By Amy Young

UC Davis Graduate Studies recently honored 34 faculty members with Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Awards. Among the recipients was Dr. Jeffrey Stott, a professor in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, and member of the Graduate Group in Integrative Pathobiology.

Faculty were nominated for the inaugural awards by graduate groups for outstanding excellence in advising and mentoring of graduate students. Graduate programs highlighted faculty for their service to the program, commitment to advising and mentoring, and positive impact on graduate students and colleagues. The awards are part of the new initiatives Graduate Studies has developed to highlight and promote positive advising and mentoring experiences. Advising and mentoring efforts enhance graduate student retention and well-being, allowing graduate students to successfully navigate and thrive in graduate programs.

As a veterinary immunologist, Stott is well known for his research on the development and implementation of control measures for foothill abortion (epizootic bovine abortion; EBA), a tick-borne disease that has plagued ranchers in California and neighboring states as far back as the 1940’s. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine was actually founded in 1948 in part to study this disease. Through a 30-year partnership with the cattle industry, Stott led the effort to develop a preventive vaccine.

“Receiving this award for advising and mentoring graduate students is the greatest honor I could imagine,” Stott said. “As faculty, we all do a lot of things which we put our hearts and souls into. For me, large animal infectious disease research and associated mentoring of graduate students have been my greatest loves. I am most thankful for the environment here at UC Davis and the School of Veterinary Medicine that has allowed me to successfully pursue my many goals.”

Stott’s most recent Ph.D. student, Roxann Motroni, had this to say about her mentor: “It’s hard to succinctly describe the profound impact that Dr. Stott had on me. I frequently lean upon the many lessons he taught me. Jeff is the greatest mentor because even after many years of conducting research he still gets excited about results and is contagious in his passion for doing real-world, translational research that delivered solutions to everyday farmers and ranchers. Moreover, he was incredibly supportive and allowed me to grow as an independent scientist by giving me the freedom and confidence to explore the scientific questions that were of most interest.”

Congratulations Dr. Stott!