- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Her topic is "How Does the Time of Eating Affecting Our Circadian Physiology?" Access this form for the Zoom link.
The abstract: "The integration of circadian and metabolic signals is essential for maintaining robust circadian rhythms and ensuring efficient metabolism and energy use. Using Drosophila as an animal model, we showed that clock-controlled feeding-fasting cycles is strongly correlated to daily protein O-GlcNAcylation rhythms, which may represent a key post-translational mechanism that regulates circadian physiology. Our results could shed light on the benefits of TRE (or intermittent fasting) and the extent to which modern human lifestyles contribute to the current epidemic of metabolic disorders."
The host is her major professor, Joanna Chiu, a molecular geneticist and physiologist, vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and a Chancellor's Fellow. Liu is currently working in the Chiu lab as a postdoctoral fellow.
For her thesis, Liu explored the interplay between circadian clock and metabolism in maintaining animal health using Drosophila melanogaster as a model. Specifically, she investigated the regulation of cellular protein O-GlcNAcylation by circadian clock and metabolic signals. O-GlcNAcylation is a nutrient senstive post-translational modification that can alter the structure and function of thousands of cellular proteins. She is fascinated by how circadian biology can be shaped by multiple factors through complex mechanisms. Her long-term goal is to understand how molecular pathways are coordinated temporally to maintain animal health and wellness.
Liu received her bachelor's degree in biological sciences in 2014 from Beijing Forestry University, China. She was a recipient of a CSC-UC Davis Joint Fellowship.
Coordinating the fall seminars is Cooperative Extension specialist and agricultural entomologist Ian Grettenberg, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. He may be reached at imgrettenberger@ucdavis for any technical issues.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Her topic: "Evaluating the Relative Importance of Mechanisms for Diverse Plant Use in Agroecosystem Herbivore Mitigation: an Example in California Strawberries."
"As pest management strategies shift away from agrochemical use, practitioners aim to implement more ecologically friendly practices," Bick writes in her abstract. "One such practice uses diverse crops placed in an agroecosystem to mitigate pest damage. There are many possible mechanisms which facilitate this phenomenon. Knowing a diverse plant's mechanism(s) allows for more efficient field implementation."
"This presentation will evaluate the mechanism of the economic benefit of planting alfalfa in a California strawberry monoculture. Using a novel CO2 based sampling method, spatially explicit samples were taken at three sites over two years. We found that alfalfa did not act, as previously identified, a trap crop, but rather its presence actually increased natural enemies. This work serves as a framework for evaluation of the mechanism for use of diverse plants in agricultural landscapes."
Bick, who has accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Copenhagen, specializes in integrated pest management (IPM). She received her bachelor's degree in entomology in 2013 from Cornell University, and her master's degree in entomology in 2017 from UC Davis.
Bick served as an emergency medical technician from 2008 to 2017 and gained her pesticide applicator's license in 2013. She was singled out to receive the Student Certification Award at the Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting in 2018. In 2014, she was named a Board-Certified Entomologist, a honor bestowed on her at the ESA meeting.
Bick helped anchor the UC Davis Linnaean Games Team that won the national championship at the ESA meeting in 2016, and the UC (UC Davis and UC Berkeley) Linnaean Games Team that won the national championship again in 2018. She is the former vice president of the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Unlike common drosophilids that develop in rotten or decaying fruit, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) prefer to oviposit in ripe or ripening fruit," Hamby says in her abstract. "Native to Southeast Asia, D. suzukii has become an important pest of berries and small fruits throughout North America and Europe since its initial detection in Santa Cruz County, Calif. in 2008. The majority of U.S. organic berry farm acreage is concentrated on the west coast, and organic berries are a growing industry that now exceeds 1500 total farms. Current D. suzukii management strategies for both organic and conventional growers rely heavily on insecticide usage because other pest management tactics are still being developed and optimized. Management guidelines established shortly after the emergence of D. suzukii as a serious pest included monitoring recommendations, but these were made with little information on trap design and potential lures for use in raspberries."
Hamby will address her dissertation work on monitoring, yeast associations, chronobiology, chronotoxicity of insecticides and the implications of this work to managing D. suzukii in California commercial berry and small fruit crops. She will be introduced by Zalom, her major professor and president of the 7000-member Entomological Society of America (ESA).
Hamby received her master's degree and bachelor's degree from UC Davis, compiling a near perfect grade point average.
A graduate student researcher since 2009, Hamby serves as a winter quarter co-instructor of the "Arthropod Pest Management" class. She earlier was a lab assistant in the Aquatic Toxicology Lab, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Fish Conservation and Culture Lab, UC Davis Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Hamby has presented her work at meetings of the ESA, Pacific Branch of the ESA (PBESA) and overseas. The recipient of numerous awards, she was selected for a 2011-14 $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship; the 2005-2009 UC Regents' Scholarship, a merit-based academic scholarship; the 2011 Lillian and Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology, Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA); and the 2009 UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Mary Regan Meyer Prize, Academic and Service Award for a Graduating Senior.
