- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The more pertinent question, scientists say, is "Do you UNDERSTAND climate change?"
Wikipedia defines climate change this way: "In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperatureis primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices add to greenhouse gases. These gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, warming the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas driving global warming, has grown by about 50% and is at levels unseen for millions of years."
Enter Michael Hoffmann, an emeritus professor at Cornell University and the newest recipient of the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Hoffmann, a noted entomologist and climate change spokesperson, will deliver the Leigh seminar on "Our Changing Menu: Using the Power of Food to Confront Climate Change" on Monday, Oct. 14. The event, to be held in the Putah Creek Lodge, beginning at 4 p.m., will include a social, lecture and dinner. Reservations are closed but the seminar will be on Zoom at
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672. It will then be archived on this page: https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/seminars
Hoffmann is the lead author of the book, Our Changing Menu: Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need (Cornell Press 2021). He is known for his advocacy of climate change literacy, leadership activities and biological control projects.
Hoffmann says he is dedicating his life to "confronting the grand challenge of climate change by helping people understand and appreciate what is happening through the foods we all love and need." He has published climate-change articles in the popular press, including The Hill, Fortune, Medium, and USA Today. He also delivered a TEDX Talk, titled Climate Change: It's Time to Raise Our Voices," teaches an online eCornell course, Climate Change Leadership; and has presented more than 150 climate-change talks.
"I will tell the climate change story until I no longer can," Hoffmann says.
Hoffmann was selected the 2020 recipient of the Leigh Seminar Award, but the COVID pandemic intervened and other dates conflicted. He will be introduced by his longtime friend and colleague, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor Frank Zalom of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Caring, Unselfish, Passionate. "Mike is one of the nicest people who I have ever known," said Zalom, who officially retired in 2018 but continues hisIPM research and outreach efforts as a recall professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. "He is caring, unselfish, and passionate in his support of issues that he believes in. He is devoted to his family, and has always been willing to commit his personal and professional time to making things better for others. He was committed to IPM as a graduate student at Davis and subsequently as a faculty member in entomology at Cornell. He not only conductedIPM research, but he put it into practice through personal interactions with diverse agricultural and urban communities in New York State."
Zalom, who directed the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) Program for 16 years, noted that Hoffmann "assumed leadership of the New York State IPM Program, one of the very best IPM programs in the country, then applied his enthusiasm for sustainability to Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station as its director where it is generally acknowledged that he created a ‘culture of sustainability.' "
"Mike is a big-picture-kind of person," Zalom said, "and has dedicated much of the latter half of his career to preparing communities for the effects of climate change by illustrating its effects through food. He has given hundreds of engaging presentations on climate change including a highly regarded TEDx talk."
Hoffmann was "the executive director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Change Solutions when he retired from Cornell in 2020, but remains active in presenting the story of what is happening and what can be done about it nationally and internationally," Zalom said. "I am proud to say that Mike remains one of my very closest friends, and it will be my honor to introduce him for his upcoming seminar where is will receive the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award."
One-Cow Dairy Farm. A native of Wisconsin, Hoffmann grew up on "a one-cow dairy farm" and recalls milking a cow named "Mabel." After graduating from high school, he served in the U. S. Marines during the Vietnam War. He received his bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of Wisconsin, master's degree in 1978 from the University of Arizona, and his doctorate in 1990 from UC Davis, where he studied with Professor Ted Wilson and later Zalom.
The Leigh seminar memorializes cotton entomologist Thomas Frances Leigh (1923-1993), an international authority on the biology, ecology and management of arthropod pests affecting cotton production. During his 37-year UC Davis career, Leigh was based at the Shafter Research and Extension Center, also known as the U.S. Cotton Research Station. When his wife, Nina, passed in 2002, the name of the alumni seminar changed to the Thomas and Nina Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar.
Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor, is coordinating the ENT seminars. The full list is here. For more information or for technical issues, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's October and Arachtober: the month to celebrate spiders and other arachnids.
As arachnologists will tell you, arachnids are arthropods that include spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons.
Arachnids need love, too, especially in October when spiders compete with ghosts, goblins and ghouls for your attention.
Meanwhile, scientists and arachnid fans are posting their favorite eight-legged images on their websites and social media.
