Africa

During the 2019 International Education Week at UC Davis, Global Affairs featured short films by UC Davis students describing their study, research, and service experiences from 10 countries around the world. From studying GIS in Bhutan, to protecting sea turtle eggs in Taiwan, to treating elephants in Thailand, and studying fashion design in France, students shared from their wide array of experiences and provide a vision for what is possible for other students at UC Davis.

Global Affairs Student Assistant Joyce Zamorano Sanchez reflects on her summer working with the UC Davis Mandela Washington Fellowship.

Laura Van Auker, an assistant clinical professor in the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, has built global partnerships with nursing schools and health organizations around the world, most recently as a Global Affairs Faculty Ambassador.

On June 19, UC Davis Global Affairs welcomed 24 young professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa as part of its fourth Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative.

Dana Armstrong, an international agricultural development graduate student, and Peter Nasielski, a design and sustainable environmental design undergraduate student, met 2017-18 UC Davis Humphrey Fellow Martin Kailie, a farmer, social entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Green Africa Inc., at UC Davis before teaming up on a research project in Kailie's home country of Sierra Leone.

Global academic projects and internships, study abroad, and international research do more than help you to reach your academic goals. They also broaden your horizons through exposure to hands-on experiences and new cultures in diverse settings. At UC Davis, students are gaining skills and partnering with collaborators in all corners of the world.

A UC Davis team of agricultural economists is testing whether insured seeds can increase food security for farmers who regularly risk losing crops to extreme weather. In Mozambique, this includes flooding from a rare but catastrophic cyclone like Idai in 2019 but is more likely to be extreme drought that can strike in any year.

Budding photographer Matthew Dea has a passion for traveling. He’s also a senior at UC Davis majoring in biotechnology with a minor in linguistics. His passion for travel led him to study abroad in South Africa — in the Fall 2018 UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP).

As UC Davis prepares students for an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, the university has a new vision to provide a meaningful global education to all students, regardless of financial circumstances, ability to travel or other considerations.