Brenda Dawson is a marketing writer for the FOA Communications team. She works across all of the Finance, Operations and Administration units to share campus information in clear, compelling and delightful ways.

She provides writing, editing and strategic communications support for a wide variety of FOA Communications projects. Most recently she led the redesigned Digest newsletter, with special editions delivered to all Davis employees (and regular editions sent to FOA employees and subscribers). She has also focused on communications for Campus Ready, the university's communications hub for its pandemic response, with a particular focus on innovative saliva testing and the UC Davis COVID-19 Dashboard. Dawson was also part of the team that redesigned the UC Davis Police Department website and helped create its Transparency Dashboard focused on campus safety topics.

Dawson joined UC Davis as a staff member in 2007, inspired by a desire to shine a light on useful knowledge for the public (ahem, "Fiat Lux"). Her experience as a campus communicator has included communications strategies for social media, science writing, agricultural news, website management and brand management. On campus, she worked previously as a communicator with the Horticulture Innovation Lab, the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Small Farm Program, Strategic Communications and the Office of Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability.

Originally from rural Northern California, Dawson holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Arizona State University. She has a background in community journalism and always has “just one more question.”

Select FOA Publications

• March 2023: How UC Davis is growing a tree canopy for tomorrow's climate
• February 2023: FOA website analytics dashboards
• February 2023: Tips for taking the Satisfaction Survey
• February 2023: New safety responders join campus community (and editing the Tiered Response documents)
• December 2022: How many ways does FOA say 'happy holidays' video script
• November 2022: IDEA$ at Work campaign messaging and related Dateline articles
• September 2022: Peek behind the scenes of Vice Chancellor Clare Shinnerl's first month
• May 2022: Celebrating 35 years of Kelly Ratliff's service to UC Davis
• March 2022: Satisfaction Survey results fuel improvements to campus services
• December 2021: Lyrics for "A Few of Our Favorite Aggie Things" 🎶
• October 2021: Reimagining campus space
• June 2021: First all-employee Digest newsletter (see more editions sent to Davis campus employees)
• June 2021: Highlights, champions and partnerships at the Sustainability Summit
• May 2021: Bring in the Reinforcements: Preparing to meet UC seismic safety standards (Dateline version)
• March 2021: New campus 'Space Release Program' has potential to save $4 million annually (Finance & Business version)
• February 2021: How COVID-19 saliva testing works at UC Davis (video script)
• November 2020: COVID-19 testing program expands (with video)
• October 2020: Duty calls! How sewer samples will help UC Davis detect COVID-19 (Dateline version)
• December 2019: How do UC Davis police connect with students? In class, of course
• November 2019: Building Community: Housing more students than ever, sustainably