- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ullmann, based in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will provide an overview of native bee diversity in Yolo County, discuss threats to native bees in the region, and explore efforts to enhance habitat for pollinators.
Ullmann also will highlight the importance of native bees for agricultural production, and the efforts of local organizations, landowners and researchers to identify and enhance plant communities that support pollinator populations in the context of global change. She will provide a slide show of pollinators, including honey bees, bumble bees, butterflies, and syrphid flies.
In the Williams lab, Ullmann focuses her research on pollinator habitat restoration and understanding how pollinator species are able to persist in highly modified landscapes, including agricultural lands. Williams, a pollination ecologist, is an associate professor.
Her talk will be CreekSpeak’s fifth of 2013 in its six-month series of community talks about the nature, culture and history of the region. A $5 donation is requested from those who have not yet joined the council.
The final CreekSpeak talk of 2013 will be on Oct. 17 when Marilyn Ramenofsky will speak on “Birds of Putah Creek.”
Putah Creek Council is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of Putah Creek and its tributaries through advocacy, education and community-based stewardship. They envision Putah Creek as "a thriving corridor of native riparian and aquatic ecosystems connecting the Coast Ranges to the Sacramento River and the Delta." They seek a watershed community of people who value their creek and are committed to its stewardship, according to their website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Evans has worked as a research entomologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Beltsville Bee Research Laboratory for 14 years. His projects have focused on a range of bee pests including bacteria, fungi, viruses and, mites, and beetles. He is especially interested in the immune defenses of bees toward these threats.
Evans was an early proponent of the Honey Bee Genome Project and helped recruit and organize scientists interested in applied genomics for bees. He has improved and applied genetic screens for possible causes of colony collapse disorder and is now heading a consortium to sequence the genome of the Varroa mite in order to develop novel control methods for this key pest.
Evans holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Princeton and a doctorate in biology from the University of Utah.
The fall seminars, coordinated by faculty members Joanna Chiu and Brian Johnson, will be held every Wednesday noon through Dec. 11 in 122 Briggs Hall, except for Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Week, when no seminar will be held.
The complete list of fall seminars (with topics to be announced later):
Wednesday, Oct. 2 (cancelled due to government shutdown)
Jay Evans
Research entomologist, USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Title of talk: "Bee Disease Resistance and Colony Health"
Wednesday, Oct. 9
Rob DeSalle
Curator of entomology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Affiliated with AMNH Division of Invertebrate Zoology and leads a group of researchers at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics,
Title of talk: “The Tree of Life is Dead, Long Live the Tree of Life”
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Sandra Gillespie
Postdoctoral researcher
Neal Williams lab
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title of talk: "Parasites and Pesticides: Indirect Effects on Pollination Service"
Wednesday, Oct. 23
Ivan Schwab
Director of Cornea and External Disease Service
Professor of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
UC Davis Health System, Sacramento
Title of talk: "Vision from Trilobites to Trichogammatids: How the Arthropods See"
Wednesday, Oct. 30
Robert Reiner
Post-doctoral research fellow
Thomas Scott lab and Fogarty International Center
UC Davis
Title of talk: to be announced
Wednesday, Nov. 6
Patrick Abbot
Associate professor
Department of Biological Sciences Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tenn.
Title of talk: “Cooperation and Conflict at the Plant/Insect Interface”
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Gregory Lanzaro
Professor
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Title of talk: to be announced
Wednesday, Nov. 20
Kenneth Haynes
Professor
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Title of talk: to be announced
Wednesday, Nov. 27
No speaker (Thanksgiving Week)
Wednesday, Dec. 4
George Heimpel
Professor and director of Graduate Studies
Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Title of talk: "Specificity and the Process of Biological Control Using Aphid Parasitoids"
Wednesday, Dec. 11
Gerben Messelink
Entomologist at Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, Rotterdam Area, Netherlands
Title of talk: "Generalist Predators and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops"
The seminars are scheduled to be video-recorded and posted on a later date on UCTV in a project coordinated by professor James R. Carey.
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- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He is the co-author of Bumble Bees of California: An Identification Guide (2014, Princeton University Press) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (2014, Heyday Books).
