- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Her seminar is open to all interested persons.
In her abstract she writes:
"The history of humankind is intimately connected to insects. Insect borne diseases kill a million people and destroy tens of billions of dollars' worth of crops annually. However, at the same time, beneficial insects pollinate the majority of crop species humans eat. Given the importance of insects in human affairs, it is somewhat surprising that computer science has not had a larger impact in entomology. We believe that recent advances in sensor technology/machine learning are beginning change this, and a new field of Computational Entomology will emerge."
"In this talk we will demonstrate that inexpensive sensors allow us to classify flying insects, down to the level of sex/species in most cases. This amazing computational ability opens host of new challenges and opportunities. We will discuss one for concreteness. Our problem is motivated by our collaboration with Microsoft Research, which allows us, for the first time to capture individually targeted insects. In brief, how can we task a (drone delivered) robotic insect trap to capture a maximally diverse sample of insects, with no human supervision?"
"We will conclude this talk with a quick overview of five other problems/opportunities that are ripe for exploration by entomological/computer science collaborations."
On her website, Zhu writes:
- My summer internship project is featured in an on-going Microsoft ad campaign
- Our paper "Matrix Profile II: Exploiting a Novel Algorithm and GPUs to break the one Hundred Million Barrier for Time Series Motifs and Joins!" was selected as one of the best paper award candidates at ICDM 2016
Zhu received two degrees from Shanghai Jiano Tong University, Shanghai China. She earned her bachelor's degree in microelectronics and her master's degree in integrated circuit engineering. At UC Riverside, her major advisor is Eamonn Keogh, professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Coordinator of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminars is agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen, assistant professor. He may be reached at chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Nansen and engineering professor Zhaodan Kong will discuss “Technologies for Crop Pest Control” from 4:10 to 6 p.m. on May 23 p.m. in Room 1003 of Kemper Hall. The seminars are free and open to the public; no registration is needed.
Each month, experts from campus and industry share ideas on the latest science and technology trends at the forefront of the precision agriculture movement.
The list of Precision Ag Seminars:
March 23: David Slaughter, UC Davis professor of biological and agricultural engineering, will present the new UC Davis SmartFarm project, and, with special guest Micki Seibel, discuss the internet of things in precision agriculture from 4:10 to 6 p.m. in Room 1065 of Kemper Hall. Follow the seminar live on the Zoom conference line. #782-398-737
SmartFarm is described as "a concept for the farm of the future that will develop new innovative smart machines, smart sensing of the environment, smart plants and smart farming methods and will lead the way forward for world food security and the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the food production system by the year 2050."
Seibel is sustainable food systems lead at Orange Silicon Valley, part of the Orange group, which has interests in telecommunications, digital connectivity, and research and innovation. She is a former consumer product executive at eBay, Netscape, Ask Jeeves, Deliv and several start-ups. A networking session will follow the seminar.
The schedule of seminars:
April 27: Robotics: Engineering professor Stavros Vougioukas and Dan Harburg of Soft Robotics will present their work from 4:10 to 6 p.m. in Room 1003, Kemper Hall.
May 23: Technologies for Crop Pest Control: Agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen and engineering professor Zhaodan Kong, from 4:10 to 6 p.m. Room 1003, Kemper Hall.
June 22: Aerial Sensing: Professor Yufang Jin, Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Change, and Joseph Mascaro, Plant Labs from 4:10 to 6 p.m., with site to be announced.
The Precision Ag Seminar Series are being held in collaboration with the Departments of Viticulture and Enology, and Land, Air and Water Resources.
For more information, access the World Food Center website or email worldfoodcenter@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
This is part of the winter-quarter series sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The seminars are recorded for later viewing on UCTV.
"The Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis [Pergande] is an extremely small and ubiquitous insect with a host range exceeding 1200 plant species," she says. "They damage crops worldwide through their feeding and transmission of plant viruses, earning the title supervector due to their role as the primary vector of tospoviruses, high reproductive rates, polyphagous nature and resistance to most pesticides. This seminar will explore tospovirus replication in Western flower thrips, resulting in behavioral modifications and changes to expression of salivary genes."
The department's winter-quarter seminars take place every Wednesdays through March 15. All are held from 4:10 to 5 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. Coordinator is assistant professor Christian Nansen. See seminar schedule.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
All seminars will take place on Wednesdays from 4:10 to 5 p.m. from Jan. 11 through March 15 in 122 Briggs Hall. The only exception is the Thursday, Feb. 9 seminar, which is the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award. (See below) The seminars are open to all interested persons.
