He will receive a travel grant of $300 to present his poster on the spotted wing drosophila at the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America meeting, to be held April 6-11 at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Stateline, Nev.
Harris' poster is titled “Seasonal Trapping of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in a Multi-Crop Setting.” He studies with integrated pest management specialist/professor Frank Zalom and Ph.D candidate/researcher Kelly Hamby of the Zalom lab.
EGSA president Jenny Carlson, an entomology Ph.D candidate affiliated with the Vector Genetics Lab, said the EGSA has decided to provide an undergraduate travel grant for those students who are presenting at a conference.
“We will be providing an opportunity for undergraduates to apply twice a year for a total of $300, depending on funds,” Carlson said. “We will have one in the winter and one in the fall.” Those who want to support the project can donate to the EGSA fund or buy entomology t-shirts.
EGSA named the grant for Jude Plummer for her $50 donation “to be used for such a cause,” Carlson said. Plummer, a pest control manager in Florida, is a certified master naturalist and is also certified in urban horticulture.
Harris, who minored in fungal biology and ecology, plans to pursue a master’s degree in forest entomology. “I would like to study insect-fungus interactions with a focus on inoculation of forest pests with entomophagous fungi,” he said. “Many of these pests are gregarious so capture, inoculation and release of a few individuals may disseminate the pathogen to a large population.”
“My ultimate goal is to work with the USDA forest service. I would love nothing more than to make my living tromping around in beautiful north American forests."
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Jan. 30, 2013
His seminar will be from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Addition, corner of Hutchison and Kleiber Hall drives, UC Davis campus. Host is graduate student Leslie Saul-Gershanz of the Neal Williams lab.
“Most bees nest underground; the remainder largely nesting above-ground, either in beetle holes in deadwood or in pity stems,” Cane says. “The vast majority of bees are non-social, yet only a very few of these species of each nesting habitats are managed for crop pollination. They will be used to illustrate realized and sustained population growth under management, as well as the factors that allow or impede broader use of non-social bees for agriculture.”
“ I will then summarize ongoing experience with methods and materials to multiply other native cavity-nesting bees, notably species of Osmia, desired to pollinate tree fruits, bramble fruits and native seed crops, highlighting the costs and challenges that emerge at larger scales of management.”
Cane has spent many of the past 25 years studying the nesting and pollination ecologies of native non-social bees of North America and elsewhere. He has worked with pollination and pollinators of alfalfa, cranberries, blueberries, squashes, almonds, raspberries and a host of native seed crops used for restoration seed. He is currently multiplying three species of Osmia bees for these applications.
For the past 13 years, Cane has worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Pollinating Insect Research Unit at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Prior to that, he was on the faculty of Auburn University in Alabama and was a post-doctoral fellow at UC Berkeley after receiving his doctorate from the University of Kansas.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Jan. 29, 2013
Calling attention to an article Shapiro wrote in the News of the Lepidopterists' Society, Berbeco pointed out that he "had always 'pooh-poohed' the notion that butterflies were disappearing, noting that populations will decline in response to disruptive factors such as development, but some losses were reversible."
Shapiro, who has been monitoring butterflies in northern California for more than four decades, says that climate and land-use changes have definitely affected butterflies. An example: the Gulf Fritillary butterfly, once thought nearly extinct in the Sacramento area for 40 years, is making a comeback due to the warmer winters. (See Shapiro's Butterfly World website).
"Shapiro's research demonstrates that anthropogenic climate change and habitat loss have started to transform our natural world," Bercero wrote. "As more data continue to demonstrate these trends, the arguments for action will become undeniable."
Read The Butterfly Effect (by Minda Berbeco, Ph.D., Programs and Policy Director, National Center for Science Education)
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
April 1, 2008
The apiculturist, whose career spans 31 years at UC Davis, was honored at a luncheon on Tuesday, April 1 in the Embassy Suites, Napa. The association, totaling some 1500 members, represents 10 Western states and part of Canada.
“Eric Mussen has developed a very effective Extension program that uses traditional as well as 21st century techniques,” said PB-ESA president Larry Godfrey, a UC Davis Extension entomologist. “He gives a significant number of presentations every year, publishes a newsletter, and assists people through telephone conversations and one-on-one visits.”
Said entomologist Lynn Kimsey, interim chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology: “Eric has a phenomenal knowledge of honeybees and the beekeeping industry and his activities are critical components of the Department of Entomology activities. He richly deserves the recognition represented by this award.’
Mussen helped spark the rebuilding of the honey bee program at the Harry Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and the recent Haagen-Dazs research donation of $100,000. He is one of three UC Davis scientists serving on the Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bee Board of Directors.