Even Flickr celebrates Arachtober via a photography pool formed in September 2008. "The pool is open! Thanks everyone for participating, spreading the spider love, and making this fun!...This group is similar to a 365 group, the goal is to post spiders to Flickr daily during October. When you shot them is less important...Post what you have. You can either post them daily till you run out, spread them out every few days, or save them till Halloween week for Spider Blitz. Spiders are especially popular around then."
His five good reasons to love spiders?
- Spiders consume 400-800 million tons of prey, mostly insects, each year. Humans consume somewhere around 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.
- Spider silk is one of the strongest naturally occurring materials. Spider silk is stronger than steel, stronger and more stretchy than Kevlar; a pencil thick strand of spider silk could be used to stop a Boeing 747 in flight.
- Some spiders are incredibly fast – able to run up to 70 body lengths per second (10X faster than Usain Bolt).
- Although nearly all 47,000-plus spider species have venom used to kill their insect prey, very few actually have venom that is harmful to humans.
- Some spiders are really good parents –wolf spider moms carry their young on their backs until they are ready to strike out on their own; female trapdoor spiders keep their broods safe inside their burrows often longer than one year, and some female jumping spiders even nurse their spiderlings with a protein rich substance comparable to milk.
Happy Arachtober! Here are three jumping spiders that you can love, or try to love....Then on March 14 you celebrate Save a Spider Day.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
An international leader in honey bee research--Juliana Rangel Posada--will speak on "Don't Compromise: Food Lipid Content Shapes Protein-Lipid Regulation in Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera) Nurses" at 4:10 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 in 122 Briggs Hall. Her seminar also will be broadcast on Zoom. The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Can't attend or Zoom in? Her seminar will be archived on the Entomology and Nematology seminar website at https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/seminars.
"Regulating nutrient intake is a fundamental and multidimensional challenge for all animals," Posada says in her abstract. "Typically, animals prioritize macronutrient intake, and we know much about protein-carbohydrate regulation. In contrast, we know relatively little about protein-lipid regulation, especially among palynivores like bees that feed on food (pollen) that has high, but variable, protein and lipid content."
"Using a Geometric Framework or nutrition experimental approach, we show that nurse honey bees (Apis melliera) maximized their protein-lipid intake on diets that had a 3:2 protein:lipid ratio and that it was lowest on highly lipid-based diets," she continued. "In choice experiments with nutritionally complementary diets, bees self-selected a protein-based diet. However, total consumption was suppressed when a lipid-biased food was present. Our collective results suggest bees actively regular the intake of both protein and lipid, but that lipid regulation is particularly strict. Our findings have implications for honey bee and palynivore ecology, and nutritional ecology more broadly."
Posada joined the TAMU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty in January 2013. She is active in the Texas Beekeepers Association and has addressed dozens of beekeeping associations across the United States and internationally.
Posada and her research group at Texas A&M found that a widely used pesticide—the miticide amitraz—used to protect honey bees from mite infestation, has an effect on mating among the queens. (See Entomology Today, a publication of the Entomological Society of America)
She's also an outstanding teacher, the recipient of TAMU awards and the 2023 Excellence Achievement Award in Teaching, Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America.
Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor, is coordinating the ENT seminars. The full list is here. For more information or for technical issues, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu.
Resources:
- Interview with a Social Insect Scientist, published in 2017 by Insectessociaux
- Biology of Mating, National Honey Show Lecture Series 2015, YouTube
- Bee Happy: Maximizing Honey Bee Characteristics for Health Bees, Finding Genus Podcast
- Posada lab Facebook page: facebook.com/TAMUhoneybeelab
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Associate professor Kyle Wickings of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, will speak on “Composition and Function of Soil Invertebrate Communities in Residential Greenspaces” at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Sept. 30 in 122 Briggs Hall.
This is the first in a series of fall seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and coordinated by nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor.
“Turfgrasses cover a significant portion of U.S. land area and are used for a variety of cultural and other ecosystem services," he says in his abstract. "However, this service provisioning capacity varies tremendously by geographic location and management context. In this seminar, I will present research from my program on the potential or turfgrasses to serve as reservoirs for belowground biodiversity and soil organic matter in residential laws and public parks o the northwestern United States. I will also discuss the consequences of turfgrass cultural and pest management practices or soil biological communities and processes.”
