- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Noted entomologist and UC Davis doctoral alumnus Michael Hoffmann, an emeritus professor at Cornell University known for his advocacy of climate change literacy and the relationship between food and climate change, plus his leadership activities and biological control projects, will deliver the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar on Monday, Oct. 9 in the Student Community Center, UC Davis.
The Leigh seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, annually honors distinguished alumni. Hoffmann was selected the 2020 recipient, but the COVID pandemic intervened. This is first seminar since the beginning of COVID pandemic.
Hoffmann will present his lecture from 4 to 5 p.m., in Room D, second floor of the Student Community Center. It is free and open to the public and no reservations are required.
An invitational reception and buffet dinner will follow in the Student Community Center.
Hoffmann, who received his doctorate in entomology in 1990 from UC Davis, studying with Professor Ted Wilson and later Professor Frank Zalom, will present the seminar on “Our Changing Menu--Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need,” the title of a book he co-authored with Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, and Danielle Eiseman in April, 2021.
The co-authors "offer an eye-opening journey through a complete menu of before-dinner drinks and salads; main courses and sides; and coffee and dessert. Along the way they examine the escalating changes occurring to the flavors of spices and teas, the yields of wheat, the vitamins in rice, and the price of vanilla." They round out their story "with a primer on the global food system, the causes and impacts of climate change, and what we can all do. Our Changing Menu is a celebration of food and a call to action?encouraging readers to join with others from the common ground of food to help tackle the greatest challenge of our time."
Hoffmann transitioned to emeritus in January 2020 after 30 years at Cornell, but remains active. Serving as executive director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (2015-2020), he continues to provides visionary leadership, communicates to a wide range of audiences the challenges and opportunities that come with a changing climate, and builds partnerships among public and private organizations.
Hoffmann's leadership activities include co-chairing the President's Sustainable Campus Committee and helping to lead a climate change literacy initiative for students, staff, and faculty. He dedicates his time toward what he calls “the grand challenge of climate change and (to) help people understand and appreciate what is happening through food.” Effectively communicating about climate change, Hoffmann presented a TEDX talk in 2014 on “Climate Change: It's Time to Raise Our Voices” that drew widespread attention.
A native of Wisconsin, Hoffmann holds a bachelor of science degree (1975) from the University of Wisconsin, and his master's degree from the University of Arizona (1978). He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971, achieving the rank of sergeant.
UC Davis Experiences. Hoffmann remembers well his experiences at UC Davis. “I was privileged to work with many dedicated faculty in entomology and several other departments.”
After receiving his doctorate at UC Davis, Hoffmann joined the faculty of Cornell in 1990 as an assistant professor, with 60 percent Extension and 40 percent research duties, and advanced to associate professor in 1996, and professor in 2003. His academic career focused on administrative endeavors (80 percent) beginning in 1999.
Hoffmann's career at Cornell included serving as associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, and director of the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program. He helped initiate a leadership and professional development week-long program that benefited more than 400 faculty at Cornell and beyond.
Prior to his administrative duties, he worked to develop and implement cost-effective and environmentally sensitive tactics for management of insect pests. He emphasized biological control, development and application of insect behavior modifying chemicals, and novel control tactics, all in an integrated pest management (IPM) context. Much of his research and Extension programming was multi-state and multidisciplinary in nature.
Among his entomological achievements, he
- Developed unique, cost-effective and environmentally benign biological control tactics for insect pest of sweet corn, peppers and potatoes, and presented wide scale demonstrations on conventional and organic farms in New York, Virginia, Massachusetts and Canada.
- Published the first popular guide to beneficial insects (64 pages, with more than 5,000 copies distributed)
- Developed patented unique fiber barrier technology for pest control
His publication record includes 105 refereed journal articles, nine book chapters, and three books.
