- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And a rousing double cheer to the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Here's what happened:
NSF recently implemented its Research Experience for Post-Baccalaureate Students (REPS) to recognize “the importance of early-career research experiences, especially for individuals contemplating a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) research, and the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused on the career trajectories of undergraduate students who were denied such a research experience."
NSF officials went to point out: "Many undergraduates, who had been planning to participate in research experiences this past year-- whether through Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites, REU supplements, or individual arrangements with faculty mentors– found that their host labs or research settings were not able to accommodate them due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Students from underrepresented groups and those from schools with no access to research are particularly impacted...”
So it is great news that Iris Bright and Megan Ma, two outstanding young scientists are now part of the REPS program. They're gaining research experience in the Bond laboratory.
Bond obtained supplemental funding from both his NSF grants to support the two young scientists through the REPS program. “It's great to have Iris and Megan in the lab and potentially add a couple of really exceptional women to our entomology graduate programs, and future professoriate,” Bond said. “The REPS program provides full time employment for Iris and Megan to work in the lab for one year.”
Both Bright and Ma hope to enroll in graduate school, obtain their doctorates, and become professors.
Iris Bright
Iris Bright, a fine arts graduate who switched to science, is attending classes at night at Sacramento City College, where she is working toward her associate of science degree in biology and her field ecology certificate to obtain the necessary prerequisites for graduate school in entomology. She received her bachelor of fine arts degree (creative writing and literature) in the honors program from Emerson College, Boston, Mass., in 2015.
Bright, who volunteers at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, participated in the 2019 Bohart Belize BioBlitz collection trip, led by two Bohart Museum scientists, Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a UC Davis doctoral alumnus, and David Wyatt, professor at . Sacramento City College.
“This trip was an incredible invertebrate learning experience and it's where I met Dr. Jason Bond,” Bright recalled. “I afterwards was able to become a volunteer at the Bohart working on the Belize Bugs project with the help of Dr. Fran Keller which further enriched the experiences and knowledge I gained in the field.”
Joining the Bond lab has “really opened doors for me to get hands-on research experience that I was lacking and did not know how to obtain due to being a full-time worker,” she said. She had previously worked full-time at a Sacramento florist business to fund her education.
“I started my first official bug collection around the age of 7 or 8 and it actually grew to be quite large,” she recalled. “My favorite specimen in the collection was a Banded Alder Borer (long-horned beetle) that my mom and I collected off the parking lot wall of a pet store. We were actually able to create a pretty unique display of the local insect life specific to that region. We also had a few specimens from friends in other states and comparing them to what I grew up seeing was my first foray into biodiversity.”
What fascinates her about entomology? “I am fascinated by the complex inner and outer workings of insects,” Bright said. “They are all around us and contribute so many ecological services that we are still trying to discover. Delving into those mysteries is not only fun but incredibly important especially in our current species die-off. Also. they are beautiful, colorful, and strange looking! Seeing tiny green wasps or purple beetles under a microscope is endlessly exciting.”
Grandfather Was an Amateur Entomologist. Bright is not the first in her family committed to entomology. “When I first started expressing interest in insects, my mom walked into our basement and pulled out (entomological) supplies, forceps, pins, Schmidt boxes, etc. I was too young to realize that these were not essentials in every home. and later found out that my grandfather had been an ‘amateur' entomologist. My mom would watch him as he pinned (specimens) and started developing her own love for insects which she was happy to revisit when she saw the same curiosity in me. She definitely instilled an appreciation for all nature in me from a very early age. In a way. I feel that becoming an entomologist will be putting an official title on a family tradition.”
Bright started working in the Bond lab in early August. “So far, I've been observing/assisting the graduate students with DNA extractions, and learning how to do digital imaging of specimens,” she said. “In the future, maybe Tenebrionidae (darkling beetle) work.”
She hopes to obtain her doctorate in entomology and become a professor “so I can do further research and also share my passion and interests with the next generations!”
