- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminars begin Monday afternoon, Sept. 30 and continue every Monday through Dec. 2.
Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor of soil ecology and pest management, is coordinating the seminars. All, except one, will be held in Briggs Hall. All, but one, will be on Zoom.
The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Michael Hoffmann, professor emeritus, Cornell University, will deliver the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar in the Putah Creek Lodge at 4 p.m. on Oct. 14. (See below)
The list of seminars:
Monday, Sept. 30, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Kyle Wickings
Department of Entomology, Cornell University
Title: “Composition and Function of Soil Invertebrate Communities in Residential Greenspaces”
Monday, Oct. 7, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Juliana Rangel Posada
Professor of Apiculture, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University
Title: “Don't Compromise: Food Lipid Content Shapes Protein-Lipid Regulation in Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Nurses”
Monday, Oct. 14, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar
Michael Hoffmann
Professor Emeritus, Cornell University
Title: “Our Changing Menu: Using the Power of Food to Confront Climate Change”
This will take place beginning at 4 p.m. in the Putah Creek Lodge and will include a social, lecture and dinner. Reservations closed. (See more)
Monday, Oct. 21, 4:10 to 5 p.m.,122 Briggs
Andrew Corbett
Research Affiliate, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (formerly with the lab of UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim, now emeritus)
Title: "In Silico Experiments with the Effect of Natural Habitats on Biological Control in Agricultural Landscapes."
Monday, Oct. 28, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Jolene Saldivar
UC Davis Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow, lab of Professor Louie Yang
Title: "Disturbance in Coastal Sage Scrub and the Implications for Migratory Butterflies”
Monday, Nov. 4, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Eliza Litsey (exit seminar)
Litsey, a former graduate student in the honey bee lab of Elina Niño, UC Davis Department of Entomology, received her master's degree in entomology in June 2024 and is now a laboratory technician at the lab of research entomologist Julia Fine, USDA/ARS, Davis. Litzey also holds a bachelor's degree from UC Davis.)
Monday, Nov. 18, 122 Briggs (in-person only; will not on Zoom)
Andre Custodio Franco
Assistant Professor, Indiana University Bloomington
Title: "Deciphering the Soil Macrobiome: Belowground Communities Driving Ecosystem Responses to Global Change”
Monday, Nov. 25, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Christine Sprunger
Associate Professor of Soil Health at Michigan State University
Title: "Nematodes as Bioindicators of Soil Health and Climate Resiliency”
Monday, Dec. 2, 4:10 to 5 p.m., 122 Briggs
Inga Zasada
Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS
Title: "How an Applied Nematolgist Uses Genomic Tools to Address Plant-Parasitic Nematode Research”
For more information, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Do you know where your nematodes are? If you're a grower, you should.
"To make informed management decisions and ensure that environmentally damaging soil fumigants are applied only when and where needed, growers need to know precisely the density and distribution of pest nematodes," says nematologist Amanda Hodson, a professional researcher in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology who will present a departmental seminar at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31 in 122 Briggs Hall.
Hodson, who will deliver the hourlong seminar on "Molecular Detection and Integrated Management of Plant Parasitic Nematodes," studies the interrelationships between nematode pests, ecosystem functioning and management decisions.
"Molecular methods overcome some of the drawbacks of the labor and time intensive process of nematode detection," she says. "Our analysis has established the accuracy of real time PCR (qPCR) primers which accurately differentiate and quantify several pest nematodes from other nematodes in the soil including lesion nematode (Pratylenchus vulnus), ring nematode (Mesocriconema xenoplax) and two separate groups of root knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.). Integrated management of these soil pests requires better understanding of the interactions between nematode pest suppression, soil food webs, management tactics, crop productivity, and soil health. Our experiments link managing for nematode pest suppression with other desired ecological outcomes such as increased soil organic matter and nutrient cycling in cropping systems such as almonds, tomatoes and carrots."
Hodson's research integrates plant and root biology with the fields of entomology, nematology, acarology and biogeochemistry. She completed her doctorate in entomology at UC Davis in 2010 on the ecological effects of a biological control agent in pistachio orchards, finding that the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae, caused temporary changes in native soil food webs. Following up on these results in the laboratory, she found that the European earwig (Forficula auricularia) could serve as a novel host for the nematode. This susceptibility depended on host body size with significantly higher mortality rates seen in larger earwigs.
The departmental seminars (see schedule) are open to all interested persons. Seminar coordinators are assistant professor Rachel Vannette, Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño and doctoral student Brendon Boudinot of the Phil Ward lab.