- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus and noted integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom of the Department of Entomology and Nematology received a Lifetime IPM Achievement Award from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), his colleagues and former graduate students rushed to congratulate him.
Zalom officially retired in 2018 but continues his IPM research and outreach efforts as a recall professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. His 45-year career includes director of the UC Statewide IPM Program for 16 years.
The best accolade we've heard came from UC Davis doctoral alumnus Mohammad Amir Aghaee: "Frank Zalom is the Michael Jordan of IPM."
Aghaee posted that on the "Insects & Entomology" section of LinkedIn.
Aghaee, now entomology program leader with California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, was a top-notch graduate student at UC Davis. He won the 2015 John Henry Comstock Award, the highest graduate student award given by the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America and numerous other honors. (See news story) At the time he received the award, Aghaee was a fifth year Ph.D. candidate working on rice water weevil management in California rice.
Carlos Bográn: "No one more deserving of this recognition! Thank you for sharing, this is very special to many of us that have learned from him and his example of professionalism and grace."
David Bellamy: "Congratulations, Frank. Clearly well deserved..."
Carlos Vargas: You, sir, are a great wealth of knowledge..."
Numerous entomologists and organizations turned to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate Zalom. UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and former chair of the Department of Entomology, posted a newspaper clipping of Zalom talking to his former student Hannah Burrack, now professor and chair of the Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. The headline: "Separating the Good Bugs from the Bad."
Comments on Facebook included:
Walter Bentley (UC IPM entomologist, emeritus): "Congratulations, Frank. This is a well-deserved honor."
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website chronicled Zalom's achievements in a comprehensive news story. CDPR praised Zalom for “advancing IPM practices in California specialty crops as a preeminent researcher, practitioner and champion of sustainable pest management.”
"Dr. Zalom's work has contributed greatly to advancing safe, effective, and sustainable IPM practices in specialty crops such as almonds, strawberries, tomatoes, and olives,” a CDPR spokesman said. “Through hundreds of presentations and publications, Dr. Zalom has contributed to broad adoption of IPM practices for numerous agricultural pests, resulting in less insecticide use and reduced run-off impacts and high-risk pesticide exposures.”
The news story went on to note that Zalom's career led to his presidency of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA) in 2014, and ESA's highest honor, Honorary Member, in 2021. His peers also elected him Fellow of the ESA, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Royal Entomological Society (London), and the California Academy of Sciences.
Among Zalom's many other accomplishments:
- He served as editor-in-chief of ESA's Journal of Economic Entomology from 2018-2022.
- The American Entomologist featured him in a 2023 "legends of entomology" piece titled Blue Collar California.
- He has authored or co-authored 376 journal articles and book chapters. Google Scholar attributes more than 11,000 citations to his papers, and assigns a h-index score of 50 and an i-index score of 207 to these works. (The i-index reflects the number of his papers that have been cited at least 10 times in other research papers.)
- He has delivered more 900 presentations at various clientele meetings in California since 1980.
- He has published well over 400 outreach articles on practical IPM during his 43-year UC career.
- He served as editor-in-chief of ESA's Journal of Economic Entomology from 2018-2022. This 115-year-old publication is the "most cited" journal in entomology, and well over half of the papers originate from outside of the U.S.
- He has participated in various international leadership projects involving IPM. (See more)
Today we're sharing three links to the CDPR's Feb. 29th ceremony, honoring five recipients:
- Full Ceremony: https://youtu.be/XEMKD04bDT4
- Video honoring Frank Zalom: https://youtu.be/oXc8OcQivLI
- Remarks from Assembly member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry: https://youtu.be/o4xnXyPn7e8
Frankly, UC Davis doctoral alumnus Mohammad Amir Aghaee absolutely nailed it:
"Frank Zalom is the Michael Jordan of IPM."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His name is synonymous with integrated pest management (IPM) and his achievements during his 45-year career are nothing short of spectacular.
So it's no surprise that UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Frank Zalom, internationally recognized for his IPM expertise and leadership, is the recipient of a Lifetime IPM Achievement Award from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR).
Zalom, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and formerly, the 16-year director of the UC Statewide IPM Program, will be honored at CDPR's IPM Achievement Awards virtual ceremony at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 29. Four other individuals or organizations also will receive the 2023 awards. (Register here to access the Zoom ceremony.)
CDPR praised Zalom for “advancing IPM practices in California specialty crops as a preeminent researcher, practitioner and champion of sustainable pest management.”
The Lifetime IPM Achievement Award recognizes individuals with 20 or more years of research, professional practice, or outreach in IPM-related sectors.
“Dr. Zalom's work has contributed greatly to advancing safe, effective, and sustainable IPM practices in specialty crops such as almonds, strawberries, tomatoes, and olives,” a CDPR spokesman said. “Through hundreds of presentations and publications, Dr. Zalom has contributed to broad adoption of IPM practices for numerous agricultural pests, resulting in less insecticide use and reduced run-off impacts and high-risk pesticide exposures.”
Zalom officially retired in 2018 but continues his IPM research and outreach efforts as a recall professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. He also serves as advisor to the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Office of Pesticide Consultation and Analysis, and a science advisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Zalom is known for his “tireless advocacy for IPM as THE way to address pest concerns in a sustainable, economical and environmentally acceptable manner.” His peers describe his approach to IPM as “progressive, not dogmatic, integrating the economical and judicious use of crop protection products while promoting effective, biologically based pest management alternatives.”
“The overarching objective of my research program can best be described as the pursuit of knowledge that advances the science and use of integrated pest management,” Zalom said. Although he initially worked on rice, cotton and alfalfa, he turned his primary focus to California specialty crops including tree crops (almonds, olives, prunes, peaches), small fruits (grapes, strawberries, caneberries), and fruiting vegetables (example, tomatoes).
Zalom developed IPM strategies and tactics within the context of these systems that included monitoring procedures, thresholds, pest development and population models, biological controls, and use of less toxic pesticides, many of which are incorporated into UC IPM Guidelines for these crops (see https://ipm.ucanr.edu/agriculture/) and have become standard practice. He pursues his goals through a combination of fundamental studies linked to pest biology, physiology, and community ecology.
Overall, Zalom engages in what he calls "problem-focused, hypothesis-driven research that focuses on understanding the biology of the pest species that eventually results in economically viable IPM management approaches that reduce the amount of undesirable insecticides being used in crop production."
Zalom says he considers himself "a problem-solver who consults with fellow scientists, researchers, horticulturists, students, visiting scholars, extension educators, growers, pest control advisers, environmental groups, and public agencies--listening to their requests and concerns, before proposing and implementing the best IPM solutions to pest problems."
See more about our UC Davis doctoral alumnus extraordinaire and his IPM achievements.
Update:
- Full Ceremony: https://youtu.be/XEMKD04bDT4
- Video honoring Frank Zalom: https://youtu.be/oXc8OcQivLI
- Remarks from Assembly member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry: https://youtu.be/o4xnXyPn7e8
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The annual meeting, hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA), is taking place Nov. 5-8 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
The theme: "Insects and Influence: Advancing Entomology's Impact on People and Policy."
At the helm of ESA this year--and influencing scientists, insects and the general public--are four women scientists:
- President: Marianne Alleyne, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Vice President: Jennifer Henke, Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District
- Vice President-Elect: Lina Bernaola, Texas A&M University
- Past President: Jessica Ware, American Museum of Natural History
Among the top honorees at Entomology 2023 is UC Davis doctoral alumnus Douglas Walsh, professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Entomology, Washington State University (WSU). He is one of six newly elected Fellows
"Walsh is known internationally for his research on the modes of action and resistance mechanisms of acaricides on spider mites and regionally in the Pacific Northwest for his extension and outreach efforts on specialty crops," ESA announced in a news release, citing that:
"Walsh has maintained a well-funded (more than $30 million) and productive program as the research director of the Environmental and Agricultural Entomology Laboratory located at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in the Yakima Valley near Prosser, Washington. Walsh is the Extension integrated pest management (IPM) coordinator for Washington State and the Washington State liaison representative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture IR-4 Project."
"Walsh has an extensive and varied integrated pest and pollinator management research and Extension program assisting regionally important commodities including hops, alfalfa, grapes, and mint. Walsh also directs environmental impact studies on alfalfa leafcutting and alkali bees, the key pollinators of alfalfa produced for seed. Walsh's efforts in IPM have resulted in the documented reduction of over 100,000 pounds of insecticide use in the Pacific Northwest annually."
Born in New York in 1963 and a resident of California since 1969, Walsh holds a bachelor's degree in biology from UC Santa Cruz (1985). He received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1998, studying with major professor Frank Zalom, who went on to become a UC Davis distinguished professor and president and Honorary Member of ESA. "He is very deserving," Zalom said. "I couldn't be more proud of all that he has accomplished." Zalom is now emeritus, but continues to do research.
"I was Frank's first PhD student," Walsh said. "Frank had one before me, Rachid Hanna. Frank picked up Rachid when Rachid was orphaned when his original professor left UC Davis. Rachid and I quibble about who was Frank's first student. I'm the first that went from start to finish with Frank."
"(Professors) Sean Duffy and Harry Kaya were also on my PhD committee," Walsh said.
Outstanding Graduate Student. Kaya remembers Walsh well. "He was studying integrated pest management at UC Davis and was an outstanding graduate student in Frank Zalom's lab," Kaya said. "Even as a graduate student, he published some significant papers on IPM research, and I had no doubt that he would excel in research in his post graduate years. He has not only done superb IPM research but has been a leader in the Entomological Society of America as well as other national and international organizations. He richly deserves being elected as an ESA Fellow."
Walsh joined the WSU Department of Entomology as assistant professor in 1998 and advanced to associate professor in 2003 and to professor in 2007. The author of more than 200 publications, he annually delivers more than 35 Extension presentations. He has mentored 12 doctoral students and 11 master's degree students.
Walsh served as president of the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA) in 2010 and represented PBESA on the ESA governing board from 2013 through 2019. Among his ESA awards: Excellence in IPM Award and he led two teams that received the IPM Team Award.
A WSU news story (Sept. 7, 2023) related that Walsh has "worked primarily on pest control issues, mostly on hops, grape vines, mint, and alfalfa. One of his first successes at WSU in 2005 involved developing a novel method for controlling cutworms, which climb up from the soil in spring to nibble on grapevine buds."
Walsh initially set out to become a botanist. “I was working in a local Extension office in California after I got my bachelor's degree," he told the WSU writer Scott Weybright. "That work involved battling spider mites on strawberries. I kind of fell into entomology, but I love the work and the creative solutions we find to help growers."
His wife, Catherine (Kikie) is a senior software engineer with Altera Digital, a hospital software firm. The couple, married 35 years, raised three children, Claire, Russ, and Jeff, all WSU grads. Claire is the lifecycle marketing manager with Niantic Labs; Russ is working toward his master's degree in teaching at WSU Tri-Cities: and Jeff is a site reliability engineer at TikTok.
Other newly inducted ESA Fellows are:
- Cassandra Extavour, Harvard University
- James Hagler, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Alvin M. Simmons, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Lukasz Stelinski, University of Florida
- Edward L. Vargo, Texas A&M University
Founded in 1889, ESA is a worldwide organization of more than 7000 members, who are affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry, and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The project? Fourteen articles in The Journal of Economic Entomology's Special Collection: Research Advances in Spotted-Wing Drosophila suzukii Management, published in the August 2022 edition.
The insect? It's native to Asia and primarily targets soft-skinned fruits in the berry industry, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cherries. The tiny insect, about 1/12 to 1/8 inch long, invaded the continental United States in 2008.
The authors? They're from eight countries: United States, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and represent perspectives from universities, federal and state laboratories, growers, and pest product companies.
Thirteen UC Davis scientists or former affiliates are among the authors who contributed.
“All of the papers were by invitation of the co-editors of the special collection—Jana Lee, Cesar Rodrigue-Saona, and me,” said journal editor-in-chief Frank Zalom, a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus and recall professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. Zalom's research includes the insect, Drosophila suzukii.
Lee, formerly with the UC Davis laboratory of the late chemical ecologist Steve Seybold, is a research entomologist with the Horticultural Crops Research Unit, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Corvallis. Rodriguez-Saona, who received his doctorate from UC Riverside, is an Extension entomologist with the Department of Entomology, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey.
One paper, Spatio-temporal Variation of Spinosad Susceptibility in Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae), a Three-year Study in California's Monterey Bay Region, is from the Zalom lab and includes co-author, molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and vice chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Since 2008, "D. suzukii has become a key economical pest of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cherries in the United States and worldwide," the editors wrote in their introductory remarks. "Not surprisingly, the number of publications has proliferated from 29 publications as of 2010 to 978 additional publications between 2011 and 2021 from a Web of Science search for ‘Drosophila suzukii.' While many publications are available, this special collection will highlight advances in D. suzukii pest management since its U.S. invasion. We solicited papers by open call and received 66 abstracts, and selected 14 papers covering: 1) review, 2) monitoring and risk, 3) behavioral control, 4) biological control, 5) cultural control, and 6) chemical control."
The editors pointed out that “Given that 14 years of research has accumulated since the continental U.S. invasion, it was fitting to include two reviews that provide a different scope than was covered in prior reviews on D. suzukii biological control (Lee et al. 2019, Wang et al. 2020), trapping (Burrack et al. 2020), cultural control (Schöneberg et al. 2021), and chemical ecology (Cloonan et al. 2018). This special collection is anchored by Tait et al. (2021), a review of the most promising methods as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy against D. suzukii across the world since 2008. The effectiveness, impact, sustainability, and present stage of development and implementation are discussed for each of the considered techniques, and insights for continued development are presented.”
The researchers related that the pest is a significant threat to California's berry production industry, which the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) valued at more than $2.8 billion in 2019. Caneberries, in particular, "are a preferred host of D. suzukii, and California accounts for 89.4 percent of all production in the United States, with the Monterey Bay region producing about half of the state's raspberries and blackberries (CDFA 2020). This pest has now spread to all major berry and cherry growing areas of the United States."
The collection is meant to serve "as a key reference point for entomologists across many institutions (e.g., academia, government, and industry) on important advances in D. suzukii pest management," according to the Entomological Society of America. "The articles in this collection will also provide scientists information on potential research gaps that will help guide future research directions on this important pest. The goal is to preserve and catalog articles on various aspects of D. suzukii pest management, i.e., monitoring, cultural control, chemical control, behavioral control, and biological control, that will be shared among entomologists."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Congratulations to Melody Keena, UC Davis alumna and entomologist extraordinaire.
Keena, a research entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Research Station in Hamden, Conn., is a newly selected Honorary Member of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA), the organization's highest honor.
She joins two other Honorary Member recipients this year: Walter Soares Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor with the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a former chair of the Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology), and research entomologist Alvin Simmons of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. (See UC Davis news story)
Keena, an international expert on the biology and behavior of the spongy moth (formerly known as the gypsy moth) and the Asian longhorned beetle, focuses her research on “developing the knowledge and tools needed for exclusion, eradication or control of non-native invasive forest pests and investigating basic biology, behavior, and population genetics,” according to the ESA officials who announced her Honorary Membership. "Honorary Membership recognizes extraordinary service by ESA members who have had significant involvement in the affairs of the Society for at least 20 years."
Keena may be the first Honorary Member to receive all three degrees in entomology from UC Davis: a bachelor's degree obtained in 1983, a master's, 1985, and a doctorate in 1988. Professor Jeff Granett served as her major professor for both her graduate degrees.
Keena initially chose to attend UC Davis because of its renowned School of Veterinary Medicine. An entomology course changed her plans. "I had taken a non-majors entomology class and liked it, so I took the first majors course and told myself that if I got an A in it that would be my major. Then I did work study, helping in entomology labs so I was exposed to research. That led me to do the masters to see if research was for me. Obviously, I got hooked on entomology."
At UC Davis, Keena worked on spider mite pesticide resistance management in the almond cropping system. After receiving her doctorate, she headed to Connecticut as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut. She's served as a research entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Hamden since 1992 and is now the lead scientist in the lab.
So, what sparked Melody Keena's initial interest in entomology? Fence lizards!
“They eat live insects so I had to find them,” said Keena, who was born in the Los Angeles area but moved at age 4 to Chico and then to Paradise as a teenager. “We fed them any insects we could find, since store-bought were too expensive. We fed them mostly crickets and grasshoppers. I also reared some mealworms at home for the winter.”
In a letter of support for her Honorary Member nomination, Frank Zalom, UC Davis distinguished professor, president of ESA in 2014, and an Honorary Member of ESA since 2021, said he has known Keena since 1983 when she "became a graduate student at UC Davis." He also served with her on a number of ESA committees.
"Melody is an internationally known researcher on biology and control of non-native forest insect pests with the US Forest Service, and has gained a number of significant accolades for her research and leadership," Zalom wrote. "Her CV illustrates the breadth and quality of her journal articles that present important biological studies of many of the most notorious invasive forest insects in North America this century. What sets Melody apart from other outstanding entomology researchers in my experience is the quantity, quality and impact of her service to our Society over her almost 40 years as an ESA member." (Read her accomplishments on Department of Entomology and Nematology website).
ESA has now singled out six UC Davis faculty members as recipients of its highest award:
- 2022: UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal
- 2021: UC Davis distinguished professor Frank Zalom
- 2001: Professor John Edman
- 1996: Professor Bruce Eldridge
- 1993: Professor and 1984 ESA President Donald MacLean (1928-2014)
- 1990: Professor Harry Lange (1912-2004)
Melody Keena may be in a class by herself. And that could be music to the Aggie Nation! Nobody else on the Honorary Member list appears to have received three entomology degrees from UC Davis.