- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Entomologists Catherine and Maurice Tauber, visiting scientists with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, are newly selected honorary members of the International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) for their outstanding contributions to biological control.
The IOBC coordinates biological control activities worldwide through its six regional sections (Africa, Asia, East Europe, North America, South America, and West Europe) and many working groups. IOBC is affiliated with the International Council of Scientific Union as the section of Biological Control of the International Union of Biological Sciences. A recent edition of IOBC newsletter welcomed them as honorary members.
Both earned their doctorate degrees in entomology at UC Berkeley; Catherine in 1968 and Maurice in 1966. From the newsletter: “Since then, they have represented one of the most successful collaborative teams in entomology, if not all of biological science. The impact of their research goes well beyond their collective expertise in insect seasonality, behavior, evolutionary biology, systematics, and biological control. For the Taubers have demonstrated the rare ability to blend what they have learned in multiple areas of insect biology to reveal complex life histories and biological relationships involving beneficial and pest insects, and to apply that knowledge to improve biological control programs.
“Maurice Tauber served for many years as a professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University where he was also department chair for two terms. Catherine served as senior research associate.”
“…Their contributions to entomology and science are recognized internationally, and individually and together they have received numerous awards and distinctions, including American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow (Maurice Tauber), honorary fellows of the California Academy of Science, and the IOBC/Neartic Regional Section Distinguished Achievement Award, which they received in 2002. Prolific researchers, Maurice and Catherine have published more than 200 papers in the major journals in entomology, zoology, and biological science, including nine in Science and Nature as well as two annual review articles and more than twenty book chapters. Owing to their strong commitment to biological control, which they have instilled in all of their graduate students, Maurice and Catherine Tauber have devoted a significant part of their careers to applying fundamental knowledge to enhance biological control and pest management in general.
“For example, their landmark book, Seasonal Adaptations of Insects, published in 1986, contains chapters that illustrate the importance and practical use of information about seasonal adaptations for biological control and integrated pest management. Most of the Taubers' work has focused on the Neuroptera, specifically the families Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae, which represent important predators of several groups of arthropod pests. However, the breadth of their research encompasses eight insect orders representing both pest and beneficial species in diverse cropping systems.
“The Taubers have significantly advanced our knowledge of enemy-pest synchrony, host/prey selection, tri-trophic interactions, mass-rearing of predators, biological control of weeds, and the taxonomy and systematics of lacewings. In so doing, their work has strengthened classical, conservation and augmentative biological control programs worldwide. In addition to their research, the Taubers have provided exemplary service serving on numerous university and professional society committees, boards, and task forces.”
(Editor's Note: PNAS embargo lifted at noon, Dec. 31. See research.)
Dec. 31, 2012
In a two-year, finely detailed study of dengue transmission in Iquitos, Peru, a 13-member team led by Thomas Scott of the UC Davis Department of Entomology found that human movement—people going from house-to-house to visit their friends and relatives—is a key component to driving the virus transmission.
“This finding has important implications for dengue prevention, challenging the appropriateness of current approaches to vector control,” said lead author Steven Stoddard, a medical entomologist in the Scott lab and part of the team that included scientists from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit; San Diego State University; University of Iowa; Tulane University, New Orleans; and Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.
Some 500,000 people with severe dengue are hospitalized each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and about 2.5 percent of those affected die.
“Dengue takes an enormous toll on human health worldwide, with as many as 4 billion people at risk—half of the world’s population--and 400 million new infections each year,” said Scott, professor and director of the Mosquito Research Laboratory, UC Davis Department of Entomology, and principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded grant. “The results from our study are focusing attention to the role human social networks in virus invasion and epidemic spread. At our Peru study area, we found that infection risk is based on the places a person visits and transmission dynamics are driven by overlapping movements of people who recently visited the same places, like the homes of their family and friends.”
The unprecedented research, titled “House-to-House Human Movement Drives Dengue Virus Transmission,” sought to address the question of whether people’s movements explained infection risk and patterns of virus spread,” Stoddard said.
