So many good-hearted people are trying to help others during the coronavirus pandemic.

Take professional seamstress and aerobics instructor Teresa Hickman of Vacaville, Calif., who is devoting much of her time to sewing two-layer cotton face masks, now that her classes are on hiatus.

Over the last three weeks, the wife and mother of two gave away 72 fabric masks to family, friends, neighbors and business associates—and their friends and contacts.

Now, as a public service project, Teresa is crafting them at cost, or for a donation of $5 each. She just purchased $45 worth of elastic, and another shipment is back-ordered.

Teresa doesn't do custom masks but “if I have it, I'll make something.”

If you're an entomologist or someone who loves insects, this could be a good time to wear a face mask adorned with honey bees or dragonflies. (In our  household, we're bee-ing close to honey bees and bumble bees via our face masks.)

Teresa also sews masks geared toward sports fans, dog and cat lovers, food enthusiasts, gardeners, movie-goers and more. The pattern themes range from A (apples) to Z (zebra) for both adults and children.

“I began sewing professionally 19 years ago,” Teresa said. “I started because I was sick. I had to stop teaching aerobics and I needed another business to get me through.”

Bee-ing close to the bees. Face mask by Teresa Hickman. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

In addition to face masks, the Vacaville resident also crafts tote bags (with entomology motifs, too!) doggie outfits, children's hats, bowl cozies and other projects. She also makes bee-motif soaps in oval, circle and square shapes in soft pastels. (Some are garden rose, lavender and lily-scented goats' milk soap bars and some are made of beeswax.)

Alarmed by the coronavirus pandemic, Teresa began sewing the face masks three weeks ago.  “They're helpful to people so they can stay safe. And it's something that's useful; I like to make useful projects. Everything I make has a purpose to it.”

She wears them outside her home and encourages others to do so, too.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is “considering altering the official guidance to encourage people to take measures to cover their faces amid the coronavirus pandemic,” according to an article published March 30 in the Washington Post.

The Post quoted Thomas Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, as recommending the general populace wear nonmedical masks and not the short-in-supply surgical and N95 masks for health workers.

The recommendation under consideration "calls for using do-it-yourself (DIY) cloth coverings, according to a second official who shared that thinking on a personal Facebook account,” the Post related. It's a way to help “flatten the curve.”

"Such DIY cloth masks would potentially lower the risk that the wearer, if infected, would transmit the virus to other people. Current CDC guidance is that healthy people don't need masks or face coverings."

That policy may indeed change. Fast masks can also serve as a reminder not to touch your face.

(Editor's Note: Teresa Hickman can be reached via “Handmade by Teresa” on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HandmadeByTeresa/) or teresa_h@pacbell.net for more information. She also does Zelle.)

Bruce Hammock today (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Bruce D. Hammock is widely known for his groundbreaking research in insect physiology, toxicology, pharmacology, and experimental therapeutics. Early contributions were in fundamental regulatory biology, development of both small molecules and recombinant viruses as environmentally friendly pesticides, and the application of accelerator mass spectrometry to biological science. His laboratory pioneered the use of immunoassay for the analysis of human and environmental exposure to pesticides and other contaminants.His laboratory provides graduate training that is diverse in disciplines and research areas. He recently formed a company, EicOsis, to develop an orally active non-addictive drug for inflammatory and neuropathic pain for humans and companion animals."

So begins Marlin Rice, author and a past president of the Entomological Society of America (ESA), in his wonderful and comprehensive piece in the current edition of ESA's American Entomologist about the legendary Bruce Hammock. 

Hammock, a UC Davis distinguished professor, holds a joint appointment with the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has directed the UC Davis Superfund Research Program (funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) for nearly four decades. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

His story begins in Arkansas.

A native of Little Rock, Ark., Bruce received his bachelor's degree in entomology (with minors in zoology and chemistry) magna cum laude from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1969. He received his doctorate in entomology-toxicology from UC Berkeley in 1973 with John Casida at UC Berkeley. Hammock served as a public health medical officer with the U.S. Army Academy of Health Science, San Antonio, and as a postdoctoral fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation, Department of Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

The headline says it well: "Bruce D. Hammock: Science Should Be Fun."

Hammock describes his Tom Sawyer-like childhood in Little Rock, where he wandered the woods and collected animals.

Rice asked him: "What was your favorite thing to collect?"

"I just liked interested creatures," Hammock told him. "I had a pet 'coon, pet deer, pet 'possums named Sears and Roebuck. The two 'possums had stolen some hot dogs at a Boy Scout jamboree and were trying to make their escape. This guy was going to kill them, so I took them home."

"I found Willy—his mom had been killed by hunters—in a tree stump and bottle-raised him with an old toothless bulldog, and he would ride around on her back. Raccoons and dogs are natural enemies. If an [unfamiliar] dog would growl at him, Willy would try to kill it, so he was not popular."

