- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Karban, who studies volatile (chemical) communication between plants that affect their defenses against herbivores, will speak from 8:10 to 8:45. He is one of four speakers booked from 7 to 9 p.m.
The event, free and open to the public, begins at 6:30 with socializing and networking. It is sponsored by the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.
Other speakers are
- Tami Spector, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of San Francisco, whose topic is “The Molecular Elusive”
- Katharine Hawthorne, a San Francisco-based dancer and choreographer, “Analog Bodies” and
- Cody Ross, a postdoctoral cultural and statistical anthropologist working at the Santa Fe Institute and UC Davis. “Art Is Offensive: Integrative Art and Social Justice.”
Karban drew international scientific and media attention with his research on “Kin Recognition Affects Plant Communication and Defense,” published in February 2013 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. He and four colleagues showed that kin have distinct advantages when it comes to plant communication, just as “the ability of many animals to recognize kin has allowed them to evolve diverse cooperative behaviors,” he told the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in a news release.
“When sagebrush plants are damaged by their herbivores, they emit volatiles that cause their neighbors to adjust their defenses,” Karban said. “These adjustments reduce rates of damage and increase growth and survival of the neighbors.”
Karban was featured in Michael Pollan's piece on “The Intelligent Plant: Scientists Debate a New Way of Understanding Plants,” published last December in The New Yorker.” He is also spotlighted on YouTube.
A member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology since 1982, Karban received his bachelor's degree in environmental studies from Haverford (Pa.) College, and his doctorate in biology from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and has published more than 100 journal articles and two books.
Brief biographies:
Tami Spector, professor of organic chemistry at the University of San Francisco, will speak from 7 to 7:25 p.m. on “The Molecular Elusive.” She was trained as a physical organic chemist. Her scientific work has focused on fluorocarbons, strained ring organics, and the molecular dynamics and free energy calculations of biomolecules. Spector also has a strong interest in aesthetics and chemistry and has published and presented work on molecular and nano- aesthetics, the visual image of chemistry, and the relationship between chemistry and contemporary visual art. She serves on the governing and editorial boards of Leonardo/ISAST, co-hosts the San Francisco based Leonardo Arts Sciences Evening Rendezvous' (LASERs), and serves as the co-editor of an ongoing special section “Art and Atoms” for Leonardo Journal.
Katharine Hawthorne, a San Francisco based dancer and choreographer who makes live performances about thinking bodies in motion, will speak on “Analog Bodies” from 7:25 to 7:50. “How can analog signals and old technologies can be used as metaphors for understanding the body, and in
Cody Ross, now a postdoctoral cultural and statistical anthropologist working at the Santa Fe Institute and UC Davis, will speak on “Art Is Offensive: Integrative Art and Social Justice” from 8:40 to 9 p.m.
Ross works on projects concerning intergenerational wealth transmission and the persistence of economic inequality. His work, both academic and artistic, is targeted toward inspiring deeper discourse about issues related to social justice.
“This talk focuses on the intersection of Art (subjective) and Science (objective), with Activism/Justice/Justness (intersubjective),” Ross says in his abstract. “We use several of my own art pieces and performances to think through the ways in which integrative, socially, conscious art can provide a way of representing scientific knowledge in a manner that is intuitively digestible, and piercing. I especially focus on the offensiveness of art, both in the way: 1) an art piece at first glance can shock us and put us in a place of discomfort at what we are witnessing, which can move us out of the routine comfort we might feel with the injustices going on around us, and 2) the way art can be offensive (like the offence of a sports team) in the pursuit towards establishing a more just world. Art need not be relegated to illustrating the beautiful, instead by illustrating the horrific, it can inspire towards the realization of the beautiful in our world.
The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program was co-founded by entomologist/artist Diane Ullman and artist Donna Billick. Ullman is a professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now Entomology and Nematology) and a former associate dean for undergraduate academic programs, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Billick is a self-described "rock artist" who has degrees in art and science (genetics). She retired from UC Davis earlier this year as a course instructor with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program but continues her art.
Related Links: Rick Karban
Kin Recognition
New Yorker
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's inexpensive, holdable, and very much alive.
The gold?
Texas Gold-Banded millipedes (Orthoporus ornatus). They're new and permanent residents of the museum's “petting zoo” and they're ready to be observed or held, said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and UC Davis professor of entomology.
“They're a great addition to the museum's petting zoo,” Kimsey said. “They are very gentle and great for demonstrations of how millipedes walk and how they differ from centipedes.”
