- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Distinguished professors are scholars whose work has been internationally recognized and acclaimed and whose teaching is excellent. The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology now has four distinguished professors: entomologists Bruce Hammock, Frank Zalom and Thomas Scott and nematologist Howard Ferris.
Scott, internationally known for his work with on the ecology and epidemiology of dengue, joined the then UC Davis Department of Entomology 18 years ago. He focuses his work on contributing to improved public health in the United States and in the developing world, where resources are inadequate and help is desperately needed.
“What began as an interest in the ecology of infectious disease--working as a graduate student for the Centers of Disease Control, receiving a doctorate in ecology from Pennsylvania State University, and serving as an epidemiology post-doc at the Yale School of Medicine--expanded into my current objective of applying innovative science to enhanced disease prevention and constructive contributions to the debate over improved public health policy,” Scott said.
His expertise centers on mosquito-transmitted disease; the bulk of his work is on dengue. Each year, 3.97 billion people in 128 countries are at risk, and an estimated 390 million people are infected with this mosquito-borne virus.
Scott teaches the high successful Medical Entomology (ENT 153) class at UC Davis. He focuses his research on epidemiology of mosquito-borne viral disease, mosquito ecology, evolution of mosquito-virus interactions, and evaluation of novel products and strategies for disease control.
“I aim to generate the detailed, difficult to obtain data that are necessary for assessing current recommendations for disease prevention, rigorously testing fundamental assumptions in public health policy, and developing innovative, cost, and operationally effective strategic concepts for prevention of mosquito-borne disease,” he said. For more than 35 years he has conducted arbovirus research, with an emphasis on dengue since 1990 in Asia (Thailand for the past 25 years) and Latin America (Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Peru for the past 23 years). He works closely with the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California and the Thai and Peruvian Ministries of Health.
Scott directed two long-term dengue cohort studies in Peru and Thailand. “One of our key innovations,” he said, “was the development of a way to rapidly identify active human infections and study virus transmission dynamics across communities. “Our geographic cluster and contact tracing study designs are changing the way people investigate dengue epidemiology and are providing new insights into virus invasion, amplification, and epidemic transmission, all of which influence the design of improved disease prevention programs.”
A common theme in his dengue epidemiology research is the importance of heterogeneities in patterns of human infection, how variation in these kinds of factors affects trends in dengue transmission, and whether data on this topic can be captured and applied in an operationally amenable way.
“Research in Thailand showed that dengue transmission is remarkably focal, helped explain patterns of human and mosquito infection, and is consistent with targeting interventions for improved disease prevention. Complementary research in Thailand defined patterns in mosquito production and virus infection, gene-by-gene interactions during mosquito infection, the impact of mosquito infection on virus evolution, and the impact of daily temperature fluctuations on mosquito infection and transmission.”
“Results from human movement studies are the basis for designing, parameterizing, and testing quantitative network models on virus transmission dynamics, surveillance, and prevention and of interest for application to other infectious diseases.”
Scott is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Entomological Society of America (ESA). He served as an editor for the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Journal of Insect Science, and Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association; and is included in Who's Who in America.
In addition, he was a standing member of the United States–Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program Parasitic Diseases Panel; past president of the Society for Vector Ecology; chair of the Medical and Veterinary Entomology section of ESA; a standing member on the Program Committee for the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and a member of the Robert E. Shope International Fellowship in Infectious Diseases Committee.
Scott is often asked to review grant proposals for a variety of funding agencies: National Institutes of Health; National Science Foundation; Institut Pasteur, France; Netherlands Foundation for Science and Global Development; Medical Research Council (UK), and Wellcome Trust.
Scott is currently serving an 8-year term on the Council of the International Congresses of Entomology. Recently, he was appointed to the Steering Committee of the newly formed Partnership for Dengue Control, a consolidation of vaccine developers, novel mosquito interventions, international health funders (Gates and Carlos Slim Foundations), and experts on dengue prevention. Scott was also singled out to lead a comprehensive assessment of current and project mosquito interventions for dengue and develop the conceptual basis for feasibility trials that combine mosquito control and vaccines for dengue prevention.
Scott works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) in several of its mosquito-borne disease and dengue prevention programs: the Vector Control Advisory Group and the program to Estimate the Global Burden of Dengue.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bruce's Big Battle at Briggs, which draws professors, researchers, visiting scientists, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and undergraduate students and their friends and families, showcases what the internationally known Hammock lab does for camaraderie and fun.
The event amounts to a 10-minute break from their 52 weeks of scientific work.
The water warriors are so proficient that the event actually spans about 8 to 9 minutes, said organizer Christophe Morisseau, associate research scientist.
Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, launched the water balloon fest in 2003 as a way to build camaraderie and gain relief from the heat. Temperatures soared to 98 degrees on Thursday, July 24, the afternoon of the battle.
