A big congratulations to Poll Zhang (she/her), who is earning a bachelor’s degree in food science with a minor in statistics and will start the Ph.D. program in food chemistry at UC Davis. She was honored with a Dean's Circle Award for outstanding academics and community service.
Her goal is to develop analytical methods for characterizing and upcycling chemical compounds from agricultural byproducts into innovative, health-focused food products. She received multiple research fellowships and spent three years conducting research on upcycling California almond waste streams and evaluating their potential applications. She has served as social media manager for the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, served as treasurer of the student-run UC Davis Food Tech Club and volunteered with Meals on Wheels.
You can read about all nine awardees in the article titled "CA&ES Exceptional Graduates", by Tiffany Dobbyn, June 8, 2026.