Dengue is difficult to control, the researchers said. “We have limited tools to prevent dengue,” Stoddard said. “These largely involve reducing the mosquito population through the use of insecticides or by eliminating water holding containers that serve as larval habitat. Traditional approaches to mosquito control for dengue prevention focus on the area around the homes of detected dengue cases, essentially based on the observation that the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, does not move far.”
“The question going into the study,” Stoddard said, “was whether people’s movement could explain a rather poor relationship between the abundance of mosquitoes in a house and the risk of new dengue infections. So we knocked on people’s doors looking for anyone with a fever. If we found someone, we asked them where they had been recently and if they visited other houses, we went there. And in the houses visited by people sick with dengue we found a lot more people infected with the virus than in houses visited by people who did not have dengue.”
The scientists reported 54 contact-site cluster investigations over two transmission seasons. Of those cases, two-thirds were students under age 22, and “who, on average reported visiting 8.55 places over the prior two weeks” between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m.
“The most common type of place visited was residential, often houses of friends or family,” the researchers reported. “Contact with other households likely to be infested with infected mosquitoes at the time of infection was the best indicator of risk…”
The results, he said, are important and interesting for several reasons:
We demonstrate empirically that human movement has a powerful influence on the transmission of a mosquito-borne disease. This is a rather novel idea because historically models of dengue transmission have focused on the mosquito moving, not humans.
People's movements are influenced by social connections. Our data suggest that social networks are important in dengue just as they are in flu or HIV spread. This is an idea we want to explore further.
Traditional approaches to dengue prevention are geographical--that is, when a case of dengue pops up, the traditional response is to draw a circle around their home (usually 100-400 meters) and focus insecticides there. Our data suggest that first, the circle probably should be smaller and, most importantly, that every case should have three or four circles associated with it--drawn around all the houses most recently visited.
“Scientists use models of disease dynamics to assist in decision making and the design of effective disease control and prevention strategies,” Stoddard said. “The models we use are very sensitive to assumptions about how a pathogen spreads. Our data shine new light on how dengue virus spreads, which could lead to new model development and more effective strategies for disease prevention.”
Dengue, known as a tropical and subtropical disease, has now begun to appear along the southern border of the United States, including Texas. Florida has also reported cases of dengue.
Humans serve as both the main carriers and multipliers of the virus. Patients infected with the dengue virus can transmit the infection for 4 to 5 days or a maximum of 12 via Aedes mosquitoes after their first symptoms appear, according to WHO.
Scott said that “the next phase of our research is aimed at understanding how variation in human behavior influences transmission and applying that knowledge in enhanced disease prevention strategies.”
Scott and Stoddard are affiliated with the Fogarty International Center, NIH, Bethesda, Md.
Other co-authors of the research paper:
--Amy Morrison of the Scott lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology, and U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Six, Lima and Iquitos; ?--Brett Forshey of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Six and Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Iowa;
--Valerie Paz-Soldan, Global Health Systems and Development, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans;
--Helvio Astete, Stalin Vilcarromero, Eric Halsey and Tadeusz Kochel, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Six, Lima and Iquitos;
--Robert Reiner of the Scott lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Fogarty International Center;
--John Elder, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University;
--Gonzalo Vasquez-Prokopec and Uriel Kitron, Department of Environmental Studies, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., and Fogarty International Center
The dengue research was supported by Scott’s grant from NIH, and funds from the U.S. Department of Defense Global Emerging Infections Systems Research Program, and the Military Infectious Disease Research Program.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
?(530) 754-6894
Dec. 23, 2012
The award recognizes Billick for her “contributions in enhancing inclusiveness and diversity within the campus community,” Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor, Office of Campus Community Relations, told her in a Dec. 21 letter. A $500 monetary prize accompanies the prestigious award.
Billick will be honored at a reception in Chancellor Linda Katehi’s residence on Feb. 6.
