- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“My interest in entomology started when I was a little girl, checking our prune and walnut orchards for pests with my dad,” said Wheeler-Dykes, whose office is based in Orland, Glenn County. “When I was a little bit older, I monitored pest populations for my uncle in his prune orchards during the summer.”
The former Becky Wheeler, she holds two degrees from UC Davis. She received her bachelor's degree in crop science and business management, with a minor in ag pest management, in 2010. She obtained her master's degree in entomology in 2013, studying with major professor and Extension entomologist Frank Zalom of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus and recall professor. Extension entomologists Larry Godfrey (1956-2017) and Mary Louise Flint served on her thesis committee. Her thesis dealt with a species of mites in almond orchards: "Exploring Phoresy and Field Survival of Blattisocius keegani (Fox) (Acari: Ascidae) in Almond Orchards.”
“Taking Arthropod Pest Management with Frank Zalom and Larry Godfrey during my undergraduate studies at UC Davis was incredible; learning from two very experienced and knowledgeable researchers who had such a huge impact on agriculture was inspiring,” she said.
While at UC Davis, she served as a teaching assistant in Zalom's Arthropod Pest Management lab course in the winter of 2012, and as a staff research associate in the Andrew Walker lab, Department of Viticulture and Enology, from April 2015 to May 2018. Agricultural research positions followed.
“My career in ag research since graduate school has prepared me well,” she said. Prior to her selection as a UC Cooperative Extension advisor, she worked as an orchard researcher for Chico State Enterprises, beginning in May 2021. Her expertise also includes teaching ag ecology and soil science in the College of Agriculture, California State University, Chico. She served as a faculty mentor for Chico State STEM Connections in the 2022 Undergraduate Research Program, and as a faculty advisor for the Chico State Crops and Horticulture Club.
Wheeler-Dykes can be reached at bawheeler@ucanr.edu and (530) 884-9313.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The research, “Root-Knot Nematodes Produce Functional Mimics of Tyrosine-Sulfated Plant Peptides,” is published in the current edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
It's like hijacking plant development to facilitate parasitism, according to nematologist Shahid Siddique, an associate professor in the Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and one of the corresponding authors of this study. “This finding showcases an amazing case of convergent evolution across three different types of organisms, revealing how diverse life forms can develop similar strategies for survival.”
The root-knot nematode, which threatens global food security, is a small worm-like organism that is a highly evolved obligate parasite, or an organism that cannot survive without its host. It is known to infest some 2000 crops worldwide. “These parasites have a remarkable ability to establish elaborate feeding sites in roots, which are their only source of nutrients throughout their life cycle,” the authors wrote.
“Root-knot nematodes are a major threat to various crops, including fruit trees and vegetables,” Siddique said. “In California, tomatoes, almonds, and walnuts are among the major hosts susceptible to root-knot nematode infection.”
Siddique and UC Davis distinguished professor Pamela Ronald, a plant pathologist and geneticist in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, are the joint corresponding authors. Joint first-authors are Henok Zemene Yemer, formerly of the Siddique lab and now with Gingko Bioworks, Emeryville, and Dee Dee Lu of the Ronald lab.
The team also included emerita professor Valerie Williamson of the former Department of Nematology; Maria Florencia Ercoli, postdoctoral fellow in the Ronald lab; Alison Coomer Blundell, a doctoral candidate in the Siddique lab; and Paulo Vieira of the USDA's Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory, Beltsville, Md.
“Plant peptides containing sulfated tyrosine (PSY)-family peptides are peptide hormones that promote root growth via cell expansion and proliferation,” the authors explained. “A PSY-like peptide produced by a bacterial pathogen has been shown to contribute to bacterial virulence. Here, we discovered that PSY-like peptides are encoded by a group of plant-parasitic nematodes known as root-knot nematodes. These nematode-encoded PSY mimics facilitate the establishment of parasitism in the host plant. Our findings are an example of a functional plant peptide mimic encoded by a phytopathogenic bacterium (prokaryote) and a plant-parasitic nematode (an animal).”
The research involved gene expression analysis and parasitism of tomato and rice plants.
The project drew financial support from a collaborative grant awarded to Siddique and Ronald from the National Science Foundation's Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.
Siddique, a member of the UC Davis faculty since 2019, focuses his research on basic as well as applied aspects of interaction between parasitic nematodes and their host plants. “The long-term object of our research is not only to enhance our understanding of molecular aspects of plant–nematode interaction but also to use this knowledge to provide new resources for reducing the impact of nematodes on crop plants in California.”
Ronald, noted for her innovative work in crop genetics, especially rice, is recognized for her research in infectious disease biology and environmental stress tolerance. Thomson Reuters named her one of the world's most influential scientific minds and Scientfic American recognized her as among the world's 100 most influential people in biotechnology. In 2022 Ronald received the Wolf Prize in Agriculture.
