Feb. 28 is the last day to donate to the current crowdfunding efforts of the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day/Month, Honey Bee Haven and the California Master Beekeeper Program.

• Biodiversity Museum Day/Month: https://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/24310
• Honey Bee Haven: http://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/24323 
• Master Beekeepers: http://crowdfund.ucdavis.edu/project/24314 

Currently only 30 donors have contributed $3,625 or 24 percent of the $15,000 goal of the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day/Month.   "The money raised will cover the cost of supplies and student interns who will help us continue science outreach both online and in-person," says Museum Biodiversity Day/Month coordinator Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.  

“Last year our in-person event occurred just before the global pandemic. Together 13 biological collections welcomed 4,000 people to campus. It involved nearly 300 students, staff and faculty committed to science communication and outreach. This February it had to take place virtually with live webinar talks and pre-recorded activities throughout the month, including some content in Spanish.” 

"Our goal right now is to get 100 individual donations by Saturday when the crowd fund ends," Yang said.  

Those participating in the 2021 Biodiversity Museum Day/Month:  

• Anthropology Museum
• Arboretum and Public Garden
• Bohart Museum of Entomology
• Botanical Conservatory
• California Raptor Center
• Center for Plant Diversity
• Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
• Nematode Collection
• Marine Invertebrate Collection 
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
• Paleontology Collection
• Phaff Yeast Culture Collection
• Viticulture and Enology Collection

About the California Master Beekeeper Program
Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology founded and directs the California Master Beekeeper Program. Wendy Mather serves as the program manager.

The program is raising funds for an online, accessible, 'Beekeeper's Apprentice' course that is educational, engaging and entertaining for all ages.

From the website: "Your donation is a legacy to help ensure the health and longevity of our honey bees. Money raised for our "Beekeepers' Apprentice" course is an investment in science-based knowledge relative to our food security and the health of our environment now and for future generations - let's educate as many people as we can about the plight of our precious honey bees. Together we can bee the change!"

As of Friday at 10:30 a.m., the donations amounted to $16,823 or 67 percent of the $25,000 goal.

About the Honey Bee Haven
Elina Lastro Niño serves as the director of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre garden on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.  Christine Casey manages the garden and is spearheading the crowdfunding project.

From the website: "Our goal is $5000 to purchase plants, irrigation supplies, and tools for the Haven to continue our vital mission of inspiration and education about bees and the plants that support them." 

As of Friday at 10:30, the donations amounted to $2345 or 46 percent of the $5000 goal.

For more information, see their websites or the Feb. 1 news story on the Department of Entomology and Nematology website.

• 

  Plant biochemist Eric Conn in his Briggs Hall office.
  "Why do hairdressers use thioglycolic acid for permanent hair treatment?” 
• "Why is the spike protein called a glycoprotein?" 
• "When you get ivy poisoning, where do you expect that the active ingredient (urushiol) will accumulate?” 
• "Who was the scientist at the UC Davis Genome Center that came out with the idea of using papain protease to reduce saliva viscosity?" 

Those were some of the questions that the 60 undergraduate students competing in the first-ever UC Davis Eric Conn Biochemistry Quizzes answered, and the two winning teams will now compete against two teams from Cardiff University, UK.

The answers:  To break disulfide bridges; Because it is decorated with sugar; In the cell membrane; and Lutz Froenicke.

More than 300 attendees ZOOMed in to watch the Feb. 20 competition. The event can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/Y9T9ayRXyYE.

“I thought the quizzes would help students get out of the ZOOM routine," said organizer-moderator Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and a former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. "But I did not envision that there would be so much interest. The response was overwhelming, and students showed a genuine interest in the activity. They recorded videos for self-introduction, studied for the quizzes, and--more importantly--made new friends.” 

Two teams emerged victorious: Ironic Bonds Team and the Gibbs Team. 

“We are planning a global event on Wednesday, March 10, with our UC Davis players challenging UK's Cardiff University,” Leal announced. UC Davis Chancellor Gary May will deliver the welcome address. 

The three-game virtual event, to begin at 11 a.m., Pacific Time on Zoom, will first pit UC Davis vs. UC Davis, and  then Cardiff vs. Cardiff to determine the players in the championship game. The public is invited to view the event by registering here: https://tinyurl.com/dmnftsuj  

“I am absolutely delighted to provide this opportunity for our students to learn biochemistry, have fun, work as teams, and build international ties,” Leal said. “Yes, remote learning is challenging, but it also creates new opportunities.” 

UC Davis students who will compete in the Cardiff University event: Catherine Rodriguez, Jiaying Liu, Kelly Brandt, Aly Lodigiani, and Efrain Vasquez Santos of the Ironic Bonds Team; and Brandon Matsumoto, Tina Luu, Yasi Parsa, Esha Urs, and Kathryn Vallejo of the Gibbs Team.  

The format of the game will be three questions per team, alternating one question for each team. “In the event of a tie,” Leal said, “each team will be asked one question at a time until we break the deadlock.” 

