Save the dates!

The seventh annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz will take place Friday, July 28 through Sunday, Aug. 6. 

That's when community scientists from across North America--United States, Canada and Mexico--will "come together with the shared goal of helping to protect and conserve the beloved and emblematic monarch butterfly," the organizers said. "Data collected by volunteers each year support trinational efforts to better understand the monarch butterfly's breeding productivity, range, and timing in North America."

So, during this 10-day period, we will look for monarchs, as well as eggs, caterpillars and chrysalids, and load the data via the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, "a central repository that, in combining data from various sources, assists researchers in performing large-scale temporal and spatial analyses. The data collected by volunteers help researchers answer key questions about monarch butterfly and milkweed distribution, timing of reproduction, and the use of natural resources. In turn, this information helps conservationists identify and prioritize actions to conserve the species."

Ready to participate? All you have to do is share your data with one of the community science programs below: 

• Journey North (journeynorth.org)
• Mission Monarch (mission-monarch.org)
• Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (mlmp.org)
• Naturalista (naturalista.mx)
• Correo Real Program/PROFAUNA A.C. (https://www.correoreal.mx/)
• Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper (monarchmilkweedmapper.org)

The Blitz is organized by the Trinational Monarch Conservation Science Partnership, a collaboration of organizations, including the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Insectarium/Montréal Space for Life, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the Monarch Joint Venture, Journey North, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, PROFAUNA AC/Correo Real Program, and Mexico's Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (Conanp).

Last year's effort resulted in 5988 observations, 2698 participants from 75 states and provinces, 19,222 monarchs observed, and 68,847 milkweeds examined. 

Also, you can sign up for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's newsletter here.

We remember that in 2016, our Vacaville pollinator garden thrived with 300 monarch eggs and caterpillars. The most exciting event? On Monday, Sept. 5, 2016 a citizen-tagged monarch fluttered into our yard from Ashland, Ore. This was part of a migratory monarch project headed by entomologist David James of Washington State University, my alma mater. Community scientist Steven Johnson of Ashland tagged it on Aug. 28, numbering it A6093.

"So, assuming it didn't travel much on the day you saw it, it flew 285 miles in 7 days or about 40.7 miles per day," James told us. "Pretty amazing. So, I doubt he broke his journey for much more than the five hours you watched him--he could be 100 miles further south by now." (See Bug Squad blog)

Now, to keep our eyes open for Danaus plexippus--the adults, eggs, caterpillars and chrysalids--during the July 28-Aug. 6 blitz.

Zero sightings in our yard so far this year!

Where are all the monarchs? Not in our pollinator garden here in Vacaville.

Milkweed? Check.

Floral resources? Check.

Praying mantids? No. (Haven't seen any, but they're out there!)

Birds? Yes. (Nesting California scrub jays eat their fill of caterpillars, mainly Gulf Fritillary 'cats.)

Shade? Yes. (Crepe myrtles and cherry laurels await.)

Monarchs? No. (Danaus plexippus, where are you?)

On previous Fourths of July, monarchs fluttered, nectared, and eclosed in our pollinator garden.  

Today, July 4, 2023, we celebrate our nation's birthday, and yes, it's "Hurrah for the Red, White and Blue!"

However, we are s-o looking forward to "Hurray for the Black and Orange!"

 

Scholar, teacher, mentor, researcher, author, collaborator, leader, optimist and administrator.

Those are some of the roles of Professor Joanna Chiu, molecular geneticist and physiologist, who advanced from vice chair to chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on July 1. She is serving a five-year appointment, succeeding nematologist Steve Nadler, the chair since Jan. 1, 2016.

As Dean Helene Dillard of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences said today: "I am pleased Joanna Chiu has been appointed as the chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. She is an outstanding scholar and teacher with demonstrated leadership skills.  I look forward to watching Professor Chiu thrive in her new role as chair and seeing the department continue to flourish.”

Chiu joined the Department of Entomology and Nematology in 2010 as an assistant professor, and advanced to associate professor and vice chair in 2016, and to professor and vice chair in 2021. She was named one of 10 UC Davis Chancellor's Fellows in 2019, a five-year honor awarded to associate professors who excel in research and teaching. The UC Davis Academic Senate honored her with a Distinguished Teaching Award, Graduate/Professional category, in 2022. She most recently received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research.

Chiu co-founded and co-directs (with professors Jay Rosenheim and Louie Yang) the campuswide Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology, launched in 2011 to provide undergraduates with a closely mentored research experience in biology. The program's goal is to provide academically strong and highly motivated undergraduates with a multi-year research experience that cultivates skills that will prepare them for a career in biological research.

A native of Hong Kong and a first-generation college student, Joanna received her bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in biology and music from Mount Holyoke College, Mass., and her doctorate in molecular genetics in 2004 from New York University, New York. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow from 2004 to 2010 in molecular chronobiology at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.  Her postdoctoral training was funded by an NIH F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship and K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.

"I grew up not knowing any scientists,” she related. “Both my parents work in the financial industry and neither went to college. However, my dad loves the outdoors and my childhood memories includes snorkeling with my dad and siblings, hiking in the very limited outdoors in my native Hong Kong, and watching a lot of National Geographic on TV. As a result, I have always been curious about biology, especially animal behavior.  I really hoped to study biology in college. My parents, on the other hand, wanted me to be a doctor."

