Loreto Godoy, who earned a doctorate from UC Davis, died on Wednesday from injuries suffered in a head-on collision. The June 21 crash on Interstate 5 near Santa Nella earlier claimed the lives of three others, including Godoy’s father- and mother-in-law.

Godoy, 32, and her husband, Fernando Mardones, also a UCD graduate, were traveling to Southern California on a family vacation when a car crossed the median and struck their 2014 Ford Taurus. The university announced Godoy’s death on Wednesday.

Also killed were Mardones’ parents, Fernando Mardones, 62, and Maria Loreto Loyola, 61, who were visiting from Chile, and the 29-year-old Los Angeles man who was driving the other car, a 2002 Toyota. The California Highway Patrol did not immediately announce a cause of the accident.

Mardones and Godoy’s children, Agustina, 4, and Rafaela, 8 months, and their father were hospitalized in Fresno after suffering broken bones. All three are now home.

The crash took place eight days after the Graduate Studies commencement, where Godoy received a Ph.D. in conservation ecology, and Mardones a Ph.D. in epidemiology and infectious disease in animals.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Godoy and Mardones families, for those who have died, and for Fernando and his children who have lost their wife and mother, and parents and grandparents,” Chancellor Linda Katehi told UCD’s online publication Dateline.  “Loreto was a bright star in our graduate program and, by all accounts, a fantastic mother.”

Godoy and Mardones each earned a doctorate in their native Chile. They both later earned master’s degrees in preventive veterinary medicine from UCD.

A member of the Ecology Graduate Group, Godoy did her doctoral work in the School of Veterinary Medicine. She studied sea otters in her master’s program. As a Ph.D. student, working under Holly Ernest, an associate professor in residence, Godoy helped identify the cause and provide the first definitive laboratory diagnosis of avian pox in humming birds.

Michael Lairmore, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, described Godoy as “a talented, compassionate student and a loving mother.”

“We will remember her as a scientist, friend and colleague who brought energy and enthusiasm to her work and joy to those who knew her,” Michael Lairmore, dean of the vet school, told Dateline. School of Veterinary Medicine.

An online effort has raised more than $105,000 to help pay for the Godoy-Mardones family’s medical expenses and the travel of relatives who have flown in from Chile to aid in the family’s recovery. Donations can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/3czto4

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