“Donna is an exceptional leader who has devoted her life to creating access to the arts and sciences to the broadest communities possible,” said entomology professor Diane Ullman, associate dean for Undergraduate Academic Programs, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and co-founder and co-director of the UC Davis Art Science Fusion Program.
Billick’s art projects not only span the campus and into area communities throughout California, but delve into Mexico and Central and South America.
“She has a remarkable ability to coach novices and help them find confidence in their artistic expression,” said Ullman, who nominated her for the award with three UC Davis Arboretum officials: director Kathleen Socolofsky, assistant director Carmia Feldman, assistant director and senior museum scientist Emily Griswold.
“Donna excels at supporting and bringing out the best from students and community members,” they wrote. “She takes this accomplishment one step further by orchestrating the work of a broad and diverse community to create cohesive, beautiful and meaningful permanent and art installations for all to enjoy.”
They praised the Davis-based artist for her work in engaging children, teachers, parents, grandparents and K-12 to university students “in creative expression that crosses disciplines and borders.”
They particularly singled her out for her work with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program: for her leadership “in the evolution of artistic materials and technologies,” the creation of an on-campus community outreach program, and the creation of a K-12 outreach program for teachers and students, resulting in their input to UC Davis projects and permanent installations on elementary school campuses (including the Korematsu Elementary School, Davis.)
The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, launched in 2006, began with a single innovative course in entomology in 1996, fusing art with science, and evolved into a multi-course program with outreach activities. It involves design faculty, science faculty, museum educators, professional artists and UC Davis students. “Participants see and feel art and science, hold it in their hands, hearts and memories—in ceramics, painting, photographs, music, and textiles,” said Ullman, who previously received the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community for faculty.
“In carrying forward the mission of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, Donna has succeeded in creating an environment in which the faculty, students and staff leave their disciplinary silos and begin collaborating,” the nominators wrote. “This is a tremendous challenge and Donna has overcome many obstacles to do this.”
In addition, Billick developed mentoring strategies for graduate students to learn how to use the Art/Science Fusion Program’s innovative teaching methods, which have resulted in teaching awards and post-graduate teaching positions.
Billick is also heavily involved with UC Davis Arboreteum GATEways art project: GATE is an acronym or Gardens, Arts and The Environment. She has served on the board of directors of two other art-inspired programs: the Tile Heritage Program, with particular contributions to “Keeping the Craft Alive”; and the Community Built Association (CBA). She continues serving on the CBA board.
Her work--and the work of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program--can be seen in the UC Davis Arboretum, Shields Oak Grove and the Haagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, among other sites.
One of the key UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program projects is Nature’s Gallery, a ceramic mosaic mural showcasing plants and insects found in the Arboretum’s Ruth Storer Garden. The U.S. Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C., displayed the mural in 2007. Later it was shown at the UC Davis Centennial Pavilion and at the California State Fair before its permanent installation (2012) in the Storer Garden.
A self-described rock artist, Billick founded and directs the Billick Rock Art of Davis, a studio that has brought large-scale public art and community-built art to communities across the nation since 1977. She also founded and directs the Todos Artes, a program providing destination workshops and community-built art in Baja, Mexico, since 2006.
An alumna of UC Davis, Billick toyed with a scientific career before opting for a career that fuses art with science. She received her bachelor of science degree in genetics in 1973 and her master’s degree in fine arts in 1977, studying art with such masters as Bob Arneson, Roy De Forest, Wayne Thiebaud and Manuel Neri.
Billick traces her interest in an art career to the mid-1970s when then Gov. Jerry Brown supported the arts and offered the necessary resources to encourage the growth of art. He reorganized the California Arts Council, boosting its funding by 1300 percent.
The mid-1990s is when Billick and Ullman began teaching classes that fused art with science; those classes led to the formation of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.
Billick’s work is displayed in numerous public and private collections, including the Oakland Museum, Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Carborundum Museum in New York, Richmond Art Center; Richard Nelson Gallery at UC Davis, William Sawyer Gallery in San Francisco and Mills College in Oakland.
