- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
I posted that on May 21, 2009 when Jay--now UC Davis Distinguished Professor Jay Rosenheim--won the first of many teaching awards spearheaded by his students.
He'll soon be UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus. He's retiring at the end of June after 34 years with the Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT).
The department won't be the same without him.
Rosenheim specializes in insect ecology, integrated pest management, and biological control, and the use of farmer-generated data to enhance pest and crop management ('Ecoinformatics'). He is internationally known for his research on the ecology of insect parasitoids and predators, insect reproductive behavior, and the application of big data, or ecoinformatics, methods in agricultural entomology.
And he was among the seven retiring or newly retired ENT faculty members honored on June 11 at a department-sponsored event at UC Davis Alumni Center.
Professor Louie Yang said it well at the event.
"I've known him for 24 of those years and having seen just a little bit of how much he has done for students, colleagues, and the university in each of those years, it is deeply humbling to reflect upon his cumulative career-long contribution to science and mentorship."
"I've come to see that there are many ways to be a professor," Yang continued. "Jay's way has long been characterized by creative scholarly achievements, thoughtful and intentional contributions to agriculture, an intuitive feel for his organisms and a natural intuition for the quantitative side of ecology. I've also had a chance to witness and benefit from Jay's commitment to mentorship up close. Jay has provided mentorship to students and faculty alike, and I've benefited from both. His mentorship is characterized by good judgment and empathy; he is quick to forgive mistakes and genuine in celebrating your successes. On our campus, he's provided leadership of a quiet doing kind, often working behind the scenes to make important things happen and to provide a calming and moderating influence in challenging times."
Yang concluded with "I will sorely miss having Jay as a colleague. But I want to end with a heartfelt thanks. Thanks for all you've done for us over the many years, and for passing the baton. We wish you all the best on the road ahead."
A native of Yorktown, N.Y, young Jay developed an interest in biology while exploring the vernal pools behind his Hudson River Valley home. As an undergraduate at UC Davis, he initially majored in physics. "On a lark" he enrolled in Professor Harry Kaya's Entomology 100 course in 1981. The professor inspired him, the class enthralled him, and insects captivated him.
Rosenheim's career has not only led to his being elected a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, but recipient of teaching awards from the Associated Students of UC Davis and the UC Davis Academic Senate; the Distinguished Student Mentoring Award from ESA's Pacific Branch and the campuswide Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award.
Rosenheim co-founded and co-directs the campuswide Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB) with Professors Joanna Chiu (now chair of the department) and Yang. The program aims to provide "undergraduates with a closely-mentored research experience in biology," according to the website. "Because insects can be used as model systems to explore virtually any area of biology (population biology; behavior and ecology; biodiversity and evolutionary ecology; agroecology; genetics and molecular biology; biochemistry and physiology; cell biology), faculty in the program can provide research opportunities across the full sweep of 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."
Rosenheim is the kind of professor who ignites, inspires and supports you. He recently reflected on his role: "The job of a professor is quite diverse, and quite rewarding in different ways. Teaching in a classroom provides instant gratification, as you see the light of understanding and excitement shining in students' eyes as they explore and grasp new concepts. Research in the laboratory provides instead delayed gratification, where long periods of hard work--sometimes years--may pass before questions are answered and one feels the satisfaction of pushing forward the margins of scientific understanding."
"But, perhaps the most lasting sense of accomplishment comes from mentoring graduate students," Rosenheim related. "Building relationships with graduate students, watching them grow in their skills and confidence and, finally, seeing them establish themselves in their careers, provides the kind of reward that is similar in some ways to the happiness that parents derive from their children. And the relationships never end--they are bonds that last a lifetime. I think the key to effective mentorship is to place the student's welfare at the top of one's priority list. So, drafts of papers should be returned promptly with constructive suggestions, and not allowed to languish in a long queue of manuscripts waiting for reviews--more senior colleagues can wait, if someone needs to wait."
