The University of California, Davis, is pleased to announce new awards totaling $1.2 million from the Bridge Funding Initiative supported by the W. M. Keck Foundation. This investment will provide critical resources to six high‑impact basic science projects during a period when early‑stage research often faces significant funding uncertainty. The funded projects include one from Associate Professor of Chemistry Jesús M. Velázquez.
The Regeneration Research Program is designed to help faculty fill gaps created by the current constrained funding environment. Grant awards range from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on proposed needs and budget justification.
Chemistry graduate student Cocoro Nagasaka works at the interface of environmental and energy sciences. And now he’s continuing his research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, or LLNL, through the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research program.
Research Corporation for Science Advancement has awarded $800,000 to 11 Cottrell Scholars, including Associate Professor of Chemistry Jesús Velázquez, through its RCSA Bridge Awards. This emergency initiative will help stabilize strong research programs that have experienced disruptions due to abrupt changes to their federal funding.
University of California researchers, in collaboration with University of Michigan researchers, have developed a method to take carbon dioxide, an industrial waste product that pollutes the atmosphere, and turn it into something useful: precursors to make cement.
As a UC Davis associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at the College of Letters and Science, Jesús Velázquez employs his chemistry expertise to synthesize materials useful for environmental remediation, transforming carbon dioxide-based waste streams, and energy conversion and storage. With his sights set on transforming the world for the better through chemistry, Velázquez, ever humble, never fails to thank the family members and academic mentors who guided his life path. Their imprint echoes into today, informing how he mentors and teaches.