Young Tom went on to become an Eagle Scout and graduate from Louisiana State University. "I liked football, but I was not good at it," he recalled. "But I was upset with the football craziness in Arkansas, so I thought I could go to LSU and get away from it, but I ended up living underneath the football stadium."

In the Army, he served as a medical officer at Fort Sam, Houston, and what he saw--severely burned people in terrible pain--made a lasting impression on him. Today he's deeply involved in his research at UC Davis and the company he founded, EicOsis, in 2011 to alleviate pain in humans and companion animals.

Of EicOsis, he told Rice: "It's actually three companies: human health, equine health, and companion animal health. The human health goal is moving the drug into the clinic to treat human neuropathic pain. In dogs and cats and horses, it turns out that non-steroidals, like aspirin, are so much more toxic. If you give your dog some non-steroidals, you're saying you want your dog to be pain-free for a year, but you know you're killing it. Some non-steroidals are so toxic to non-primates that there's a real opportunity to get epoxide hydrolase to the clinic."

Excerpts from the article:

• Little did we know: While in Warsaw to attend a scientific meeting, Professor Hammock was arrested in Poland on suspicion of being a spy and spent six hours in jail.
• What does he look for in researchers hoping to join his lab?  "Curiosity. And then there's this: If science is not fun, then it shouldn't be done. And if they enjoy science then they probably will be successful."
• Why did he leave UC Riverside for UC Davis? "Smog. [But] I absolutely loved Riverside. At the time, it was the largest entomology department in the world. It was just wonderful. And it was in the desert and I loved the desert. And I like rattlesnakes, and there is no shortage of rattlesnakes. They're not very pettable, but they're interesting. I've been bitten a lot of times by non-poisonous snakes. I thought I was fast, but snakes were faster. So I never kept a rattlesnake more than a few hours."
• His parents? His father was a postal worker and his mother sold World Book encyclopedias "and was convinced that if you bought World Book, you would be brilliant."

Indeed, Bruce Hammock's career is incredible--incredibly focused, superlative and kind. But he also has a finely honed sense of humor. Who else would launch an annual water balloon battle? He started it in 1980 on the Briggs Hall lawn, just outside his office. It's now called the Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle or "Bruce's Big Balloon Battle at Briggs."

"A few years ago, we had the management officer in biochemistry upset because she thought it was unseemly for the university," Hammock told Rice. "Last year, somebody called the police on us, and the police came, and the guy took off his gun belt and joined us. [Laughs.] That was fun!"

So is science. Or it ought to be.

Some Related Links:

• Bruce Hammock and EicOsis, Innovator of the Year
• Bruce Hammock Receives $6 Million Grant
• Bruce Hammock Water Balloon Battle: 15 Minutes of Aim
• Research Could Lead to Drug to Prevent or Reduce Autism, Schizophrenia
• Hammock Lab Union Draws 100 Scientists from 10 Countries
• Bruce Hammock: Scientist Extraordinaire

(Editor's Note: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic precautions--when facilities are closing down--we're taking time to spotlight some of our UC Davis entomologists and their projects)

Agricultural entomologist and Cooperative Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger, who joined the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Entomology in January 2019, targets a variety of pests, including western spotted and striped cucumber, beetles, armyworms, bagrada bugs, alfalfa weevils, aphids, and thrips

Grettenberger, who fills the vacated position of Larry Godfrey (1956-2007), received his bachelor of science degree in biology, with an ecology, evolution and organismal emphasis (honors Program) in 2009 from Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash., and his doctorate in entomology in 2015 from Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa. He served as a postdoctoral researcher in the Godfrey lab and later, the Frank Zalom lab, before accepting his current appointment of assistant Cooperative Extension specialist.

Grettenberger's fields of expertise include field and vegetable crops; integrated pest management; applied insect ecology, and biological control of pests.

Among his current grants:

• Protection of rice from invertebrate pests
• Management of key cotton arthropod pests with insecticides and acaricides, a proactive approach to prepare for the invasion of the tomato leafminer (Tuta absoluta) into California
  
• Detection, biology and control of the exotic Swede midge (Contarinia nasturtii) for California cole crops
• Management of the western spotted and striped cucumber beetle in melon production
• Biological control of the bagrada bug
• Insecticide resistant alfalfa weevils in the western United States:Quantifying the scope of resistance and implementing a plan to manage the threat
• Insecticide resistance monitoring and evaluation of efficacy of current chemical tactics for managing aphids and thrips in lettuce

How did you get interested in entomology? Can you recall an occasion that sparked your interest?  
I had biologist parents, and was drawn into entomology at a pretty young age. I spent plenty of time looking in flowers and turning over logs looking for insects. Once I started thinking about going to graduate school for entomology, I decided to focus on the intersection of agricultural entomology and insect ecology. I wanted to work on applied issues in entomology. 

