News

Congratulations to our Award-Winning ETOX seniors: Claire Watson, Jeffrey Aldon, and Terra Schamun!

Claire Watson is this year's Outstanding Senior in Environmental Toxicology. Jeffrey Aldon and Terra Schamun each won awards for Outstanding Performance in Environmental Toxicology. 

This award honors Dr. George Alexeeff, former Director of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and recognizes graduate students conducting research in environmental health sciences.

Congratulations to Anthony Tercero, winner of the 2025 Matsumura award (one of two) from the Department of Environmental Toxicology at UC Davis. 

This award is in honor of former ETOX professor Dr. Fumio Matsumura.

Congratulations to the UC Davis Environmental Toxicology graduating class of 2025!

You are an exceptional group of scholars, and we - ETOX Faculty and Staff - are so honored that you chose to study with us. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Please keep in touch!

At the 2025 Undergraduate Research Conference at UC Davis, Environmental Toxicology students showcased impactful research on emerging environmental health threats. Lalima Saini presented novel findings on the generation of carcinogenic antimony during e-cigarette use. Terra Schamun assessed heavy metal risks in "Preconception Detox" supplements, revealing lead exposures surpassing California’s Prop 65 limits. Emily Richter explored how climate change may influence methylmercury formation in wetlands. Claire Watson investigated the presence and health risks of PFAS in California seafood.

Environmental Toxicology student Claire Watson serves as a peer advisor in the ETOX major. She has been selected as Peer Advisor recipient of the 2025 Eleanor and Harry Walker Academic Advising Award. This award recognizes her outstanding contributions to Academic Advising in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Host Dave Schlom is joined by Zeke Spooner, a Ph.D student at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, to talk about microplastics.

They discuss the challenges in determining sources of plastics in the marine environment (note the brightly colored clothing above used to help identify clothing fiber contaminants) and how ubiquitous plastics are in ocean waters.

Dr. Michele La Merrill has been honored with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) "Paper of the Month" award for her paper titled "Consensus on the key characteristics of metabolism disruptors." Published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology, this research identifies 12 key characteristics shared by chemicals that disrupt metabolism, such as impairing pancreatic function and inducing insulin resistance.

ETOX Associate Professor Tran Nguyen has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by the Biden White House! 

This is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.This award “recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers.