- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His seminar begins at 4:10 p.m. and also will be on Zoom:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.
Host is UC Davis distinguished professor James R. Carey, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"African Trypanosomiasis, also known as 'sleeping sickness,' is caused by microscopic parasites of the species Trypanosoma brucei," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It is transmitted by the tsetse fly (Glossina species), which is found only in sub-Saharan Africa."
"Insect vectors attract small fractions of the funding spent on studying and controlling the diseases they transmit," Hargrove says in his abstract. "Emphasis on vector studies for tsetse (Glossina spp) have, however, resulted in several novel vector and disease control options. Experiments carried out over the past 60 years at Rekomitjie Research Station in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe, together with daily meteorological readings, provide a platform for studying the effects of climate change on the population dynamics of tsetse species occurring around Rekomitjie. Rates of pupal production and development, of abortion rates and of mortality among immature and adult stages of the flies are all highly correlated with temperature. Methods used to estimate such relationships in the field will be discussed and the relationships are used in explaining the sudden collapse in tsetse populations during the past decade, consequent on significant increases in temperature, particularly in the hot dry season."
Hargrove served as the inaugural director of the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA). The precursors for MMED and DAIDD were launched in 2006 at the beginning of his directorship; he has been involved continuously as an instructor in the program since, according to his biography on ICI3D. Over the past nearly 50 years, Hargrove has combined fieldwork and mathematical epidemiology to understand the population dynamics and control of tsetse flies, the vectors of human African Trypanosomiasis.
He focuses his current research on the modelling population dynamics, with a particular focus on how increasing temperatures in Africa will affect tsetse distribution. This work involves improving estimation of mortality in adult and immature stages of the fly. Since 1999, he has also focused on the analysis and modelling of data in the world of HIV. Current interest are in improving the use of biomarkers for the accurate estimation of HIV incidence.
He holds a bachelor's degree in zoology (1968) from the University of Oxford; a master's degree in biomathematics (1981) from UCLA, and a doctorate in insect physiology (1973) from the University of London.
Department seminar coordinator is urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, assistant professor. For technical issues regarding Zoom connections, she may be reached at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu. (See complete list of spring seminars.)
Resource:
SERVIR--From Space to Tsetse Fly
World Health Organization: Trypanosomiasis (Human African Sleeping Sickness)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
His seminar is set for 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, April 12 in 122 Briggs Hall. It also will be virtual. The Zoom link:
https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672
"Parasitic infections, pesticide exposures, and lack of nutrition are thought to interact to cause synergistic declines in honey bee health," Mayack says in his abstract. "First, I will demonstrate how disease can lead to altered behavior that is linked to the honey bee‚ a highly social nature that results in its inability to buffer against energetic stress. Then I will discuss how environmental chemical exposure biomarker profiles (fingerprints) can be used to predict presence of the most common honey bee diseases and how the two are likely interact along metabolic pathways, which is likely to be key in explaining the underlying mechanisms responsible for synergistic declines in honey bee health."
"Lastly, I will present how a systems biology approach coupled with long term monitoring of bee health will be a central powerful tool, moving forward, for unraveling the mystery that surrounds identifying the specific mechanistic causes of global bee health declines."
New Scientist featured him in its April 28, 2021 edition in an article headlined: "Honeybees Stress Each Other Out by Warning about Minor Parasites."
"A one-celled fungus called Nosema ceranae can infect the guts of individual bees, causing a disease called nosemosis," wrote science journalist Christa Lesté-Lasserre. "Similar to tapeworm infections in humans, nosemosis apparently makes bees hungrier and reduces their resistance to pesticides and probably viruses, but it isn't particularly fatal. Yet, nosemosis is one of the top reasons honeybee populations are declining."
She wrote that Mayack, then of Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, "suspected this might have something to do with how the fungus affects the bees' social structures."
Mayack, who joined the USDA-ARS in August of 2022, holds a bachelor's degree in biology (2007) from the State University of New York, Geneseo, and a doctorate in zoology (2012) from Colorado State University. He wrote his dissertation on “Behavioral Alteration in the Honeybee Due to Parasite-induced Energetic Stress.” Mayack served as a 2012-2014 Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Zoology Institute, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.
His research interests include systems biology, improving honey bee health, animal physiology, animal behavior, parasite-host interactions, neurobiology, effects of aging, evolution of social behavior, regulation of appetite and energetic homeostasis, and metabolomics/exposomics.
Seminar coordinator is Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor. See the list of spring seminars here. For technical issues (Zoom), contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.
- 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.
