- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The event, free and open to the public, begins at 10 a.m. on the Wyatt Deck. It is billed as an event to “explore the amazing diversity of butterflies and moths both near and far.” All ages are invited.
Butterflies they spot may include monarchs, gulf fritillaries, and pipevine swallowtails, as well as skippers and cabbage whites. Hernandez will also display his own collections of butterflies.
Hernandez, who received a bachelor of science degree in entomology from UC Davis in 2014, currently works for the Steve Seybold lab as a research/field assistant. He hopes to attend graduate school and receive his doctorate in entomology.
Hernandez worked for the Sharon Lawler lab for four years, both as a student and as a post-graduation junior specialist. A volunteer at the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the UC Davis Arboretum, he recently participated on a Bohart Museum insect collecting trip with entomologist/Bohart associate Fran Keller. “It was an amazing experience,” he said.
Hernandez has collected and curated insects for 19 years. “I have a passion for Lepitoptera and would like to use it as a target group for research in graduate school,” he said. “The species of butterfly that interests me the most is the blue morpho. The family of moths that interests me the most and the one I would like to study is Sphingidae.”
"I've been interested in insects ever since I was small," Hernandez said. "It was their unique life histories and morphologies that really propelled my passion for insects and entomology. What draws me to butterflies is the plethora of different colors and patterns that they display on their wings, as well as their life cycle.”
Hernandez presented a well-attended talk and tour on butterflies and moths at the Arboretum last September. Elaine Fingerett, the Arboretum's academic coordinator, chronicled the event in photos.
For more information, contact the Arboretum at (530) 752-4880 or by email, arboretum@ucdavis.edu.
Senior Editor / Interactive Learning Developer
UC ANR Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
Saturday, Aug. 20, is National Honey Bee Day. Observed on the third Saturday every August, this day educates people about the importance of honey bees and promotes the work of beekeepers.
Various insects, birds, and other animals pollinate plants. Bees, especially honey bees, are the most vital for pollinating food crops. Many California crops rely on bees to pollinate their flowers and ensure a good yield of seeds, fruit, and nuts. Pesticides, especially insecticides, can harm bees if they are applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering.
Our mission at the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources (UC ANR), Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) is to protect the environment by reducing risks caused by pest management practices. UC IPM developed Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings to help pest managers make an informed decision about how to protect bees when choosing or applying pesticides.
The bee precaution ratings are based on the reported effects of a pesticide's active ingredient on adult honey bees or their brood. You can find and compare ratings for active ingredients including acaricides (miticides), bactericides, fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides.
Ratings fall into three categories. Red, or rated I, pesticides should not be applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering. Plants include the crop AND nearby weeds. Yellow, or rated II, pesticides should not be applied or allowed to drift to plants that are flowering, except when the application is made between sunset and midnight if allowed by the pesticide label and regulations. Finally, green, or rated III, pesticides have no bee precautions, except when required by the pesticide label or regulations.
It is important to note that the bee precaution pesticide ratings are not the pollinator protection statements on the pesticide label.
Each crop in the UC Pest Management Guidelines has links to the bee precaution ratings and provides guidance on how to reduce bee poisoning from pesticides. For more information on protecting bees from pesticides, see UC IPM's Protecting Natural Enemies and Pollinators, and use the Bee Precaution Pesticide Ratings.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The three recently lunched at a Davis restaurant with Hazeltine's sons, Craig of Scottsdale, Ariz.,and Lee Hazeltine of Woodland. The graduate students discussed their research and goals and thanked them for the Hazeltine family's support.
Olkowski, who studies dengue, is a four-time recipient of the competitive award. She was honored with the award in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Since 1997, the awards have totaled a little over $46,000 to 25 recipients," Craig Hazeltine said.
About the recipients:
Sandy Olkowski
Sandy Olkowski is working on her doctorate in entomology, studying with major professor Thomas Scott, now emeritus professor of entomology.
“While working for a pediatrician when I was living in Thailand, I became aware of the significant disease burden that dengue places on populations in developing countries,” Olkowski said. “I returned to the United States with the goal of doing whatever I could to alleviate that burden, and subsequently applied to UC Davis because of the ground-breaking dengue research of Thomas Scott. I conducted research for my senior honors thesis in the Scott lab while completing a bachelor's degree in economics, with a focus on international development. I then continued on into a PhD in Entomology, with a designated emphasis in biology of vector-borne diseases. I am entering the 4th year of my PhD. I recently returned from 10 months of fieldwork in Iquitos, Peru.”