Leigh Seminar. The Leigh seminar memorializes cotton entomologist Thomas Frances Leigh (1923-1993), an international authority on the biology, ecology and management of arthropod pests affecting cotton production. During his 37-year UC Davis career, Leigh was based at the Shafter Research and Extension Center, also known as the U.S. Cotton Research Station. He researched pest and beneficial arthropod management in cotton fields, and host plant resistance in cotton to insects, mites, nematodes and diseases. In his memory, his family and associates set up the Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar Entomology Fund at the UC Davis Department of Entomology. When his wife, Nina, passed in 2002, the alumni seminar became known as the Thomas and Nina Distinguished Alumni Seminar.
Leigh joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1958, retiring in 1991 as an emeritus professor, but he continued to remain active in his research and collaboration until his death on Oct. 26, 1993. The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America awarded him the C. F. Woodworth Award for outstanding service to entomology in 1991.
Resources:
'Our Changing Menu': Warming Climate Serves Up Meal Remake" Cornell
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a celebration of (1) the accomplishments of the faculty entering a new chapter in their lives (2) the extraordinary retirement years of the late Robbin Thorp of the Department of Entomology and Nematology; and a congratulatory message by Chancellor Gary May.
The video is online at
https://youtu.be/s6fxdg2XZPA?si=u0SG1UvUG34zQxmV.
"Summer is nearly over, and the fall quarter begins soon," said Leal, professor of biochemistry in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former professor and chair of the Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology). "Let's pause and express our gratitude to our colleagues who transitioned to emeriti status this summer."
"For decades, they strived to make UC Davis a better place, and many will remain engaged with research, teaching, and public service," he noted.
Leal said the late Distinguished Emeritus Professor Robbin Thorp (1933-2019) epitomizes how emeriti contribute to UC Davis. Thorp, a 30-year member of the entomology faculty, and a tireless advocate of pollinator species protection and conservation, retired in 1994, but he continued working until several weeks before his death on June 7, 2019, at age 85. In 2014, he co-authored two books: Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide (Princeton University,) and California Bees and Blooms: A Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists (Heyday). He published more than 50 percent of his papers following his retirement.
- UC Davis offered COVID tests within three weeks of our nation's first known patient with community-acquired COVID-19.
- Their research led to the development of better ceramic and glass materials;
- They helped improve military retention;
- They developed innovative techniques for shoulder and wrist reconstruction;
- They generated one of the world's largest and longest-running systems for monitoring butterfly faunas;
- They led plans for the UC Davis National Cancer Institute to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center;
- They are film historians who authored books such as Paris in the Dark: Going to the Movies in the City of Light, 1930-1950;
- They helped create the world's first total-body PET scanner;
- They brought a global perspective to the table to create innovative and pragmatic approaches to sustainability;
- Their research showed how music and dance articulate ethnic, gender, regional, and national identities;
- They helped us, and more importantly, lawmakers, understand how the toxic action of pesticides may affect aquatic systems and organisms;
- Their research shed light on the psychological development of young children;
- They unraveled molecular processes leading to arthritis;
- They showed how management controls facilitate strategic alliances and supply chain partnerships;
- They integrated methods from traditional engineering, operation research, and economics to solve water and environmental management problems;
- They provided comprehensive psychiatric services to ethnic and sexual minorities, including refugees and immigrants;
- They colleagues created new approaches for using plants for the production of recombinant proteins with various applications, including medicine;
- They elucidated how natural products influence the function of ion channels in the nervous system;
- They provided emergency medical care and taught nursing, air medical, EMS, and disaster medicine courses;
- They designed programs for teachers to investigate their teaching skills and students' learning;
- They investigated how plants edit and repair DNA;
- They advanced our understanding of infectious diseases and aging in nonhuman primates; and
- Their research led to improvements in bean cultivars in California, the United States, Latin America and Africa;
The video tribute includes images of many of the emeriti, meant as a small representation of the achievements of all.
In his message, Chancellor May told the new emeriti: "You played a central role in keeping UC Davis at the forefront of excellence. Your continued engagement through teaching, research, volunteering and philanthropy is vital to our continued growth and success. So I encourage you to stay engaged with campus. The UC Davis Emeriti Association is here with resources and support for this newest chapter of your career. Please take advantage of it. Thank you for our dedication to UC Davis and congratulations on reaching this milestone."
