- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Then duck.
In the end, it was a game of numbers. The 44 water warriors participating in the Bruce Hammock lab’s 11th annual water balloon battle at the University of California, Davis tossed 2000 water-filled balloons in 10 minutes.
And, they did so in triple-digit temperatures.
Bruce Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology who has a joint appointment with 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 water warriors usually toss all the balloons within 15 minutes, a feat known as "15 Minutes of Aim!"
At this year's event, held Friday, July 12, Hammock did not participate due to a meeting that lasted longer than he anticipated.
Not to worry. Administrative assistant Louisa SuetYi Lo, Photoshopped him in the group photo.
The Hammock lab has the technique down pat, said Lo, who participated in her second balloon battle. The participants fill the water balloons in the lab and then place them in a bucket half-filled with water, a technique to prevent them from popping. When throwing them, they give them a light, quick squeeze so the balloons will pop faster when they hit their target. There’s also a trick to catching them: by catching the balloon softly without popping it, it can be thrown again.
Researcher Christophe Morisseau of the Hammock lab organizes the annual event and invites the Hammock lab, members of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, other UC Davis collaborators and their families and friends.
“We didn’t see that one coming,” Lo said.
Said McReynolds: "I enjoy the progression of the event - from the camaraderie of filling the balloons, which takes a few hours--to the chaos of battle, the organized clean-up that follows, then we end the day with a picnic in a local park. It’s a great way to bring everyone together."
The Hammock lab draws scholars from all over the world. In addition to the United States, this year’s scholars are from China, Hong Kong, Korea, France, Turkey, Japan, India, the Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine, Lo said. More are coming within the year from Italy, Brazil and Russia.
In all, the Hammock lab is comprised of 4 administrative staff, 4 graduate students, `12 postdoctoral students, 5 researchers, and 7 visiting scholars.
The Hammock lab is known for working hard and playing hard. Hammock directs the campuswide Superfund Research Program, the National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching in 2008 and the UC Davis Faculty Research Lecture Award in 2001.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 2,873 cases in 2012, including 286 deaths. The disease is now "established" in the United States and is here to stay, according to the CDC.
Where did WNV virus come from? How is it spread? Can we predict when and where outbreaks will occur?
Those are some of the questions answered in the academy's free online publication. A video is also posted on that web site.
The Academy convened 22 of the world’s leading experts on West Nile virus in March 2013 to consider and answer some of the most frequently asked questions about West Nile virus. The resultant report provides non-technical, science-based answers to questions that people may have about the virus.
William Reisen, internationally renowned for his comprehensive research on mosquitoes, especially those that transmit encephalitis and WNV, was one of two experts from the systemwide University of California consulted for the publication. The other was Philip Norris, a physician with the Blood Systems Research Institute and UC San Francisco.
Reisen directs the UC Davis-based Center for Vectorborne Diseases, and is a professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and a graduate student advisor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Last year he received the international Harry Hoogstral Award for “outstanding achievements in the field of medical entomology.”
Questions on the online publication include:
1. West Nile virus in the news: what happened in 2012?
2. How did WNV get to the United States?
3. How did WNV spread across the country so quickly?
4. How do people get infected with WNV?
5. Why do some people get West Nile fever or neuroinvasive disease? Did they become infected with a “bad” virus?
6. Why was 2012 so bad?
7. If we know what conditions cause WNV outbreaks, can we predict when a new outbreak will emerge and what its severity might be?
WNV, initially discovered in Uganda, is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. It was first detected in the Americas--New York City--in 1999. Within four years, the disease had spread to every state in the contiguous United States.
The publication indicates that "your risk of developing West Nile fever or neuroinvasive disease greatly increases with age and if your infection is transplant tissue associated. In fact, the risk of WNND increases roughly two times for every decade of life. For the younger population, less than 1 in 700 will develop neurological symptoms, but this ration increases to as much as 1 in 50 in those aged 60 or older."
In 2012, "the central United States reported the highest number of West Nile severe disease cases, with Texas shouldering 29 percent of the disease burden. In fact, what made the Texas outbreak so striking is that just four counties in the Dallas/Fort Worth area accounted for 9012 out of 1,868 total reported West Nile cases in the state. Other states hit with large West Nile outbreaks were California, Illinois, Louisiana and Michigan--together the top five states suffered 56 percent of the reported national neuroinvasive disease cases."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Lewis replaces David Tebeest, University of Arkansas, as editor-in-chief. A member of the editorial board since 2002, Lewis became one of seven editors in 2009. Harry Kaya, emeritus professor of entomology and nematology at UC Davis, is a former editor-in-chief of the journal.
The multidisciplinary journal is described on the web as “an environmentally sound and effective means of reducing or mitigating pests and pest effects through the use of natural enemies. The aim of Biological Control is to promote this science and technology through publication of original research articles and reviews of research and theory. The journal encompasses biological control of viral, microbial, nematode, insect, mite, weed, and vertebrate pests in agriculture, aquatic, forest, natural resource, stored product, and urban environments.”