“My research is focused on dengue disease surveillance,” Olkowski said. “I am interested in identifying and quantifying ways that human behavior affects surveillance data. Rapid detection of increases in dengue cases is very important for public health officials, so they can implement vector control in a timely manner, but delays in treatment seeking by patients and clinical diagnosis by physicians may be impeding that process. I hope that the results of my research can be directly applied. Eventually, I would like to be able to sit down with public health officials and discuss evidence-based improvements to dengue surveillance.”
Stephanie Kurniawan is working on her master's degree, studying with major professors Ed Lewis and Shirley Luckhart. “Though I have lived in California my entire life, I often visited relatives in Indonesia,” she said. “During one trip when I was in middle school, I got dengue and had to be hospitalized for several days. No one in America knew about this disease, not even my pediatrician. This made me interested in vector-borne diseases and mosquitoes.”
Kurniawan went on to receive her bachelor's degree in animal biology with a minor in medical and veterinary entomology at UC Davis.
“I am adapting methods for estimating age structure of Anopheles mosquito populations using the captive cohort method developed by Dr. James Carey. It is a potentially inexpensive and practical alternative for real-time surveillance of mosquito populations. I currently am testing this method on local populations of Anopheles freeborni from Sutter and Butte County rice fields.”
Maribel "Mimi" Portilla, who holds a master's degree in public health, is seeking her doctorate. She studies with major professor Sharon Lawler.
"Just like many scientists, I am driven by curiosity, but often found myself wondering how I could apply myself in a way that would help others," she said. "I discovered public health, which incorporated my love for biology and my growing interest in social issues. At UC Berkeley School of Public Health, I was able to study health and disease within a larger context, and learned to consider the biological and the social determinants of disease. As I completed my degree, I realized I really missed the research experiences I had as an undergraduate. So, I looked for a way to bridge my new-found passion for public health and basic science research. This led me to UC Davis, where I learned about One Health and am now pursuing a Ph.D in medical entomology. Medical entomology is a perfect example of a One Health field, where I can seek out how interactions between humans and animals impact health. I am particularly interested in researching how disease risk may change as people manipulate the environment."
"For example, environmental manipulation is a classic pest control technique, yet the indirect effects of changing the environment are not always well understood. I am focusing on how the management practices of the invasive exotic weeds, Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta impact mosquitoes and their habitat. My goal is to better understand the ecology of these management practices in order to inform and create better techniques to reduce both mosquito and weed problems."
"Due to my diverse interests and skill set, I am very open about my career choices. I have extensive teaching experience, and would love to be a professor with both teaching and research opportunities. However, there are many opportunities beyond academia. My research is introducing me to many other ways in which my work and research can help keep people safe and healthy. I hope to develop a strong research skill set while at UC Davis, and find a career path which takes advantage of my diverse abilities and love for One Health and Public Health."
William Emery Hazeltine II (1926-1994), for whom the Bill Hazeltine Student Research Award is named, worked tirelessly in mosquito research. He managed the Butte County Mosquito Abatement District, Oroville, from 1966 to 1992, and the Lake County Mosquito Abatement District from 1961-1964. He was an ardent supporter of the judicious use of public health pesticides to protect public health.
Hazeltine studied entomology in the UC Berkeley graduate program, 1950-53, and received his doctorate in entomology from Purdue University in 1962.
Prior Recipients of Hazeltine Awards:
2015: Sandy Olkowski, Maribel “Mimi” Portilla and Stephanie Kurniawan
2014: Martha Armijos, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Glennon and Rosanna Kwok
2013: Jenny Carlson, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Glennon and Sandy Olkowski
2012: Jenny Carlson, Kelly Liebman and Sandy Olkowski
2011: Brittany Nelms Mills, Kelly Liebman and Jenny Carlson
2010: Tara Thiemann and Jenny Carlson
2009: Kelly Liebman and Wei Xu
2008: Ashley Horton and Tara Thiemann
2007: Lisa Reimer and Jacklyn Wong
2006: Christopher Barker and Tania Morgan
2005: Nicole Mans
2004: Sharon Minnick
2003: Hannah Burrack
2002: Holly Ganz and Andradi Villalobos
2001: Laura Goddard and Linda Styer
2000: Laura Goddard
1999: Linda Boose Styer
1998: Larisa Vredevoe
1997: John Gimnig
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Alumni News
Professor Bryony Bonning of Iowa State University, a former postdoctoral researcher in the Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has accepted an endowed chair position at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Effective in February, she will be the Eminent Scholar (Davies, Fischer and Eckes Endowed Chair), in the University of Florida's Department of Entomology and Nematology. The position will encompass both research (80 percent, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and teaching (20 percent, Entomology and Nematology Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences). The endowed chair position currently includes an endowment of $2.3 million.