We owe a debt of gratitude to UC Davis Distinguished Professor Jay Rosenheim, exemplary teacher, mentor and researcher, and wish him well in his retirement.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, is foraging on lavender in a Vacaville garden. Abruptly, the bumble bee senses a fast-approaching honey bee, Apis mellifera.
Bombus: "Hey, bee, this is my territory, my lavender, my food."
Honey Bee: "Sorry, I'm just passing by."
Bombus: "Make sure you do that."
Honey Bee: "Well, you don't have to be so grouchy and territorial. There's plenty for everyone."
Bombus: "Just setting the rules."
Honey Bee: "Rules are meant to be broken."
Bombus: "That's not a rule. That's your request. Besides, I'm finished here."
Honey Bee: "So bee it."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ever seen the wooly bear caterpillar, Arctia virginalis, formerly known as Platyprepia virginalis?
It's found in low elevations in western North America, from southern Monterey Bay, across Nevada and southern Utah to Colorado, and north to southern British Columbia.
We see it on spring and summer hikes on the trails of Bodega Head, Sonoma County, where it's often foraging on fiddleneck.
In its adult stages, it is commonly known as Ranchman's tiger moth, a diurnal or day-flying moth. French lepidopterist, botanist and physician, Jean Baptiste Alphonse Déchauffour de Boisduval (1799-1879) first described it in 1852.
This is the caterpillar that UC Davis distinguished professor Richard "Rick" Karban, a community ecologist, has studied for four decades. His research site is at the Bodega Marine Reserve, where he studies "the factors that control the abundance and spatial distribution of wooly bear caterpillars." Karban, who plans to retire this June, has published numerous papers on the wooly bear caterpillar. (Fred's Ecology and Environmental Tales commented on one paper dealing with climate change: "Karban and his students explored three hypotheses for why caterpillars increased following a year with numerous heavy rainfall events. First, perhaps more rain causes more plant growth and deeper litter, providing extra food for caterpillars. Second, heavy rains may reduce the number of predacious ground-nesting ants. Lastly, heavy rains may produce deeper denser litter providing refuge from predacious ants."
The Washington Post featured Karban's research in an article titled "These Fuzzy Little Caterpillars Are Better at Predicting Elections Than Most Pundits," published April 26, 2016.
Want to learn more about moths? Attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on moths on Saturday night, July 20. Moth Night is from 7 to 11, with activities scheduled both inside and outside the museum. It's free and family friendly, Parking is also free on the weekends.
The Bohart Museum, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
Director of the Bohart is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He is president-elect of the American Arachnological Society.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's National Pollinator Month, and what better time to find a tiny speck of a bee on a seven-foot tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii?
This is a sweat bee of the family Halictidae, the second largest family of bees, comprised of some 4500 species. The family is found on every continent except Antarctica.
Sweat bees--as the name suggests--are attracted to perspiration. The oldest fossil record dates back to the Early Eocene epoch, which lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago.
A tiny speck of a bee finding a tiny bit of pollen, much as it did millions of years ago...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the sweltering heat of Solano County (100 degrees) during National Pollinator Month, how about an image of a sweat bee, genus Halictus, a tiny bee that's often overlooked in the world of pollinators.
It's a social bee that nests in the soil. "These nests consist of a complex of tunnels with individual brood chambers," according to California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday), the work of UC-affiliated scientists,
My camera caught this Halictus flying over Coreopsis in our Vacaville pollinator garden on June 5.
Camera: Nikon Z8 with a 50mm lens
Settings: Shutter speed, 1/4000 of a second; f-stop, 5; ISO 500.
UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, emeritus director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and Bohart Museum scientist Sandy Shanks said the species appears to be Halictus ligatus.
Most Halictus species are generalist foragers, according to the Great Sunflower Project. "They use all sorts of genera of plants from the Asteraceae to Scrophulariaceae. They are very common on composites (daisy-like disc and ray flowers) in summer and fall."
We've seen them on everything from mustard to milkweeds to catmint to rock purslane, from spring to fall. They also appear regularly on the tower of jewels (Echium wildpretii).
Not to mention the Coreopsis.
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