- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They are:
- "Little Swimmers and Fly Tying,” Briggs Hall, nominated in the category, "Hidden Treasures"
- “Medical Entomology,” Briggs Hall, listed in the category, "Academic Exhibits" and
- "Real Insects and Mimics,"Bohart Museum of Entomology, listed as a "Family Friendly" Exhibit.
During the morning of Picnic Day, the Picnic Day Exhibits Team will distribute a Zero-Waste table tent to the location. A table tent is simply a small, foldable sign (only 8.5"x5.5") created by the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Department to recognize your Exhibit's commitment to sustainability.
"Little Swimmers and Fly Tying" includes an aquatic display by the Sharon Lawler lab and fly-tying by the Fly Fishers of Davis. "Medical Entomology" features the "Dr. Death" booth by forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey; and mosquito exhibits by the Shirley Luckhart lab and the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito Control District. The "Real Insects and Mimics" display will focus on flies mimicking bees.
An online voting poll, available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 16 only, will determine the winners. Visitors may vote at https://orgsync.com/51524/forms/194037
Winning exhibits will be featured on social media pages such as the Picnic Day website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts after Picnic Day. They also will be featured next year, in preparation for Picnic Day 2017.
Last year Picnic Day judges selected the entomology booth, "Bug Doctor (Doctor Is In)" with "the most community-oriented award" in keeping with the theme "Heart of the Community." Michael Parrella, then professor and chair of the department, and graduate student Ralph Washington Jr. of the Steve Nadler and Brian Johnson labs, staffed the booth, showing various insects to the crowd and answering their questions.
This year's theme is “Cultivating our Authenticity.” The Briggs Hall open house will be from 9:30 to 4 p.m., and the Bohart Museum open house from 10 to 3 p.m.
"To recognize exhibits that highlight our authenticity and showcase the vast diversity of UC Davis, the Picnic Day Exhibits Team invites all Picnic Day attendees to vote for their favorite exhibits under five different categories,” said Tammy Ng, exhibits director for Picnic Day.
Briggs Hall will be the site of a pollination pavillion, maggot art, cockroach races, fly-tying, face-painting, honey tasting, and a bee observation hive, and displays about ants, mosquitoes, aquatic insects and forest insects. The Bug Doctor booth ("The Doctor Is in") will be staffed by faculty and graduate students, while UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey, aka "The Fly Man of Alcatraz," will man the Dr. Death table. The Entomology Graduate Students' Association will be selling insect-themed t-shirts.
Also at Briggs, the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) will give away lady beetles, aka ladybugs, to kids to take home to their gardens. UC IPM also will provide advice on how to manage home and garden pests with environmentally sound methods.
At the Bohart Museum, in addition to the "real insects as mimics," theme, visitors can hold and photograph the critters in the live "petting zoo," including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, and rose-haired tarantulas. The gift shop, featuring t-shirts, books, posters, insect collecting equipment, will be open.
Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won a gold or first-place award in “Writing for Newspapers”; a silver or second-place award for “Writing for the Web” and two bronze or third-place awards for her photographs, one for a feature photo and the other for a service photo.
They will receive the awards at the ACE conference, set for June 8-11 in Charleston, S.C.
Nelson's winning article, “When Good Oil Goes Bad,” looks at the award-winning biosensor a team of UC Davis students built to help ensure olive oil quality for producers, retailers and consumers. Nelson won the 2010 ACE outstanding skill award for writing.
Garvey's winning article for best news writing was a light feature on forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey's plans for a field trip to Alcatraz, a day that happened to fall on Super Bowl Sunday. It was titled "Football Game? What Football Game?" The judges gave the story a perfect score, 100 out of 100.
The judges' comments:
- “VERY clever lead. The tie-in with the football game undoubtedly drew in more readers but was not forced--it was backed up by the faculty member's quote about getting back in time for the game. The creativity of the approach and the writing cast a wide net to all readers, showing that anyone can be excited about learning and discovery - no matter their age or education level or their interest in science or insects (or football, for that matter)."
- "Word choice expresses concrete imagery--"pigskin," "rat bait," "black lights." Metaphors work-- all the bird analogies, for instance. Information is spoonfed to the reader in the most enjoyable way. Sentences pack a lot of information, movement and progression. Every sentence offers something to celebrate, including the one that ends "just like scorpions," which gives a nod to the reader, assuming that he or she does, of course, know that scorpions glow under ultraviolet light! The work-play relationship of scientist to student comes through and adds interest to the piece. The writer makes the reader feel that they are being let in on a conspiracy of discovery rather than being talked at. A certain joy and passion spring from this piece, setting it apart from the others."
- Cool topic, and the writer makes its newsy
Garvey's silver award for web writing, “What's for Lunch?”, focused on a lady beetle eating aphids. It appeared on her Bug Squad blog on the UC Agricutural and Natural Resources website. She writes the blog every night, Monday through Friday, and has never missed a post since launching it on Aug. 6, 2008.
Wrote one judge:
“I admire anyone who can write a blog a day. Congratulations. I love that that the author replies to comments from readers and is active on multiple social networks. And again, kudos on the photography.”
Garvey received a bronze award for a feature photo on her Bug Squad blog. It depicts a praying mantis eating a western tiger swallowtail.
In addition, Garvey received a bronze award for a service photo, of two participants at the 2014 “Bugs and Beer” event sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. It showed a UC Davis student and his friend sharing a bug: one photographing it and one ready to eat it.
Since 2008, Garvey has won a total of 13 gold awards from ACE for her writing and photography. She was named the recipient of the Outstanding Professional Skill Award for Writing in 2011 and the Outstanding Professional Skill Award for Photography in both 2012 and 2013.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Katie Wen-Chin Lee and Kristina Ho entered their poster in a competition at the 48th annual meeting of the California-Nevada chapter of the American Fisheries Society.