In national demand for his expertise on honey bees, Mussen appeared on Good Morning America on March 12, and has also been interviewed for The Lehrer Hour, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the television documentary, California Heartland. Coverage also included Sticky Stuff of Modern Marvels, the History Channel.
“Eric is the primary conduit of information on apiculture, certainly for the entire western U.S. and perhaps even broader than that,” Godfrey said.
For the past five years, Mussen has functioned as the “sole University of California entomologist assisting the apiculture industry,” Godfrey said. In doing so, Mussen met “some very difficult challenges,” particularly with the surge of CCD and Africanized honey bees.
The beekeeping industry is crucial to California’s $42 billion agricultural economy, as some 90 different crops, valued at more than $6 billion, require pollination. California accounts for $6 billion of the nation’s $16 billion-pollination industry. This does not include the direct products from apiculture (honey, beeswax, pollen, propoplis and venom) and others) and the indirect value of pollination (such as alfalfa seed production to feed dairy and beef cattle).
California also accounts for half of the nation’s sales of queen-and-packaged-bees stock. The Golden State continually ranks among the top four honey-producing states, along with North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida.
In addition to CCD, Mussen’s expertise is widely sought on scores of other topics, including honey bee nutrition, diseases, pesticides, crop pollination and beekeeping. He serves as the state’s beekeeping industry liaison with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Department of Pesticide Regulation and Apiary Inspectors of America, a regulatory and enforcement group.
Mussen guest-lectures for the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine; teaches short courses on beekeeping in the Sacramento area; works closely with Farm Advisors and commercial and hobby beekeepers; and consults with commodity boards, including the National Honey Board, Almond Board of California and the California Farm Bureau Federation
Mussen has edited and published a bi-monthly newsletter, “from the U.C. Apiaries,” since he was hired in September, 1976. He and UC Davis entomologist Norman Gary co-founded the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) in 1978, with each serving terms as president. Mussen continues to maintain the WAS Web site on the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources server.
Mussen’s other activities that led to the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension include reviewing research proposals; writing informative Bee Briefs on the Department of Entomology’s Web site; and serving as the “permanent” secretary-treasurer of the Northern California Entomology Society. He is currently treasurer of the UC Davis scientific honorary society, Sigma Xi.
Widely recognized for his work, Mussen received the California State Beekeepers’ Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999; Apiary Inspectors of America’s Exceptional Service Award in 2000, and the California State Beekeeper Association’s Beekeeper of the Year Award in 2006. In 2007, the American Association of Professional Apiculturists honored him with an Award of Excellence in Extension Apiculture, one of only five awards the group has presented in 20 years.
The UC Davis Department of Entomology, headquartered in Briggs Hall, is ranked No. 1 in the country by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Jan. 24, 2013
They are the Bohart Museum of Entomology, the Botanical Conservatory, Center for Plant Diversity, the Geology Museum, the Anthropology Museum, and the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology.
The event, free and open to the public, showcases UC Davis’ impressive research collections and museums, the directors said. Each museum has a research collection that documents the biodiversity of life in California.
All participating museums have active education and outreach programs, but not all the museums are always accessible to the public. On Feb. 2 they will be.
“This will be the only time during the year when many of these collections of rare objects can be visited by the public," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. "Our staff is excited to show off some of our more important specimens. The event is perfect for all ages; we have something for everyone.”
Visitors can go behind-the-scenes to learn how research is conducted, and to see some of the curators’ favorite pieces. They can explore displays and talk with scientists, and participate in fun activities and crafts. The event is billed as a "family event" and an opportunity for people of all ages to see the museums.
The UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day could also be“Super Science Saturday,” because the event is the day before “Super Bowl Sunday.” It is being held in conjunction with the popular Sacramento Association of Museums’ annual “Museum Day,” when all participating museums in the greater Sacramento area, including art museums, history museums and the zoo, offer free admission.
The first-ever UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day originated last year when Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum and Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology approached Ernesto Sandoval of the Botanical Conservatory and asked about the possibility of weekend hours. Then two other centers committed: UC Davis Botanical Conservatory and the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.
This year the Geology Museum, the Anthropology Museum joined the Biodiversity Musem Day.
All museums are located on the main UC Davis campus, and parking is free. Visitors are encouraged to stroll around the campus visiting the six different collections (all indoors). Maps, signs and guides will be available at each site.
The locations:
Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 of Academic Surge, Crocker Lane (formerly California Drive)
Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, 1394 Academic Surge, Crocker Lane
UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, Kleiber Hall Drive
Center for Plant Diversity, Sciences Laboratory Building, off Kleiber Hall Drive, near Briggs Hall
Anthropology Collections, Young Hall, off A Street
Geology Collections, Earth and Physical Sciences Building, across from Academic Surge Building
Related Links:
Download Museum Map, Showing All Locations
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894