Of the 20,000 bee species identified worldwide, some 4000 are found in the United States, and 1600 in California.
He continues to conduct research on bees because he enjoys it. He monitors the bee population at the half-acre bee friendly garden, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven garden, located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. He began collecting baseline data in the field before the garden was installed in the fall of 2009. To date, has collected more than 80 species of bees "and counting."
Robbin has long-term projects on the status of western bumble bees, on the diversity of bees on Santa Cruz Island, Calif., and on native pollen specialist bees in vernal pool ecosystems. He provides identification services for collaborators studying native bees as crop pollinators, habitat restoration for pollinators on farms, and urban gardens as bee habitat.
Brief Bio
Professor Thorp received his bachelor and master's degrees in zoology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his doctorate degree in entomology from the University of California, Berkeley.
See more about Robbin Thorp (recipient of the distinguished emeritus award) on this web page
Information on native bees, vernal pools, bumble bees, and urban bee gardens:
Native bees are a rich natural resource in urban California gardens (California Agriculture)
Vernal pool flowers and their specialist bee pollinators (California Vernal Pools)
Bumble bees in decline (Xerces Society)
Bumble bees in Caifornia (UC Berkeley)
Urban bee gardens (UC Berkeley)
UC Davis Bee Team Wins Special Award
Robbin Thorp Research Wins Dickson Award
Robbin Thorp Part of Team Award, Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America
Robbin Thorp's Mission: Saving Franklin's Bumble Bee
Co-Author of Bumble Bees of North America
Robbin Thorp: Presentation on Buzzed for Bees
Robbin Thorp and Xerces Society: Saving a Bumble Bee
More (Watch his Webinar on bumble bees)
Contact:
Robbin Thorp
Professor emeritus, native pollinator specialist
Email: rwthorp@ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-0482
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of nearly eight million specimens, will “go live” at its first open house of the 2013-14 academic year on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 21.
“Live,” that is, with live insects, such as cabbage white and Gulf Fritillary butterflies, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, a rose-haired tarantula and a “Harry Potter bug,” which is an amblypygid commonly known as a whip spider or tailless whip scorpion.
Another attraction is a jumping spider, which arrived at the insect museum on a rose bouquet, and has become a permanent resident, Heydon said.
The open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., is free and open to the public. The museum, affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, formerly California Drive. The nearest intersection is LaRue Road.
The gift shop, open year around (products are also sold online), includes two new T-shirts, both the work of designer/Ph.D. student Fran Keller and Davis naturalist/Bohart volunteer Greg Kareofelas. In a touch of humor, the female pondhawk has snatched the Bohart logo and taken a bite.
The second T-shirt depicts the California state insect, the California dogface butterfly. The gift shop also includes other clothing, posters, books, jewelry and insect nets. Purchases and donations support the Bohart education outreach programs. Museum staff educate more than 10,000 students about insects each year thanks to the public generosity.
The Sept. 21 open house is one of eight weekend open houses during the 2013-2014 academic year. Other themes include “Beauty and Beetles,” “Snuggle Bugs” and “Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?”
All will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., with two exceptions. The open house on Saturday, Feb. 8 during UC Davis Biodiversity Day will be from noon to 4 p.m. On the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, Saturday, April 12, the hours at the Bohart Museum are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
The complete schedule of open houses:
Saturday, Sept. 21
Theme: "Live from the Bohart!"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23
Theme: "Beauty and Beetles"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 12
Theme: "Snuggle Bugs"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 8
Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"
Hours: Noon to 4 p.m.
This event will be held in conjunction with the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Herbarium, Botanical Conservatory, Anthropology Collection and Geology and will take place at each of those locations. (All are free and open to the public.)
Sunday, March 2
Theme: "Garden Heroes!"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, April 12:
Theme: “UC Davis Picnic Day: 100 Years”
Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, May 4
Theme: "Moth-er's Day"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, July 26
Theme: "Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.
Those who would like to join the Bohart Museum Society, a campus and community support organization dedicated to supporting the mission of the museum, can do so by accessing this page.
