- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Fantastic title: "Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers!"
Jared Ali, an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University, will speak on "Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense and Multi-Trophic Interactions: Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers" at the next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology an Nematology.
This will be both in-person and Zoom seminar. Ali will speak at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, April 20 in 122 Briggs Hall. The Zoom link is https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/
"The talk will broadly be on the behavior and chemical ecology of multi-trophic interactions," Ali says. "This includes plant responses to herbivory, nematode and insect chemical ecology, in agricultural and conservation contexts. Research projects include trophic cascades associated with cover crops, above-below-ground interactions, and the consequences of diet on insect dispersal."
His lab website delves into multi-trophic interactions and chemical ecology.
Ali served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University (2011-2013) in ecology and evolutionary biology before joining Penn State faculty in the spring of 2016. He holds a bachelor's degree in biological sciences (2005) and a master's degree in entomology (2008) from the University of Delaware; and a doctorate in entomology (2011) from the University of Florida.
Ali's most recent publications include:
- Cover Crop Selection Affects Maize Susceptibility to the Fungal Pathogen Fusarium verticillioides, published in Trends in Plant Science.
- Plant Nutrition Influences Resistant Maize Defense Responses to the Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
- Transcriptomic and Volatile Signatures Associated with Maize Defense against Corn Leaf Aphid, published in BMC Plant Biology.
- Chemical Cues from Entomopathogenic Nematodes Vary Across Three Species with Different Foraging Strategies, Triggering Different Behavioral Responses in Prey and Competitors, published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology.
- Cover Crop Soil Legacies Alter Phytochemistry and Resistance to Fall Armyworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Maize, published in Environmental Entomology.
- Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles Mediate Behavioral Interactions Between a Leaf-Chewing and a Phloem-Feeding Herbivore, published in Basic and Applied Ecology.
Nematologist Shahid Siddique, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is coordinating the spring seminars. For Zoom technical issues, contact him at ssiddique@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
López-Uribe, the Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor and assistant professor of entomology, will deliver the seminar from 4:10 to 5 p.m. Host is community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor of entomology. Access the online seminar here.
"Despite the dominance of domesticated plants across the globe, the mechanisms by which human-mediated selection shapes the ecological interactions and reciprocal evolutionary changes of crop-pollinator interactions have not been systematically investigated," López-Uribe says in her abstract. "In this talk, I will present ongoing research using the plant genus Cucurbita and their specialized pollinators to investigate: (1) the role of crop domestication on the evolution of floral functional traits, (2) the expansion of pollinator populations following extensive crop cultivation, and (3) how shifts in floral signaling of domesticated plants drive changes in pollinator foraging behavior."
López-Uribe holds a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University de los Andes, Colombia, and her master's degree in genetics and evolution from Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil. She received her doctorate in entomology from Cornell University and served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at North Carolina State University.
Of her research interests, she says: "Declines in bee populations worldwide have raised concerns about the environmental and economic consequences of pollination loss in natural and human-dominated ecosystems. I am interested in understanding how environmental change (e.g. land use, climate) and management (e.g. beekeeping practices) drive changes in population demography and health of wild and managed bee species. My ultimate goal is to contribute with informed strategies for conservation and restoration of bee populations and the ecosystem services they provide."
Cooperative Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger coordinates the spring seminars, which take place every Wednesday at 4:10 p.m. He may be reached at imgrettenberger@ucdavis.edu for any technical issues.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Niño served as a research technician in the Penn State lab of Christina Grozinger from 2009 to 2014.
Wrote Cherie Winner, associate director of research communications at Penn State and the coordinator of the contest:
"We have a winner!
"The winner of our first At Large photo contest is Bernardo Niño, whose close-up shot of honey bees at their hive is so vivid that it makes us hear the buzzing and taste the honey. Bernardo's photo appears in the spring issue of Research|Penn State, which will arrive on campus in mid-April. In addition to publication of his photo in Research|Penn State, Bernardo will receive a high-quality print of the At Large spread, suitable for framing."
The magazine explored the "the challenges facing bees today, including deadly mite infestations and viral infections and loss of natural food sources due to habitat loss. Grozinger's lab is investigating these threats and how we can bolster bees' natural defense systems to keep them happy, healthy, and on the job as pollinators of some of our most valuable crops."
Bernardo is married to Extension apiculturist Elina Niño, formerly of the Grozinger lab and now with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. See Facebook page for the E. L. Niño lab.