Megan Ma
Megan is a June 2021 graduate of UC Davis with a bachelor's degree in evolution, ecology and biodiversity and a minor in entomology. Megan is an accomplished scientific illustrator.
“I love observing and recreating the colors and textures I see in biology through art,” she said. “I want to use both imaging techniques and systematics to study the function, ecology, and evolution of morphology in terrestrial arthropods, specifically in myriapods and arachnids.”
As an undergraduate, she worked in the UC Davis laboratory of Jay Stachowicz, who specializes in marine community ecology. In the Bond lab, she is working on several projects involving wolf spiders, trap door spiders, and millipedes, as well as scientific illustrations.
First Generation College Student. A first-generation college student, Ma said that attending UC Davis as an undergraduate student and “getting a broad research and teaching experience has been extremely rewarding.”
“Getting involved in research early on (winter quarter of freshman year) really helped me hone in on what I enjoy about biology,” Ma said. “Some of the research projects I've worked on involve processing salt marsh plant matter for elemental analysis, studying the effects of warming and grazing on eelgrass, identifying marine invertebrates for biodiversity surveys, and using microCT imaging to visualize millipede genitalia development.
“I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to merge art and biology as an undergrad, as I've worked on the General Biology (BIS2C) laboratory manuals illustrations and taught scientific illustration at the Bodega Marine Laboratory to graduate students and professors. I've also begun to explore imaging techniques (like focus stacking and microCT) for studying spiders and millipedes in the Bond lab.
Her interest in terrestrial arthropods piqued when she enrolled, as a freshman, in an “Introduction to Biology: Biodiversity and the Tree of Life” course, taught by Joel Ledford of the College of Biological Sciences faculty. “This was when I held Rosie The tarantula (at the Bohart Museum of Entomology) for the first time and learned about biology in the context of phylogeny. However, I didn't start rearing terrestrial arthropods until after joining the Bond lab around the end of my third year. Dr. Ledford introduced me to Dr. Bond and I started working as a scientific illustrator and research assistant for the lab with graduate student Xavier Zahnle.”
“During my first few weeks, Xavier handed me a female flat-backed millipede with black and orange coloring (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae: Apheloriini),” Ma recalled. “I remember holding her with my bare hands and letting her crawl on my arm. Instead of worrying about potential repugnatory fluid secreting from her ozopores, I was thinking about how harmless she was, how little I knew about her, and how great it would be for me to study her.”
Millipedes, Tarantulas, Scorpions and Mantids. Ma immediately traveled to the Sacramento Reptile Expo, held that month, “and came home with my first two Florida Ivory millipedes (Chicobolus spinigerus). I knew I was hooked: I started prioritizing entomology courses.” She ended up adding an insect biology minor over other major courses and, in her free time, delved into arthropod husbandry information. “In the past four years, I've kept a handful of millipedes, several colonies of isopods, tarantulas, scorpions, mantises, and leaf insects. I don't think I can imagine myself without them.”
What fascinates her about terrestrial arthropods? “Since there is an overwhelming amount of biodiversity yet to be explored, there's always a niche for researchers to fill,” Ma said. “I wasn't paying attention to the terrestrial arthropods around me before joining the lab and taking entomology courses--learning more about them has made me more in-tuned with my surroundings. It makes daily life a little more interesting whenever I come across an arthropod friend on the sidewalk. One of my favorite things to do is come home to see one of my arthropod pets molting. “
Her career plans? “Working in the Bond lab has made me realize I want to continue seeing science through an artistic lens. Eventually, I want to become a professor and researcher at an undergraduate institution. I'd like to use both imaging techniques and systematics to study the function, ecology, and evolution of morphology in terrestrial arthropods, with special interests in millipedes and arachnids. I'd also like to mentor students, especially future women in STEM. I'd like to give back in same way my mentors have--I would not be where I am had they not taken a chance on me.”
