Dec. 13, 2012
The event, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program.
"Organism" also will include visual, sound, live performance, and a look at a Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. (See Wikipedia example.)
“This is a two-part show,” said curator Anna Davidson, a doctoral candidate who teaches for the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, which entomologist Diane Ullman and self-described “rock artist” Donna Billick launched in 2006.
Part One will spotlight artworks created by both artists and scientists on the UC Davis campus. Participating scientists will include Ciera Martinez, Anna Davidson, Brad Townsly, Dan Chitwood and Diane Ullman. Among the artists: Daniel Brickman, May Wilson, Evan Clayburg, Daniel Mendoza, Sarah Julig, Dylan Wright, Donna Billick and Emily Schleiner.
Part One also includes performance art by Allison Fall and a dance performance by Linda Bair Dance Company.
Part Two of the show will feature 15 students from the Entomology 1 class, which is housed in the Art Science Fusion program at UC Davis. “These 15 students have been writing curious tales about insects and illustrating those stories through their art pieces,” Davidson said. “The concept behind their art pieces is based on Cabinets of Curiosities, a pre-Linnaeus collection of curiosities made popular among the affluent in 14th and 15th century Europe.”
“During this show you will experience glow in-the-dark organisms, art made of fungus, large-scale installation, live performance, and sound art and tales about insects that are so curious they are almost unbelievable!” she said.
The 15 students include Christina Ball, Edna Chen, Alejandra Gonzalez, Whitney Krupp, Danielle Laub, Nina Liu, Huong Nhu Mai, Amy McElroy, Brenda Nguyen, Lawrence Nguyen, Meredith Scarborough, Alison Stewart, Kevin Tran and Hsin Hwei Tsou.
For more information, contact Anna Davidson at adavidson@ucdavis.edu. She is a Ph.D student in the Horticulture and Agronomy Graduate Group, Department of Plant Sciences.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Dec. 11, 2012
Leal, a native of Brazil, will be honored at a ceremony on May 7 in Rio de Janeiro.
“Let me say that your election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences is a well-deserved recognition for your accomplishments as a distinguished scientist in your field of studies, entomology, and also for the very important role you have been playing in promoting cooperation among Brazilian and U.S .universities and, through those arrangements, fostering scientific development in our country,” said Ambassador Eduardo Prisco of the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco.
The U.S. currently hosts the largest number of students participating in the Brazil government’s Scientific Mobility Program, according to the Institute of International Education, and UC Davis leads the nation, hosting more than 30 Brazilian undergraduate scholarship students. Leal is also involved in the Brazilian/UC Davis student exchange with the Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) grants for research related to Brazil.
A pioneer in the field of insect communication and on the cutting edge of research, Leal employs innovative approaches to insect olfaction problems. His work examines how insects detect smells, communicate with their species, detect host and non-host plants, and detect prey. Leal has designed and synthesized complex pheromones from many insects, including scarab beetles, true bugs, longhorn beetles and the citrus leafminer. He and his lab discovered the secret mode of the insect repellent DEET.
Leal, educated in Brazil and Japan, joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2000. He holds a doctorate in applied biochemistry from Tsukuba University, Japan, and also earned degrees in chemical engineering and agricultural chemistry.
Active in national and international entomological circles, the UC Davis professor is serving as co-chair of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference, to be hosted by the Entomological Society of America (ESA) Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Florida.
He is a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America, the Royal Entomological Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and served as president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE). Among his awards: the ISCE Silver Medal, and awards from ESA and scientific societies in Japan and Brazil.
The UC Davis chemical ecologist was one of 36 members elected this week to the Academy. Of that number, 25 are Brazilians or foreign associates residing in Brazil and 11 are Brazilian or foreign associates residing overseas.
Among the newly elected Academy members are Nobel Laureate Kurt Wüthrich of Switzerland, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002; Henrique Sarmento Malvar, managing director of Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash.; and José Alexandre Scheinkman, professor of economics, Princeton University.
In celebrating his election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, members of the Leal lab donned humorous t-shirts, a gift from the professor. The front says “I did the work” and the back, “..and Walter Leal got in the Academy.”