Hamby also received the 2012 $1000 UC Davis Graduate Student Travel Award to travel to XXIV International Congress of Entomology, Daegu, Republic of Korea to present her research. Her other honors include a 2011-14 $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and travel grant awards to attend entomological meetings.
Hamby mentored a number of undergraduates, including Helen T. Nguyen (2013), Mitchell J. Bamford (2013), Daren W. Harris (2012-2013), Daniel C. Fok (2011-2013), Doris Yu (2011-2012), Stacy A. Hamby (2011), Yelizaveta Luchkovska (2011), Heather E. Wilson (2010-2012), Samuel J. Fahrner (2010-2011).
Her publications include:
Scheidler, N., Siddappaji, M., Hamby, K.A., Chiu, J.C., Zalom, F.G., and Syed, Z. In prep.What makes one Drosophila species a pest: Molecular and neural correlates for host odor recoginition? PLoS Biology
Harris, D.W., Wilson, H.E., Zalom, F.G., and Hamby, K.A.* Submitted. Seasonal trapping of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in a multi-crop setting. Journal of Applied Entomology
Hamby, K.A., Bolda, M.P., Sheehan, M.E., and Zalom, F.G. Accepted with Revision. Seasonal occurrence, lure comparison, and trapping bias of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in California commercial raspberries. Environmental Entomology
Lee, J.C., Shearer, P.W. Barrantes, L.D., Beers, E.H., Burrack, H.J., Dalton, D.T., Dreves, A.J., Gut, L.J., Hamby, K.A., Haviland, D.R., Isaacs, R., Nielsen, A.L., Richardson, T., Rodriguez-Saona, C.R., Stanley, C.A., Walsh, D.B., Walton, V.M., Yee, W.L., Zalom, F.G., and Bruck, D.J. 2013. Trap designs for monitoring Drosophila suzukii (Diptera:Drosophilidae). Environmental Entomology 42(6): 000-000 DOI: 10.1603/EN13148
Chiu, J.C., Jiang, X., Zhao, L., Hamm, C.A., Cridland, J.M., Saelao, P., Hamby, K.A., Lee, E.K., Kwok, R.S., Zhang, G., Zalom, F.G., Walton, V.M., and Begun, D.J. 2013. Genome of Drosophila suzukii, the spotted wing drosophila. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics DOI: 10.1534/g3.113.008185
Yu, D., Zalom, F.G. and Hamby, K.A. 2013. Host status and fruit odor response of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) to figs and mulberries. Journal of Economic Entomology 106(4): 1932-1937.
Hamby, K.A., Kwok, R.S., Zalom, F.G., and Chiu, J.C. 2013. Integrating circadian activity and gene expression profiles to predict chronotoxicity of Drosophila suzukii response to insecticides. PLoS ONE 8(7): e68472. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068472.
Hamby, K.A., and Zalom, F.G. 2013. Relationship of almond kernel damage occurrence to navel orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) success. Journal of Economic Entomology 106(3):1365-1372.
Hamby, K.A., Alifano, J.A., and Zalom, F.G. 2013.Total effects of contact and residual exposure of bifenthrin and λ-cyhalothrin on the predatory mite Galendromus occidentalis (Acari: Phytoseiidae). Experimental and Applied Acarology 61: 183-193. DOI: 10.1007/s10493-013-9680-z
Wilson, H.E., Hamby, K.A.,* and Zalom, F.G. 2013. Host susceptibility of ‘French Prune' Prunus domestica to Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae). Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 985:249-254.
Lee, J.C., Burrack, H.J., Barrantes, L.D., Beers, E.H., Dreves, A.J., Hamby, K.A., Haviland, D.R., Isaacs, R., Richardson, T.A., Shearer, P.W., Stanley, C.A., Walsh, D.B., Walton, V.M., Zalom, F.G., and Bruck, D.J. 2012. Evaluation of monitoring traps for Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in North America. Journal of Economic Entomology 105(4): 1350-1357.
Hamby, K.A., Hernández, A., Boundy-Mills, K., and Zalom, F.G. 2012.Yeast associations of spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii, Diptera: Drosophilidae) in cherries and raspberries. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78(14): 4869-4873. Journal cover article.
Hamby, K., Gao, L.W., Lampinen, B., Gradziel, T., Zalom, F. 2011. Hullsplit date and shell seal relationship to navel orangeworm (Amyelois transitella, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) infestation on almonds. Journal of Economic Entomology 104(3): 965-969.