We looking forward to hearing more about these outstanding young scientists and their projects!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
First, the grant:
Jason Bond, professor and the Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has received a 4-year, $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant to study trapdoor spiders in the California Floristic Province.
“The idea is to look at the genomic diversity of trapdoor spider populations across the California landscape and identify new species and hotspots of diversity,” said Bond, principal investigator of the collaborative award, shared with Marshal Hedin, professor of biology at San Diego State University (SDSU).
“From a research perspective, this is pretty exciting but it also includes a really nice educational component working with Fran Keller at Folsom Lake College (a UC Davis alumnus),” Bond said. “We have REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) funding for students who will be transferring to UC Davis.”
Also working on the grant is co-PI James Starrett, project scientist in the Bond lab.
Trapdoor spiders construct their burrows with a corklike or wafer trap door made of soil, vegetation and silk. They belong to a number of related families placed in the order Araneae, including Euctenizidae and Halonoproctidae.
The researchers also will be using “crowdsourced” data from iNaturalist, involving public sightings of spiders.
The California Floristic Province is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate on the Pacific Coast. In addition to its remarkable spider diversity, this biodiversity hotspot is known for its giant sequoias and coastal redwoods.
“One of the first products from the project will be the description of a new trapdoor spider genus and species from Moss Landing State Beach,” Bond said. Plans call for the public to suggest candidate names for the new species, with the Bohart Museum of Entomology selecting the winner.
The grant is titled “Collaborative Research: Phylogenomics, Spatial Phylogenetics and Conservation Prioritization in Trapdoor Spiders (and Kin) of the California Floristic Province.”
The abstract: “Using a combination of original fieldwork, newly developed analytical methods for genetically identifying species and their evolutionary and geographic relationships, this research project will focus on trapdoor spiders and their relatives as an exemplary group for biodiversity knowledge and conservation in the California Floristic Province (CA-FP). Long-term surveys will be conducted at multiple geographic locations that include most major CA-FP habitat types. At these sites, the presence of spider species and the numbers of individuals in each will be measured to provide a statistical baseline for future monitoring efforts. New large DNA datasets, based on analysis of thousands of genes, will be generated by analysis of the genomes of these species.”
“New methods will be applied to this data to identify species boundaries, and formal taxonomic descriptions will be made for all new species,” according to the abstract. “The new information about these new species and their genetic relationships will be used to assess patterns of biodiversity in this spider group across the complex geography of the CA-FP. Statistical comparisons of the geographic patterns of spider species distribution will be made to CA-FP plants and vertebrates, and these results will be used to determine whether biodiversity hotspots coincide with federal, state, and locally protected areas.”
“This project will train students and other researchers in several techniques of field biology research, producing and analyzing new data from genomes, using cutting edge methods. This research will encourage participation and train a select group of community college students from underrepresented groups who plan to transfer to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs in four-year colleges.”
Bond and colleagues recently published research in the journal Systematic Biology that recognizes eight new spider families—five elevations in rank and three brand new family level rank names, along with one new subfamily. This is in addition to other new families that Bond and Hedin proposed last year. Postdoctoral researcher Vera Opatova of the Bond lab (she recently left for a position in Prague), is the first author on the Systematic Biology paper, "Phylogenetic Systematics and Evolution of the Spider Infraorder Mygalomorphae Using Genomic Scale Data," and Bond is the senior author.
Hedin is the principal investigator of a continuing grant, “Collaborative Research: Phylogenomics, Spatial Phylogenetics and Conservation Prioritization in Trapdoor Spiders (and Kin) of the California Floristic Province,” with co-principal investigator and Jeet Sukemaran, SDSU assistant professor who specializes in computational evolutionary biology.
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Vannette, an assistant professor, seeks to unlock the mysteries of flower microbes: how do plants protect against them, and can bees benefit from them?
