It was like coming home when acclaimed honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr.,  stepped forward to accept the Exceptional Emeriti Faculty Award from Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). 

The occasion: the college's Award of Distinction dinner and ceremony, held Nov. 3 in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

Page, considered by his peers as the world's leading honey bee geneticist, traces his "bee biology roots" to UC Davis. He drew a standing ovation.

Page received his doctorate in entomology in 1980 from UC Davis, studying with Harry H. Laidlaw Jr., and went on to join the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty in 1989 and chair the department from 1999 to 2004. He then transitioned to emeritus and was recruited by Arizona State University (ASU)  to be the founding director of its School of Life Sciences. His career at ASU led to a series of top-level administrative roles: from founding director of the School of Life Sciences (2004-2010) to vice provost and dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2011-2013) and then to University Provost, 2014-2015.

"Rob is a pioneering researcher in the field of evolutionary genetics and social behavior of honey bees, and a highly respected and quoted author, teacher and former administrator,” wrote nominator Steve Nadler, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

“One of Dr. Page's most salient contributions to science was to construct the first genomic map of the honey bee, which sparked a variety of pioneering contributions not only to insect biology but to genetics at large,” Nadler pointed out. “It was the first genetic map of any social insect. He was the first to demonstrate that a significant amount of observed behavioral variation among honey bee workers is due to genotypic variation. In the 1990s, he and his students and colleagues isolated, characterized and validated the complementary sex determination gene of the honey bee; considered the most important paper yet published about the genetics of Hymenoptera. The journal Cell featured their work on its cover. In subsequent studies, he and his team published further research into the regulation of honey bee foraging, defensive and alarm behavior.”

While at UC Davis, Page worked closely with Laidlaw, "the father of honey bee genetics." Together they published many significant research papers and the landmark book, “Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding” (Wicwas Press, 1998), considered the most important resource book for honey bee genetics, breeding, and queen rearing.

For 24 years, from 1989 to 2015, Page maintained a UC Davis honey bee-breeding program, managed by bee breeder-geneticist Kim Fondrk. Their contributions include discovering a link between social behavior and maternal traits in bees. Their work was featured in a cover story in the journal Nature. In all, Nature featured his work on four covers from work mostly done at UC Davis. 

Since his retirement from UC Davis, Page has published 65 research papers, eight major reviews and two scholarly books, many using his UC Davis affiliation. He authored “The Spirit of the Hive: The Mechanisms of Social Evolution” (Harvard University Press, 2013) and the “Art of the Bee: Shaping the Environment from Landscapes to Societies” (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Now residing near Davis, Page continues to focus his research on honey bee behavior and population genetics, particularly the evolution of complex social behavior. His continuing academic activities bring credit to bee biology and UC Davis, Nadler said. “His large number of publications and citations continue to be an important component of the high national rating of our entomology department.”

To date, Page has published more than 250 research papers and articles, edited or authored five books, and is listed as a “highly-cited author” by the ISI Web of Knowledge, representing the top 1/2 of one percent of publishing scientists. 

Page continues to work closely with UC Davis professors and students, offering advice, helping them with grants, and editing manuscripts. A few years ago, he held an international workshop at the Laidlaw facility. He teaches courses (including “The Social Contract: from Rousseau to the Honey Bee,” and “The Song of the Queen: Thrilling Tales of Honey Bee Mating Behavior”) for the UC Davis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

“Not surprisingly, Dr. Page humbly considers his most far-reaching and important accomplishment, the success of his mentees, including at least 25 graduate students and postdocs who are now faculty members at leading research institutions around the world,” Nadler wrote. “He also built two modern apicultural labs (in Ohio and Arizona), major legacies that are centers of honey bee research and training. He has trained many hundreds of beekeepers. His public service now extends to working as a Fellow with the California Academy of Sciences.”