Among its many activities, UC Davis Emeriti Association (UCDEA) interviews and records emeriti who have made "significant contributions to the development of the university." See Video Records Project.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"Walsh is known internationally for his research on the modes of action and resistance mechanisms of acaricides on spider mites and regionally in the Pacific Northwest for his extension and outreach efforts on specialty crops," ESA announced in a news release, citing that:
"Walsh has maintained a well-funded (more than $30 million) and productive program as the research director of the Environmental and Agricultural Entomology Laboratory located at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in the Yakima Valley near Prosser, Washington. Walsh is the Extension integrated pest management (IPM) coordinator for Washington State and the Washington State liaison representative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture IR-4 Project."
"Walsh has an extensive and varied integrated pest and pollinator management research and Extension program assisting regionally important commodities including hops, alfalfa, grapes, and mint. Walsh also directs environmental impact studies on alfalfa leafcutting and alkali bees, the key pollinators of alfalfa produced for seed. Walsh's efforts in IPM have resulted in the documented reduction of over 100,000 pounds of insecticide use in the Pacific Northwest annually."
Born in New York in 1963 and a resident of California since 1969, Walsh holds a bachelor's degree in biology from UC Santa Cruz (1985). He received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1998, studying with major professor Frank Zalom, who went on to become a UC Davis distinguished professor and president and Honorary Member of ESA. "He is very deserving," Zalom said. "I couldn't be more proud of all that he has accomplished."
Said Walsh: "I was Frank's first PhD student. Frank had one before me, Rachid Hanna. Frank picked up Rachid when Rachid was orphaned when his original professor left UC Davis. Rachid and I quibble about who was Frank's first student. I'm the first that went from start to finish with Frank."
"(Professors) Sean Duffy and Harry Kaya were also on my PhD committee," Walsh said.
Kaya remembers Walsh well. "He was studying integrated pest management at UC Davis and was an outstanding graduate student in Frank Zalom's lab," Kaya said. "Even as a graduate student, he published some significant papers on IPM research, and I had no doubt that he would excel in research in his post graduate years. He has not only done superb IPM research but has been a leader in the Entomological Society of America as well as other national and international organizations. He richly deserves being elected as an ESA Fellow."
Walsh, Zalom and Dean Helene Dillard of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, then Extension director at Cornell, spent three weeks together on a USDA-sponsored agricultural extension tour of China.
Walsh joined the WSU Department of Entomology as assistant professor in 1998 and advanced to associate professor in 2003 and to professor in 2007. The author of more than 200 publications, he annually delivers more than 35 Extension presentations. He has mentored 12 doctoral students and 11 master's degree students.
Walsh served as president of the Pacific Branch of ESA (PBESA) in 2010 and represented PBESA on the ESA governing board from 2013 through 2019. Among his ESA awards: Excellence in IPM Award and he led two teams that received the IPM Team Award.
Walsh's WSU awards include the Sahlin Award for Outreach and Engagement, the Excellence in Extension Award, the Team Interdisciplinary Award, and the Excellence in Integrated Research and Extension Award.
For his work in the hops industry, the International Hop Growers Bureau knighted him into of the Order of the Hop (Chevalier) in 2017.
A WSU news story (Sept. 7, 2023) related that Walsh has "worked primarily on pest control issues, mostly on hops, grape vines, mint, and alfalfa. One of his first successes at WSU in 2005 involved developing a novel method for controlling cutworms, which climb up from the soil in spring to nibble on grapevine buds."
Walsh initially set out to become a botanist. “I was working in a local Extension office in California after I got my bachelor's degree," he told the WSU writer Scott Weybright. "That work involved battling spider mites on strawberries. I kind of fell into entomology, but I love the work and the creative solutions we find to help growers."
Another reason he wanted to become an entomologist: job security. He told Weybright that there are five-to-ten entomology jobs for every botany job. “We as humans are very efficient at moving pests around,” Walsh added. “There is always going to be a new pest and a need for someone to figure out how to best fight it.”