“I am interested in understanding and predicting how microbial communities influence interactions between plants and insects,” she says. Her lab uses "tools and concepts from microbial ecology, chemical ecology, and community ecology to better understand the ecology and evolution of interactions among plants, microbes and insects."
Vannette recently received a five-year Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award, titled “Nectar Chemistry and Ecological and Evolutionary Tradeoffs in Plant Adaptation to Microbes and Pollinators. NSF grants CAREER awards to early career faculty “who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization,” a NSF spokesman said.
The other grant is a three-year grant, “The Brood Cell Microbiome of Solitary Bees: Origin, Diversity, Function, and Vulnerability.” Vannette serves as a co-principal investigator with professor Bryan Danforth, Cornell University; research entomologist Shawn Steffan of the USDA's Agricultural and Research Service, University of Wisconsin; and assistant professor Quinn McFrederick, UC Riverside.
Of the CAREER grant, Vannette explained in her abstract:
“Plants interact with a variety of organisms. The flowers and the nectar plants produce are adapted to attract beneficial organisms like bees or hummingbirds. However, microbes like bacteria and fungi also inhabit flowers and can reduce plant reproduction. Plant traits can reduce microbial growth in nectar, but this may also reduce pollinator visitation. This project will investigate if plants that are pollinated by different organisms (e.g. birds vs bees vs flies) differ in their ability to reduce microbial growth and if nectar chemistry is associated with microbial growth. This project will examine if nectar traits can be used to breed plants to be more resistant to harmful microbes without reducing attraction to pollinators. Resistance to microbes is beneficial in agricultural contexts where floral pathogens can limit food production but crops still rely on pollination.
“This research will link variation in plant phenotype to microbial abundance and species composition, and microbial effects on plant-animal interactions,” she noted. “This project will use a tractable system: the microorganisms growing in floral nectar, which can influence floral visitors and plant reproduction. The underlying hypothesis tested is that plant traits can facilitate or reduce microbial growth, and the community context (e.g., presence of pollinators) influence ecological and evolutionary outcomes.”
Vannette will perform the research activities using 1) a community of co-flowering plant species and 2) genotypes within California fuchsia (Epilobium canum). “Experiments will characterize variation in microbial growth, nectar chemistry, and microbial effects on plant reproduction and floral visitor behavior and the interactions of these factors,” she related in her abstract. “ Experiments and analysis will reveal how variation in nectar chemistry is associated with microbial growth and species composition in nectar, and subsequent effects on plant-pollinator interactions including plant reproduction. Experiments across Epilobium genotypes will elucidate how microbes affect microevolution of floral traits in a community context.”
The project “will engage students from a large undergraduate class to participate in practitioner-motivated research projects,” she wrote. “Students from the Animal Biology major, including in the class ABI 50A will participate in outreach on pollinator-friendly plantings for horticultural and landscaping. The project will support students recruited from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to participate in independent projects related to project objectives, including hosting students through the Evolution and Ecology Graduate Admissions Pathway (EEGAP), a UC-HCBU program." The program connects faculty and undergraduate scholars at both UC (University of California) and HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) campuses
Collaborative Grant
The collaborative grant will enable the researchers to do cutting-edge research as they investigate the diverse community of bacteria and yeasts in the pollen and nectar diet of bees.
“Bees are the single most important pollinators of flowering plants worldwide,” the co-investigators wrote in their abstract. “Over 85% of the 325,000 flowering plant species on earth depend on animals for pollination, and the vast majority of pollination is carried out by bees. Annually, bees are estimated to contribute $15 billion to US crop production and $170 billion to global crop production. High-value bee-pollinated crops include apple and other early spring tree fruits, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, squash and pumpkins, tomatoes, almonds, and many others. The economic viability of US agricultural production is dependent on stable and healthy wild and domesticated bee populations.”