Among Page's many honors:

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award (the Humboldt Prize - the highest honor given by the German government to foreign scientists)
• Foreign Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Elected to the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences (the longest continuing academy in the world)
• Fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
• Fellow of the Entomological Society of America
• Awardee of the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Fellowship
• Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences
• Fellow, Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation, Munich, Germany, September 2017-August 2018
• Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award from UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
• James Creasman Award of Excellence (ASU Alumni Association)
• Regents Professor, Arizona State University
• UC Davis Distinguished Emeritus Professor

The UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) honored Bohart Museum of Entomology supporters Bill Patterson and his wife Doris Brown at the 2022 Awards of Distinction dinner and ceremony, held Nov. 3 in the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.  

CA&ES Dean Helene Dillard presented them with the "Friends of the College" award as the crowd applauded in a standing ovation.

The Sacramento couple recently donated $1 million to support the museum's insect collection, a gift that will provide the museum with the financial security to support staff and resources, said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. The Bohart Museum, the seventh largest insect museum in North America, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens.

Patterson, a Bohart associate since 1993, has collected some 50,000 butterfly, moth and other specimens. To date, he has donated more than 15,000 specimens to the Bohart Museum.

During his talk, Patterson related how much he enjoyed researching and collecting butterflies and moths, and working with the Bohart Museum scientists. The $1 million gift represents an inheritance (sale of farmland).

A native of Oakland, Bill began collecting butterflies at age 6. He received a bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1962. He worked as a technician for UC Davis entomology professor Howard McKenzie from 1958 to 1968, retiring from UC Davis in 1963.  Patterson also holds a teaching credential from Sacramento State University and taught math and science as a substitute teacher for 15 years, retiring from teaching in 1985.

Doris Brown, born in Seattle, holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science (Washington State University) and a master's degree in counseling. She worked as an analyst and manager for the federal and state goverment and a private consulting firm. She  retired as the chief of Fiscal Programs Division, California Employment Development Department.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, the volunteer curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, won the 2015 "Friend of the College" award." (See news story)

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, it is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. 

Among those honored at the CA&ES Award of Distinction ceremony was honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr.,  named the recipient of the Exceptional Emeriti Award. A UC Davis-trained scientist whose academic career spans UC Davis and Arizona State University, he is known as “the leading honey bee geneticist in the world."  (See news story)

Other award winners:

• Alumnus of the Year, Marko Zaninovich (Class of 1964)
• Exceptional Faculty Award, Daniel Sumner, the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
• Exceptional Staff Award, Shannon Tanguay, budget fiscal officer with CA&ES. (See more on CA&ES website)

CA&ES, directed by Dean Helene Dillard, is globally recognized for its expertise, educational opportunities, and contributions to society, according to its website. "Much of that is due to the great dedication and efforts of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of the college. Each year CA&ES recognizes individuals for their achievements, support, leadership and service to the college with an Award of Distinction honoring those contributions."

An image of a golden dung fly by Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, won the Entomological Society of America (ESA) medal for "Best Image by an ESA Member" in the 64th annual International Insect Salon competition. 

ESA showcased the winning images on Sunday, Nov. 13 at its joint meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and the Entomological Society of British Columbia, which opened Nov. 13 and continues through Nov. 16 in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Garvey captured the image of the fly, Scathophaga stercoraria, perched on a lavender stem in her family's pollinator garden in Vacaville and titled it “Checking You Out.”  Scathophaga play an important role in the natural decomposition of dung.

The Peoria Camera Club, Illinois, sponsors the Insect Salon in conjunction with ESA and the Photographic Society of America. Coordinator Joe Virbickis of the Peoria Camera Club said the images are restricted to insects, spiders, and related arthropods (such as barnacles, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, centipedes, and millipedes.) Each photographer may submit up to four entries. "The range for acceptances is 33-35 percent of eligible images," he said. 

This year's competition drew 254 entries.  Judges gave acceptances to photographers from 17 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.  (See acceptances and awards at https://insectsalon.peoriacameraclub.com/results/2022/Html/sect_1.htm)

Two other images that Garvey submitted also gained acceptances.  One was of a crab spider nailing a katydid (Did or Didn't I?), and the other of a pollen-covered honey bee (Eureka! I Found It!). 

