EVE Scholar’s Summer at BML “Best Job Ever”
It’s early—almost too early to be out walking. But Leo Konefat, a rising third-year undergraduate at UC Davis and one of the 2025 EVE Scholars, has an urgent appointment with a low tide. On that first morning, getting up at dawn to reach the field site on time, the fog was low, the stars were overhead, and the foghorn’s low bleat in the distance offered a first glimpse of the coastal world he would be immersed in for the next ten weeks.
The EVE Scholars program, funded by the Department of Evolution and Ecology (EVE), offers paid, full-time summer research opportunities for UC Davis undergraduates from any major. Scholars work under the mentorship of EVE faculty or researchers on the Davis campus or at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML) to design and carry out independent research projects—an experience that combines the rigor of scientific training with the thrill of discovery.