“However, bee populations are threatened by a variety of factors, including habitat loss, pathogen spillover, invasive plants and animals, and pesticide use, which can disrupt the normal microbial symbionts essential for bee larval development (the ‘brood cell' microbiome),” they pointed out in their abstract. “This research project focuses on understanding what role microbes play in the larval nutrition in a wide variety of bee species. Previous research has documented a diverse community of bacteria and yeasts in the pollen and nectar diet of bees. As larvae consume these pollen/nectar provisions they are ingesting microbes, and our preliminary results indicate that these microbes form an essential component of the larval diet. This project has the potential to significantly modify how we view the 120 million-year-old partnership between bees and flowering plants, and will provide essential information for developing long-term bee conservation efforts. Project outreach efforts include educational activities on solitary bees for K-12 students and interactive demonstrations of bee-microbe-flower interactions for broad audiences.
The co-principal investigators said that the project will use cutting-edge methods to (1) document the microbial diversity in flowers and pollen provisions, (2) determine the nutritional role of microbes in larval development and health, and (3) understand how alterations in microbial community impact larval development.
To document microbial diversity in both host-plant flowers and pollen provisions, the research team will use amplicon sequencing and microbial metagenomics. These methods will document the microbial species present in pollen provisions as well as the metabolic activities these microbes perform during pollen maturation. Screening the pollen and nectar of host-plant species will provide key insights into the source of the brood cell microbiome. To determine the nutritional role of the microbial community the research team will use two methods from trophic ecology: compound specific isotope analysis and neutral lipid fatty acid analysis. These analyses will permit the research team to track the origin (floral or microbial) of amino acids and fatty acids in the larval diet of 15 focal bee species.
Finally, through manipulative laboratory experiments, the research team will determine how modifications of the microbial communities impact larval development. They hope by combining the results of these studies, the researchers will provide a comprehensive understanding of how bees and flowering plants interact via their shared microbial partners.
The collaborative project is funded jointly by the Systematics and Biodiversity Sciences Cluster (Division of Environmental Biology) and the Symbiosis, Defense and Self-recognition Program (Division of Integrative Organismal Systems).
Vannette, a Hellman Fellow, joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in 2015 after serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University's biology department. As a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow from 2011 to 2015, she examined the role of nectar chemistry in community assembly of yeasts and plant-pollinator interactions.
A native of Hudsonville, Mich., Vannette received her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Michigan, in 2011. Her dissertation was entitled “Whose Phenotype Is It Anyway? The Complex Role of Species Interactions and Resource Availability in Determining the Expression of Plant Defense Phenotype and Community Consequences.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Human blood--it drives mosquitoes wild.
Today Marlene Cimmons of the National Science Foundation (NSF) spotlights chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology, University of California, Davis, on the LiveScience Web site.
This interesting feature takes a behind-the-scenes look at Leal, a Brazilian-born scientist trained in three countries: Brazil, Japan and the United States.
His research, partly funded by a NSF grant, has received international acclaim. Last year he was elected a Fellow of the 6000-member Entomological Society of America, a prestigious honor reserved for only 10 or fewer scientists a year.
Leal, who focuses his research on how insects detect smells, is not shy about being a human subject.
Or human pincushion.
Cimmons wrote about how Leal "rolled up his sleeves" when he and his colleagues were looking for the substance that would lure mosquitoes into a blood meal. "And they found it--nonanal, a substance made by humans and birds that creates a powerful scent that Culex mosquitoes find irresistible."
Leal also recalls the time when he was searching for beetles in Mexico and mosquitoes went after him with a vengeance.
"They'll go through anything, even jeans, as long as they know there is a blood vessel on the other side," Leal told Cimmons. "They can sense the heat."
Indeed, some folks just seem to attract more than their share of mosquitoes.
Only the female mosquitoes bite--they need a blood meal to develop their eggs.
Related links:UC Davis Researchers Identify Dominant Chemical That Attracts Mosquitoes to Humans
Groundbreaking Research on DEET