The schedule:
Wednesday, Jan. 11
Marco Gebiola, postdoctoral fellow, University of Arizona, Tucson
Topic: "From Embroys to Hybrids: How the Symbiont Cardinium Shapes the Ecology and Evolution of Encarsia Parasitoids"
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Journey into the Microcosm: A Closer Look at the Western Flower Thrips"
Wednesday, Jan. 25
Sharon Lawler, professor of entomology, and Ph.D candidate Erin Donley, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Effects of Aquatic Vegetation and Its Management on Aquatic Invertebrates"
Wednesday, Feb. 1
Greg Sword, professor and Charles R. Parencia Chair in Cotton Entomology, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M, College Station
Topic: "Fungal Endophytes Can Mediate Resistance to Insects, Nematodes and Drought in Cotton Agroecosytems"
Thursday, Feb. 9 (Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar)
Jennifer Thaler, professor, Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Topic: "Tritrophic Interactions and the Ecology of Fear"
Reception from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. in the International House, 10 College Park, Davis, CA.
Seminar from 4:15 to 5 p.m. at International House
Watch her Feb. 9 seminar on YouTube https://youtu.be/AM-mQZbpTro
Wednesday, Feb. 15
Pedro Miura, assistant professor, Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno
Topic: "Age Accumulation of CircRNAs"
Wednesday, Feb. 22
Jared Ali, assistant professor of entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Topic: "Multi-Trophic Interactions and the Chemical Ecology of Plant Defenses in Above and Below Ground Contexts"
Wednesday, March 1
Christian Nansen, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Reflectance Profiling as a Tool to Study Insects and Other Objects"
Wednesday, March 8
Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Topic: "Mechanisms of Resistance in Poplar Against the Asian Longhorned Beetle and Its Gut Symbionts"
Wednesday, March 15
William Meikle, Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Agricultural Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Topic: "Using Continuous Monitoring to Measure Colony-Level Behavior in Social Insects: A Case Study with Honey Bees"
Christian Nansen, seminar coordinator: chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
Jessica Padilla, graduate program coordinator: jespadilla@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
All seminars will take place on Wednesdays from 4:10 to 5 p.m. from Sept. 21 through Nov. 30 in 122 Briggs Hall. This is a change from the noon-hour sessions held in previous years. The seminars are open to all interested persons.
The schedule:
Wednesday, Sept. 21:
Rick Karban, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Climate Change and Populations of a Herbivorous Moth"
Wednesday, Oct. 5:
Meredith Cenzer, doctoral candidate, Louie Yang lab
Topic: ""Ecological and Evolutionary Interactions Between Soapberry Bugs (Jadera Haematoloma) and Their Host Plants" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Oct. 12:
Howard Ferris, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Roles of Nematodes in Soil Ecology and Soil Health"
Wednesday, Oct. 19
Justin Whitehill, postdoctoral research associate
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Topic: "Carbon Castles and the Physical Defense of Conifers Against Insect Invaders"
Wednesday, Oct. 26
Marek Borowiec, formerly of the Phil Ward lab and now with the lab of Christian Rabeling, an evolutionary biologist working on ants. The lab is located in Rochester, N.Y., but will be moving in January to Tempe, AZ in January. Borowiec received his doctorate in June from UC Davis.
Topic: "Genomic Data and the Tree of Life: Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns of Army Ant Evolution" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 2
Sandy Olkowski, doctoral candidate, lab of Thomas Scott (now emeritus professor of entomology)
"Temporal Inconsistency of Dengue Fever Surveillance in Iquitos, Peru" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 9
Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and Mikah Freedman, graduate student, Center for Population Biology
Topic:"Monarchs in the Pacific: Contemporary Evolution or Local Ecology?"
Wednesday, Nov. 16 (this is rescheduled for Jan. 18)
Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Thrips Salivary Glands: The Relevance of Tissue Tropism and Gene Expression to Tospovirus"
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Phil Ward, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Exploring the Ant Tree-of-Life"
Wednesday, Dec. 7
Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
"How Can We Help Bees Via Research? The Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Well Being."
For further information, contact:
Christian Nansen, seminar coordinator: chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
Jessica Padilla, graduate program coordinator: jespadilla@ucdavis.edu