The next steps? “Currently, we are working to understand the mechanism by which these peptides contribute to the nematode infection,” Siddique said. “This entails the characterization of receptors involved and gaining insights into transcriptional changes.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Students of UC Davis Distinguished Professor James R. Carey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology recently swept all three awards in the 2023 Norma J. Lang Prize for Undergraduate Information Research in the category of Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM).
Carey, praised for his innovative teaching and writing approaches, each year encourages his students to submit their term papers, work accomplished in his classes, in the Lang Prize competition. Carey students are frequent winners, but this is the first year his students swept all three awards in the SEM category. Since 2020, a Carey student has won eight of the 13 awards, including four consecutive first-place SEM awards.
The Lang Prize, launched in 2017 to encourage the use of library resources and to reward the best research papers, memorializes Norma J. Lang (1931-2015), professor emerita of botany, who taught at UC Davis from 1963 to 1991.
This year's SEM winners are Jenna Schafer, first place with a $1000 prize; Sarah Shores, second, $750; and Neha Gondra, third, $500. Maram Saada, a former student in Carey's longevity class who won the 2022 first-place SEM award, also won this year's Arts, Humanity and Social Sciences (AHSS) category.
Jenna Schafer, First Place
Schafer's winning SEM category paper, “Timeout with Torpor: History, Biology and Future Medical Applications of a Survival Strategy,” was a research project for the Entomology 199 course (Special Study): Hibernation Writing Project. Her 19-page paper included a summary, introduction, background, history, synthetic torpor induction, medical applications, discussion and literature cited.
In her summary, Schafer wrote: “As human lifespans increase, technological advances push forward to continue this trend, and human torpor has entered the discussion as a mode to improve longevity, especially by reducing patient mortality. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize literature regarding humanity's history with hibernation, to discuss potential methods to induce torpor in humans, and to determine if there may be an ethical future for this historical survival mechanism in modern medicine to increase patient longevity.”
Reflecting on the project, Schafer noted: “When I joined Dr. Carey's Hibernation Writing Project, I was assigned the topic ‘Human Torpor: Historical, Accidental, and Medical.' I started the research process under the false pretense that I could simply skip over the background-gathering phase since I already had a topic. While I have written research papers in the past, none have been quite as robust as this project, and it turned into an extremely rewarding learning experience, but I soon realized how important background information is to understand what terms to use and how to piece them together for effective searching. Suffice it to say, my search strategies evolved continuously throughout this project as I gained more skills and a deeper understanding of the search tools I am privileged to have at my disposal as a UC Davis student.”
Shores submitted her paper on “Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome: Differences of Sex Development.”
“The development of biological sex is a complex process involving the interaction of chromosomes, gonads, and hormones,” Shores wrote in her summary. “Within these processes, differences/disorders of sex development can occur, which can result in an individual's chromosomes not aligning with their external/internal genitalia and/or gonads. One of these disorders is androgen insensitivity syndrome, an XY disorder of sex development that occurs during fetal development where the androgens required to develop the male internal and external genitalia goes undetected or partially undetected, resulting in and individual having XY sex chromosomes and female, ambiguous, or male external genitalia, depending on the severity of androgen insensitivity. This condition is not always identified at birth, but individuals with this condition are expected to have a normal lifespan.”
Reflecting on the paper, Shores said she wrote it in the fall quarter of 2022 as a term paper for Carey's longevity class. “The term paper was assigned in the beginning of the quarter to provide students the opportunity to practice skills related to researching and writing scientific research papers. The topic could be of the student's choosing so as long it was related to longevity and/or health. Immediately I knew that I wanted to write about an intersex condition since as a congenital disorder, it can encompass both health and life span.” She said she consulted Carey about the “relevance of my topic…as well as the general structure.”
Neha Gondra's third-place paper, Evaluating the Influence of the Mediterranean Diet on Reducing Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Obese Individuals, dealt with obesity.
“Obesity affects a significant proportion of the United States adult population,” she wrote in defining the purpose of the paper. “With the condition of obesity comes an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, among others. Adherence to healthy diets is recommended by healthcare providers to reduce weight loss and CVD risk through the consumption of essential nutrients. The Mediterranean Diet and reduced caloric intake of the Standard American Diet (SAD) are often followed by those who are overweight or obese to reduce weight and promote health.”
Gondra reflected that she wanted “to evaluate the influence of the Mediterranean diet on reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese individuals. But I had neither conducted a literature review before nor knew the guidelines for doing so. I greatly utilized a guidebook from the UC Davis Library by Helen Aveyaard titled ‘Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care.' I crafted a basic skeleton for my review from this book's advice. But to start with, I needed to begin reviewing primary and secondary research to create a research matrix and annotated bibliography, synthesizing information from multiple sources.”