Topics include:
- Entomology-parasitoids, predators, and pathogens and their use through importation, augmentation, and/or habitat management strategies
- Plant pathology-antagonism, competition, cross-protection, hyperparasitism, hypovirulence, and soil suppressiveness through naturally occurring and introduced agents
- Nematology-predators, parasitoids, and pathogens in biological control through augmentation and/or habitat management strategies and suppressive soils through naturally occurring and introduced agents
- Weed science-vertebrates, invertebrates, and pathogens and their use through classical, augmentative, or bioherbicidal tactics
- Biocontrol of slugs and snails, and others.
“Basically, the journal covers the management of any populations of unwanted organisms through the use of parasites, predators and pathogens,” Lewis said.
Lewis is a member of the Entomological Society of America, Society of Invertebrate Pathology, and the Society of Nematologists. His professional service includes subject editor of the Journal of Nematology and North American editor of Biopesticides International. He is a former chair of USDA Regional Project 1024.
Lewis received his bachelor of science degree in natural resources from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; his master’s degree in entomology from the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.; and his doctorate in entomology from Auburn (Ala.) University.
After receiving his doctorate, Lewis served as a post-doctoral research associate and then assistant research professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. He worked as a research associate in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and as an assistant professor, Department of Entomology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, before joining the UC Davis faculty as an associate professor of nematology and entomology in 2004. He was promoted to professor in 2008.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“This is really an intersection of the work we do in my lab and Ed’s expertise in insect behavior,” said Luckhart, a professor in the UC Davis School of Medicine's Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and a graduate student advisor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
“Jose is very creative and independent – he’s a joy to mentor and undoubtedly will continue to do well in whatever career path he chooses,” Luckhart said.
Lewis, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be mentoring Pietri and collaborating in the project.
Pietri, who received a bachelor’s degree in cell biology from UC Davis, expects to receive his doctorate in microbiology in 2015.
The insulin-like family of peptides controls a wide variety of biological functions across the animal kingdom, Pietri explained. “In insects, insulin-like peptides are most commonly known as mediators of behavior. This research project seeks to understand how insulin-like peptides produced during malaria parasite infection affect the behavior of infected mosquitoes. Mosquito behavior during malaria parasite infection can drastically affect transmission to human hosts. As such, the researchers will analyze behaviors including but not limited to feeding, general activity, and temperature seeking in a genetically modified mosquito model. These experiments will determine whether insulin-like peptides play a potential role in increasing malaria parasite transmission to human hosts by altering essential behavioral processes in mosquitoes.
Pietri, who grew up in Roseville and is a 2007 graduate of Granite Bay High School, mentors college undergraduates and high school students and aims for a career in academia. “I chose to obtain my doctoral training in microbiology with the hope that I may one day help to develop novel control and treatment strategies for infectious agents,” Pietri said. “I also have strong interests in teaching and scientific outreach. For this reason, I have devoted a substantial amount of time to mentoring undergraduates and high school students in both the classroom and laboratory. Collectively, these experiences have led me to conclude that my ideal career would be one in which I can not only freely pursue my research interests, but also share my love for the sciences with other.”
This year Pietri was selected the recipient of a UC Davis Professors for the Future Fellowship (PFTF), a year-long competitive fellowship program “designed to recognize and develop the leadership skills of outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who have demonstrated their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and academic service.” Sponsored by Graduate Studies, the program focuses on the future challenges of graduate education, postdoctoral training, and the academy. PFTF Fellows receive a $3,000 stipend.
Pietri is also the recipient of a three-year National Institutes of Health-Predoctoral Fellowship (National Research Service Award), awarded in 2012.
The doctoral student presented his work at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene last November in Atlanta, Ga., and at the Zagava World Malaria Day Symposium, held in April 2013 in Emeryville, Calif.
Pietri has co-authored research papers published in the General and Comparative Endocrinology, Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, and PLoS Pathogens. One is pending in Microbes and Infection.
One of the papers, co-authored with Luckhart and other colleagues, is “Insulin-like Peptides in the Mosquito Anopheles stephensi: Identification and Expression in Response to Diet and Infection with Plasmodium falciparum,” published in the September 2011 edition of General and Comparative Endocrinology.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The 11th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle will take place starting at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 12 on the Briggs Hall lawn, the north side of the building.
Organizer Christophe Morisseau of the Hammock lab invites all to "join us for our traditional fun."
But, "no filling, no throwing," he said.
Participants will fill 2000 water balloons starting at 1:15 p.m. in Room 82 of Briggs Hall.
Folks are also invited to participate and/or "come and watch."
When all the balloons have been tossed, it's traditional to fill up bins of water and heave them at unsuspecting water warriors.
Hammock, a distinguished professor of entomology who has a joint appointment with 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 water warriors usually toss all the balloons within 15 minutes, a feat known as "15 Minutes of Aim!"
The Hammock lab is known for working hard and playing hard. Hammock directs the campuswide Superfund Research Program, the National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Program and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching in 2008 and the UC Davis Faculty Research Lecture Award in 2001.
More information on the water balloon battle is available from Morisseau at (530) 752-6571 or at chmorisseau@ucdavis.edu.