UC Davis Student Chapter
On Saturday February 16, fish enthusiasts from both AFS and TWS took a trip out to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery! There we learned about the life cycle of Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout, witnessed the migration of spawning Steelhead, learned about the hatchery process, and even got to feed juvenile fish! Thank you to the members of AFS for sharing all of the amazing fish facts and assisting in putting this event together.
-Thomas Grossman, Chapter Representative
On January 21, 2019, our members caught a sunset at the top of Hutchison Parking Structure right on campus! It was a great way to end a relaxing three-day weekend and start our short week of school. There were quite a lot of people also enjoying the evening; the more the merrier! Many of us thought the sky looked prettier on the side facing away from the actual sunset because there seemed to be an ombre affect; turning the sky from blue to pink. If you’re interested in seeing more events like this please let the officers in your student chapter know!
– Beverley Loo, Internal Public Relations Coordinator
On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 TWS members attended the Winters Salmon Festival! This event is a celebration of the return of Chinook salmon to Putah Creek for fall spawning. 
The Winters community comes together to educate on salmon biology and bring awareness to environmental topics to encourage public involvement in conservation. Children and families happily visit the many educational booths and overall it is an exciting and fun-filled afternoon!
Our TWS members volunteered to help with the guided tours of Putah Creek; we shared some general salmon biology facts and were able to chat with people with a wide variety of interest and knowledge in conservation. Although we did not see any salmon swimming up the creek, we did have the chance to see the effects of the current restoration projects that are improving the Putah Creek habitat. TWS plans to work with the Putah Creek Council to help with wildlife monitoring to track the progress of the restoration projects — stay tuned for more information on our monitoring project! 
Other members participated in the ever important job of wearing salmon costumes to bring fun to the event! The costumes definitely brought a smile to the faces of all who encountered them and honestly we could hardly contain our own laughter as well! It was so much fun seeing children excited about salmon and our members had a great time too!
Thanks to all of the members who joined us at the Salmon Festival!
-Raven Barbera, Design Coordinator
We held our first TWS social on October 6, 2018. The event was opened up to members of both The Wildlife Society (TWS) and the UCD Environmental Club in which 41 people, members and officers combined, attended. We spent the morning at a picnic site in Lake Berryessa. We set up blankets for a small breakfast-styled picnic and started off the social with a few ice breakers to get members to meet each other and their fellow officers. Afterwards, we broke up into where some members went birding, while others continued participating in ice breakers, playing board games, hammocking, and/or hanging out at the lake.
Something I really liked about the event was its location. I think I would like to continue having outdoor socials, as not only does it serve as a nice little nature-escape away from Davis, but it also allows members to participate in a variety of activities that would not be possible or not be as fun/inclusive in a more indoor/classroom setting. More than anything though, my favorite part from this Lake Day Social were our members. I spoke to many of them throughout the event and got to know the four that were in my carpool quite well. They are all such brilliant, kind hearted people and I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know them. I look forward to seeing their faces throughout the year!
-Lindsey Arkangel, Events Coordinator
This past summer I went on a two-week adventure “down under” to volunteer at the Walkabout Wildlife Park in Calga Springs outside Sydney, Australia. I studied zoology, wildlife care, and zoo veterinary medicine with koalas, kangaroos, echidnas, wallabies, and all kinds of other Australian wildlife. We also went to Sydney for a day trip to a nearby beach town, explored aboriginal sites in the bush, and went behind the scenes at Targona Zoo. Some of the activities we did at the Wildlife Park included assisting in treatment rounds with Australian wildlife, performing health checks kangaroos and koalas, examining pythons and echidnas, learning to handle and assess possums and bandicoots, creating enrichments for everyone from dingos to cockatoos, and performing veterinary labs such as marsupial necropsies.
After I got back from Australia, I worked at my local small animal veterinary clinic as a Veterinary Assistant. I got to do anal gland expressions, ear flushes, injections, fluid therapy, blood draws, and so much more! I especially enjoyed assisting the veterinarians’ surgeries consisting of eye enucleations, mass removals, dentals, amputations, spays, and neuters! Working with all of these various species this summer made me really excited to become a veterinarian one day!