In summarizing her work, Gondra said: “…seemed to be no significant difference between reduction of CVD risk due to the Mediterranean Diet and due to calorie restriction in SAD. Both methods seemed to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood but quantitatively, the reduction of such levels was low. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet was found to be inversely associated with CVD risk factor occurrence. Further clinical research needs to be conducted with larger sample sizes and effectively evaluating whether obese patients originally consuming SAD are better off with adhering in higher level to the Mediterranean Diet or reducing caloric intake in their existing diet.”
Arts, Humanity and Social Sciences
In the Arts, Humanity and Social Sciences category, Maram Saada won with her paper, “Beyond One-Course Competency for Addressing the Challenges of Multicultural Education and Advocacy in CSUs.” Second place went to Mikayli Moore, for her “Female Weightlifters' Presentation of Gender on Instagram.” Kiara Kunnes scored third with her paper, “Does the Nigerian Government's Response to Violent Conflict Exacerbate Civilians' Fear?”
UC Davis Distinguished Professor James R. Carey, a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1980 and an international award-winning teacher, instructs his students how to research topics, use style sheets, and structure documents.
His peers have singled him out for numerous awards, including the 2015 Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award from the Entomological Society of America; and the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate, given to internationally recognized professors who excel at teaching. Carey is globally recognized for his research in insect demography, mortality dynamics, and insect invasion biology.
Carey tells his students that they need to consider their research term paper requirement, not as merely "a writing assignment," but as "a production concept" involving a number of writing concepts and components:
- Writing video series. Carey \mandates that all his students view the 13-part video playlist he produced titled “How to Write a Research Term Paper.” The playlist—viewing time totals about an hour--covers technical aspects of term paper production, including best practices in word processing and typography as well as ethical writing (no plagiarism), researching, framing, drafting, editing, proofing and finalizing (Writing Instruction Playlist).
- Model papers. Just as all researchers can view example papers in journals, students also need models, too, Carey believes. He posts a term paper example, mocked up from his own writing, as well as links to all the award-winning student papers in the Lang Prize competition and such UC Davis student publications as Prized Writing and Aggie Transcripts.
- Technical fluency. Carey requires all students to learn best practices in both typography and word processing. Students must use exact 15-point spacing (not single or double), 11-point California FB typeface (not Times Roman), 1.5-inch page margins (for shorter lines) and, using style sheet tools, must create four formatting codes that cover 98 percent of the formatting—heading level 1, subheading level 2, body text and hanging paragraph. Submitted papers are not only technically uniform, but also possess an aesthetic beauty that Carey feels either consciously or sub-consciously inspires students to take pride of ownership that carries over to their efforts in other aspects of their paper. Carey requires his students to read and follow Butterick's Practical Typography.
Storytelling. Carey stresses storytelling as the overarching, unifying concept for writing a term paper, the basics of which are that the story must have structure (a beginning, a middle and an end), a voice (the student's) and character development (main theme or thread). The process of story development is inextricably linked to their paper development; once the story begins to form in a student's head and then on paper, the narrative flows more clearly, succinctly and with much less effort than a paper containing information “dumps.” - Writing and editing. Although Carey emphasizes the importance of producing clear, succinct and technically correct prose, he tells his students that this is only a part of the larger process concerned with a paper's structure and congruency.
Here are the first-place SEM winners from the Carey classrooms since 2020:
- 2020: Jessica Macaluso “The Biological Basis for Alzheimer's Disease.”
- 2021: Barry Nguyen, “Allostasis: The Fundamental Biology and Implications for Social Standing and Longevity.”
- 2022: Maram Saada, “Huntington's Disease: Etiology, Research Models and Treatment.”
- 2023: Jenna Schafer, "Timeout with Torpor: History, Biology and Future Medical Applications of a Survival Strategy."
Resources:
- How to Apply for Lang Prize
- Lang Prize Website by Kristin Burns, digital communications manager, UC Davis Library
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Doctoral student Ching-Jung Lin of the laboratory of nematologist Shahid Siddique, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the recipient of a two-year, $32,000 Ministry of Education Taiwan Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (GSSA).
The scholarships are awarded to young Taiwanese doctoral students in various fields to support their research.
Lin enrolled in the UC Davis plant pathology doctoral program, with a designated emphasis in biotechnology, in 2020. In the Siddique lab, she is working on nematode transformation and nematode-induced plant immunity.