How would you describe yourself? 
I like tackling problems, which has worked out well with my work in applied entomology and extension. I can be intensely focused and immensely distracted, which I would say has its pluses and minuses. 

What do you like best about your work? 
I love working in applied entomology and that I get to use research to better understand pests and work to develop IPM tools. The breadth of crops I cover is both a bit overwhelming but immensely exciting because of the diversity in pest issues, types of tactics that are applicable, and interesting ecological/biological questions among the various crop pests. I also get to work with great people, both within my lab and with all of the various collaborators/cooperators. I have met and worked with a lot of fantastic people this first year, and I also think my lab is off to a great start. 

Where were you born and where did you spend your childhood?  
I was born in Portland, Ore., but I primarily grew up in Olympia, Wash. As you might imagine, I grew up with lots of rain, but in a beautiful area.

What are your research plans/goals here at UC Davis? What drew you to UC Davis? 
Thus far, I have been focused on projects in crops where there has historically seen solid research by UC Davis (such as rice and cotton) and have been developing new projects and collaborations. For better or worse, IPM is never static, so my research will be continually evolving to address pest management needs and has already been shifting this first year. Because I have an extension appointment, stakeholder needs have driven much of my work and this will continue to be a theme. 

I was drawn to Davis by the many opportunities it would afford working in agricultural entomology. The department has a great reputation academically and the people in it are great as well. I also would have (and have had) the opportunity to connect with many other great researchers in the UC system, both campus- and county-based. There are many crops and pests to work on. We are quite literally surrounded by crops I work in, including alfalfa, rice, and tomatoes. I even found some alfalfa weevil on my run last weekend.

What do you like to do in your leisure time?
My primary hobby is running, ideally on trails and long distances. I can deal with the nearly zero elevation gain in our area, but I like to get out to where there are some hills. I also like to be outdoors in general and spending time with my family (wife/dog/cat; dog will go on adventure runs with us, cat only gets the backyard). 

What would people be surprised to know about you?
I don't like all foods, but I will try basically anything just to see what it tastes like. I think some people are also surprised by the amount of food I can eat at one time.

Do you know what a nematode is?

If you're a gardener, you're aware that nematodes are "microscopic, eel-like roundworms" and that "most troublesome species in the garden are those that live and feed within plant roots most of their lives and those that live freely in the soil and feed on plant roots," according to the UC Integrated Pest Management Program website on nematodes.

If you attended the ninth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, you learned hands-on information from  nematologists Christopher Pagan and Corwin Parker, doctoral students who study with major professor Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Pagan and Parker held forth at their display in the Academic Surge Building, where they fielded questions about nematodes and showed specimens to the visitors. The nematode collection was one of 13 museums or collections featured at the Biodiversity Museum Day, always held the Saturday of Presidents' Weekend.

Many visitors asked what nematodes are, they related.

Other common questions asked:

• Do I have nematode parasites?
• How dangerous are nematode parasites/can they kill you?
• How long do they live?
• How many species ofode are there?
• Are soil nematodes good or bad for my garden?

Parker shared some of the answers:

Do I have nematode parasites? 

Probably not unless you've been traveling a lot. The most common nematode parasite of humans in the US is pinworm which most children get, but not adults. Worldwide however, hundreds of millions of people are infested with parasites including Ascaris, hookworm, and whipworm.

How dangerous are nematode parasites/can they kill you?

Nematode parasites are usually relatively benign unless you have a lot of them. Potentially fatal exceptions do exist, such as zoonotic infections of rat lungworm and raccoon roundworm, but those are rare.

How long do nematodes live?

It depends on the species and life history. Parasitic nematodes can live for a long time, while most free-living nematodes have relatively short lifespans. Some nematodes that live in harsh environments such as deserts can extend their lives by going into a state of suspended animation until environmental conditions are optimal.

How many species of nematode are there?

More than 30,000 described species, but it's estimated there are more than 1 million total.

Are soil nematodes good or bad for my garden?

Most soil nematodes are neutral to beneficial for your garden. They're an integral part of the soil ecosystem and help with nutrient cycling, and some kill of root-feeding insects. There are some plant-parasitic nematodes, but most don't cause significant damage.

UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

In addition to the nematode collection, the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology showcased the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven. Other participating museums or collections at this year's Biodiversity Museum Day: the Botanical Conservatory, Arboretum and Public Garden, California Raptor Center, Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Paleontology Collection, Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Viticulture and Enology Culture Collection, Anthropology Museum, Center for Plant Diversity, and Marine Invertebrate Collection.

Here's a glimpse of the Biodiversity Museum Day activities at the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven.

If you missed it, calendar the 10th anniversary Biodiversity Museum Day in 2021. The event always takes place the Saturday of Presidents' Day Weekend.