His seminar will be broadcast on Zoom and archived. The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
On his website, Wickings relates: "My research strives to understand the interactions between arthropods, microbes, and soil organic matter, and how these interactions may be modified to improve plant protection in the rhizosphere. One of my research goals is to identify underlying characteristics of soil organic matter (quantity, quality, and composition) which influence root herbivore populations. This knowledge could improve our ability to predict pest outbreaks and may ultimately be used to develop soil amendments which suppress root-feeding pests. I am also interested in understanding the role that soil microbes play in the nutritional ecology of root-feeding arthropods. My previous research demonstrates that soil arthropods interact closely with microbes during feeding, and it is well known that soil arthropods form diverse external and internal associations with microbes. My research at Cornell will continue in this area to improve our understanding of the role of microbes in root herbivore nutrition and the potential for managing root-feeding pests by influencing the soil microbial community."
Wickings, who joined the Cornell University faculty in 2013, holds a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies, summa cum laude (2001), and a doctorate in 2007 in ecology from the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. His dissertation: “Arthropod Biodiversity in a Georgia Cotton Agroecosysem: Cotton, Tillage, Cover Crops and Red Imported Fire Ants."
He did postdoctoral research from 2010-2013 for the Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire, Durham, where he conducted research on the effects of management intensity on soil biota and their role in long-term decomposition; performed advanced chemical analysis of soil and plant residue for collaborative research projects; and advised graduate students studying symbiotic microbes of soil invertebrates and patterns of microarthropod distribution in soils.
He earlier served as a postdoctoral associate (2006-2010) for the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
Wickings has authored or co-authored research published in PloS One, Ecology Letters, Peobiologia, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, and Annals of the Entomological Society of America, among others.
Wickings received Cornell's 2017 Early Achievement Award for his work researching the effects of soil arthropods and microbes on plant health and chemistry.
The full list of the department's fall seminars is here. For more information or for technical issues, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
YSP is a six-week summer residential program that introduces several dozen high-achieving high school students to original research within the fields of biological, agricultural, environmental, or the natural sciences.
The lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, mentored Anderson Van Wang, a 17-year-old senior at California City High School, Kern County, and Mason Walline, now 18, and a senior at Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles.
Anderson worked with doctoral student Veronica Casey of the Siddique lab to investigate the effects of bacterial supernatant to plant parasitic nematodes. Walline worked with Ching-Jung Lin, a doctoral student in the Siddique lab and the lab of Professor Gitta Coaker, Department to Plant Pathology, to transiently express nematode proteins in the plant system.
Also mentoring them were Siddique and lab members Bardo Castro Esparza, a postdoctoral fellow; and Alison Blundell, a doctoral candidate.
Each scholar receives five units of University Group Study Credit. All work is graded. Not only do they engage in university-level course work, attend lectures, and work on their projects, but they experience “the climate and culture of living and learning on a university campus,” according to YSP director Megan Bettis.
Mason won second-place honors in the research competition, the "YSP Summer Slam" (Elevator Pitch or short-version), competing with some 35 other students. His topic: “Advancing Transient Nematode Peptide Expression: A Pathway to Co-Immunoprecipitation Optimization." Said Lin: "He delivered a compelling two-minute presentation with a single slide. His expertise and professionalism were evident, and he was awarded second-place among the six finalists."
Neither plans a career as a nematologist, but what an amazing program and what an amazing experience.
“Working in Dr. Shahid Siddique's lab was an absolutely amazing experience," Anderson said.
“The lab environment was very high energy and upbeat," said Mason. "I'm so glad I was a temporary part of such a strong and inclusive community.”
And they learned a lot about nematodes.
Siddique defines plant-parasitic nematodes as "destructive pests causing losses of billions of dollars annually. Economic, health, and environmental considerations make natural host plant resistance a preferred strategy for nematode control, but there are limitations to this approach. In many cases, the resistance conferred by resistance genes is partial, and some of the nematodes are able to survive. Similarly, nematode resistance genes are often effective against only one or a few species, whereas plants are exposed to several pathogens in the field. Another concern is the emergence of pathotypes that can overcome resistance. In view of all these limitations, it is important to identify additional mechanisms and tools that can be used to develop novel and sustainable approaches to the management of nematodes."
The 2025 YSP summer program is set June 22-Aug. 2, with applications opening Jan. 15. High school students can apply at https://ysp-app.ucdavis.edu/.