Lin received her bachelor's degree in agronomy in 2015 from the National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, and her master's degree in plant biology in 2018 from National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Her master's research, in the lab of Chiu-Ping Cheng, involved the study of tomato innate immunity mediated by bacterial-wilt-associated QTL (quantitative trait locus) genes. Before joining the Siddique lab, she was a research assistant in the lab of Erh-Min Lai of Academic Sinica, where she studied Agrobacterium-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis.
“I am fascinated by plant-microbe interaction,” Lin says. ‘Currently I am interested in the development of functional genetic tools in plant-parasitic nematodes and the characterization of nematode-induced plant immunity.
A frequent presenter at conferences, Lin presented her research at the 2023 Bay Area Worm meeting at UC Davis; the 2019 International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI) Congress in Glasgow, and at several Taiwanese conferences. She will compete in a 12-minute presentation competition at the 62nd annual Society of Nematologists' meeting, to be held July 9-14 at The Ohio State University, Columbus. She received a $600 Bayer Crop Science Student Travel Award to attend the conference.
Lin also presented at the 2019 at International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI) Congress in Glasgow, and at several Taiwanese conferences.
Plant-parasitic nematodes are destructive pests causing losses of billions of dollars annually. Siddique says the research in his lab “focuses on elucidating interactions between plant parasitic nematodes and their hosts using molecular and applied methodologies.”
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
"I am pleased Joanna Chiu has been appointed as the chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology," said Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "She is an outstanding scholar and teacher with demonstrated leadership skills. I look forward to watching Professor Chiu thrive in her new role as chair and seeing the department continue to flourish.”
The new vice chair is community ecologist and associate professor Rachel Vannette, and the new Entomology Graduate Program chair, replacing Chiu, is community ecologist and professor Louie Yang.
Other women scientists who have chaired the department: Professor Diane Ullman, 2004-05, and interim chair, Lynn Kimsey, 2008-09.
Chiu joined the Department of Entomology and Nematology in 2010 as an assistant professor, and advanced to associate professor and vice chair in 2016, and to professor and vice chair in 2021. She was named one of 10 UC Davis Chancellor's Fellows in 2019, a five-year honor awarded to associate professors who excel in research and teaching. The UC Davis Academic Senate honored her with a Distinguished Teaching Award, Graduate/Professional category, in 2022. She most recently received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research.
Chiu co-founded and co-directs (with professors Jay Rosenheim and Louie Yang) the campuswide Research Scholars Program in Insect Biology, launched in 2011 to provide undergraduates with a closely mentored research experience in biology. The program's goal is to provide academically strong and highly motivated undergraduates with a multi-year research experience that cultivates skills that will prepare them for a career in biological research.
A native of Hong Kong and a first-generation college student, Joanna received her bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in biology and music from Mount Holyoke College, Mass., and her doctorate in molecular genetics in 2004 from New York University, New York. She trained as a postdoctoral fellow from 2004 to 2010 in molecular chronobiology at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Her postdoctoral training was funded by an NIH F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award postdoctoral fellowship and K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
"I grew up not knowing any scientists,” she related. “Both my parents work in the financial industry and neither went to college. However, my dad loves the outdoors and my childhood memories includes snorkeling with my dad and siblings, hiking in the very limited outdoors in my native Hong Kong, and watching a lot of National Geographic on TV. As a result, I have always been curious about biology, especially animal behavior. I really hoped to study biology in college. My parents, on the other hand, wanted me to be a doctor."
Vannette joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in 2015 after serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University's biology department. As a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow from 2011 to 2015, she examined the role of nectar chemistry in community assembly of yeasts and plant-pollinator interactions.
Yang, a native of Australia, but who grew up in West Virginia, received his bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University, magna cum laude, in 1999, and a doctorate in population biology from UC Davis in 2006. He received the University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship to train with Professor Jonathan Levine (UCSB) and Professor Mary Power (UCB). He joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology as an assistant professor in 2008, advanced to associate professor in June 2015, and to professor in July 2021. Yang is highly regarded for his research and mentoring. He received the 2017 Eleanor and Harry Walker Academic Advising Award, the 2018 NACADA international Outstanding Faculty Academic Advising Award, and the 2023 Distinction in Student Mentoring Award from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America.
The Department of Entomology at UC Davis began as an offshoot of the Department of Entomology and Parasitology at UC Berkeley and the two were closely entwined for more than 50 years before the UC Davis Department of Entomology became autonomous on July 1, 1963. The department now has 24 faculty, plus a lecturer.
UC Davis offered a two-year non-degree program in entomology, beginning in 1913. The first degree in entomology provided at UC Davis was in 1923-24 at which time Stanley B. Freeborn (for whom Freeborn hall was named) was transferred from UC Berkeley to UC Davis to head the program. (See https://entomology.ucdavis.edu/entomology-history)
The UC Davis Department of Nematology officially joined the Department of Entomology on May 28, 2013.