Billick created the six-foot-long honey bee sculpture for the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, and the ceramic mosaic sign that fronts the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.Within the city of Davis, Billick created the whimsical Dancing Pigs sculpture and the Cow Fountain, both in the Marketplace Shopping Center on Russell Boulevard; the Mediation sculpture at Central Park Gardens; and the Frawns for Life near the West Area Pond.
Last spring both Billick and Ullman were invited to give TEDx talks on the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. Their talks are posted on YouTube:
Listen to Donna Billick
Listen to Diane Ullman
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Dec. 23, 2012
Collect the first cabbage white butterfly of 2013 in the three-county area of Yolo, Solano or Sacramento and collect a pitcher of beer (your brand) or its cash-prize equivalent from Professor Art Shapiro of the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology.
Shapiro launched the annual “Catch-a-Cabbage-White-Butterfly-Win-a-Pitcher-of-Beer” contest in 1972 to draw attention to Pieris rapae and its first flight. “It is typically one of the first butterflies to emerge in late winter,” he said. “Since 1972, the first flight has varied from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, averaging about Jan. 20.”
Shapiro, who usually wins his own contest, snagged the first cabbage white butterfly of 2012 at 11:50 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 8 in West Sacramento, Yolo County.
“This was usually early and was due to the prolonged midwinter dry spell in the winter of 2011-2012,” he said.
He caught the first cabbage white butterfly of 2011 at 1:21 p.m., Monday, Jan. 31 in Suisun City, Solano County.
The cabbage white butterfly inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow
“The receptionist will certify that it is alive and refrigerate it,” Shapiro said. “If you collect it on a weekend or holiday, hold it your refrigerator but do not freeze it. A few days in the fridge will not harm it.”
Shapiro, who is in the field more than 200 days a year, has been defeated only three times since 1972. And all were his graduate students, whom he calls “my fiercest competitors.” Adam Porter defeated him in 1983; and Sherri Graves and Rick VanBuskirk each won in the late 1990s.
When he wins, he shares the reward with his graduate students and their significant others.
All in all, the cabbage white butterfly contest “helps us understand biological responses to climate change,” he said. “The cabbage white is now emerging a week or so earlier on average than it did 30 years ago here.”
Shapiro maintains a website on butterflies at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/, where he records the population trends he monitors in Central California. He has surveyed fixed routes at 10 sites since as early as 1972. They range from the Sacramento River Delta, through the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada mountains, to the high desert of the western Great Basin. The sites, he said, represent the great biological, geological, and climatological diversity of central California.
Shapiro and biologist/writer/photographer Tim Manolis co-authored "A Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions," published in 2007 by the University of California Press.
Shapiro, a distinguished professor, is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Entomological Society, and the California Academy of Sciences.
For more information on the beer-for-a-butterfly contest, contact Art Shapiro at amshapiro@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-2176.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Dec. 21, 2012
He's not just a renowned scientist who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and 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.
He's not just an athlete who loves rock climbing and white-water rafting and hosts the annual Bruce Hammock Water Balloon Battle in front of Briggs Hall for his students, researchers and colleagues.
He's now embarking on an acting career.
His role in the movie (details not to be released?? A corpse.
“It was very interesting,” Hammock said. said. “But my, they work hard. The movie producers were on the set at 5:30 a.m. We worked until dark, in weather well below freezing, with high winds blowing sand. The professional actors and actresses put in amazing performances under quite adverse conditions."
“They're a very professional and fun group. I had never realized the complexity of filming a movie. I hope they pull off their vision.”
Hammock, who is a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, and the recipient of the 2001 UC Davis Faculty Research Lecture Award and the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching, doesn't think his acting career is so established that he'll be nominated for an Academy Award.
At least not soon.
And the beard? Will he shave?
Yes.
His colleague, chemical ecologist Walter Leal, joked: “Just before he left, Bruce mentioned he was dressing to shoot a movie. I didn't notice any difference; I thought he was taking off for another scientific meeting.”
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
