DAVIS--Kelly Hamby, doctoral candidate studying with integrated pest management (IPM) specialist/professor Frank Zalom of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will deliver her exit seminar on "Biology and Pest Management of Drosophila suzukii in California Berries and Small Fruits" on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in 122 Briggs Hall.

"Unlike common drosophilids that develop in rotten or decaying fruit, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) prefer to oviposit in ripe or ripening fruit," Hamby says in her abstract. "Native to Southeast Asia, D. suzukii has become an important pest of berries and small fruits throughout North America and Europe since its initial detection in Santa Cruz County, Calif. in 2008. The majority of U.S. organic berry farm acreage is concentrated on the west coast, and organic berries are a growing industry that now exceeds 1500 total farms. Current D. suzukii management strategies for both organic and conventional growers rely heavily on insecticide usage because other pest management tactics are still being developed and optimized. Management guidelines established shortly after the emergence of D. suzukii as a serious pest included monitoring recommendations, but these were made with little information on trap design and potential lures for use in raspberries."

Hamby will address her dissertation work on monitoring, yeast associations, chronobiology, chronotoxicity of insecticides and the implications of this work to managing D. suzukii in California commercial berry and small fruit crops. She will be introduced by Zalom, her major professor and president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA).

Hamby received her master's degree and bachelor's degree from UC Davis, compiling a near perfect grade point average.

A graduate student researcher since 2009, Hamby serves as a winter quarter co-instructor of the "Arthropod Pest Management" class. She earlier was a lab assistant in the Aquatic Toxicology Lab, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and  the Fish Conservation and Culture Lab, UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

Hamby has presented her work at meetings of the ESA, Pacific Branch of the ESA (PBESA) and overseas. The recipient of numerous awards,  she was selected for a 2011-14 $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; the 2005-2009 UC Regents' Scholarship, a merit-based academic scholarship; the 2011 Lillian and Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology, Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA); and the 2009 UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Mary Regan Meyer Prize, Academic and Service Award for a Graduating Senior.

Hamby also received the 2012 $1000 UC Davis Graduate Student Travel Award to travel to XXIV International Congress of Entomology, Daegu, Republic of Korea to present her research. Her other honors include a 2011-14 $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and travel grant awards to attend entomological meetings.

Hamby mentored a number of undergraduates, including Helen T. Nguyen (2013), Mitchell J. Bamford (2013), Daren W. Harris (2012-2013), Daniel C. Fok (2011-2013), Doris Yu (2011-2012), Stacy A. Hamby (2011), Yelizaveta Luchkovska (2011), Heather E. Wilson (2010-2012), Samuel J. Fahrner (2010-2011).

Her publications include:

Scheidler, N., Siddappaji, M., Hamby, K.A., Chiu, J.C., Zalom, F.G., and Syed, Z. In prep.What makes one Drosophila species a pest: Molecular and neural correlates for host odor recoginition? PLoS Biology

Harris, D.W., Wilson, H.E., Zalom, F.G., and Hamby, K.A.* Submitted. Seasonal trapping of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in a multi-crop setting. Journal of Applied Entomology

Hamby, K.A., Bolda, M.P., Sheehan, M.E., and Zalom, F.G. Accepted with Revision. Seasonal occurrence, lure comparison, and trapping bias of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in California commercial raspberries. Environmental Entomology

Lee, J.C., Shearer, P.W. Barrantes, L.D., Beers, E.H., Burrack, H.J., Dalton, D.T., Dreves, A.J., Gut, L.J., Hamby, K.A., Haviland, D.R., Isaacs, R., Nielsen, A.L., Richardson, T.,  Rodriguez-Saona, C.R., Stanley, C.A., Walsh, D.B., Walton, V.M., Yee, W.L., Zalom,  F.G., and Bruck, D.J. 2013. Trap designs for monitoring Drosophila suzukii             (Diptera:Drosophilidae). Environmental Entomology 42(6): 000-000 DOI: 10.1603/EN13148

Chiu, J.C., Jiang, X., Zhao, L., Hamm, C.A., Cridland, J.M., Saelao, P., Hamby,   K.A., Lee, E.K., Kwok, R.S., Zhang, G., Zalom, F.G., Walton, V.M., and Begun, D.J. 2013. Genome of Drosophila suzukii, the spotted wing drosophila. G3: Genes, Genomes,  Genetics DOI: 10.1534/g3.113.008185

Yu, D., Zalom, F.G. and Hamby, K.A. 2013. Host status and fruit odor response of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) to figs and mulberries. Journal of Economic Entomology 106(4): 1932-1937.

Hamby, K.A., Kwok, R.S., Zalom, F.G., and Chiu, J.C. 2013. Integrating circadian activity and gene expression profiles to predict chronotoxicity of Drosophila suzukii response to insecticides. PLoS ONE 8(7): e68472. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068472.

Hamby, K.A., and Zalom, F.G. 2013. Relationship of almond kernel damage occurrence to navel orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) success. Journal of Economic Entomology 106(3):1365-1372.

Hamby, K.A., Alifano, J.A., and Zalom, F.G. 2013.Total effects of contact and residual exposure of bifenthrin and λ-cyhalothrin on the predatory mite Galendromus occidentalis  (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Experimental and Applied Acarology 61: 183-193. DOI:  10.1007/s10493-013-9680-z

Wilson, H.E., Hamby, K.A.,* and Zalom, F.G. 2013. Host susceptibility of ‘French Prune' Prunus domestica to Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 985:249-254.

Lee, J.C., Burrack, H.J., Barrantes, L.D., Beers, E.H., Dreves, A.J., Hamby, K.A., Haviland,  D.R., Isaacs, R., Richardson, T.A., Shearer, P.W., Stanley, C.A., Walsh, D.B., Walton, V.M., Zalom, F.G., and Bruck, D.J. 2012. Evaluation of monitoring traps for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in North America. Journal of Economic Entomology       105(4): 1350-1357.

Hamby, K.A., Hernández, A., Boundy-Mills, K., and Zalom, F.G. 2012.Yeast associations of spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii, Diptera: Drosophilidae) in cherries and  raspberries. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78(14): 4869-4873. Journal cover  article.

Hamby, K., Gao, L.W., Lampinen, B., Gradziel, T., Zalom, F. 2011. Hullsplit date and shell seal relationship to navel orangeworm (Amyelois transitella, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) infestation on almonds. Journal of Economic Entomology 104(3): 965-969.

For the list of the remaining noonhour seminars, see this page.