Classrooms aren't the only place for lessons at UC Davis. With the help of professors students are also making discoveries and learning new skills through research as "academic detectives." Students discussed their investigations this month during the campus's fifth annual Undergraduate Research Conference. National child-care standards, the deep-sea fossil record, bilingual education policy, transgenic mice, biomedical engineering, the behavior of Amazon parrots, and the founding and development of the Fransican brotherhood were among the subjects of more than 140 student presentations made during the daylong event. "The conference gives students an opportunity to present what they're learning in laboratories and libraries to the public," says conference chair and pre-graduate school adviser Tammy Hoyer. UC Davis students are involved in research throughout the year.