In addition, Sean Goodside recently led a team of three students who studied the response of juvenile green sturgeon to water flows. “He obtained the records of all three observers and forged them into a nice report,” said Peter Klimley adjunct professor in the Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Program, in an email. “I anticipate that the poster and report will eventually become scientific papers, a real credit to all three undergraduate students.”
The judging of student oral presentations and posters took place in Sacramento. This was the 14th consecutive year that the Northern California District of the American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists (AIFRB) has judged the student work. The competition drew nine student papers and six posters.
Katie Lee and Kristina Ho are both animal biology majors who plan to graduate this summer. Sean Goodside received his bachelor's degree in June.
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology serves as the master advisor of Animal Biology and Elvira Galvan Hack as the undergraduate advisor.
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About Animal Biology (from website)
The Animal Biology (ABI) major offers students training in the biological and natural sciences as they apply to animals. ABI students are encouraged to think beyond particular groups of animals in which they are interested and to consider science as a process and a way of advancing society. Emphasis is on biological principles that can be used in research or in solving societal problems associated with animals in agriculture, urban areas, or natural environments as opposed to animal care and husbandry. The major requirements provide students the opportunity to develop research and scientific writing skills; demonstrate critical thinking; work closely with faculty, staff, researchers, grad students, and/or professors; and be creative in a scientific environment.
The Program
The major consists of core biological science courses that build on animal biology from molecular foundations to the ecological and evolutionary levels of organization. After completing the core courses (usually at the beginning of the junior year), ABI students have the option of specializing in various interdisciplinary aspects of animal biology and plan their chosen emphasis of study in consultation with their adviser.
The program combines a research project (practicum) under the guidance of a faculty mentor together with supportive coursework. This gives the students a great deal of freedom in choosing classes and a research topic.
The ABI research experience remains unique among undergraduate science majors at UC Davis. By graduation, in addition to completing coursework on the principles of biology, every ABI student has designed and conducted a research project and written a final report of his/her findings.
Advising
On the advising side, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide one-on-one support for each and every one of our students in the major. Because the practicum requires the student to choose courses related to his/her research topic, no two ABI students take all of the same courses. This gives us the privilege of meeting with and getting to know all of our students.
We are always available to answer questions or schedule appointments through email so if you have questions about the program or classes please feel free to contact us.
Elvira Hack, eghack@ucdavis.edu, (530) 754-7277.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He was selected one of 283 scholars nationwide to receive a federally funded Goldwater scholarship from among 1,166 applicants.
The applicants were nominated by faculty from their college. Of the 283, men comprise 172 and women, 111. Virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective, a Goldwater program spokesman said. Twenty-two scholars are mathematics majors, 191 are science and related majors, 63 are majoring in engineering, and 7 are computer science majors. Many of the scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering, and computer disciplines.
The scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500.
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey, who serves as the master advisor of the animal biology program at UC Davis, encompassing some 400 students, recalled that Magee initially considered a career in veterinary medicine because he didn't think he could succeed in biological sciences.
"He told me he wanted to be a veterinarian because he did not think he was good enough to do biological research," Kimsey said. Kimsey assured him he indeed could.
Keenly interested in evolution and ecology, Magee studies and researches statistical phylogenetics — estimates of the evolutionary relationships among species. He plans to pursue a doctorate in evolutionary biology and conduct research and teach at the university level.
At UC Davis, Magee holds a prestigious Regent's Scholarship and participates in the University Honors Program. He has worked on three research projects and is now investigating the phenomenon of declining rates at which lineages diversify through time.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program honors the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, who served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. Congress established the program in 1986 "to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue research careers in these fields."
Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has awarded 7,163 scholarships worth approximately $46 million. Since its first award in 1989, the foundation has bestowed 7,163 scholarships worth approximately $46 million.
Students interested in the Goldwater scholarship should apply to the UC Davis Undergraduate and Prestigious Scholarship Office by November 2014. The office assists high-achieving students to apply for national and international scholarships.
(UC Davis Dateline contributed to this report.)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Lots of fun and educational activities revolving around insects are planned from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey, coordinator of the activities at Briggs Hall, and Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, is home to nearly 8 million insect specimens. It also features a live “petting zoo” where visitors can hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches, a rose-haired tarantula and walking sticks.
What can visitors see at the Bohart Museum? "The world is changing. See insects that have been recently discovered and insects that are threatened and extinct," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart Museum.
At Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Hall Drive, the popular events will include maggot art, termite trails, cockroach races and honey tasting, as well as displays featuring forensic, medical, aquatic, apiculture and forest entomology. Exhibits also will include such topics as fly fishing/fly-tying, insect pests of ornamentals, and pollinators of California. In addition, an exhibition of bug sampling equipment will be featured.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen is coordinating the honey tasting. He will share six varieties of honey: Almond, yellow starthistle, leatherwood, cultivated buckwheat, safflower and “wild oak.” Each person will be given six toothpicks to sample the varieties.
Visitors to Briggs can cheer for their favorite cockroach at the American cockroach races; watch a termite follow a line drawn with a Bic ink pen (they follow the line because the ink acts as a pheromone or attractant) and create a maggot art painting suitable for framing.
The UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM) will provide a display in front of Briggs Hall. Visitors can learn about managing pests in their homes and garden. In addition, live lady beetles (aka ladybugs) will be distributed to children.
Plans also call for a “Bug Doctor” to answer insect-related questions from the public.
Entomologists are saying "What a (buggy) ride!" the UC Davis Picnic Day promises to be.
