- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Meineke, an assistant professor who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty in 2020, is one of 10 faculty members to receive the honor from the ESA Governing Board. She will be recognized at ESA's Aug. 6-11 meeting in Portland, Ore.
"This is one of the most prestigious awards an ecologist can receive," said nominator Rachel Vannette, community ecologist and associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
“Early Career Fellows are members within eight years of completing their doctoral training (or other terminal degree) who have advanced ecological knowledge and applications and show promise of continuing to make outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA,” an ESA spokesperson announced. “They are elected for five years.”
Meineke received her bachelor of science degree in environmental science, with a minor in biology, in 2008 from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She obtained her doctorate in entomology in 2016 from North Carolina State University (NCU), studying with major professors Steven Frank and Robert Dunn. She wrote her dissertation on "Understanding the Consequences of Urban Warming for Street Trees and Their Insect Pests."
At NCU, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded her with the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) fellowship. As an EPA STAR Fellow, Meineke pioneered research characterizing the effects of urban heat islands on insect herbivores. And, as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard University Herbaria, Meineke studied how urbanization and climate change have affected global plant–insect relationships over the past 100-plus years.
At UC Davis, the Meineke laboratory "leverages natural history collections, citywide experiments, and observations to characterize effects of recent anthropogenic change on plant–insect herbivore interactions," said Vannette. Meineke has received funding from the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development (NSF-CAREER) Program; USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI); and the UC Davis Hellman Fellows Program.
Hellman Award. In 2022, Meineke was named one of 12 recipients of the UC Davis Hellman Fellows program. Her project, “Assessing Preservation of Chemical Compounds in Pressed Plants," focuses on whether herbarium specimens collected over hundreds of years harbor chemical compounds that reveal mechanisms responsible for changing insect-plant interactions.
"In particular, the project will reveal extent to which herbarium specimens that are dried and stored continue to harbor key chemicals—such as defensive chemicals against insects created by plants themselves and pesticides—in their leaves," Meineke related. "This project will inform my lab's future investigations into effects of urbanization and climate change on insect herbivores."
Meineke is also coordinating her department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year.
ESA President Sharon Collinge noted that "This year's Fellows (7) and Early Career Fellows (10) have made tremendous scientific and societal impacts through their work and are highly regarded in their subdisciplines. Their accomplishments reflect the breadth and depth of our field, and its relevance to pressing societal concerns. I am glad that ESA is home to such a dedicated group.” (See news release)
Holly Moeller of UC Santa Barbara, a theoretical ecologist who uses mathematical and empirical approaches to understand acquired metabolism, is among the 10 Early Career Fellows, all selected for advancing the science of ecology and showing promise for continuous contributions. Others are Karen Bailey, University of Colorado, Natalie Christian, University of Louisville; Mary Donovan, Arizona State University; Meredith Holgerson, Cornell University; Allison Louthan, Kansas State University; Sparkle Malone, Yale University; and Maria Natalia Umaña, University of Michigan.
Rick Karban. UC Davis Distinguished Professor Richard "Rick" Karban of the Department of Entomology and Nematology was elected an ESA fellow in 2017 for "pivotal work in developing an ecological understanding of plant-herbivore interactions, with particularly notable contributions to the ecology of induced plant responses to herbivory and plant volatile signaling."
ESA, founded in 1915 aims to promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists; raise the public's level of awareness of the importance of ecological science; increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.
Related Resource:
Emily Meineke Helped Spearhead Harvard Museum of Natural History's Thoreau Project (Department News, April 5, 2022)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Biology professor Terry McGlynn of California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), will discuss “Lessons about Thermal Ecology from Rainforest Ants” at the first in a series of spring seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
His seminar begins at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, April 5 in 122 Briggs Hall. The seminar also will be virtual. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
A social, preceding the seminar, is set from 3:30 to 4:10 in 158 Briggs.
"As the world is getting hotter, we are now urgently focused on understanding on how climate change affects insect populations and communities," McGlynn says in his abstract. "Many insects in tropical rainforests are accustomed to operating at the margins of thermal capabilities. I present a series of experiments conducted on tropical ants to illustrate phenomena that are critical to our understanding of how insects will continue to thrive on this warming planet.'