“I certainly have never ever dreamed of being a professor when I was a college student. I just know I love biological research so I can learn more about the natural world, I love asking questions, and I love the joy of discovery."

Her students offer high praise.

In nominating Chiu for the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research, then doctoral Christine Tabuloc (now a PhD) wrote: "I joined Dr. Chiu's laboratory at the beginning of my second year here at UC Davis and remained a member of the lab for 3 years as an undergraduate, 2 years as a technician, and 6 years as a graduate student."

"Dr. Chiu welcomed me into her lab back in 2012," Tabuloc noted. "I had just finished my first year of college, and I had virtually no research experience. Despite this, Joanna took a chance on me and invited me to join her lab. Throughout the years, Joanna has taught me many skills—both at the bench and skills that translate outside the lab and even beyond academia. Joanna has taught me everything I know from performing an experiment with all the proper controls to mentoring students and giving effective and clear presentations. What makes her so outstanding is her commitment to helping us improve as scientists and researchers and preparing us for our future career endeavors."

"Not only have I experienced Dr. Chiu's mentorship first-hand, but I have also had the privilege of watching her mentor all the undergraduate students that have joined her lab throughout the years. In fact, since my time here, I have watched at least 35 undergraduates be mentored by Joanna, and many of these students were authors on publications in peer-reviewed journals such as Scientific Reports, Journal of Pest Science, BMC, Ecology, Current Biology, Nature Communications, Journal of Economic Entomology,and PLOS Genetics. More so, a true testament to her success as an undergraduate mentor are her students' successes: furthering their education at academic institutions such as Cornell, Stanford, Columbia, UCB, and UCLA or landing industry jobs at companies such as 10X Genomics. Many of these students still keep in contact with Dr. Chiu, and she continues to provide advice and guidance such as reviewing resumes and helping them prepare for interviews. Joanna is not just our mentor when we are at UCD, she is our mentor for life."

Other comments in the nomination awards packet echo Tabuloc's words:

• "As a PhD student at Cornell, I am immensely grateful for the training I received as an undergrad from Dr. Chiu. Not only did she train me thoroughly in basic biochemistry and molecular biology techniques, but she also pushed me to be independent and think critically about my science, skills essential for graduate school."--Jessica West
  
  
• "Beyond teaching me practical research skills, Dr. Chiu helped to spark the most important thing a person needs to be a successful scientist: pure joy in the pursuit of knowledge."--Katie Freitas

Joanna Chiu: scholar, teacher, mentor, researcher, author, collaborator, leader, optimist and administrator. But we should add at least one other attribute: "dog lover."

"Outside of my research and my job, I really enjoy spending time with my dogs (Oliver and Kaia are Golden Retrievers and Phoebe is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)," she recently told us. "We do conformation, scentwork, obedience, dock diving, retriever training, and are starting to train in agility."

Chiu takes the departmental helm with two outstanding scientists, both community ecologists: Rachel Vannette, associate professor, the new vice chair, and Louie Yang, professor, the new Entomology Graduate Program chair. 

Chiu has held both positions. 

Congrats to the University of California recipients of awards from the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE), an international association of communicators, educators and information technologists who focus on communicating research-based information.  

ACE officials recently handed out gold, silver and bronze awards at their 107th annual conference, held in Asheville, N.C.  ACE's first conference occurred July 10, 1913, when land-grant college agricultural editors gathered at the University of Illinois. 

And now, the California winners:

The University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) won the gold award in the Information Technology category, Instructional Design for a Non-Academic Public Online Course, for its “Self-Paced Online Course: Urban Pyrethroid and Fipronil Use-Runoff and Surface Water Protection.” 

The team: Petr Kosina, Cheryl Reynolds, Robert Budd, Aniela Burant, Carlos Gutierrez, Karey Windbiel-Rojas and Loren Oki.

The course, for pest management professionals who work primarily in structural pest control or landscape maintenance,  “presents information on the Surface Water Protection Regulations that were put into place to reduce the amount of pyrethroids in surface water runoff. It discusses the types of applications allowed under the regulations as well as those that are prohibited and those that are exempt." The course, available for free, must be completed by Dec. 30 of the current year.

Kathy Keatley Garvey (yours truly), communication specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won a bronze award (third place) in the pictorial series category. Her submission included a series of monarch images published July 27, 2022 on her Bug Squad blog, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources website. 

Headlined “Monarch Butterflies: Closer to Extinction,” the blog included photos of a monarch egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and male and female butterflies, all images she captured in her family's pollinator garden in Vacaville. 

The blog dealt with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announcement on July 21, 2022 that the migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is now on its "Red List of Threatened Species as Endangered--threatened by habitat destruction and climate change."

Wrote Garvey:

“The good news? That the iconic monarch landed on the Red List, which means opening safeguards to protect it."

“The bad news? Being on the list means that it's closer to extinction. The other bad news? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has not yet listed it as endangered or threatened, only that it's a candidate for its list of endangered and threatened wildlife."

“The sad news? The IUCN Red List now includes 147,517 species, of which 41,459 are threatened with extinction."

Garvey launched the Bug Squad on Aug. 6, 2008 and writes it every night, Monday through Friday. The insect blog draws worldwide rankings and accolades.

The ACE winners represent universities or higher institutions of learning in 18 states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming. (See list)