2025-26 Seed Grants for International Activities Recipients

Congratulations to our 2025-26 Seed Grant for International Activities Recipients

Partnering with UC Davis colleges and schools, the Office of Research and Inclusive Excellence, Global Affairs provides Seed Grants for International Activities to faculty taking on innovative research, service and engagement projects around the world.

2025-26 Grant Recipients

Building Portugal's Marine Food Web: Studying Global Upwelling Ecosystem Sustainability

Portugal (Europe: Western Europe)

Fernanda Valdovinos

CAMPOS Scholar

Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Policy
UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Coastal and Marine Science Institute/ Bodega Marine Laboratory
UC Davis Office of Research

Fernando Lima

Associação BIOPOLIS

Group of people celebrating at a coastal location, exploring tide pools and rocky terrain.

The Sounds of Capoeira History

United Kingdom; Brazil (Europe: Western Europe; Americas: Latin America)

Juan Diego Díaz

CAMPSSAH Scholar

Associate Professor, Music
UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Matthias Röhrig Assunção (History)

University of Essex

Two people dance in one photograph, and people play musical instruments in the other photo.

Chocolate Unwrapped: Rethinking Cacao Histories Through Art and Public Scholarship

Spain (Europe: Western Europe)

Daniela Gutiérrez-Flores

Assistant Professor, Spanish and Portuguese
UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Marta Manzanares Mileo

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

UCD Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing (UCD BIMSON), Central Philippine University (CPU), Universidad de Santa Isabel (USI), and University of Santo Tomas (UST) Partnership: Modeling Advanced Practice Nursing Interprofessional Medical Care Teams in the Philippines to Deliver Primary Care as a Model for Surveillance and Prevention of Tropical and Emerging Diseases

Philippines (Asia: Southeast Asia)

Zyrene Marsh

Assistant Professor, Nursing
UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Charleen Singh

UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Stephen Cavanaugh

UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Gabriel Ortigoza

Central Philippine University

Healthcare workers assist patients in a community setting

Best Practice Modeling: U.S. & Kenyan Academic Health Partners with “HEART” NGO Multidisciplinary Teams Mitigate Health Impacts of Climate and Health Access Barriers for HIV+ Women and Children in Kenya

Kenya (Africa: East Africa)

Janet Meda

Assistant Clinical Professor Health Sciences, UC Davis Health
UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Lynda Creighton-Wong

Professor Health Science, Director Psych Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program
UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing

Dr. Miriam Wagoro

Mental Health Nursing Faculty
University of Nairobi

Exploring the Economic Sustainability of the Chilean Beef Sector

Chile; United States (Americas: Latin America, Americas: North America)

Luis Peña-Lévano

Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension in Dairy Economics, Population Health and Reproduction
UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine

Rodrigo Vásquez-Panizza

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

Cancer in the Mountains of the Andes (CIMA): A Transdisciplinary Consortium to Advance Cancer Genomics, Environment, Education and Equity in the South American Andes

Colombia (Americas: Latin America)
Supported by the Gurdev S. and Harwant K. Khush Seed Grant

Luis G. Carvajal-Carmona

Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
UC Davis School of Medicine

Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Office of Research

Brad Pollock

Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Office of Research

Elysia Alvarez

Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Office of Research

Laura Fejerman

Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Office of Research

Migrant Actresses and Italian-American Diasporic Identity: From Sicily to San Francisco at the Fin de Siècle

Italy; United Kingdom (Europe: Western Europe)
Supported by the Eivind Lange and Mary Puma Engagement and Research Italy Fund

Michael Subialka

Associate Professor, Comparative Literature
UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Elisa Segnini

University of Glasgow

Positive Geometry for Cosmological Correlators

Italy (Europe: Western Europe)
Supported by the Eivind Lange and Mary Puma Engagement and Research Italy Fund

Jaroslav Trnka

Professor, Physics and Astronomy
UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Guilherme Pimentel

Scula Normale Superiore di Pisa

Group of smiling people outside among trees, next to a classroom scene with a man at a chalkboard.

Democratic Infrastructures for Participatory Governance: A Taiwan–California Collaboration on Public Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Socio-Technical Transitions

Taiwan (Asia: East Asia)
Supported by the UC Davis-Taiwan Collaborative Research Fund in Memory of Larry Vanderhoef

Akshita Sivakumar

CAMPSSAH Scholar

Assistant Professor, Design
UC Davis College of Letters and Science

Wen-Ling Tu

National Chengchi University

A yellow bird-shaped lamp sits on a table beside four colorful coasters.

Developing Radar Based Models of Waterfowl Abundance and Location Around Commercial Poultry Farms in Taiwan

Taiwan (Asia: East Asia)
Supported by the UC Davis-Taiwan Collaborative Research Fund in Memory of Larry Vanderhoef

Maurice Pitesky

Associate Professor of Cooperative Extension, Population Health and Reproduction
UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Cai-Wen Deng

Central Weather Administration-Taiwan

PSYCHEhD: Personalized behaviour Strateg(Y)ies for Campus Focused Healthy Eating and healthy Diets

Ireland; United States (Europe: Western Europe; Americas: North America)
Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Lauren Au

Associate Professor, Nutrition
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Aifric O’Sullivan

University College Dublin

Two women serve food at a table, while another woman prepares a dish at a buffet.

Brassica Bites

Ireland (Europe: Western Europe)
Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Daniela Barile

Professor, Food Science
UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Marco García-Vaquero, Niamh McLoughlin, Gerald Berry

University College Dublin

Circular AgriFood Bioeconomy Implementation Exchange (CAFBIE)

Ireland, United States (Europe: Western Europe; Americas: North America)
Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Ned Spang

Associate Professor, Food Science and Technology
UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Boon-Ling Yeo

Air Quality Research Center
UC Davis Office of Research

Nicholas Holden

University College Dublin

Dual Ecosystem Map highlighting California and Ireland with key focus areas.

FoodSpecAI: AI Assisted Analyses of High-Dimensional Spectroscopy Data in Food Systems

Ireland; United States (Europe: Western Europe; Americas: North America)
Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Jairo Fúquene-Patiño

CAMPOS Scholar

Assistant Professor, Statistics
College of Letters and Science

Stephen F. Brown

Associate Director, USDA-NIFA/NSF AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS)

Office of Research

Claire Gormley

University College Dublin

Bridging Disciplines: A UC Davis-University College Dublin Partnership for One Health Education

Ireland; Iceland (Europe: Western Europe)
Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Michael S. Wilkes

Professor, Medicine and Epidemiology
UC Davis School of Medicine

Michael Ziccardi

Director, Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center
UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine

Marco García-Vaquero

University College Dublin

AI in Veterinary Medicine for OneHealth

Ireland (Europe: Western Europe)

Supported by the UCD² Joint Research Fund

Pranav Pandit

Assistant Professor of Veterinary Epidemiology, Population Health and Reproduction
UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine

Conor McAloon

University College Dublin