For the occasion, the water warriors first filled 2000 small water balloons on the Briggs Hall lawn.
“We did try filling the balloons differently this year to conserve water,” said Hammock lab program manager Cindy McReynolds. “We devised a filling station out of drip line and valves so we could fill the balloons outside and also turn off the water when not in use.”
Thirty-nine people comprise the Hammock lab: 11 postdoctoral fellows, 8 research staff, 7 visiting scholars, 4 graduate students, 4 undergraduates, 4 staff and one part-time student assistant.
The Hammock lab has always enjoyed an international presence. Of the researchers this year, 8 are from China, 3 from France, 2 from Hong Kong, 2 from the Ukraine, and 1 each from India, Japan and Canada.
“They caught on quickly,' said Louisa Suet Yi Lo, administrative assistant. “It didn't take long for them to warm up and they really enjoyed dousing each other, especially the big boss, Bruce Hammock.”
"It was great seeing everyone relaxing and having so much fun," said Grace Bedoian of the administrative staff who will be retiring July 30. "They work hard and they play hard.”
Hammock, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, directs the campuswide Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Combined Analytical Laboratory.
As an extra bonus, the annual battle provides a little water for the thirsty Briggs Hall lawn, which is used by campus wildlife, including ducks, turkeys, squirrels, birds, butterflies and bees.
ACE annually conducts a Critique and Awards (C&A) program that recognizes excellence in communications skills for individuals involved in the public sector – USDA, land-grant universities, state extension service or experiment stations, and international foundations.
This year Garvey won the first-place award for best feature photo with an image of a Polish scientist Jakub Gabka wearing a bee beard. The visiting scientist was part of an after-hours bee bearding event, coordinated by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road.
Garvey's other gold award was for best "writing on the web" for her "Thankful for Insects" Bug Squad blog, posted on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR website).
The bronze award was a third-place award for best series of photos on her Bug Squad blog.
The awards were presented at the organization's annual meeting, held recently in Portland, Ore.
Several other UC communicators received ACE awards at the Portland conference.
Steve Heindl, Marissa Stein and Ray Lucas of Communication Services & Information Technology won gold in the Educational Package category for the online “Introduction to Forest Management” course they produced for Rick Standiford, UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) specialist in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UC Berkeley.
For promotional videos, ACE awarded silver for the UC Cooperative Extension centennial video. The video was produced by the UC Office of the President's multimedia team of Jessica Wheeler, Zach Long and Larissa Branin with direction from Pam Kan-Rice and Cynthia Kintigh of the UC ANR Communication Services and Information Technology (CSIT).
“Grape Pest Management, Third Edition” won a silver award for technical publications for Larry J. Bettiga, UCCE Extension viticulture advisor in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, as technical editor, and CSIT editors Steve Barnett and Hazel White and CSIT designers Robin Walton and Will Suckow. They also received a bronze award for the reference book's design in the 2014 PubWest Book Design Award.
(Editor's Note: UC ANR's Pam Kan-Rice, assistant director, News and Information Outreach, Communication Services and Information Technology, contributed to this report)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology's last open house of the 2013-14 academic year will explore the theme, "Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?" on Saturday, July 26 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
Many locally found spiders, include the black widow, jumping spider and cellar spiders--alive and specimens--will be exhibited.
A special attraction is Rosie, a 24-year-old tarantula reared by entomologist/Bohart volunteer Jeff Smith of Sacramento. Visitors are invited to hold it and photograph it.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, will be present to talk about insects. He is the co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide, which is available in the Bohart gift shop. Thorp will be available to sign the books.
Children and/or family activities are also planned, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart.
The museum's gift shop, open throughout the year (credit-card purchases are accepted), includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum.
Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year. The museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information is available from Tabatha Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or by telephoning (530) 752-0493.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The 12th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle will take place at 3 p.m., Thursday, July 24 on the north side of the Briggs Hall lawn.
Christophe Morisseau, associate research scientist, said the lab has 2000 water balloons to fill; anyone who wants to be a water warrior must participate in the filling, which starts at 1 p.m. by the Briggs loading dock.
All are invited. “Whoever wants to get wet,” Morisseau said. “Children and spouses are always welcome.”
In the past, the water warriors, led by Bruce Hammock and Morisseau, have included professors, researchers, visiting scientistis, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and undergraduate students.
In addition to the water balloons, some favor squirt guns and toy pressurized water blasters. Others hoist half-filled buckets of water for sneak attacks.
So proficient are the water warriors that the “15 minutes of fame” often turns into “10 minutes of aim.”
Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, launched the water balloon fest in 2003 as a way to build camaraderie and gain relief from the heat.
The Hammock lab works hard and plays hard. Hammock, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, directs the campuswide Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Combined Analytical Laboratory.