The Global Impact Fellows Program (formerly called the Global Education for All Fellows) provides students with the opportunity to lead or participate in student-led projects that address both global + local issues. These projects provide students a space to develop their project management, leadership, and technical skills with assistance from an academic or professional staff mentor. Seven projects are underway, each with a student lead, staff and faculty mentors, and four to five students collaborating throughout the academic year.

The Global Impact Fellows Program draws upon UC Davis’ commitment to Global Education for All, which aims to provide all UC Davis students with global learning opportunities and experiences. Additionally, each of this year’s projects is tied to one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to create a sustainable future for all.

Learn about this Year’s Projects

• Creating and Distributing Multilingual Resources

  • Led by fourth-year B.A. student Sydney Alper, this project aims to translate existing resources on campus in languages beyond English. One of the main goals is to ensure that international students, immigrant students, and those whose first language is not English can feel more accepted on campus and have resources to easily understand the content that is available to them. 

“I’m excited about being a part of the Global Impact Fellows program because I want to make a tangible impact for the global community on campus. When I noticed a lack of documents available in languages other than English, I wanted to change that and this program gives me the perfect opportunity to do so. I want to more publicly showcase the diversity of language and culture on the Davis campus.” -Sydney Alper

• ParaDocX – Free Global Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

  • Led by School of Medicine student Rawlings Lyle, the ParaDocx project aims to develop a new electronic medical record (EMR) system. The project will provide educational opportunities for future clinicians and implement technological advancements for free clinics, which have historically been overlooked in the realm of digital healthcare solutions. 

• Aggies Near & Far

  • Led by third-year Ph.D. student Jannet Torres Espinoza, the Aggies Near & Far project is a podcast aiming to cultivate global education and foster intercultural connections. Podcast episodes highlight various cultural backgrounds of those in the UC Davis community and their experiences. 

"As the Aggies Near and Far podcast leader, I have had a very good experience with Global Education for All fellows during the last year. It was a great platform to get involved with different initiatives at UC Davis and exchange knowledge with other fellows. So, I am glad to continue in this new phase as Global Impact Fellows, now with a mentoring program and new opportunities." -Jannet Torres Espinoza

• One Health Symposium Training and Resource Program

  • Led by second-year VetMed student Amalie Luneng Solli, the One Health Symposium (OHS) is an annual symposium that brings together students and professionals in veterinary, medical, and environmental fields to engage in interactive discussion, poster presentations, and networking opportunities. The team aims to increase resource creation and leadership training for the symposium with a focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

• Project Amazon Link: A Cross-Cultural Collaboration for Sustainable Applications in Plant Biotechnology

  • Led by third-year Ph.D. student Gabrielle Wyatt, Project Amazon Link (PAL) is a virtual exchange course designed to connect students from diverse backgrounds to discuss agricultural challenges and biotech developments, along with learning from students with different cultural points of view. PAL’s goal this year is to assemble a multidisciplinary team to enhance the intercultural exchange elements of the curriculum and to improve cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2024-25 Global Impact Fellows Program. I applied to this program to help develop and improve a cross-cultural journal club for UC Davis students and collaborating institutions in Ecuador and Brazil. The primary goal is to create networks of students from diverse backgrounds to address global biotech challenges in agriculture. I am particularly excited to collaborate with a team of UC Davis students from various majors and perspectives, working together toward this goal.” - Gabrielle Wyatt

• Simulating the California Food System

  • Led by third-year B.A. student Brittney Nial, this project aims to highlight food waste in the United States. The project's goals include working with researchers, institutions, policymakers and more to gather data on the causes of food waste. With this data, the project aims to create a digital twin (a highly complex model based on a world system) of the California food system from farm to fork to learn how we can better reduce food waste and food insecurity. 

• Discovering Academia

  • Led by third-year B.A. student Brent Valentine and third-year B.A. student Keller Kramer, this project is a nonprofit podcast initiative that aims to promote curiosity and increase the accessibility of academia. Launched in 2023, podcast episodes cover a variety of research topics across academic disciplines and highlight researchers from around the world. Through their podcast, the team has shared perspectives unique to each culture and how these cultures play into approaches to research and disciplines.

“Keller and I are thrilled to introduce Discovering Academia to the Global Impact Fellows program. This opportunity allows us to welcome valuable new team members and enhance our educational resources for Davis students. The skills and insights from our fellow students and faculty advisors will accelerate our ability to curate a comprehensive catalog of resources to help students explore new ideas and hopefully secure research positions.” - Brent Valentine

Program Information

This program runs during the academic year from the Fall Quarter to the following Spring Quarter. Applicants can apply to the program as either a Project Lead or Project Participant. Applications for the 2025-26 academic year are currently open and close on April 27, 2025. For more information, please contact Jessica Fareri at the Global Learning Hub.