Caption:
The Walter Leal lab wore humorous t-shirts to announce his selection to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Four countries are represented in this lab photo. The four in front are (from left) Junior Specialist Hang Gao, United States; Professor Fen Zhu, Huazhong Agricultural University, China; Professor Leal, a native of Brazil; and Graduate Student Alyssa De La Rosa (Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry Graduate Group). Circling them in back are (from left) Postdoctoral Fellow Cherre Sade, Brazil; Postdoctoral Fellow Young-Moo Choo, Korea; Project Scientist Pingxi Xu, China; Graduate Student Kevin Cloonan (entomology major), Professor Carlos Ueira Vieira, Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil; Graduate Student Yinliang Wang, Northeast Normal University, China; and Graduate Student Washington Carvalho, Federal University of Uberlandia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Dec. 10, 2012
Visitors to the open house at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on Saturday, Dec. 15 are invited to draw a bug and enter it in a judging competition for a free insect-related T-shirt.
The open house, free and open to the public, is set from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane (formerly California Drive) on the University of California, Davis.
“We’ll have our button machine going,” said senior museum scientist Steve Heydon of the Bohart Museum. Visitors of all ages can draw a bug, which will then be affixed to a button that they can take home.
For the contest, the button must be crafted at the museum between 1 and 3:30, with the winner to be announced by 4. Each button measures about 2 ¼ inches in length.
The open house will feature the illustrations of Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart and professor of entomology at UC Davis; the late Mary Foley Benson of Davis; and Ivana Li, an undergraduate entomology student and president of the UC Davis Entomology Club. Li created the graphics on the Bohart t-shirt, “Walking Sticks” and other work.
Visitors also will be able to see the original plates for the children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” written by Fran Keller, doctoral candidate in entomology, and Laine Bauer, who received her degree in art in June from UC Davis. Greg Kareofelas of Davis, a Bohart volunteer, contributed photos.
This was Bauer’s first book illustration. She created about 20 full-page watercolors (in color) for the book. Her goal: an illustrator for publications, such as books, magazines and journals. Now living in Belmont, she working on her portfolio and is employed in a custom leather shop in Berkeley.
Keller, who also designed the “walking stick” t-shirt that Li illustrated, studies with major professor Lynn Kimsey and expects to receive her doctorate next year. She and Kareofelas earlier teamed to create the popular California dogface butterfly poster, available for sale at the Bohart.
Expanding on the open house theme, Heydon said that “Insects and Art” began as early as the caveman days. Cave drawings found in Spain depict honey gatherers, illustrations thought to have been created more than 10,000 years ago.
“Insects in art are found in scientific illustrations and are represented on fabric, paintings, toys, jewelry and other media,” Heydon said.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million insect specimens and is 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 in 1946.
Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year so that families and others who cannot attend on the weekdays can do so on the weekends. The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
The remainder of the open houses for the 2012-2012 academic year are:
Sunday, Jan. 13, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Extreme Insects"
Saturday, Feb. 2, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"
Sunday, March 24, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Aquatic Insects"
Saturday, April 20: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Theme: UC Davis Picnic Day
Saturday, May 11, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Moth-er's Day"
Sunday, June 9, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "How to Find Insects"
More information is available on the Bohart website or by contacting Steve Heydon at slheydon@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493. The nearest intersection to Crocker Lane is LaRue Road.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Fumio Matsumura: a ‘Grand Master of Insect Toxicology’
'Our Profession Has Lost a Treasure'
(Editor's Note: The Departments of Environmental Toxicology and Entomology will hold a public memorial service from 2 to 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25 in the UC Davis Conference Center, Ballrooms A, B, and C. A reception will follow.)
Dec. 7, 2012.
He had been hospitalized with pneumonia and developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), his family said.
Dr. Matsumura, a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1987, was a former director of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, editor-in-chief of the journal, Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, and wrote the classic textbook, Toxicology of Insecticides, first published in 1975 and used by generations of college students throughout the world, including in UC Davis classes.
“For some 50 years, Fumio has been at the cutting edge of both pesticide and environmental toxicology, and his pioneering research has helped to define both fields,” said Ron Tjeerdema, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology. “Fumio has also been a major contributor to the success of our department, and his legacy will continue for many years to come through the many students and postdoctoral fellows he has mentored.”
Said Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology: “Fumio Matsumura was one of foremost insect toxicologists in the world. His work will endure, but we have lost a wonderful colleague, teacher and scholar. The Department of Entomology's top national ranking is due to scientific giants, like Fumio, who contributed so much to the science and discipline he loved. He will be impossible to replace.”
Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology and a longtime friend and colleague, described him as “so much fun and so stimulating. Each day he made the world a brighter and more interesting place with his enthusiasm over science, teaching and the pleasure of life.”
“Fumio was not only a member of the Department of Entomology,” Hammock said, “but he also was an original member of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program in the department, contributing his expertise on the toxicology of pesticides and contaminants like tetrachlorodioxin.”
