- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're among the most recognizable of insects. And excellent predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects!
"There are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs in the world," according to National Geographic. "These much loved critters are also known as lady beetles or ladybird beetles. They come in many different colors and patterns, but the most familiar in North America is the seven-spotted ladybug, with its shiny, red-and-black body. In many cultures, ladybugs are considered good luck."
Morgan Myrhe, a UC Davis graduating senior in entomology who won the Citation for Outstanding Performance in Entomology at her commencement last week, says that in elementary school, she frequently brought "ladybugs into the classroom" in her pockets and "established a worm club with her friends."
Morgan, born and raised in San Diego, said her educational journey followed a nontraditional path. WIth very limited high school experience due to a severe illness, she began attending Palomar Community College at 16 years old. While in community college, she worked at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and had her two children, Galileo and Esmerelda.
Morgan currently works as a math and science tutor at Pioneer High School and as an undergraduate research assistant in the Ian Grettenberger lab at UC Davis. She plans to obtain her science teaching credentials and master's degree in education and to "continue exploring my love for entomology by introducing my future students to the subject."
Katherine "Katie" Hostetler, named the Outstanding Senior in Entomology, remembers "gardening with my mom and picking up snails, isopods, and other creatures while playing in the dirt. I also volunteered at the local botanical garden in high school, which confirmed my interest as I got to hang out with insects while gardening!"
Professor Sharon Lawler, an aquatic entomologist in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology who retired in January, nominated Katie for the award. "I worked with Katie through the Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB)," Lawler said. "She participated in graduate student Kyle Phillip's project on how wetland plant decomposition supports aquatic food webs in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Suisun Marsh). Katie rapidly became an essential member of the research team, which included John Durand as a principal investigator and Kyle's co-advisor."
"Katie learned numerous techniques in aquatic ecology," Lawler said. "She ultimately designed and led her own laboratory experiment on how amphipods contribute to nutrient recycling in wetlands through shredding and consuming different kinds of detritus. She is working on a draft manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal stemming from her work."
Katie plans to remain in Davis and "continue working at the Center for Watershed Sciences in invertebrate research!"
Congratulations to Katie and Morgan!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Katherine "Katie" Hostetler was named the Outstanding Senior in Entomology; Morgan Myhre, Citation for Outstanding Performance in Entomology: and Kenny Ruiz, Outstanding Senior Award and Departmental Citation in Animal Biology.
Katie Hostetler, Outstanding Senior in Entomology
A member of the Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB), Katie, working in a Center for Watershed Sciences lab, selected as her research project: amphipod shredding behavior impacting algal growth in aquatic systems.
Professor Sharon Lawler, an aquatic entomologist who retired in January from the Department of Entomology and Nematology, nominated her for the award. Lawler worked with her through RSPIB, which aims to provide undergraduates with closely mentored research in biology. "She participated in graduate student Kyle Phillip's project on how wetland plant decomposition supports aquatic food webs in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Suisun Marsh)," Lawler related. "Katie rapidly became an essential member of the research team, which included John Durand as a principal investigator and Kyle's co-advisor."
"Katie learned numerous techniques in aquatic ecology," said Lawler. "She ultimately designed and led her own laboratory experiment on how amphipods contribute to nutrient recycling in wetlands through shredding and consuming different kinds of detritus. She is working on a draft manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal stemming from her work. "
Durand, a UC Davis estuarine and wetland ecologist, and a faculty member of the Center for Watershed Sciences, related that "Katie has been an outstanding scholar in my research group. She quickly mastered the basic skills needed to support our research, and then collaborated closely with Kyle in his research, eventually designing and executing her own study, which is publishable research. She has maintained an active presence in the lab, and has been consistently available to support other researchers in the lab with zooplankton and invertebrate analysis, and water quality analysis. She is currently working with me and others to develop a flow-through automated zooplankton analysis system using digital photography, a flow cytometer, and machine learning. All in all, Katie is exactly the kind of student we want to honor and encourage as an outstanding senior."
Katie, born in La Jolla and raised in Encinitas, Calif., is a 2019 graduate of San Dieguito High School Academy. She remembers nurturing an early interest in entomology. "I enjoyed gardening with my mom and picking up snails, isopods, and other creatures while playing in the dirt. I also volunteered at the local botanical garden in high school, which confirmed my interest as I got to hang out with insects while gardening!"
She plans to remain in Davis "and continue working at the Center for Watershed Sciences in invertebrate research!"
Co-nominators were Ian Grettenberger, UC Cooperative Extension entomology specialist and assistant professor Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate professor Christian Nansen, who specializes in applied insect ecology, integrated pest management and remote sensing.
"Morgan is an exemplary student research assistant and has been integral to us accomplishing our research goals," Grettenberger said, adding "She has often gone above and beyond the expectations of the position, even going out of her way to keep data and equipment organized. She is the type of research assistant that thinks ahead to do tasks even better than whatever instructions she was given. She thinks critically and operates very independently. She is also an excellent student and her work in our lab and 'job' as a student is all on top of being a parent as well."
Morgan was a student in Nansen's ENT110 course last fall. "She has been an active member of my informal scientific writing club," Nansen said. Under his mentorship, she is working on writing a journal review article. "She has a lot on her plate and seems to handle everything in very fine style."