His wife, Catherine (Kikie) is a senior software engineer with Altera Digital, a hospital software firm. The couple, married 35 years, raised three children, Claire, Russ, and Jeff, all WSU grads. Claire is the lifecycle marketing manager with Niantic Labs; Russ is working toward his master's degree in teaching at WSU Tri-Cities: and Jeff is a site reliability engineer at TikTok.
Others named 2023 ESA Fellows are:
- Cassandra Extavour, Harvard University
- James Hagler, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Alvin M. Simmons, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service
- Lukasz Stelinski, University of Florida
- Edward L. Vargo, Texas A&M University
The six will be honored during Entomology 2023: Insects and Influence: Advancing Entomology's Impact on People and Policy, set Nov. 5-8, in National Harbor, Md.
ESA, founded in 1889, is a worldwide organization of more than 7000 members, who are 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.
Resources:
- A Career Battling Pests Leads to National Honor for Scientist (Sept. 7, 2023, Washington State University)
- WSU Showcase Award, YouTube, 2017
- ESA's 2023 Fellow Awards, Entomological Society of America.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Leal, a leading global scientist and inventor in the field of insect olfaction and communication, is known for his impact in the fields of molecular, cellular biology and entomology.A member of RES since 2008, he was named a Fellow of RES in 2009 and Honorary Fellow in 2015.
The organization, founded in 1833 in London, is devoted to the understanding and development of insect science, and supporting international collaboration, research and publication. It aims “to show every person how remarkable and valuable insects are,” RES officials said.
Leal said he plans to “hone in on new ways to develop and promote diversity and inclusivity,” and “to see our global entomological community bud, bloom and flourish.”
Leal, who joined the UC Davis entomology faculty in 2000, chaired the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2006-2008 before accepting a position in 2013 as professor of biochemistry in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. He chairs the Council of the International Congresses of Entomology, the body that ensures the continuity of the international congresses of entomology, succeeding May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“As a citizen of the world--born in Brazil, educated in Brazil and Japan, and honored as a Distinguished Professor with the University of California, Davis---I am eager to be serve as a trustee of the Royal Entomological Society and be part of the RES strategic plan to (1) move insect science forward internationally, (2) empower the global entomological community, and (3) to promote diversity and inclusivity,” Leal said.
His peers praise him for his contributions to insect science, including his teachings (he has taught insect physiology for almost 15 years); his internationally recognized research for his pioneering and innovative work in insect olfaction and communication; his publication record; his global entomological leadership; his administrative positions; and his commitment to serving humanity and engaging with scientists from all over the world.
Leal, named a UC Davis Distinguished Professor in 2016, co-chaired the 2016 International Congress of Entomology in Orlando, Fla., one of entomology's most prominent events (6,682 registrants from 102 countries).
He is a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (2009), American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005), and the National Academy of Inventors (2019). He served as president of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, among other leadership activities.
During the COVID pandemic, Leal brought together the entomological and chemical ecology communities through various creative activities, including inventing and organizing a symposium, “Insect Olfaction and Taste in 24 Hours Around the Globe,” drawing thousands of participants from nearly 60 countries. He provided a platform for young scholars to highlight their recent work and interact with well-established scholars in the field.
Leal received his Ph.D. in applied biochemistry from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, with subsequent postdoctoral training in entomology and chemical ecology at the National Institute of Sericultural and Entomological Science and Cornell University, respectively. He was the first non-Japanese person to earn tenure at Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
UC Davis and RES are closely connected. Peter Cranston, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, became an Honorary Fellow of RES in 2010. Among the RES Fellows are emeriti professors Frank Zalom (a past president of the Entomological Society of America) and Phil Ward, both of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Art Shapiro, emeritus professor, Department of Evolution and Ecology.
