Forty-eight years ago, UC Davis scientists Becky Westerdahl, Eric Mussen and Norm Gary formed the Western Apicultural Society (WAS).
That was in 1978. A photo of them taken at what is now the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, drew interest at a joint retirement luncheon held recently in the UC Davis Student Community Center for Professor/Extension Becky Westerdahl and fellow nematologist, UC Davis Distinguished Professor Steve Nadler.
Westerdahl, now Professor/Extension emerita, just completed a 40-year nematology career, and Nadler, 30 years. A total of 70 years...
"Where did you get that photo?" Westerdahl asked me.
"Eric Mussen gave it to me when he was serving his sixth term as WAS president," I said. Mussen, an Extension apiculturist based in the department from 1976 until his retirement in 2014, died June 3, 2022. Honey bee scientist Norm Gary, UC Davis professor emeritus, retired in 1994 after a 32-year academic career. Gary, now 93 and a Sacramento area resident, served as the inaugural WAS president; Mussen, the first vice president, and Westerdahl, the first secretary-treasurer
Westerdahl, specializing in the interactive management of plant-parasitic nematodes, joined the then UC Davis Department of Nematology as an assistant professor/Extension nematologist in 1986 and advanced to associate professor/Extension nematologist in 1995, and as professor/Extension nematologist in 2002. (The nematology department merged with the entomology department in 2013 to become the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.)
Becky received her bachelor's degree in biology, cum laude, in 1972 from Chapman University, Orange, Calif., and her doctorate in biology and nematology in 1978 from UC Riverside.
Highlights of Her Career
- "Developing sustainable management scenarios for nematodes through working with 102 Farm Advisors from 41 counties on 99 crops."
- "Developing and teaching Nem204 Management of Plant Parasitic-Nematodes and the online course Nem10V General Biology."
- "Mentoring several post docs and graduate students who have succeeded in strategic private and public positions in agriculture. Examples: Umesh Kodira and John Chitambar, California Department of Food and Agriculture; Kristi Sanchez at TriCal; and Jack Qiu with the U.S. Department of Agriculture."
(See retirement luncheon photos on the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website)
As for WAS, it continues to be "a non-profit, educational beekeeping organization founded in 1978 for the benefit and enjoyment of all beekeepers in western North America," according to its website. "Membership in WAS is encouraged from anywhere in the world. However, the organization was designed specifically to meet the educational needs of beekeepers in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming; and the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Yukon."
WAS, with Mussen presiding, held its 40th anniversary meeting at UC Davis Sept. 5-8, 2017.