McGlynn, both an ecologist and an entomologist, directs the California Desert Studies Consortium, which operates the Desert Studies Center, a large field station in the Mojave Desert. He is an appointed research associate in the Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
McGlynn focuses on tropical ecology, biology of detrital food webs; behavioral and community ecology of rainforest ants; and undergraduate natural history education.
"We do research to learn how insects respond to environmental challenges, he writes on his lab website, https://leaflitter.org/. "In this era of rapid environmental change, we need scientific knowledge and evidence-based policies to protect human welfare and biodiversity. Our climate crisis is complicated by urbanization, the spread of non-indigenous species, and changes in food web structure."
"Our research agenda addresses these concerns while preparing the next generation of scientists to solve problems using equitable and just practices within and beyond our academic community."
To increase the accessibility of evidence-based teaching practices, he wrote The Chicago Guide to College Science Teaching (University of Chicago Press, 2020), which emphasizes kind and equitable teaching.
McGlynn has led several National Science Foundation-funded projects to support international research opportunities for undergraduates, and has served as the director of Undergraduate Research at CSUDH. He is a 2022 Fellow of the Earth Leadership Program, and in 2021, received the CSUDH Presidential Outstanding Professor Award. He serves on the editorial board of Biotropica and is an associate editor of Insectes Sociaux.
McGlynn writes a blog, Small Pond Science tweets at @hormiga. He received his bachelor's degree in biology in 1993 from Occidental College and his doctorate in 1999 in environmental, population and organismic biology from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Seminar coordinator Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor, announced the spring seminars earlier this week. For technical issues (Zoom), she may be reached at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Seminar coordinator Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor, has announced the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's spring seminars.
The seminars begin Wednesday, April 5 and will continue on Wednesdays through June 7. All in-person seminars will be in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, starting at 4:10 p.m. The seminars also will be virtual. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672
A social from 3:30 to 4:10 in 158 Briggs will precede each seminar.
The topics range from ants to caterpillars to honey bees:
Wednesday, April 5
Terry McGlynn
Professor, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Title: “Lessons About Thermal Ecology from Rainforest Ants”
Wednesday, April 12
Christopher Mayack
Research entomologist, USDA-ARS
Title: “Chemical Biomarkers and the Physiological Underpinning of Honey Bee Health Decline”
Wednesday, April 19
No seminar
Wednesday, April 26 (Zoom only)
Sam Jaffe
Founder and director of The Caterpillar Lab
Title: “Using Native Caterpillars, Their Ecological Connections, and Novel Outreach Tools to Showcase the Importance of Biodiversity”
Wednesday, May 3
John Hargrove
Senior research fellow and professor emeritus of mathematical sciences
Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa
Title: “Tsetse, Trypanosomiasis and Climate Change: What Can We Learn from Field Data Collected in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe?”
Wednesday, May 10
Irene Newton
Professor of biology, Indiana University, Bloomington
Title: “Friends with Benefits: Protective Microbial Symbioses in the Honey Bee”
Wednesday, May 17 (Zoom only)
Paulo Vieira
Molecular biologist USDA-ARS
Title: “Beech Leaf Disease: an Emergent Threat to Beech Forest Ecosystems in North America”
Wednesday, May 24
Katie Thompson-Peer
Assistant professor, School of Biological Sciences, UC Irvine
Title: “Cellular Mechanisms of Dendrite Regeneration after Neuron Injury”
Wednesday, May 31
No seminar
Wednesday, June 7
Jill Oberski
Doctoral candidate, Phil Ward lab, UC Davis
Exit seminar: “Phylogenetics and Biogeography of the Pyramid Ants”
For technical issues, Meineke may be reached at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC Davis doctoral student Grace Horne of the Department of Entomology and Nematology will host a BioBlitz in the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden on Saturday, April 29 from 9 to 11 a.m.
The BioBlitz will take place at a new location: the Wyatt Deck (previously it was scheduled for the Carolee Shields White Flower Garden and Gazebo.)
"I am excited about the location change because we will be located next to two biodiversity hubs: The T. Elliot Weier Redwood Grove and the Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants," said Horne, a member of the laboratory of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Reservations (free) are underway here.
“We need your help to track and identify the wildlife in Davis!" Horne said. "Participants will take photos of plants, animals, and fungi, and upload these observations to the community science platform, iNaturalist. All you need to bring is a smartphone or a photo-taking device. We will have a table with small lenses, bug boxes, field guides, insect specimens, and more to help you make observations of wildlife. Local experts will also be available to assist in identifying the wildlife."
This event will be hosted in coordination with the City Nature Challenge Sacramento. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is an annual international competition among cities with the goal of documenting the most biodiversity within a four-day period.
This year, the challenge will occur from April 28 to May 1, "so any observations of wildlife that are uploaded to iNaturalist will contribute to the 2023 CNC," Horne said. "At the end of the CNC, the region with the most observations wins. We are looking to make as many quality observations as we can during the Davis Bioblitz, so stop by the Shields Gazebo to help contribute observations to the Greater Sacramento Region!”
Horne joined the Meineke lab in 2021 after graduating from Colby College,Waterville, Maine, where she double-majored in majored in biology (evolution and ecology), and environmental science (conservation biology). She served as education staff member and undergraduate researcher at The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. from 2018-2021. The environmental education organization focuses on inviting people—youth and adults alike—to share in stories of ecology, evolution, and natural history. She gained experience in conservation and education in the spring of 2020 when she participated in the Round River Conservation Studies in Maun, Botswana.
Horne's undergraduate thesis about the effects of the decline of ash trees on native caterpillars, scored the cover of the February edition of the journal Environmental Entomology. The paper, “Specialist Herbivore Performance on Introduced Plants During Native Host Decline,” is co-authored by Ria Manderino of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Upperville, VA and Samuel Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab, Marlborough, N.H. “Our publication highlights the importance of multispecies assessments of host plant acceptance,” said Horne, who studies plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, global change biology, natural history and community science in the Meineke lab.
Directions to the new location:
Take 1-80 to the Richards Blvd. Exit (toward downtown). Go under the underpass. Turn left on 1st Street. Turn left onto Old Davis Road and cross a small bridge over the Arboretum Waterway. Parking is available at Visitor Parking Lot 5, straight ahead from the stop sign at Old Davis Road and Arboretum Drive. Wyatt Deck is located at the west end of the Redwood Grove, across Arboretum Drive from the Wyatt Pavilion Theater.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminar, virtual only, will be at 4:10 p.m., Pacific Time, Wednesday, March 15. The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672
"In a warming world, species may buffer to some extent part of the environmental changes by exploiting the microclimates that are available across space and time," Pincebourde says in his abstract. "My presentation will focus on the role of the leaf surface microclimate, and in particular temperature, in driving the vulnerability of insects to climate change. I will exemplify the framework we apply to investigate this role. Our approach is deeply rooted into a multidisciplinary background, relying on physics, physiology and ecology of both plant and animal sciences. The microclimatic effects can be quite subtle and mechanistic approaches are fundamentally needed to depict the complexity of the interaction between plant, insect and climate."
On Research Gate, Pincebourde explains that his work "focuses on the role of microclimates in modulating the response of ectotherms (mostly insects) to climate change. I use ecophysiological approaching mostly relying to thermal ecology, connected to the biophysical ecology of organisms. I integrate both temporal and spatial issues of thermal variability. My research has connection with conservation biology by identifying novel or unsuspected interactions between (micro) climates and organisms."
Urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology andNematology, and coordinator of the department's weekly seminars, will host the seminar and introduce him.
Pincebourde holds a doctorate (2005) from the Institute of Research on Insect Biology (IRBI), France, a joint research unit of the University of Tours and CNRS. He studied for his doctorate with Professor Jérôme Casas. Pincebourde then completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University South Carolina (2006-2007), supervised by Professor Brian Helmuth, and at IRBI (2008-2009), working with Professor Casas's team that studied the ecology of multitropic systems and biomimetism.
Pincebourde joined CNRS as a research scientist, second class, in 2009 and advanced to first class in 2015. Since 2018, he has been in charge of the IRBI's organism-environmental interactions team, known as INOV or the INteractions Organisme-enVironnment.
He has published his work in a number of journals, including Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Ecological Monographs, Agriculture and Forest Entomology, Functional Ecology, Journal of Thermal Biology, Biotropica, with papers pending in Global Change Biology and Freshwater Biology. He is a member of the editorial board for American Naturalist.
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's winter seminars are held on Wednesdays at 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. (See schedule.) She may be reached at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu for technical issues.
