- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
He had served as an Extension specialist at UC Riverside since September 1994, specializing in pesticide exposure assessment and worker health and safety. He also was an adjunct clinical professor for the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Loma Linda University, southern California.
During his 1971-80 academic appointment at UC Davis, Dr. Krieger worked on insect research and received a major campus teaching award. Among his former students: toxicologist (now retired) Shirley Gee of the Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Colleague James Seiber, then chair of the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology and now emeritus professor, UC Davis Food Science and Technology, described him "as a one-of-a-kind person and scientist...His contributions to pesticide science and toxicology are so significant. He was the fitting recipient of the International Award for Research in Agrochemicals several years ago."
Born Nov. 23, 1943, Dr. Krieger received his bachelor's degree in chemistry/biology in 1967 from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash., and his doctorate from Cornell University in 1970, where he was a student in the Department of Entomology and a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Trainee in Environmental Toxicology.
In 1986 he became a staff toxicologist and later branch chief, Worker Health and Safety, California Department of Food and Agriculture (now California Environmental Protection Agency). He served two major Washington D.C., consulting firms (1991-94) in exposure and risk assessment before returning to the University of California, as an extension toxicologist at UC Riverside. He taught toxicology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research concerned the fate and effects of pesticides in humans, risk assessments, and risk communication. His latest studies concerned methods and techniques for determining the availability of chemical residues on surfaces, exposure biomonitoring of urban and agricultural populations that are exposed to pesticides and other chemicals.
A noted toxicologist and teacher, he received the 2006 Distinguished Award in Extension from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America; and in 2005, received both the Society of Toxicology's Public Communication Award and the American Chemical Society's International Award for Research in Agrochemicals. In 2006, the Society of Toxicology presented him with its Education Award.
Shirley Gee recalled many fond memories of Dr. Krieger and noted that he was a great teacher. In the late 1970s he taught an introductory course in toxicology. He as well-known for his 'multi-media' slide shows. We would have 100's of photos turned into slides by Reprographics and he would run as many as three slide projectors at a time on multiple screens and music. I think this technique was really appealing to the students and as a result, his class had, I'm sure hundreds of students. The students that were his teacher assistants had their hands full carting the slide projectors around and making sure there were no glitches during the lecture. But of course, it wasn't just the multi-media, it was his delivery of the material. Succinct, relevant to the student and with charm."
"Another thing, is that he loved fire," Gee recalled. "We had fantastic campfires both when the lab group went camping and in his backyard. The lab's favorite activity was the annual camping trip to Mendocino. Salmon cooked on the campfire was the best!"
"From a personal standpoint, he was the one that encouraged me to get a master's degree and taught me what research was all about," Gee said. "It was also his introduction of me to Bruce (Hammock) that set me off on a long term research career. I could not have asked for a better mentor."
For his biosketch, see http://faculty.ucr.edu/~krieger/KriegerCV.pdf
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Spotlighted are parasitologist and entomologist Shirley Luckhart, professor in the UC Davis School of Medicine's Department of Medical Microbiology and immunology and the Department of Entomology and Nematology; medical entomologist Gregory Lanzaro, professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology (PMI), UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and an associate of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology; virologist Lark Coffey of PMI; and UC Davis post-doctoral researcher Young-Moo Choo of the Leal's lab who discovered a receptor by dissecting mosquitoes' mouthparts and genetically testing them.
The KQED piece, drawing widespread interest, is the work of Gabriela Quirós, coordinator producer of Deep Look, KQED Science.
Luckhart said that the mosquitoes detect body heat and substances called volatile fatty acids. “The volatile fatty acids given off by our skin are quite different," Luckhart told Quirós. "They reflect differences between men and women, even what we've eaten. Those cues are different from person to person. There's probably not one or two. It's the blend that's more or less attractive.”
“Mosquitoes don't find the blood vessel randomly," Leal said, pointing out that the receptors respond to chemicals in the blood.
The receptor that the Leal lab discovered is called 4EP, and may lead to drug companies developing new mosquito repellents. “First they'd need to find a repellent against the receptors," Choo told Quirós. "Then they'd treat people's skin with it. When the mosquito tried to penetrate the skin, it would taste or smell something repulsive and fly away.”
Lanzaro said that the latest malaria statistics--more than 300 million people contracted malaria in 2015, and some 635,000 died--are "probably an underestimate."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Students in Professor Diane Ullman's Entomology 1 class, fusing art with science, will be showing their work at a public reception from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 31 in the Third Space Collective, 946 Olive Drive, Davis.
The event, billed as "Totems, Glass and the Movies," is free and open to the public.
Some 56 students participated, Professor Ullman said. "The students have really worked hard and for the first time ever we have stop-action movies, led by Allison Simler,and glass fusion artworks, led by entomology graduate student, Joanna Bloese."
