- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The live narrated video-seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology as part of its weekly spring seminars, is based on video and pictorial content that he and his wife, Patty, recorded during vacations or on weekend trips during his annual teaching stints on the African continent over the last seven years.
“Although I include some entomological context, the main purpose of my talk is to enlighten everyone who attends about the remarkable—and moderately priced—travel opportunities in eastern and southern Africa,” Carey said.
"We drove over 12,000 miles in Sub-Sahara Africa, mostly self drive, including visits to or safaris in 25 national parks and 11 Unesco World Heritage sites in Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Ethiopia, South Africa, Namibia, Congo, Swaziland, Lesotho and Tanzania," Carey said.
Carey will first set the stage with a brief overview of the African continent and follow with three parts:
Part 2: Natural wonders and sightseeing, centering on Table Mountain, Victoria Falls, Capes of Good Hope and Agulhas, Zanzibar, genocide and apartheid museums, livestock markets and a sudden flash flood.
Part 3: Indigenous cultures, covering singing fishermen of Lake Kivu, tribal peoples including Batwa pygmy, Hadza bushmen, Himba, Mursi and Dasenich tribes, and township tours of Langa and Soweto slums.
In his first African Odyssey presentation (standing-room only) to the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in April of 2015, Carey covered “African Odyssey: A Natural History and Cultural Journey Through Uganda, Namibia and Kenya.” Attendees praised it as “entertaining, innovative and fast moving.” (Watch presentation on YouTube.)
Carey received the 2015 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Entomological Society of America for his technological innovations, creativity and excellence in the UC system and beyond. He has taught video instruction methods for the 9-university Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, including Nairobi and Uganda for seven years.
Carey, a senior scholar in the Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley, focuses his research on insect demography, mortality dynamics, health span and aging. Considered a pioneer researcher in biodemography, he served as the lead author of a seminal paper showing that mortality slows at advanced ages in fruit flies. He co-discovered “Carey's Equality” (life lived equals life left in stationary populations). Carey and population biologist Deborah Roach of the University of Virginia are authors of a soon-to-be-published book Biodemography: An Introduction to Concepts and Methods (Princeton).
Carey, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980 after receiving his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley, directed the federally funded program, “Evolutionary Ecology of Lifespan,” from 2003 to 2012, with projects ranging from the evolutionary of aging and the biodemography of nematodes and fruit flies to the longevity of red deer and soay sheep in Scotland and the health span in the Tsimani people of Bolivia.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminars, coordinated by medical entomologist/assistant professor Geoffrey Attardo, will all take place at 4 p.m. every Wednesday in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, starting April 3 and ending June 5.
The schedule:
Wednesday, April 3
Alistair McGregor,
Topic: "Differences in Tartan Underlie the Evolution of Male Genital Morphology Between Drosophila species"
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, April 10
Monique Rivera, UC Riverside
Topic: "How Agriculture Influences the Structure of Belowground Communities
Host: Elvira de Lange, postdoctoral fellow, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology"
Wednesday, April 17
Bert Hölldobler, Arizona State University
Topic: "The Superorganism: Communication, Cooperation and Conflict in Ants Societies"
Host: Robert Page, distinguished emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and provost emeritus, Arizona State University
Wednesday, April 24
Sarah Stellwagen, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
Topic: "Towards Spider Glue: From Material Properties to Sequencing the Longest Silk Family Gene" (Link)
Hosts: Hanna Kahl, doctoral student in entomology, and Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 1
Andrew Nuss, University of Nevada, Reno
Topic: "Breaking Insecticide Resistance: Novel Strategies for Insect Pest Management"
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 8
Colin Orians, Tuffs University, Massachussetts
Topic: "Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change on Tea Agroecosystems in China"
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 15
Erin Wilson-Rankin, UC Riverside
Topic: "Ecological Factors Underlying Diet Shifts in California Pollinators"
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 22
James R. Carey, distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "African Odyssey: Natural Wonders, Wildlife Adventures, and Indigenous Peoples"
Wednesday, May 29
Laurence Packer, York University, Canada
Topic: "Extreme Bees in Extreme Environments: Bee Biogeography in the Atacama Desert"
Hosts: Leslie Saul-Gershenz, associate director of research, Wild Energy Initiative, John Muir Institute of the Environment, UC Davis, and Steve Nadler, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, June 5
Immo Hansen, New Mexico State University
Topic: "Toward Implementation of Mosquito Sterile Insect Technique"
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
More information is available from Attardo at gmattardo@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--The African country of Namibia, one of the least densely populated countries in the world, should be on everyone's bucket list, says Distinguished Professor James R. Carey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who will give a special presentation on “African Odyssey: A Natural History and Cultural Journey Through Uganda, Namibia and Kenya” on Wednesday, May 6 on the UC Davis campus.
Carey's highly produced, digitally-sophisticated production will include photographs, video and audio of wildlife, people and places that he and his wife, Patty, experienced while traveling in three African countries.
The presentation, open to all interested persons, will be from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall. Sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, it will be video-recorded and posted on the Internet for later viewing.
Carey, who received the 2015 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America (PBESA) for his technological innovations, creativity and excellence in the UC system and beyond, has taught video instruction methods for the 9-university Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, including Nairobi, Kampala and Uganda for several years.
"Africa is a cultural and natural history treasure trove that far exceeded our expectations on all of our road trips through several countries,” Carey said. “One of the continent's best kept secrets is the country of Namibia in the southwest with its stunning beauty, friendly people, impressive roads and national parks teaming with wildlife. It is on few people's bucket list of places to visit---but it should be at the top of the list for Africa."
The presentation will include includes material from their 2,000 mile road trip in Uganda (2014) to see the critically endangered mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the Batwa Pigmys in Mgahinga National Park, chimpanzees at the Budongo Field Station, and wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park (Nile headwaters).
Their 1,800 mile road trip around Namibia (2015) included safaris in Etosha National Park, an overland expedition to see the desert elephants in Twyfelfontein, a drive along the Skeleton Coast, a walk through the world's largest fur seal colony at Cape Cross, a kayak adventure among swimming seals in Walvis Bay, guided tours through Himba and Damara tribal villages, and a trek along the crest of the world's second highest sand dune (Sossusvlei's Big Daddy).
He also will engage his audience with the sights and sounds of the fog-harvesting Namib Desert beetle, the “click language” of bushmen, ancient petroglyphs, and the professional Safari Cats Dancers & Acrobats from Nairobi.
Professor Carey videographed the trip, while his wife Patty and sister-in-law Barbara Brown captured the still photographs.
Namibia, a former Germany colony, is named for the Naimb Desert, considered the oldest desert in the world. Namibia's population is 2.1 million.
Carey last year received the 2014 Distinguished Teaching Award from the UC Davis Academic Senate, an honor given to internationally recognized professors who excel at teaching.