Millipede enthusiast Evan White, who does design and communications for the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, and is a frequent presenter at the Bohart's open houses, recently obtained the arthropods from a collector in Texas. “Texas Gold-Banded millipedes are naive to many of the Southwestern United States, not just Texas,” he said.
White was initially looking for the African giant millipedes (Archispirostreptus gigas) but these are not only expensive but no longer imported.
“I suggested that the Bohart Museum consider a native, and a much smaller species. In fact, native species are the only millipedes readily available, and they're much less expensive. The Texas Gold-Banded millipedes are easily bred and are a hardy species that will make a large colony.”
For the price of one A. gigas, Whiteobtained 15 millipedes, a mix of both males and females.
The 15 millipedes arrived at the Bohart Museum, 1124 Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, at the end of August. During the unpacking, White and is colleagues observed the millipedes mating. “Evidently they waste no time,” White quipped.
Millipedes are one of the largest, and most colorful species on the North American continent, White said. They make great displays, do well in captivity, and seem to breed readily, all desirable qualities in a pet or display animal.
Contrary to popular belief, millipedes are not dangerous. “There is much public confusion about the difference between millipedes and centipedes--not because the two look similar, but because the terms are used interchangeably when not connected to a visual,” White said.
He described millipedes as non-venomous, and relatively slow moving, with cylindrical bodies, two pairs of legs per body segment, and herbivorous. “In fact, they are more like decomposers – they do well on rotting vegetation, wood, etc.--the scientific word for is ‘detritivore.' Most millipedes are toxic if consumed, some even secrete a type of cyanide when distressed. The point being: don't lick one.”
In contract, centipedes are venomous, fast-moving insects with large, formidable fangs, and one pair of legs per body segment. “They are highly carnivorous, although some will eat bananas. Go figure. And they are often high-strung and aggressive if provoked.”
What makes millipedes special--and particularly the Texas Gold-Banded millipedes?
“Personally, I am a big admirer of how they look, almost mechanical, like a metal conduit or something,” he said. “Couple that with the wave ripple of leg movement and I can't get enough of how they look.”
“Generally, there many thousands of types (Wikipedia lists 12,000 named species) which range in size, shape and color from nearly a foot long and black, to only an inch long and bright red. There are round ones, long thin ones, flat ones, spiky ones and nearly every combination in between. They are remarkable critters.”
White estimates the life span at five to six years or more. “In captivity, they do well on squashes, leafy greens, the occasional fruit, and, from time to time, damp/rotting cork.”
Visitors can see the millipedes during the Bohart Museum's regular hours, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and at the weekend open houses held throughout the academic year. The first of nine open houses, free and open to the public, will take place Saturday, Sept. 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. The theme is "How to Be an Entomologist.”
The insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building, Crocker Lane, off LaRue Road.
At the Sept. 27th open house, plans call for UC Davis entomologists to show and explain their work, said Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"We will have a pinning and butterfly and moth spreading ongoing workshop with Jeff Smith and tips on how to rear insects," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. Smith, an entomologist in Sacramento, is a longtime donor and volunteer at the Bohart. "It will be very hands-on."
Representatives from the labs of molecular geneticist Joanna Chiu, assistant professor; bee scientist Brian Johnson, assistant professor; ant specialist Phil Ward, professor; insect demographer James Carey; and integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor and current president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America will share their research.
The Johnson lab will provide a bee observation hive, and Cindy Preto of the Zalom lab will be sharing her research on leafhoppers. The Carey lab will show student-produced videos, including how to make an insect collection, and one-minute entomology presentations (students showcasing an insect in one minute). The Ward lab will be involved in outside activities, demonstration how to collect ants. Entomology students will be on hand to show visitors how to use nets and pitfall traps and yellow pans.
The Bohart Museum, founded by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), is the home of nearly eight million insect specimens. It houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity.
Special attractions include a “live” petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to hold the insects and photograph them.
The museum's gift shop (on location and online) includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology on the UC Davis campus is planning an open house on "How to Be an Entomologist" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27. The insect museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building, Crocker Lane, off LaRue Road.
The event is free and open to the public and is family friendly. This is the first of nine open houses during the 2014-15 academic year.
Plans call for a number of UC Davis entomologists to participate--to show and explain their work, said Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"We will have a pinning and butterfly and moth spreading ongoing workshop with Jeff Smith and tips on how to rear insects," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. Smith, an entomologist in Sacramento, is a longtime donor and volunteer at the Bohart.
Representatives from the labs of molecular geneticist Joanna Chiu, assistant professor; bee scientist Brian Johnson, assistant professor; ant specialist Phil Ward, professor; insect demographer James R. Carey, distinguished professor; and integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor and current president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America will share their research.