“You can help support the museum and its educational programs by becoming a member,” Kimsey said. “The Bohart Museum and the Bohart Museum Society are dedicated to teaching, research and public service. Our current growth is financed by memberships and contributions.” Membership and donations directly support the following programs and activities:
Visiting Scientist Program
Each year, two or three short-term fellowships are awarded to systematists to come and study the museum collections.
High School Student Internships
The Society funds summer internships for high school students to learn about insects, curation, collecting and other aspects of entomology.
Associates Program
This program is designed to give special recognition to society members who donate their time and expertise to improving the museum's collections, or through collecting activities.
Benefits of Membership include a subscription to the Bohart Museum Society quarterly newsletter; invitation to “members only” special events and programs, including the Halloween open house; select member discounts on gift shop merchandise; access to the collections, and free information and identification services from staff; and the use of the museum library of entomological books and periodicals.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The T32 Retreat, for Training in Vector Biology, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 1105 of the Veterinary Medicine Research Facility 3B, located at 1089 Veterinary Medicine Drive.
Peter Billingsley of Sanaria, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to the production of a vaccine protective against malaria caused by the pathogen Plasmodium falciparum, will be the keynote speaker, addressing the crowd from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m.
Also scheduled to give a keynote presentation was B. Joseph Hinnebusch of the National Institute of Health’s Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, but due to the government shutdown, his presentation is cancelled. Filling in for him from 1 to 2 p.m. will be professor Greg Lanzaro of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, director of the T32 training grant, and associate director Shirley Luckhart, professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine.
This year's event is sponsored by the School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Medicine, and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Grant in Vector Biology at UC Davis, directed by two UC Davis malaria researchers.
There is no cost for the retreat, but reservations must be made by Oct. 5 with researcher Yoosook Lee at yoosook.lee@gmail.com.
The schedule, as of Friday, Oct. 4:
8:30 to 9:30 a.m.: Coffee
9 to 9:10 a.m.: Welcome by Greg Lanzaro, director of T32 Grant
Vector Biology Research at UC Davis
9:10 to 9:25: Research at the School of Medicine, speaker Shirley Luckhart, associate director of T32 grant
9:25 to 9:40 a.m.: Research at the Center for Vectorborne Diseases (CVEC), speaker CVEC director and research entomologist William Reisen
9:40 to 9:55 a.m.: Research at the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, speaker entomologist Anthony Cornel
9:55 to 10:10 a.m.: Research at the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, speaker entomologist Gregory Lanzaro
10:10 to 10:20: Remarks by Dori Borjesson, chair of UC Davis Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine
10:20 to 10:45: Coffee break
Keynote Presentation 1
10:45 to 11:45: Peter Billingsley of Sanaria, Inc.
Lunch
Keynote Presentation 2
1 to 2 p.m.: Professor Greg Lanzaro of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, director of the T32 training grant, and associate director Shirley Luckhart, professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine. (Due to the government shutdown, the initially scheduled presentation by B. Joseph Hinnebusch of the National Institute of Health’s Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is cancelled.)
Trainee Presentations
2 to 2:15 p.m.: Laura Norris (studies with Anthony Cornel): "Speciation Island Introgression between Anopheles gambiae forms driven by Insecticide Pressure."
2:15 to 2:30: Bradley Main (studies with Greg Lanzaro): "Ecological Genomics Among Anopheles gambiae Populations in Mali"
2:30 to 2:45 p.m.: Rebecca Ann Elsner (studies with Nicole Baumgarth): "Suppression of B Cell Responses to the Lyme disease agent Borrella burgdoreci"
3:10 to 3:25 p.m. Lattha Souvannaseng (studies with Shirley Luckhart): "Ubiquity of Population-Specific Mutations in the Immune Signaling Genes Among Chromosomal Forms of Anopheles gambiae"
3:25 to 3:40: Elizabeth Glennon (studies with Shirley Luckhart): "The Role of Abscisic Acid in the Mosquito Immune Response to Plasmodium falciparum"
3:40: Closing Remarks, Greg Lanzaro
For more information on the training grant or research, contact Lanzaro at gclanzaro@ucdavis.edu or Luckhart at sluckhart@ucdavis.edu.