Morgan, born and raised in San Diego, said her educational journey followed a nontraditional path. WIth very limited high school experience due to a severe illness, she began attending Palomar Community College at 16 years old. While in community college, she worked at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and had her two children, Galileo and Esmerelda.
Morgan traces her love of insects to her early childhood. In elementary school, she frequently brought ladybugs into the classroom in her pockets and established a worm club with her friends. Knowing she wanted to become a science teacher, she decided to major in the science subject that most interested her—entomology. While at UC Davis, she discovered a love for agriculture and integrated pest management.
Morgan currently works as a math and science tutor at Pioneer High School and as an undergraduate research assistant in the Grettenberger lab at UC Davis. She plans to obtain her science teaching credentials and master's degree in education and to "continue exploring my love for entomology by introducing my future students to the subject."
Forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, who advises the Animal Biology program, described Kenny as "the soul of intelligent self-sufficiency."
"He does not present unsolved problems to others, he invariably presents solutions," Kimsey said. "When he listens he actually hears you, not what he wants to hear. Sufficient unto himself he is also the best possible team member, and is among the hardest working persons I have ever met- he will get the job done! I wish him all possible success in graduate school!"
Kenny, a first-generation transfer student, grew up in Salinas and upon graduating from high school, joined the Marines, serving four years. He received an associate of arts degree in biology from Gavilan College, Gilroy, Santa Clara County, in 2020.
What sparked his interest in his field? "It was while I was doing Muay Thai in Thailand that I found a brochure for an elephant sanctuary that advertised no riding and 'cruelty free.' I didn't know about elephant riding and how cruel and abusive it is to the elephants."
Kenny plans to pursue a career in animal behavior research and conservation. He is applying to the animal behavior master's program at the University of Sussex in England.
Other entomology and animal biology majors who received awards at the Class of 2023 commencements:
Departmental citations: Tranh Than and Stephen Jee
Animal Biology:
Departmental Citations: Yuanyang Liu, Maria Peshkoff, Genevieve Marie Shane, and Ashley Uyehara
Outstanding Performance Citations: Myles Bailey, William Claflin, Sterling Ickes, Sarah Kim, Emma Elizabeth Lauth, Xintong Li, Sarah Kaori Nelson, Karen Vazquez, Sonyia Ying-Rou Williams, Alex Biyang Zhao, Lindsey Anne Campbell
The commencements are online.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They really weren't red ants, but children wearing ant headgear, created during the family arts-and-crafts activity at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on ants. The Phil Ward lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, organized and presented the open house.
The ant headgear was the brainchild of Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, and student intern Jakob Jess of MET Sacramento High School. He completed his two-year internship at the Bohart Museum this week, and starting this fall, will begin his studies at UC Berkeley.
"This was an art project inspired by leafcutter ants," Yang said, "and was meant to be both whimsical and colorful, thus the bright red. We had a template for folks to use, but they could also create their own from looking at the ant illustrations."
Myrmecologist Eli Sarnat, who received his doctorate at UC Davis, studying with Professor Ward, brought his sons, Benjamin, 7 and Evan, 3 to the event. They delighted in creating the ant headgear and checking out the ant displays.
UC Davis senior entomology major Morgan Myhre helped her children, Galileo, 5, and Esmeralda, 2, with their creations.
First-year entomology major Kat Taylor staffed the arts-and-crafts table, assisting the youngsters with their ideas. She also stapled the finished projects.
"The questions were mostly about the habits and behavior of ants, how many species are there, etc.," Ward related. "And how can I obtain live colonies for my kid? I received almost no queries about 'how do I get rid of them in my kitchen?' and that was refreshing."
"We had live colonies of a centipede-hunting ant (Stigmatomma oregonense) and a generalist omnivore (Aphaenogaster occidentalis)," Ward said. "The displays also included collections of common California ants; the world's smallest ant (Carebara) and the world's largest ant (Myrmecia)."
Oberski, who received her bachelor's degree in biology and a bachelor's degree in German studies (summa cum laude) in 2016 from Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minn., finished her dissertation earlier this month. She will present her exit seminar on "Phylogenetics and Biography of Pyramid Ants" at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, June 7 in 122 Briggs Hall. It also will be on Zoom.
Oberski fielded such questions as "What do ants eat?" and "Are ants specialized or generalized in their feeding habits?" The answer can vary a lot, Oberski told them. "Some ants are generalists that eat any food they come across, but others are extremely specific, like ants that are fungus farmers or specialized predators of springtails, spider eggs, or centipedes."
Professor Ward and ants are showcased in a Bohart Museum of Entomology video on YouTube, https://youtu.be/d8eRNsD8dxo. Ants, he related, originated about 120 million years ago (early Cretaceous), evolving from "wasp-like creatures."
Next Open House on June 3. The next open house at the Bohart Museum is themed "Insects and Forensics," and will feature forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Free and family friendly, the open house will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 3 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. The arts-and-crafts activity will be "maggot-inspired art," Yang announced.
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live "petting zoo," complete with Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, and tarantulas, among others; and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with books, posters, jewelry, pens, T-shirts, hoodies, and collecting equipment.