Other entomologists may also participate. "There will be a lot going on inside the Bohart and outside the Bohart," Yang said. "It will be very hands on."
Among the open house themes are “Parasitoid Palooza,” “Insect Myths” and “Pollination Nation." “Parasitoid Palooza” may be the first public celebration dedicated to parasitoids, “Parasitoids are animals that feed internally or externally on a host to complete their development to an adult, ultimately killing it,” Kimsey said. “These insects are important biological control agents. We use them as biological control agents because they kill the host, sometimes as an egg or a larva.”
Most of the open houses are from 1 to 4 p.m., except for an evening event, “Moth Night” on Saturday, July 18, and two events--Biodiversity Museum Day on Sunday, Feb. 8 and UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 18--which have extended hours.
- Saturday, Sept. 27: “How to Be an Entomologist,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 23: “Insect Myths,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 20: “Insects and Art,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Jan. 11: “Parasitoid Palooza,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Feb. 8: “Biodiversity Museum Day,” noon to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, March 14: “Pollination Nation,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, April 18: UC Davis Picnic Day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sunday, May 17: “Name That Bug! How About Bob?” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, July 18: “Moth Night,” 8 to 11 p.m.
Kimsey, who became interested in entomology in pre-school, went on to receive her bachelor of science and doctorate in entomology (1975 and 1979) from UC Davis. She joined the faculty in 1989 after serving as a visiting professor/lecturer at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. She has directed the Bohart Museum of Entomology since 1990 and served as vice chair and interim chair of the Department of Entomology.
The Bohart Museum, founded by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens and boasts the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It also houses the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
Special attractions include a “live” petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to hold the insects and photograph them. The newest attractions in the petting zoo are Texas Gold-Banded millipedes, Orthoporus ornatus, which are native to many of the southwestern United States, including Texas. Millipede enthusiast Evan White of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science arranged for the permanent residents.
The museum's gift shop (on location and online) includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
More information is available from Tabatha Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or by telephoning (530) 752-0492. The website is at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sparks will discuss "Natural Products – Sources and Inspiration for Insect Control Agents" from 11 to 11:50 a.m. in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Building.
At Dow AgroSciences, Sparks is a research fellow with the Insect Management Group, Discovery Research unit, a position he has held since January 2010.
"Natural products (NPs) have long been used as pesticides and have broadly served as a source of inspiration for a great many commercial synthetic organic fungicides, herbicides and insecticides that are in the market today," Sparks says in his abstract. "In light of the continuing need for new tools to address an ever changing array of fungal, weed and insect pests, NPs continue to be a source of models and templates for the development of new pest control agents. "
"Interestingly, an examination of the literature suggests that NP models exist for many of the pest control agents that were discovered by other means, suggesting that had circumstances been different, these NPs could have served as inspiration for the discovery of a great many more of today's pest control agents. With an emphasis on insecticides, an attempt will be made to answer questions regarding the existence of NP models for existing pesticides, and using the spinosyns as a reference point, what is needed for the discovery of new NPs and NP models for pest control agents."
"Tom Sparks enrolled at UC Riverside to study biological control," recalled Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. “This interest soon took a more physiological and biochemical turn."
“Tom had broad interests even then, ranging from synthesis of juvenile hormone analogs as green pesticides to resistance management, to his thesis work on the fundamental biochemistry of how butterflies and moths undergo metamorphosis.”
Sparks went on to become a professor at Louisiana State University in an academic career spanning from 1978 to 1989. He completed a sabbatical leave at UC Davis in the summer of 1985.
Sparks won the 2012 International Award for Research in Agrochemicals at the American Chemical Society's 244th meeting, in Philadelphia for "research and exceptional accomplishments in applying new technology from a number of disciplines to the discovery of new pest control agents.
“Tom was instrumental in the discovery and development of a new class of insecticides called spinosids,” Hammock said.
In 2009, Sparks was named the 44th Scientist of the Year by the global research and development magazine, R&D. He won that honor via a vote from readers and editors of R&D. Past recipients have included the inventor of the Internet and the first to successfully sequence the entire human genome.
At the time, R&D senior editor Paul Livingstone said: “Tom Sparks is one of the leading entomologists in agroscience and a pioneer in the wave of new green chemistries that are changing the way we control the insects that are a crucial factor in global agriculture." Sparks' research on “green” insecticides led to spinetoram, a highly effective new insecticide chemistry that eliminates toxic side effects in humans and mammals.