Born Feb. 5, 1934 in Fukui, Japan, Professor Matsumura received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural biology in 1957 from the University of Tokyo; his master’s degree in entomology in 1959 from the University of Alberta; and his doctorate in entomology from the University of Western Ontario in 1961.
He did postdoctoral work at the University of Wageningen, Netherlands, and Cornell University. In 1964 he joined the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Then in 1977 he was appointed director of the Pesticide Research Center at Michigan State University. The professor joined the UC Davis faculty in 1987 as associate director of the Toxic Substances Program and later served as director of the Center for Environmental Sciences. He chaired the Department of Environmental Toxicology from 1996 to 1998.
“We were really fortunate to be able to attract Fumio from Michigan State, “ said James Seiber, editor of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and an emeritus professor of environmental toxicology at UC Davis. “He brought spirit, energy, and knowledge that has been essential to our faculty, and students in the pursuit of excellence in environmental health science. The science at UC Davis was attractive to Fumio, but what tipped the scales for him in favor of Davis was a 5-foot snowfall in the Sierras during one of his visits to California. Fumio was on the slopes as soon as the snow was cleared from the roadways in the Tahoe basin. Fumio was a great colleague and enthusiastic skiing partner!”
"Fumio and I owned a ski cabin in the Sierras, in Alpine Meadows, for the past 10 plus years," Seiber said. "We shared a lot of experiences there, including bear break-ins and skiing and fishing tips."
“Fumio was a pioneer and a giant in the field of toxicology, but also an outstanding educator and the ultimate gentleman,” said Joel Coats, the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in the Department of Entomology, at Iowa State University, who worked with him on scientific advisory panels. “Our profession has lost a treasure.”
Among his recent honors, Dr. Matsumura was invited to deliver the 20th annual Paul A. Dahm Memorial Lecture in April of 2011 at Iowa State University, where Coats introduced him as “one of the grand masters of insect toxicology” and described him as an “outstanding scientist and scholar, and a great mentor, role model and gentleman.”
“We worked together on scientific writing projects and professional conferences,” Coats said. “He was a highly respected colleague of mine, but also a role model for me and numerous others who looked up to him and followed his lead.”
In his own words, Professor Matsumura recently said: “My lifetime goal as an environmental toxicologist is to elucidate the true biological role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, (AHR) which was once thought of as a mere receptor solely dedicated to mediate the toxicity of dioxin” That goal led to studies into cancer initiation and therapy, the interaction of AHR with Heat-Shock Protein, mechanisms of apoptosis, and other fundamental processes.”
Professor Matsumura served as director of the NIEHS-funded Center for Environmental Health Sciences and the Environment program, a project first established in 1992 at UC Davis. It involved more than 40 faculty, staff, and student colleagues in 13 UC Davis departments. His own research supported by the Center grant included mechanisms of action of Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), mechanism of estrogenicity of DDT analogs, fungal metabolism of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in agricultural soils, and an epidemiological approach to the study of the health effects of dioxins among Vietnam War veterans.
Professor Matsumura also served as director of the NIEHS-funded training grant in Environmental Toxicology which supports graduate students in many departments at UC Davis in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, School of Medicine, and School of Veterinary Medicine.
He lectured worldwide, including at international conferences and congresses, and was a member of numerous international scientific committees. He received the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals from the American Chemical Society.
Professor Matsumura was an active member of the Graduate Groups in Pharmacology and Toxicology and Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry at UC Davis, and chaired the Department of Environmental Toxicology from 1996-1998. He regularly taught two graduate level courses, on environmental toxicants and ecotoxicology, organized seminars in environmental toxicology and entomology, and mentored dozens of graduate and undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
He and his students and colleagues authored more than 400 books, book chapters, and scientific journal manuscripts.
Among his awards and honors: World University Service (WUS/UNESCO) Scholar (1957); National Research Council Scholar (1960-61); Distinguished Scientist Award (College of Natural Sciences, Michigan State University Alumni Association, 1983); Burdick and Jackson International Award (American Chemical Society, Agrochemical Division, 1987); Founders Award (Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1988); Scientific Counselor, National Toxicology Program; Eminent Scientist Award (Riken Institute, Japan, 1995); Lifetime Achievement Recognition Award by the Society of Pesticide Science, 1995; Mochizuki Prize for Chemical Safety Research, 1995; USEPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel (Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) (1998-2003); and Distinguished Professor Designation by UC Davis, 2003.
Robert Washino, who chaired the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1987 when Dr. Matsumura joined the faculty, remembered him as an “outstanding scientist and an excellent skier.”
