UC Davis vs. Cardiff University in the Eric Conn Biochemistry Quizzes

By Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis News 

"They reached across the ocean, 5,000 miles away, and delighted in the challenge, the congeniality and the conviviality of the final event in the Eric Conn Memorial Biochemistry Quizzes.

The final, last Wednesday (March 10), not only memorialized a UC Davis plant biochemist, but offered “Zoom fatigue relief” for UC Davis undergraduate students and Cardiff University students, said the organizer and moderator, Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology.

“They had so much fun,” he said. “Ten years from now, most of these students will be in another field and professions unrelated to biochemistry. Those not remaining in biochemistry will probably forget everything they learned this quarter. However, all students who participated will never forget this experience. In the middle of a pandemic and suffering from Zoom fatigue, they made new friends across the pond. Eric Conn would be happy to see undergraduate students having this experience.”

UC Davis won the event, but “UC Davis had a competitive advantage because this was their second game,” Leal noted. “Everything was new for Cardiff. Additionally, the contents of our syllabi differ.”

Catherine Rodriguez, a microbiology major, captained the six-member UC Davis team, called the Ironic Bonds. Fellow team members: Mary Aina (psychology major), Kelly Brandt (biochemistry and molecular biology), Jiaying Liu (biological sciences), Aly Lodigiana (cellular biology) and Efrain Vasquez Santos (neurobiology, physiology and behavior).

The Cardiff team: spokesperson Jessie Vaughan and members Kia Blackburn, Marianna Gisdaki, Alice Pike, Anastasia Rouchota and Ellie Whitworth.

‘The world we live in’

“The Cardiff team did a marvelous job,” Leal said. “It was a pleasure seeing Jessica and her team more than 5,000 miles away playing on the screen. That’s the world we live in: global learning.”

The event also created friendships. “A student from UC Davis reached out to become an electronic pen pal with Cardiff students,” Leal said, adding that “both Cardiff and UC Davis parents wrote direct emails indicating how pleased they were with the event.”

The deans will exchange hoodies and all participants will receive certificates and gift cards.

UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May delivered the welcoming address. While the students worked on their answers, Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, answered questions on COVID-19 vaccines.

Nearly 300 people logged in for the day’s program, which started with two UC Davis semifinals — Ironic Bonds vs. Gibbs, and Alpha Helices vs. Beta Strands, the teams that advanced from campus preliminaries in February. The Ironic Bonds team, victorious in its semifinal against Gibbs, would be joined by one member of the Alpha Helices in the final vs. Cardiff."

To read the full article, visit the UC Davis News website.