Donna Billick and Diane Ullman led students in creating totems with clay, cement and mosaic. Ullman and Billick co-founded and co-directed the UC Davis Arts/Science Fusion Program.
"We are looking forward to introducing the UC Davis community to the fine work of our students, Ullman said.
Ullman, former associate associate dean for undergraduate academic programs, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is noted for her research, teaching and public service.
She received the Entomological Society of America's distinguished teaching award in 2013. She earlier received the outstanding teaching award from the Pacific Branch of ESA, comprised of 11 western states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming), parts of Canada and Mexico, and seven U.S. territories.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The E. L. Niño Bee Lab, directed by Extension Apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño, University of California, Davis, is now recruiting for its first-ever California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP). The deadline to fill out the application form is Wednesday, June 1. Notifications of acceptance will be made by June 15.
Its mission: “To provide science-based education to future stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping. The apprentice level is designed to build a solid foundation of basic beekeeping skill and knowledge. When participants achieve this level they may opt to stop or continue on to the more advanced levels: journeyman and master levels.”
“We are extremely excited about launching this program which will bring timely and most current beekeeping and other pollinator information to the stakeholders in California," said coordinator Bernardo Niño. "With the increased interest in beekeeping and need for continued public education we really want to engage those who love bees as much as we do be the true bee ambassadors in their communities."
"And with unique challenges for beekeeping in California--that is, about two million bee colonies end up in California in February each year for almond pollination--it was time to have a California-based program," he said. "We are here to support the bees and the beekeepers and we can't wait to start this new partnership."
A $200 program fee will be due no later than July 1. This cost covers a single exam fee, CAMBP study guide, priority access and program discount to all CAMBP-approved courses at UC Davis.
Individuals must score 75 percent or higher on both a written and field practical examination.
Upon completion, apprentice level beekeepers will at the minimum be able to complete the following practical tasks:
- Light and appropriately operate a smoker (including fire safety crucial for California)
- Identify different casts in the colony
- Confidently open and examine a colony
- Properly manage the colony throughout the year
- Be able to identify and take care of any issues that the colony encounters
- Identify and build/assemble standard hive equipment
- Be able to properly feed colonies if needed
- Prevent colony robbing
- Monitor for pathogens and pests
- Re-queen a colony
They are also expected to engage in community service activities, such as assisting members of youth organizations with bee-related projects; giving a public demonstration on beekeeping at a fair, festival or other similar event; or successfully mentoring a new beekeeper through at least one season.
The program is so far supported by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, Kaiser Family Foundation, Mann Lake LTD, and Gilroy Beekeepers Association.
More information, including the application form, is available at http://elninobeelab.ucdavis.edu/CAMBP.html or call (530) 380-BUZZ (2899).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So when Yves Le Conte, director of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Paris, toured the UC Davis campus prior to his keynote speech at the second annual Bee Symposium, "Bonjour" was not only a greeting, but a very good day.
He toured the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, and the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Escorted by journalist/master beekeeper Mea McNeil of San Anselmo, he first enjoyed a luncheon catered by McNeil at the Laidlaw facility; toured the Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million insect specimens; and then visited the honey bee garden, a half-acre bee garden located next to the Laidlaw facility on Bee Biology Road.
McNeil, who profiled him in a bee journal, described him as not only a rigorous scientist, but a warm, caring person. "It was his curiosity about mites that led him to make discoveries about bee pheromones that have substantially changed the understanding of bee behavior," she said. "A good deal of cross pollination took place as he met members of the UC Davis entomology community, and he relished a visit to the Bohart Museum."
Le Conte, known throughout Europe for his varroa mite research and the effects on honey bees, spoke on “Honey Bees That Survive Varroa Mite in the World: What We Can Learn from the French Bees.”
He related that the parasitic varroa mite, "a major pest for beekeepers," arrived in France in 1982, and that untreated colonies died after two or three years. Resistance of the honey bee to the mite is crucial for bees' survival, he said. He and fellow scientists are studying varroa-resistant bees. "We go to beekeepers and say 'Give me a piece of the wing of your queen--we want to study the DNA to select for (varroa) resistance," he said.
In addition to his groundbreaking work in Europe, Le Conte collaborated with bee scientist Gene Robinson at the University of Illinois to isolate the pheromone that helps regulate labor in the honey bee colony. Le Conte has also worked with Mark Winston, Marion Ellis and many others throughout the country. He is a member of the advisory board of the Bee Informed Partnership, which strives to help beekeepers keep healthy and stronger colonies.
The second annual Bee Symposium, held May 7 in the UC Davis Conference Center, and hosted by the Honey and Pollination Center and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Amina Harris, director of the center, and Neal Williams, associate professor in the department and a co-faculty director of the center, emceed the event.
