Global Aggies

​​​​​​​Veterinary medicine doctoral student Amanda Crofton is helping animals and people—and advancing global education for all—right in our own backyard.

​​​​​​​From Madrid’s Instituto Internacional to the Center for Mind and Brain at UC Davis, cognitive science major Jorge Murillo has been all about experiential and empirical research. And now he’s embarking on a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore that brain connection. 

After working alongside two Visiting Fulbright Scholars from Romania and a visiting international scholar from Japan, UC Davis global disease biology major Amanda Nguyen was inspired to apply, and was later selected, for the highly competitive NIGINTERN undergraduate student internship in Japan to continue her research on the neurophysiology of itch and nerves.

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.

UC Davis Mandela Washington Fellow Adaku Ufere (2018-19, Nigeria) shares how her Mandela Washington Fellowship experience changed her world perspective and influenced her decision to quit her job as an energy attorney directing the energy practice of a pan-African law firm to become an agent of change for gender equity in Africa's energy sector.

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

Melanie Montoya, a design major at UC Davis, shares her global learning experiences while on campus and abroad—two UCEAP study abroad programs; creating a KDVS radio show centered around design and intercultural learning; joined multiple global on-campus student orgs; a member of the Chancellor’s Job Leadership Shadowing Program; and more!

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.

To say that former UC Davis Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow Itzel Morales (2016-17, México) is responsible for climate leadership in Latin America is no understatement. Through her work with Climate Reality Latin America, she is the official coordinator of climate activists throughout Latin America, including her home country of México, overseeing 1,260 climate leaders representing 20 countries.

Maria Arteaga, a managerial economics major and technology management minor, was already an active student leader before she became a member of the Global Education for All Steering Committee—an experience that has reaffirmed for Arteaga, who arrived at UC Davis as a transfer student, the importance of providing a global education to all students, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances.