- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So wrote Helene Dillard, dean of CA&ES, in her October column paying tribute to six outstanding individuals who will be honored at an awards dinner and ceremony on Nov. 3 in the Activities and Recreation Center ballroom, UC Davis.
It's an amazing group of individuals! And two of them are entomologists: one is known for his expertise on honey bees and the other, for his expertise on butterflies.
Honey geneticist and UC Davis doctoral alumnus Robert E. Page Jr., winner of the Exceptional Emeriti Award, is known by his colleagues as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world." (See news article of Oct. 26 on the Department of Entomology and Nematology website and the Oct. 28 post on the Bug Squad blog.)
Butterfly collector Bill Patterson and his wife, Doris Brown, of Sacramento are winners of the CA&ES' "Friend of the College Award." They are longtime friends and supporters of the Bohart Museum, which houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens and is the seventh largest insect museum in North America.
The couple recently donated $1 million to support the museum's insect collection, a gift that will provide the museum with the financial security to support staff and resources, according to Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.
"Doris and Bill have been incredibly supportive of the Bohart," Kimsey told us. "Bill has collected butterflies and moths for many years and sees the museum as the place he wants to be home to his collection. Doris isn't a collector herself, but she strongly supports his interests and has been enthusiastic about his collection coming here as a permanent home."
Patterson, a native of Oakland, began collecting butterflies at age 6. He received his bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1962. He worked as a technician for UC Davis entomology professor Howard McKenzie from 1958 to 1968, retiring from UC Davis in 1963. Patterson also holds a teaching credential from Sacramento State University and taught math and science for 15 years as a substitute teacher, retiring from teaching in 1985.
Doris Brown, born in Seattle, holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Washington State University, Pullman, Wash. She also has a master's degree in counseling. She worked as an analyst and manager for the federal and state government and a private consulting firm. She retired as the chief of Fiscal Programs Division, California Employment Development Department.
They hope their donation will help educate the community about the importance of butterflies and moths. Patterson told Ashley Han in a CA&ES news story: “I believe scientifically valuable collections should not stay in private hands. The museum is the perfect place for my collection to be permanently protected and studied."
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 and located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart. It is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
In addition to the trio of Bill Patterson/Doris Brown and Rob Page, the 2022 recipients of Awards of Distinction are:
- Alumnus of the Year, Marko Zaninovich (Class of 1964)
- Exceptional Faculty Award, Daniel Sumner, the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- Exceptional Staff Award, Shannon Tanguay, budget fiscal officer with CA&ES. (See more on CA&ES website)
Another entomologist, Jeff Smith, the volunteer curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, won the "Friend of the College Award" in 2015. (See news story)
CA&ES is known throughout the world for its expertise, educational opportunities, and contributions to society, according to its website announcing the 2022 winners. "Much of that is due to the great dedication and efforts of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the college."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The multi-talented professor, researcher, teacher and editor--with a deep background in administration--is the newly appointed Associate Dean for Research and Outreach for Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"Jason's position is effective today, Oct 25," announced Dean Helene Dillard. "Jason succeeds Anita Oberbauer, who was reappointed earlier this summer as executive associate dean for the college."
"He has a long history at land-grant institutions, beginning with his Ph.D. in evolutionary systematics and genetics at Virginia Tech and later as a postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago," she related.
In an email to fellow members of his department today, Bond wrote: "Like everyone, the events over the last year and half related to the pandemic, like how we communicate science, global change, and the massive social problems these issues are revealing, have really left an impression on me, and consequently feeling like I should be doing more. I have been impressed with Dean Dillard and the group that she has advising her, and am really excited about the opportunity to help facilitate the research, outreach, and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) missions of the College in a meaningful way."
Bond added that he has "no intention of abandoning my research/systematics program, teaching, or other Departmental obligations." He noted that he and his wife, Kristen (who coordinates a nurse training program for Dignity Health) graduated their only daughter this past June from Davis High School and "we are now empty nesters."
Professor Bond joined the UC Davis faculty in 2018 from Auburn University, where he directed the Auburn University Museum of Natural History (2011–2016), and served as professor and chair of the Auburn Department of Biological Sciences (2016–2018). He played a major role in the design and construction of a new state-of-the-art collections facility. He also directed the Alabama Natural Heritage Program, guiding its conservation activities of endangered and threatened species in the Southeast.
Bond was recently named co-editor-in-chief of the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity (ISD), published by the Entomological Society of America, and will serve a four-year term, starting Jan. 1. His credentials also include associate editor of Systematic Biology (2019–present) and editor of New World Mygalomorphae for Zootaxa (2016–present).
In his research, Bond specializes in the evolutionary diversification of terrestrial arthropods, specifically spiders, millipedes, and tenebrionid beetles; and researches the landscape scale genomics of California species, with an emphasis on understanding the impact of global change on biodiversity. (See Bond laboratory.) He is also a principal investigator associated with the California Conservation Genomics Project, a state-funded initiative with a single goal: to produce the most comprehensive, multispecies, genomic dataset ever assembled to help manage regional biodiversity.
Born in Johnson City, Tenn., Jason spent his childhood in Lewisville, N.C., a small town just outside of Winston-Salem. His American roots run deep; his ancestors made munitions for George Washington's army. His father grew up on the campus of East Tennessee State University, where his grandfather served as head of facilities. “The Bond Building” bears his name.
Jason received his bachelor's degree in biological sciences, cum laude, in 1993 from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, and his master's degree in biology in 1995 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. He earned his doctorate in evolutionary systematics and genetics in 1999 from Virginia Tech.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Bond served for a number of years as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew chief.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
But they did when UC Davis student Hannah Trumbull, a human development major and political science minor from Albany, Calif., delivered her address at the recent UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences commencement.
What's a nematode, you ask?
Short answer: worms. Longer answer? “Nematodes are an amazing phylum of organisms—they exist in almost every known environment on the plant, and different species eat everything from bacteria and fungi to plant and animal tissue,” says UC Davis nematologist/parasitologist Lauren Camp, received her doctorate from UC Davis last December.
Enter Hannah Trumbull. Last winter she enrolled in a human development course on longevity taught by James R. Carey, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, and a recipient of national and international teaching recognitions.
What Trumbull had to say about worms, aka flatworms, at her commencement address stirred the crowd.
“Out of all the lessons I learned at Davis, the one I am thinking about today, that I come back to again and again, is that the best I can hope for in my life is to uphold the standard of a healthy flatworm,” Trumbull told her audience.
“I took a human development course on longevity with Professor Carey last winter and one day he lectured about how to characterize nematode health as an example of lifespan measures.”
"Here are the four stages of nematode health, in order from most to least healthy, and I hope you'll see why this struck me as profound.
- A Class A nematode is in constant motion.
- A Class B nematode only moves when prodded.
- A Class C nematode does not move even when prodded.
- A Class D nematode is a dead nematode.
"To reiterate: Constant motion, moving when prodded, not moving when prodded, death. In essence, all possible human responses to life can be boiled down to categorize us as degrees of healthy nematodes.
"Walking out of Haring Hall after Professor Carey's lecture, I stopped and bought a square of baklava from the Afghan Student Association bake sale and got handed about seventeen half-sheet flyers encouraging me to rush a service sorority, come to a disco dance-a-thon, volunteer at a honey bee festival and learn how to make my own shoes. I smiled at the man in all white who preaches on the quad with his dog and the guy who wears a kilt and plays celtic flute music. Young people threw frisbees, climbed trees, and played guitar, and I knew that if I went up to any of them I would be welcome to join in. This university is a massive petri dish with as many opportunities for motion as you have hours in your day. The difference between a Class B and a Class C nematode is whether we choose to respond.
"When a swastika was spray-painted near campus that year, those same community members were at my door with flowers and hugs checking in on me and asking how they could help. When the Davis mosque was attacked in a hate crime this year, I was immediately at their doors with all the support I could give. Communities set us into motion by propelling us outside of our own petri dishes and respond to the ways that other people are prodded. As a textbook Class A nematode once told me: 'the name of the game is do your best every single time and never stop.' The hard part, and the empowering part, is that from here on out the rules of the game are open to interpretation.
"Nematodes do not undergo somatic cell division, so they only ever have 159 cells. In contrast, millions of the cells in your body have divided, died, and been replaced since we entered this room today. How lucky are we to have the chance to recreate ourselves, in these constantly moving bodies? Entering this new stage of our lives, we must be cognizant of the threat of stillness. It is easy to become jaded and apathetic Class C nematodes who do not even move when prodded. Say yes to constant motion, take the hand of the opportunities for creation around you and in your future. College has taught me that hard work pays off, as does intelligence, but most of all it pays off to keep moving. To do your best every time. As we move into the next stage of our lives, I encourage each of you to take what you have learned in the course of your journey, and find how it can motivate necessary motion, widely, constantly and to the best of your ability. Thank you."
At UC Davis, Trumbull served as a board member of Challah for Hunger, program leader at the Multifaith Living Community, program staff at YMCA Youth and Government, and a recreation leader for the City of Davis. She lived at the Turtle House, a cooperative living house where she published magazines of student art and operated a “Taco Trike” that raised money for Planned Parenthood.
Career plans? Trumbull draws inspiration from her mother, a kindergarten teacher, to go into public education policy, and her father, a general contractor and small business owner, "to try to one day build an intentional living community." Next step: working at the Bay Area nonprofit Rising Sun.