Bonning, who joined the ISU faculty 22 years ago, serves as the founding director of the National Science Foundation's Center for Arthropod Management Technologies (CAMTech), and oversees cutting edge research on insect physiology and insect pathology with the goal of developing novel, environmentally benign alternatives to chemical insecticides for insect pest management.
“Bryony is a star in our department,” said distinguished professor Bruce Hammock of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. “Bryony and I worked together at the NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology at Oxford and she came back to UC Davis with me as a postdoc.”
“Bryony did amazing work on recombinant baculovirus insecticides working with Susumu Maeda, Sean Duffy and myself,” Hammock said. Another UC Davis connection: Bonning married Jeff Beetham, a Ph.D. student (biochemistry) in the Hammock lab; he recently retired from a faculty position in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University.
“Dr. Bonning brings an outstanding record of accomplishment and cooperation, and we are confident she will work tirelessly to develop solutions for citrus pest management,” said Blair Siegfried, chair of the UF/IFAS entomology and nematology department in a news release. “Her combined experience and achievements make her ideally suited and deserving of the position.”
A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Bonning was elected a fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 2013 and received the Nan-Yao Su Award for Innovation and Creativity in Entomology that same year. She is the 2016 recipient of Iowa State University Outstanding Achievement in Research Award.
The author of more than 110 papers in high-impact journals, Bonning holds five patents related to insect control technologies. She is developing novel methods for controlling the Asian citrus psyllid, the vector of citrus greening.
Bonning received her bachelor of science degree in zoology from the University of Durham, UK and her doctorate in entomology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK. She went on to postdoctoral appointments at the Natural Environment Research Council Institute of Virology in Oxford, UK and at UC Davis.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that 19 grants, funded through the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Specialty Crop Research Initiative, will support American farmers growing fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops including floriculture. Specialty crops cover most crops other than the large acreage commodity crops. The initiative is authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.
Zalom and Godfrey and seven other University of California specialists and advisors are involved with the $3.7 million grant, “Management of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in U.S. Specialty Crops,” submitted by North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
Others from UC working on the brown marmorated stink bug project are:
- Cooperative Extension Specialists: Kent Daane, UC Berkeley, and Mark Hoddle, UC Riverside
- Farm Advisors: Monica Cooper, Napa County, and Chuck Ingels, Sacramento County
- Area IPM Advisors: Emily Symmes, Butte County; Shimat Joseph, Monterey County; and Jhalendra Rijal, Stanislaus County
The stink bug project is a continuation of a multi-state project that has included a specific objective on options that are compliant with the National Organic Program standards.
“This is a very common invasive insect in Sacramento and other urban areas but has not widely infested agricultural areas,” Godfrey said. “Based on what the insect has done in the mid-Atlantic states in the East, everyone expects it to invade crop areas. The grant is not crop specific, other than specialty crops which is about all of the crops we grow in California--except (primarily) rice, corn and cotton. We will be studying how this pest adapts to California conditions and crops and also studies will be done on the fit of biological control for managing this pest. Clearly some of our major crops such as grapes, almonds--and other nut crops--tomatoes, cool-season vegetables, stone fruits, etc. will be subjects of research.”
The Rutgers-based grant "includes several components to develop ornamental horticulture production practices that are compatible with bee health," Casey said. "Our work will be to determine the preference of common bee species for widely sold ornamental plants." The project will build on the research of Gordon Frankie, UC Berkeley professor and Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis.
"America's specialty crop farmers face many challenges ranging from a changing climate to increasing production costs,” said Vilsack in a recent press release. “Investing in cutting edge research helps uncover solutions to keep their operations viable and ensures Americans have access to safe, affordable and diverse food options. The universities, state departments of agriculture and trade associations that partner with USDA address challenges at the national and local levels to help sustain all parts of America's food and agriculture system, whether the farms are small or large, conventional or organic."
Through the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, the projects will address research and extension needs that span the entire spectrum of specialty crops production from researching plant genetics to improving crop characteristics; identifying and addressing threats from pests and diseases; improving production and profitability; developing new production innovations and technologies; and developing methods to respond to food safety hazards.
Abstracts for this year's funded projects are on NIFA's reporting website.
Grants, by state, include:
- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, Ark., $50,000
- The American Olive Oil Producers Association, Clovis, Calif., $50,000
- Agricultural Research Service, Peoria, Ill., $3,694,012
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., $3,673,611
- Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md., $3,683,590
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., $1,467,724
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., $48,558
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., $ 3,717,519
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., $ 3,276,666
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., $46,956
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., $ 2,849,975
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., $50,000
- New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, N.M., $ 4,404,284
- Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., $ 4,281,618
- Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., $ 2,019,142
- Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, $35,240
- Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore., $3,112,410
- Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, Texas, $35,418