Best of Show. Best of show medal went to Kenneth Gillies of West Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom, for his “Peppermint Shrimps Inside a Sponge.”  

Gillies was joined by the five other top winners:

• Medal for Most Unusual Image:  Weihua Ma of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China, for “Pretending to be a Branch.”
• Medal for Best Storytelling Image: Dre Van Mensel of Tielen, Antwerpen, Belgium, for “It's Mine.”
• Medal for Best Image by a ESA member: Kathy Keatley Garvey of UC Davis/Vacaville, Calif., for “Checking You Out.”
• Medal for Best Image by a non-ESA member, Tim Sanders of Bideford, Devon, England, for “At Work.”
• Medal for Best Peoria Camera Club member: Ladean Spring of Creve Coeur, lll., for “Hummingbird Moth.”

ESA member and noted insect photographer Tom Myers of Lexington, Ky., displayed the Insect Salon images at the ESA meeting. Virbickis assisted in preparing it. Myers is a frequent recipient of Insect Salon awards. His acceptances this year: "European Hornet Vespa Crabro" (honorable mention); "Chalcid Wasp 1"; and "Brood X Cicada Magicicada Sp."

The 7000-member ESA, founded in 1889 and located in Annapolis, Md., is the world's largest entomological organization. It is affiliated with educational institutions, health agencies, private industry and government. Members are researchers, teachers, extension service personnel, administrators, marketing representatives, research technicians, consultants, students, pest management professionals, and hobbyists.

Assistant professor Cynthia Gleason of the Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, will speak on "How Do We Help Potato Growers Combat the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne chitwoodi?" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar.

Her seminar, both in-person and virtual, begins at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16 in 122 Briggs Hall.  The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

Nematologist Shahid Siddique, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the host.

"Meloidogyne chitwoodi is a root-knot nematode often found in potato growing regions of Northwestern United States," Gleason says in her abstract. "It is a nematode that can infect both potato roots and tubers. In the case of tuber infections, it causes small pimple-like blemishes on the skin, giving the potato a rough, bumpy appearance. Unfortunately, there are no commercially available potato cultivars that are resistant to M. chitwoodi."

"The Gleason lab is undertaking several different lines of research to develop novel tools to combat these nematodes," she said. "For example, we characterize nematode effectors, which give us information about how the nematodes avoid or suppress the plant immune system. In addition, we are developing molecular markers to distinguish the different M. chitwoodi populations that differ in host range and virulence. On the plant side of the interaction, we are studying nematode resistance in potato, including resistance triggered by the potato defense elicitor called Pep1."

Gleason, who joined the WSU faculty in 2016, holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology from UC Davis (2003).  She served as postdoctoral fellow, Disease and Stress Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich UK (2003-2006),  postdoctoral fellow, Plant Industry, CSIRO, Perth, Australia (2006-2010); and as junior professor in the Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Physiology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany (2011-2016).

From her WSU website: "My research centers around plant parasitic nematodes and primarily focuses on root-knot nematodes and their interactions with host plants. These small roundworms are soil borne pathogens that can infect most vascular plants. The root infections cause damage that affects water and nutrient uptake, and this can lead to dramatically reduced crop yields. In order to develop new strategies to combat nematodes, my group studies root-knot nematode secretions that are released into the plant and manipulate host defenses and signaling pathways. One focus of study is on the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne chitwoodi, a serious pathogen of potatoes in the region. We are interested in identifying novel M. chitwoodi pathogenicity genes required for successful potato infection. We are also working to dissect the defense responses triggered during infection of nematode-resistant potatoes. My lab uses a variety of experimental approaches, such as gene expression analyses, generation and characterization of transgenic plants, and heterologous expression of nematode genes in bacteria, to increase our knowledge of the plant/nematode interaction at the molecular level."

For further information on the seminars or to resolve any technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.