For the list of the remaining noonhour seminars, see this page.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Her seminar title is "Taxonomy of Stenomorpha Solier, 1836 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Asidini." Her major professor, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology, will host her.
“My research focuses on a very large genus which historically had 88 species and no modern species level work for several taxa for nearly 175 years,” Keller said. “Part of my research focuses on a group of flightless species restricted to the Sierra Transvolcanica or southern Transverse range in Mexico. Using biogeography, morphological analyses and the examination of over 10,500 specimens, I recognize 51 valid species of Stenomorpha Solier, 1836, with seven newly recognized subgenera, while 37 formerly recognized species are synonymized or newly combined."
One of the species that she studies is Stenomorpha costata, which occurs in Mexico and is flightless.
“Certain Stenomorpha species occur in California vernal pools but are not listed as vernal pool species,” she said. She also will discuss the importance of taxonomy in conservation.
If time allows, Keller will discuss her other projects, working in the Bahamas and mentoring students, as well as her recent research on morphology and developmental patterns of gene expression.
Keller received her associate science degree in biology and chemistry, with highest honors from Sacramento City College in 2001 and then transferred to UC Davis where she received her bachelor’s degree in evolution and ecology (2004), and her master’s degree in entomology (2007). She was selected student commencement speaker at her 2004 graduation.
She served as a teaching assistant for a number of courses at UC Davis and has also presented guest lectures, including “Insect Sex and Mating Systems” and “Insects and the Environment—Ecological Physiology.”
As an outreach education project, she authored a children’s book, “The Story of the Dogface Butterfly,” about the California state insect. The book is available at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Among her many awards at UC Davis:
- Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award, May 2008
- Division of Biological Sciences (DBS) Commencement Speaker, June 2004
- DBS Departmental Citation for Outstanding Achievement in Academics and Research in Evolution and Ecology, Spring 2004
- Outstanding Senior 2004
- Undergraduate Research Conference, Oral Presentation, April 2004
- President’s Undergraduate Fellowship, Spring 2003
Keller has given scores of talks at entomological society meetings, including “Richard M. Bohart: One Hundred Years of Entomologists in the Pacific Northwest,” at the March 2007 meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (ESA). She organized and chaired or co-chaired three section symposia (2006-2008) at the ESA annual meetings. One of these was on “Systematics and Diversity of Coleoptera” at the ESA meeting in 2008 in Reno.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Nelms will present her exit seminar on "Overwintering Biology of Culex Mosquitoes in California and Their Potential Role as Overwintering Reservoirs of West Nile Virus" from 12:05 to 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 8 in Room 1022 of the Life Sciences Addition, corner of Hutchison and Kleiber Hall drives.
She will be introduced by her major professor, William Reisen of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, and research entomologist with the Center for Vectorborne Diseases.
Nelms finished her doctoral work in entomology, emphasis in the biology of vectorborne diseases, last December. As the LCVCD entomologist, she helps plan and conduct the district’s research and surveillance program for various arthropod vectors and vectorborne diseases.
Nelms has presented and published many articles in the Proceedings and Papers of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications. She published her first primary author, peer-reviewed research paper, "Experimental and Natural Vertical Transmission of West Nile Virus by California Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes,” in the March, 2013 issue of the Journal of Medical Entomology.
As a graduate student at UC Davis, she received the William C. Reeves New Investigator Award from the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California; the Bill Hazeltine Student Research Award; and recently was the runner-up for first-place in the American Mosquito Control Association's Student Paper Competition.
“My dissertation research addressed the overarching hypothesis that West Nile virus (WNV) persists within infected, overwintering Culex females until the termination of diapause and/or quiescence renews blood feeding and horizontal transmission,” Nelms said in her abstract. “I addressed this hypothesis with three specific aims.
“First, the persistence of WNV during winter in mosquito hosts was explored by determining the overwintering strategies of Culex females, delineating the environmental cues utilized in the induction and termination of diapause, and detecting WNV in field-collected overwintering mosquitoes.
“Secondly, the ability of California Culex females to vertically and transstadially transmit WNV to overwintering progeny was investigated during autumn to determine the frequency of field infection and vertical transmission at foci of active WNV transmission.
“Third, the vector competence and biology of Culex pipiens f. molestus and f. pipiens females were compared in the laboratory to determine their respective roles as amplification and overwintering vectors of WNV. Overall, I found that Culex tarsalis and Culex stigmatosoma entered and maintained diapause under both field and experimental conditions, whereas members of the Culex pipiens complex remained reproductively active (f. molestus) or entered quiescence (f. pipiens). All species were competent vectors of WNV and able to transmit both horizontally and vertically. Therefore, WNV may overwinter in infected Culex that remain reproductively active, enter reproductive diapause or become quiescent during cool weather.”