UC Davis received news of three separate tragic events this spring that involved a number of members of the campus's scientific community.

On March 27, Gary Polis, 53, an internationally renowned scorpion expert and ecologist in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy; Michael Rose, 27, a postgraduate researcher who conducted research with Polis; and three visiting ecologists from Japan, Takuya Abe, 55, Masahiko Higashi, 45, and Shigeru Nakano, 37, died in a boating accident during a research expedition in Mexico's Baja California.

They were among a group of nine researchers traveling by boat through the Sea of Cortez when strong winds and unusually high waves capsized their vessel. All had flotation devices, but the life jackets and strap-on sea cushions did little to protect them from the perils of the waves. After spending hours in the water, postgraduate researcher Gary Huxel, ecology graduate student Rebecca Lewison, genetics major Sarah Ratay, and population biology graduate student Ralph Haygood, made it to the shores of nearby islands. The five who perished did so after repeated attempts to save those who were washed away from the capsized boat.

The following week, the campus learned that David Thornton, a third-year biological sciences student, died after reportedly drinking 21 shots in a Davis bar to celebrate his 21st birthday, April 3. He became ill that evening and was taken by friends to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.

According to Stephanie Lake, coordinator of the Campus Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Program, binge-drinking-defined as five or more drinks in a sitting-is a rarity at UC Davis. However, campus officials know students do drink, and have in place programs to advise them on the use and effects of alcohol.

"Still, there is more to do," wrote Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef in a letter to Davis community and business leaders. "Our high school and university students must be aware of everything there is to know about high-risk drinking behavior."

And in late April, the campus learned that animal behavior graduate student Francis Bossuyt, 30, was missing and presumed dead after swimming in an Amazon jungle lake at the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru where he was studying titi monkeys. Other researchers at the station reported that Bossuyt had gone for a swim before supper on April 27, and when he didn't return, they went to look for him, finding only his shoes and towel on the dock. His body has not been found.