Four faculty members representing the fields of fish biology and conservation, nutrition, water science and veterinary medicine received 1995 Distinguished Public Service Awards today from their colleagues at the University of California, Davis. The annual awards, including the sharing of a $1,000 honorarium, were presented to professors Peter Moyle, Judith Stern, Kenneth Tanji and Tilahun Yilma by the Representative Assembly of the Academic Senate, the governing body of UC Davis professors. Established in 1990, the awards recognize faculty members who have made significant public-service contributions to the community, state, nation and world throughout their academic careers. Peter Moyle, professor of fish and conservation biology Moyle has effectively used his considerable knowledge about California's freshwater fishes to influence important public-policy decisions, educate the public and work toward solutions. His public-service activities have risen proportionately to the decline of the health of the San Francisco bay and delta fisheries. Moyle has testified before government decision-makers, talked with citizen groups, taught students from elementary to college age and even typed a popular fish biology book on behalf of better public understanding and protection of fish, reaching out to promote the benefits of fish conservation. Working with the Natural Heritage Institute, a public-interest law firm based in San Francisco and dedicated to nonconfrontational solutions, Moyle helped develop water-quality recommendations that ultimately were incorporated into the recent standards set for the bay and delta by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He prepared petitions for national endangered species status for two other delta fishes, the longfin smelt and the Sacramento splittail. In addition, he leads the Delta Native Fishes Recovery Team, charged with developing a plan to save the smelt and other endangered, threatened and declining species living in one of the country's most environmentally and economically important watersheds. Moyle also is working with the Wilderness Society and the Pacific Rivers Council to help develop constructive solutions to the restoration of salmon in the Pacific Northwest and in California. Closer to campus, he is active on the Putah Creek Council, whose fight to enhance the aquatic ecosystem could influence regulated water throughout the state. Judith Stern, professor of nutrition An authority on the causes of obesity, Stern was lauded for her service to government agencies and to the general public. In addition to coordinating a productive campus research program, Stern has for more than 15 years given of her time to help formulate public policy related to nutrition. Most recently, she chaired the Institute of Medicine committee charged with developing criteria for evaluating various weight-control methods. In December the committee reported that obesity is at epidemic proportions in the United States. Stern was a member from 1983 to 1986 of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which was responsible for establishing national nutritional guidelines. In 1989-90 she was appointed to the Nutrition Labeling Committee, charged with establishing the guidelines for current labeling requirements on packaged foods. She also has been active in workshops, study sections and search committees for the National Institutes of Health. In an effort to supply the general public with accurate nutrition information, Stern has written dozens of articles for the lay press. And despite a daunting schedule of academic and government service commitments, she consistently makes room for interviews requested by print and broadcast journalists. Kenneth Tanji, professor of hydrologic science Tanji was recognized for his work related to issues of water quality, availability and use in California's agriculturally rich Central Valley. For decades he has helped shape and direct academic research and public awareness of these issues, particularly in the areas of agricultural water management and water quality. Tanji provided to government and the agricultural community the technical knowledge base necessary for developing water-management plans. Furthermore, colleagues noted that Tanji's extraordinary spirit of quiet cooperation in this often volatile arena was as valuable as his scientific expertise. When selenium was discovered to be posing a toxic threat to wildlife at the Kesterson Reservoir, thus placing the future of nearby farming operations at risk, Tanji led an effort to bring academics, government officials and affected individuals together to collectively develop solutions. He also developed a report on research needs for agricultural evaporation ponds -- a widely-used, though controversial, component of agricultural irrigation systems in the San Joaquin Valley. Tanji brought together the diverse interests on this difficult issue, then prepared the first comprehensive analysis of the ponds. The recommendations from his study still form the basis for California's regulatory actions on these basins. Tanji also is one of the pioneers of agroforestry in California, recommending that agricultural drainage water be reused in tree cultivation. This method augments the available water supply, transfers water to the atmosphere and disposes of unwanted compounds in the drainage water. He also was instrumental in developing water-conservation measures to reduce subsurface drainage that moves selenium into shallow ground waters. His work was the basis for a demonstration program developed by the state to implement recommended water-management practices for farms. Tilahun Yilma, professor of microbiology and immunology School of Veterinary Medicine The public-service efforts of Yilma have been felt globally, as he has worked tirelessly to bring the benefits of modern molecular biology to developing nations in Africa and Asia. Born in Ethiopia, Yilma has pursued a research career that has taken him back to Africa where he is currently field-testing a genetically engineered vaccine that he developed for the devastating cattle disease rinderpest. Should the vaccine prove successful, it will likely prevent the annual loss of millions of animals in Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, Yilma also is conducting research for the National Institutes of Health aimed at developing a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus that will be effective against AIDS. Intent on transferring technology to developing nations, Yilma has established collaborations with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the governments of Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Brazil, Argentina, China, Italy and India. The International Laboratory for Molecular Biology, which Yilma established and directs at UC Davis, has undertaken an ambitious program to train international scientists in molecular biology by bringing postdoctoral fellows to campus for an intensive work period. A number of Egyptian scientists have completed this training and have returned to their country to work in a molecular biotechnology laboratory set up by Yilma in Cairo. While maintaining a large and active research program, Yilma also devotes considerable time to unpaid consultations and to providing expert testimony before international and federal hearings, meetings and commissions.