Sparks, now a resident of Greenfield, Ind., grew up in California's Central Valley. He received his bachelor's degree in biology from California State University, Fresno, before enrolling in the graduate program at UC Riverside. While at UC Riverside, Sparks won the Outstanding Graduate Student Award from the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and also received a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship.
Both Hammock and Sparks are fellows of ESA.
Livingston said Hammock played an important role in Sparks' development: “While working in the well-known laboratory of Dr. Bruce Hammock, Tom completed key research on hormones that would guide him into the unexplored regions of entomological science.”
More information on the Oct. 16 seminar is available from events manager Jacki Balderama of the UC Davis Biotechnology Program, at jbalderama@ucdavis.edu
Related links:
- Thomas Sparks, First Graduate Student of Bruce Hammock, Wins International Award for Research in Agrochemicals
- Scientist-of-the-Year Thomas Sparks Closely Linked to UC Davis; Bruce Hammock Was His Major Professor
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Chen, an associate project scientist, will discuss the emerald ash borer and the goldspotted oak borer and their interactions with their host plants. His talk is from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall.
Research entomologist Steve Seybold of the USDA's Forest Service and an affiliate of the Department of Entomology and Nematology is the host.
Chen, who holds a master's degree in applied statistics (2010) from Michigan State University, obtained his doctorate in entomology from the University of Georgia in 2007. For his dissertation research, he investigated various effects of nitrogen fertilization on tritrophic interactions among cotton plants, the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, and the parasitoid, Cotesia marginiventris. The project integrated ecological, chemical, nutritional, and behavioral elements to evaluate the role of nitrogen in shaping tri-trophic interactions in cotton.
Chen carried out postdoctoral research at Michigan State University's Department of Entomology from 2008 to 2011 on the behavioral, chemical, and nutritional interactions between the invasive emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, and ash trees. He relocated to UC Davis in July 2011 to lead an effort to improve trapping lures for detection of another invasive pest, the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus.
In collaboration with research entomologists from the USDA Forest Service, Chen is now working to develop management options for the invasive walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis, and polyphagous shot hole borer, Euwallacea sp.
Chen's overarching research goals are to build arthropod pest management systems that emphasize naturally occurring pest suppression agents and environmentally friendly tactics, that is, insect sex pheromones and other semiochemicals, in a holistic, ecosystem-based approach. He is also interested in studying pest population dynamics in the context of various pest management tactics, agronomic practices, and abiotic environmental factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) with mathematical and statistical tools.
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Vaughn Walton
Associate professor and Extension entomologist
Lead investigator, Spotted Wing Drosophila Project
Oregon State University
Title: "Complexities Associated with Two Invasive Pests: Challenges and Opportunities"
Hosts: Assistant professor Joanna Chiu and distinguished professor Frank Zalom, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Surendra Dara
Strawberry and Vegetable Crops and affiliated IPM Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
Title: "Thinking Outside the Cubicle to Provide Practical Solutions to the Farmers"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Blaine Cole
Professor, University of Houston, specializing in evolution, ecology and behavior.
Title: "Colony Growth and Fitness in Harvester Ants"
Host: Marshall McMunn, graduate student, Louie Yang lab, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 29
Clifford Ohmart
Entomologist and vice president of professional services
SureHarvest, sustainable agriculture
Title: "Sustainable Agriculture: What Is Happening Out on the Farm?"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 5
Chuck Fox
Professor, University of Kentucky, specializing in ecology and evolution of life histories; insect-plant interactions; insect behavioral ecology
Title: "Inbreeding-Environment Interactions: Experimental Studies and a Meta Analysis"
Host: Jay Rosenheim, professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Louie Yang
Assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, specializing in ecology
Title: "Pulses, Phenology and Ontogeny: Towards a More Temporally Explicit Framework for Understanding Species Interactions?"
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Ray Hong
Associate professor of biology, California State University, Northridge, specializing in nematology
Title: “A Fatal Attraction: Regulation of Development and Behavior in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus by a Beetle Pheromone”
Host: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Doris Bachtrog, lab
Associate professor, UC Berkeley, specializing in evolutionary and functional genomics
Title: "Numerous Transitions of Sex Chromosomes in Diptera"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Dec. 3
To be announced
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Sawyer Fuller
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
Title: "RoboBee: Using the Engineering Toolbox to Understand the Flight Apparatus of Flying Insects"
Host: James Carey, distinguished professor of entomology
This seminar by Sawyer Brown will be remote broadcast to UC Davis.
Plans call for recording the seminars, coordinated by Professor James Carey, for later posting on the web.