Before his hospitalization, Professor Matsumura had been working on breast cancer research “and he vowed that he would not retire until he’d made substantial progress,” said Washino, an emeritus professor of entomology. He and his wife, Connie, are longtime friends of the Matsumaras.
“This fall Fumio was excited to see the first rains because they brought snow to the Sierra,” said Hammock. “Fumio was an expert downhill and cross-country skier his entire adult life. Many of his colleagues did not know that the first person down the ski jump and the giant slalom at the 1960 Winters Olympics at Squaw Valley was the daredevil Fumio Matsumura. He once was heard to joke: ‘I never really learned to ski; I only know how to go straight down.’ Throughout his career, Fumio introduced family, friends and scientific colleagues to the thrill of downhill and the beauty of backcountry skiing.”
“If there is a lasting memory for me from my 10 years of co-teaching toxicology with Fumio, it was him hooking his glasses over just one ear and talking over them about how exciting biochemistry and molecular biology was,” Hammock said. “He always inspired me.”
Dr. Matsumura's wife, Teruko, related that Fumio loved skiing and was quite proficient at it. "Olympic officials held a collegiate ski meet in Squaw Valley prior to the 1960 winter games," she said. "Fumio was a collegiate skier at the University of Alberta, and competed as a jumper and slalom racer at that pre-Olympic event. Later, he was a postdoc in Europe when the Canadian Olympic ski team was touring the continent. The coach knew Fumio and invited him to ski with them during that tour."
Seiber said the American Chemical Society was planning to celebrate his 80th birthday at its national meeting in San Francisco in 2014, which also coincides with the Pesticide Chemistry Congress to be convened by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
"Fumio will be greatly missed by the international community of researchers who will gather at the 2014 IUPAC Congress," Seiber said.
Dr. Matsumura, the son of the late Taga Oki and Takashi Matsumura of Japan, is survived by his wife, Teruko (Akashi), of Davis, whom he married in 1965; and two sons, Ichiro of Decatur, Ga., an associate professor of biochemistry at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; and Miko of San Jose, a software specialist with Java Corp. Miko and his wife, Elisabeth "Lis" (Jorgens) have a son, Jackson, 7. He is also survived by his older brother Takatoshi and younger sister, Yasue, of Japan. He was preceded in death by his younger brother, Yasuo.
The funeral service will be private.
The family has established a memorial fund in his honor through the UC Davis Foundation. Gifts to the fund should be made payable to UC Davis Foundation with “Fumio Matsumura Annual Symposium Endowment” noted in the memo line.
Checks should be mailed to:
The Departments of Environmental Toxicology and Entomology will hold a public memorial service from 2 to 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25 in the UC Davis Conference Center, Ballrooms A, B, and C. A reception will follow.
The family has established a memorial website at fumiomatsumura.com.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
Nov. 27, 2012
And it comes with polka dots.
You can obtain naming rights for a cute little black and white weevil with red polka dots for a donation of $2500 to the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Bohart Museum Society member Henry Hespenheide, professor emeritus from UCLA, collected the weevil a couple of years ago in Costa Rica, said Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis.
This species, from genus Macrocopturus, is waiting to be described, she said. “Your donation directly supports species discovery and student education in Entomology through scholarships. By naming this species you are promoting science education, species discovery and conservation.”
The names have to pass judgment in a peer-reviewed journal, Kimsey said. "Our collaborating systematists are under obligation to publish these names according to the Zoological Code of Nomenclature."
Other species at the Bohart Museum are also ready to be named, she said. For more information, contact Kimsey at lskimsey@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5373.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of more than seven million insect specimens and is 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 in 1946.
The museum also features a year-around live “petting zoo” with such permanent residents as walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, and a rose-haired tarantula. Visitors are invited to hold and photograph them.
The gift shop, open year around, includes jewelry, T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters and insect-themed candy. Soon to arrive is a children's booklet on the California state insect, the California dogface butterfly. The book was written by Fran Keller, UC Davis doctoral candidate in entomology, and illustrated by UC Davis student Laine Bauer.
Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year so that families and others who cannot attend on the weekdays can do so on the weekends.
The remaining schedule for the 2012-2013 academic year:
Saturday, Dec. 15, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Insects in Art"
Sunday, Jan. 13, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Extreme Insects"
Saturday, Feb. 2, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"
Sunday, March 24, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Aquatic Insects"
Saturday, April 20: 10 to 3 p.m.
Theme: UC Davis Picnic Day
Saturday, May 11, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "Moth-er's Day"
Sunday, June 9, 1 to 4 p.m.
Theme: "How to Find Insects"
The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894