As of October 2018, there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates, according to Wikipedia. Among the notables are Sir David Attenborough, Honorary Fellow; and Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein, Fellows. RES Fellowship has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The 10 x 6-foot mural, which graces an outer wall of the Matthiasson Winery on Dry Creek Road, Napa, depicts more than 80 arthropods (insects, spiders and centipedes), several bird species, mammals (bobcat, deer, rabbits, squirrels, a pocket gopher), a gopher snake, mycorrhizal fungi and even earthworms, according to the three project leaders, UC Davis distinguished professor Diane Ullman and assistant professor Emily Meineke, both of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and retired lecturer Gale Okumura of the Department of Design.
The project is the culmination of a spring quarter class, Entomology 001, “Art, Science and the World of Insects,” taught by Professors Ullman and Meineke. Ullman, founding co-director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, described the project as “a collaboration between students and instructors in ENT 001; community members from Davis, Woodland, and Napa, and Matthiasson Winery; and the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program."
Praising the Arts/Science Fusion Program, the chancellor said the program "helps advance some of UC Davis' key goals, which are outlined in the university's 10-year strategic plan, titled 'To Boldly Go.' That first goal is to provide an educational experience that prepares all our students to address the needs and challenges of a diverse and changing world. The type of course that produced this mural helps advance this goal, by connecting art and science to enhance student learning in a truly innovative way. Another key goal is for UC Davis to be a role model for diversity. This program's strategy for teaching always includes community engagement, which attracts diverse students and fosters inclusivity through hands-on learning and collaborative teamwork. I also appreciate how the Arts/Science Fusion Program fosters community engagement."
Ullman noted that the general education class, "Art, Science and the World of Insects," was founded in 1996. It's been taught ever year since, "attracting students from every major offered on the UC Davis campus," she said.
The course--"taught with the notion that patterns, harmonies, symbols, and perceptions are shared across borders and disciplines--creates accessibility and inclusion for people that would otherwise fear science, or fear art," Ullman told the crowd. "Not only does this paradigm provide a new and innovative classroom learning experience, it creates collaborations between different kinds of students and the community."
The concept of an art/science paradigm "opened the door for students and community members to interpret the scientific endeavors of the campus and science of entomology," said Ullman, praising the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences "that supports this innovative method of teaching and extending knowledge to the public."
After advancing from research to a primary design, "the next step was to translate our research into visual narratives using design principles we learned from Gale," Ullman said. "With our designs in hand, the process of fabricating the artwork from clay began. Clay is a rich material with great memory, coming from the earth near Davis. In our classroom, every piece is used, recycled and carried forward."
"Once all the pieces of have been sculpted, glazed and fired in a kiln, assembly of the mosaic begins," Ullman related. "Everyone, students and community members contributed to assembly and grouting of the mosaic—truly a mosaic of human intention, creativity and will. We mixed our own grout and each color is custom designed after experimentation and consideration. Most artists would ask for 6 months to a year to complete a project of this size and scope. We completed the process in a mere 10 weeks, the scope of a quarter at UC Davis."
Ullman said that the 83 UC Davis students involved in the project "worked hard, learned about entomology, and the interactions between insects and people."
Meineke, an urban landscape entomologist, was unable to attend the Aug. 16th unveiling. Meineke and her husband Joe Kwon just "brought our newest Aggie, Genevieve Se Hwa Kwon into the world," Ullman told the gathering.
In a joint statement, Ullman and Meineke related that The Secret Life of Vineyards was designed to reflect the ecosystem within and around an organic vineyards as it progresses from early spring to harvest. A Cabernet Sauvignon vine is the centerpiece of the mural, shown from the first bud in the spring to harvest time in the autumn...The work is an ode to the importance of biodiversity and balance in the ecosystem in which wine vines are grown and reflects the passion of the Matthiasson Winery for sustainable viticulture.”
The professors credited artist Amanda Larson of Half Moon Bay "with the engineering and building of the hanging system, as well as the installation."
Resources:
- UC Davis Mural to Be Unveiled, news story, published Aug. 8, 2023, on the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website
- PowerPoint detailing the project from start to finish. This includes artist statements.