“We were interested in exploring pilot project ideas that could be proposed for Center-scale research and received these unrestricted funds at the exact time we needed them,” said Christine Kreuder Johnson, VMD, MPVM, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and ecosystem health in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Johnson is speaking about a generous gift of unrestricted funds from Pam Cook and Paul Gietzel that were used to purchase equipment needed to monitor wildlife through innovative remote sensing that can autonomously count populations. Johnson and her team were able to purchase thermal camera equipment to begin collecting data to evaluate changes in wildlife populations that would help us to understand how population distributions change over time.
“It Was Magic”
Johnson and her team had submitted a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the early 2020s to create an interdisciplinary Center focused on the Pre-emergence Phase of Pandemics as Part of the NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic prevention (PIPP) Phase 1 Program. The NSF grant enabled researchers to begin developing collaborations and planning for the type of research that could be proposed at the center-scale. At that moment, Pam and Paul connected with Dr. Johnson with an interest in supporting her work. “It was magic,” Johnson said. “They contributed the funds to support actual research activities on the ground so that we could establish proof of concept for our more novel ideas, which helped solidify our path towards future research at the center.”
This foundation work done as part of PIPP Phase 1 was integral to Johnson’s team’s ability to submit and then be awarded a PIPP Phase 2 grant for the NSF Center for Pandemic Insights (CPI) in 2024. The center brings together 10 additional institutions in the fields of wildlife health, engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and social sciences to investigate, characterize, and ultimately develop technology capable of detecting key events that precede pandemics.
NSF CPI’s vision is to understand the relationship between ecosystem change, disease dynamics, and the risk of spillover by using artificial intelligence to bring together many disparate data streams. “Ultimately, we hope that these more autonomous and remote sensing techniques can usher in a new way of monitoring populations for risk that makes wildlife surveillance less labor intense and more scalable,” she said. Johnson’s team is using machine learning algorithms to analyze wildlife population data collected with the thermal camera - work led by a UC Berkeley undergraduate student with collaborations with the UC Davis DataLab and researchers across the center. See the center’s work in action, including the equipment purchased thanks to Pam and Paul on a segment from PBS News Hour.
A Gift that Made the Difference
“We were able to see that the seed funds really had a direct impact on the program,” Paul said. “From my understanding, the NSF recognizes that philanthropic support is helpful to bolstering this program. When the grant came in, we were thrilled to see that our smaller gift kick started this project.”
From their perspectives, Pam and Paul were looking to make a difference. “We have been fortunate with our careers and are at a time when we can give back. We were interested in finding some high-impact programs in the international sector. After doing some research, we found the work Johnson was doing.”
The fact that their gift was unrestricted was a conscious choice. “We knew Johnson’s program garnered large-scale support from the government funding due to its important mission,” Pam said. “The gift, while ‘small’ compared to some donations, was very significant for us. And we wanted to give the whole amount to the program, to ensure it would be able to be utilized fully.”
Pam’s and Paul’s son Kevin graduated from UC Davis in 2011, and they are longtime supporters of the university. They also contribute to Article 26 Backpack, which is part of UC Davis Global Affairs. “UC Davis regionally and nationally is a terrific institution and globally making a huge impact,” said Pam.
Shaping the Future
Dr. Johnson and her team are now collecting data from wildlife from several locations in California. “In the future, the hope is to have innovative techniques that can be applied across the world to support wildlife infectious disease research wherever it is needed most,” Johnson said.
For their part, Pam and Paul hope others can join them in providing unrestricted gifts to fund projects that are meaningful. “We know this kind of research is important in being able to identify potential epidemics,” Pam said. “I believe in the importance of the research, and to see our funds play an important part in the future health for all of us is really exciting.”
“With research, you never know what the outcome is going to be,” Paul said. “We had no particular expectation of the outcome of the data collected, except more knowledge that may be valuable in future. We are thrilled that this project will continue to expand our understanding of the movement of disease to be able to monitor the next pandemic before it starts.”
“With this center, and with gifts from philanthropic partners like Pam Cook and Paul Gietzel, technical innovation and information continues to evolve,” Johnson said. “Together, we can understand more about wildlife, how viruses cause epidemics, and how they evolve. The transdisciplinary scope of the center is very promising.”
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Why Unrestricted Giving Matters
Pam and Paul’s gift was unrestricted, allowing the center to apply funds where they were most needed—whether purchasing essential equipment or supporting students as they embark on their research careers. Unrestricted gifts provide immediate, tangible impact and give researchers the flexibility to act quickly when opportunities arise.
Join Pam and Paul in advancing life-changing research.
https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/giving/ways-give
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