvard University. Recently, he received a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) grant in the area of bloodstain pattern interpretation. This NIJ grant will focus on using ultra-high-speed video and the mathematical analysis of blood drop dispersion in order to elucidate the effect of velocity and distance.
Jeffrey Rodzen Ph.D. | Academic Federation | Forensic Science Center |
Dr. Rodzen completed a Ph.D. in Genetics from UC Davis in 2001. He has worked professionally in the forensic science field for 15 years, including 10 years of experience as a Wildlife Forensic Specialist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and 5 years as the Forensic DNA Unit Supervisor for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office Crime Laboratory. Dr. Rodzen hosted Forensic Science Graduate Program student interns at both the Sacramento County DA and CDFW forensic laboratories. He is currently a research scientist (geneticist) with CDFW and is the lead person on the construction of a new genetics laboratory within CDFW. The new laboratory will combine genetics research and monitoring with forensic DNA method development in coordination with CDFW’s existing forensic laboratory.
Moshe Rosenberg D.Sc. | Academic Senate | 2200 Robert Mondavi Institute South |
Dr. Rosenberg is a professor and specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis. He received his M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees in food engineering and biotechnology from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. His forensic science-related research is focused on food traceability and authentication. Using different analytical approaches (stable isotopes, biological markers and trace elements analysis) his research is aimed at identifying the regional origin of food products in general, and cheese and other dairy products in particular. Other research areas include understanding the relationships between microstructural; physio-chemical and functional properties of food materials; microencapsulating properties of biomaterials; development of advanced, highly functional delivery systems for nutrients and bioactive compounds; and dairy science and technology.
Wilson K. Rumbeiha DVM, PhD, DABVT, DABT, ATS| Academic Senate | 4139 Meyer Hall|
Dr. Rumbeiha is a Veterinary Toxicologist with over 25 years of experience in toxicology. He is a faculty member in the department of Molecular Biosciences (Veterinary Medecine). His area of expertise relates to the illegal or inappropriate use of toxins to kill people, animals and wildlife. Dr. Rumbeiha’s research involves the use of analytical toxicology instrumentation for the identification of toxins suspected to cause animal sickness and/or death. He focuses on research to develop and improve analytical methods for diagnosis of intoxication in animals. Current research in his lab includes Compound 1080, a highly lethal toxicant affecting the nervous system and the cardiovascular system. It inhibits the Krebs cycle leading to acute death. Although it was discontinued on the market in this country, it continues to kill animals. The Department of Homeland Security has put this compound on the list of compounds deserving of additional research because of the potential to be misused as a terrorist weapon. Currently there is no FDA approved drug to treat intoxicated patients. Dr. Rumbeiha is interested in mentoring students on projects to develop a user-friendly tissue-based diagnostic method for diagnosis of Compound 1080 intoxication which can be transferred to veterinary diagnostic labs across the country. He is also interested in serving on student committees for students involved in other projects involving mammalian intoxication, including development and validation of diagnostic tests methods to confirm intoxications using biological matrices.
Ben Sacks Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 249 CCAH Building |
Dr. Sacks is a geneticist, an associate adjunct professor in the Department of Population Health and Reproduction, and director of the Canid Diversity and Conservation Laboratory in the Center for Veterinary Genetics at UC Davis. He conducts genetic research on domestic dogs and wildlife populations, including threatened and endangered carnivores. The laboratory has facilities for DNA extraction, PCR, sequencing and genotyping. Projects include development of autosomal and Y-chromosome STR and SNP markers and population-specific databases for genetic assignments.
James Mark Statham Ph.D. | Academic Federation | 244 CCAH Building |
Dr. Statham is an Assistant Project Scientist and Lecturer at the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC Davis. Dr. Statham uses molecular genetic tools to answer ecological and evolutionary questions about populations of wild animals. Many of the species studied are rare or endangered, thus much of the work is conservation focused and reliant on alternative DNA sources, such as hair, feces or museum specimens. Current research includes evolutionary studies of canids species and landscape and population genetics of endangered rodents.
Gang Sun Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 235 Everson Hall |
Dr. Sun is a professor in Textiles and Clothing at UC Davis. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Auburn University. Dr. Sun focuses on fiber and textile research using advanced polymer chemistry, development of novel functional textiles and nanofibrous materials, development of personal protective clothing materials personal use sensors for biological and chemical hazards, and the development of novel materials from biomasses including protein, cellulose, lignin and colorants.
Bart C Weimer Ph.D. | Academic Senate | 4023 Vet Med 3B |
Dr. Weimer is a professor of Population Health and Reproduction in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. He earned a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Sciences – Microbiology from Utah State University. Weimer’s research interests include molecular ecology of Salmonella in ready-to-eat foods and animals; molecular diagnostics development using lipids, artificial cells, and genomics; metagenomics of extreme environments, skin, and gut; DNA/RNA modification in bacteria; signal transduction and genomics of bacterial association with eukaryotic cells; effect of the redox potential on bacterial metabolism during host association; metabolism of infection and commensalism; natural antibacterial compound discovery; and computing regulatory networks for metabolic control analysis using flux, gene expression and metabolomics. Dr. Weimer has multiple active research grants with organizations including the NIH, Mars Inc., Applied Nanotechnology, and N2 Genetics LLC.