While the teams work on the questions, Dr. Dean Blumberg, an epidemiologist and chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, UC Davis Children's Hospital, will answer questions about vaccines and vaccinations.  

In an exit survey, the Eric Conn Biochemistry Quizzes drew such comments as:

• “It was wonderful....a nice way for students to showcase their knowledge to their families and friends and a wonderful tribute to a great UCD scientist.  Kudos to Professor Leal for putting it together.” 
• “This was a super fun event and I wish we could have the opportunity to have something like this again. It was a really good review of the material we learned.”
• "I am very proud of the students and hold both students and faculty in highest regard, very respectful and smart."
• "Congratulations to all that played today.  You are inspiring young individuals and we know you will leave a mark on your chosen fields of study.”
• "Very impressed with the caliber of students involved. Great game!”
• "I wanted to play!"

Eric Conn (1923-2017), a member of the UC Davis faculty for 43 years, was the third recipient of the UC Davis Prize for Teaching and Scholarly Achievement.  Described as an excellent teacher and researcher, Conn received the Academic Senate's Distinguished Teaching Award in 1974 and the Academic Senate's highest honor, the Faculty Research Lecturer Award, in 1977. He won the UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement in 1989.  

"To Be an Aphid in a Cruel World: How Abiotic and Biotic Stressors Influence Plant-Insect Interactions."

That's the title of a virtual seminar to be presented Wednesday, Feb. 24 by postdoctoral scholar Jessica Kansman of the Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University as part of the weekly winter seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

Kansman will speak from 4:10 to 5 p.m. To register and attend the Zoom seminar, access this Google form link.

"Whether it is combating the ever-changing host-plant conditions, or keeping careful watch for hungry predators and parasites--aphids have a stressful experience," Kansman says in her abstract. "My research has focused on figuring out just how much stress aphids can handle. Specifically, how plant water stress influences aphids and their natural enemies, and whether predator odors are as stressful for aphids as the predators themselves."

On her website, she says: "I am broadly interested in plant-insect interactions, abiotic/biotic stress interactions, insect ecology, and multi-trophic interactions. I am passionate about science communication, science policy, and inspiring a love of insects in children, in the college classroom, and with just about anyone I come across."

Kansman holds a bachelor's degree in entomology (2015) from Michigan State University, East Lansing, and a doctorate in plant, insect and microbial sciences (2020) from the University of Missouri, studying with Deborah Finke. As a doctoral student, she received a $116,859 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture "to study the effect of drought on aphid performance and behavior, indirect effects of drought on natural enemies, and how these effects cascade up to influence insect communities."  The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the grant.

Kansman has given such presentations as "Plants vs. Insects: A Tale of Spines, Spit and Assassins." In one YouTube video on "Decoding Science," she describes aphids as "devastating agricultural pests. They feed by piercing a needlelike mouthpart into the plant tissue and they use it as a straw to suck up the sap of the plant." Aphids stunt growth and transmit viruses.  

Cooperative Extension specialist Ian Grettenberg is the seminar host and coordinates the seminars. For technical issues, he may be reached at imgrettenberger@udavis.edu.

For a list of Department of Entomology and Nematology seminars, click here. 

Upcoming UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Month live talks and demonstrations include:

• Asian giant hornets (aka "murder hornets"): 1 to 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18, by Professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
  
  
• Ants: 11 a.m., to noon, Saturday, Feb. 20, by Professor Phil Ward, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
  
  
• Bees: 12:15 to 12:45, Tuesday, Feb. 23, by Christine Casey, manager of the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
  
  
• Botanical Conservatory (in Spanish): 1 to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23, by collections manager Ernesto Sandoval (postponed)

To obtain the Zoom links, click here.

About UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Month
The 10th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Month program is all virtual this year via live talks and demonstrations, and pre-recorded presentations. It's being celebrated throughout the month of February. The science-based event traditionally occurs on only one day--the Saturday of Presidents' Weekend, when families and friends gather on campus to learn first-hand about the UC Davis museums and collections. The 2020 event drew more than 4000 to the campus.

This year's biodiversity event is featuring 12 museums or collections:

• Anthropology Museum
• Arboretum and Public Garden
• Bohart Museum of Entomology
• Botanical Conservatory
• California Raptor Center
• Center for Plant Diversity
• Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
• Nematode Collection
• Marine Invertebrate Collection 
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology
• Paleontology Collection
• Phaff Yeast Culture Collection

For more information and the schedule, access these two formats on the UC Davis Biodiversity program website: (1) live talks and demonstrations and (2) pre-recorded talks and activities. Information on the biodiversity museum events also appear on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, @BioDivDay. 

If you'd like to donate to the UC Davis Diversity Museum Program in its crowdfunding efforts--this year is the 10th annual--click here. To donate to the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, click here. To donate to the California Master Beekeeper Program, directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, click here. Niño also serves as the director of the haven. Crowdfunding will continue through the month of February.