Geoffrey Attardo, seminar coordinator

All will take place from 4:10 to 5 p.m., Wednesdays in 122 Briggs Hall.

The seminars:

Wednesday, Jan. 9
Brian Gress, postdoctoral fellow in the Frank Zalom lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: "Host Selection and Resistance Evolution in Drosophila suzukii"
Host: Frank Zalom, distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, Jan. 16
No seminar today.  (Seminar by Sarah Stellwagen, postdoctoral researcher, University of Maryland
will present her previously scheduled seminar on “Toward Spider Glue: From Material Properties to Sequencing the Longest Silk Family Gene” on April 24.)

Wednesday, Jan. 23
Jenita Thinakaran,  UC Davis postdoctoral researcher based at the Shafter Agricultural Research Station
Title: "A Systems Approach to Managing Potato Psyllid in Relation to Its Alternate Hosts"
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, Jan. 30:
Laura Burkle, assistant professor of ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman
Topic: Wild bees, interactions with flowers
Hosts: Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, professor of entomology, and Maureen Page, doctoral student in the Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, Feb. 6
Alan Hastings, theoretical ecologist and distinguished professor, UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy
Title: "Stochasticity and Spatial Population Dynamics"
Host: Hanna Kahl, doctoral student in the Jay Rosenheim lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, Feb. 13
Antoine Abrieux, postdoctoral fellow, Joanna Chiu lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: "Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms underlying Photoperiodic Time Measurement in Drosophila melanogaster"
Host: Joanna Chiu, associate professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, Feb. 20:
Alexander Raikhel, distinguished professor, UC Riverside
Title: "The Role of Hormone Receptors and MicroRNAs in Mosquito Reproduction and Metabolism"
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematolgoy

Wednesday, Feb. 27:
Lauren Esposito, faculty member, San Francisco State University, and assistant curator and Schlinger Chair of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences
Title: "Evolution of New World Scorpions and Their Venom"
Host: Jason Bond, Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, March 6:
Monika Gulia-Nuss, assistant professor, biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Nevada, Reno
Topic: DNA Methylation in Ticks
Host: Geoffrey Attardo, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Wednesday, March 13:
Stephen "Fringy" Richards, associate professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Human Genome Sequencing Center.
Topic: "Evolutionary Genomic Innovation Within the Phylum Arthropoda"
Host: Steve Nadler, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology

Spring Break: March 20-27

For further information on the seminars, contact Geoffrey Attardo at gmattardo@ucdavis.edu. 

Racing back to his starting line, water warrior Bruce Hammock ducks from tossed balloons. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Water balloons, water guns, super sprayers, and buckets prevailed when dozens of scientists participated in the 15th annual Bruce Hammock Lab Water Balloon Battle on the Briggs Hall lawn at the University of California, Davis.

The July event, also known as "Bruce's Big Balloon Battle at Briggs," proved to be an international soakfest. That's because the 28 researchers in the Hammock lab hail from seven countries: the United Stares, China, France, Ukraine, Lebanon, Japan and Korea. They include postdoctoral scholars, researchers, graduate students, visiting scholars, visiting graduate students, visiting summer students, short-term visiting scholars and student interns.  

The annual battle amounts to 15 minutes, or "15 Minutes of Aim." That's how long it takes for the some 40 water warriors to toss 2,000 water balloons. Joining in were scientists from the Aldrin Gomes lab, UC Davis Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior; Frank Zalom lab of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; and the UC Davis Department of Mathematics, plus family and friends.

Hammock, a UC Davis distinguished professor who holds a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, hosts the annual event in mid-July when triple-digit temperatures strike the campus. It's an opportunity for the lab members--who work hard throughout the year and play hard for 15 minutes--to engage in a little fun and camaraderie. The thirsty lawn benefits, too.

First the water warriors fill the balloons in an assemblyline procedure, and at exactly 3 p.m., the soakfest begins. As the H₂O dwindles, they empty buckets at unsuspecting targets. The last part: picking up every single balloon remnant from the lawn.

Hammock, trained as a entomologist, chemist and toxicologist--and who now focuses his research on human health, is recognized for his work on using natural chemical mediators to control inflammation and intractable pain. He co-discovered the soluble epoxide hydrolase, and many of his more than 1100 publications and patents are on the P450 branch of the arachidonate cascade where the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) degrades natural analgesic and anti-inflammatory compounds.  

Hammock, an alumnus of UC Berkeley with a doctorate in entomology, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1980. He is the founding director (1987-present) of the UC Davis NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) Superfund Research Program and is a founding member (1990-present) of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has directed the UC Davis NIH/NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory for 25 years.

Highly honored by his peers, Hammock is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, which honors academic invention and encourages translations of inventions to benefit society. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Entomological Society of America, and the recipient of the Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism, sponsored by the America Society for Pharmacology and  Experimental Therapeutics. He is the first McGiff Memorial Awardee in Lipid Biochemistry. The Eicosanoid Research Foundation recently honored him for work on oxidized lipids.

But on one day in July--for 15 minutes--noted academician Bruce Hammock leaves his Briggs Hall office and transforms into an elite water warrior. He's practiced for 15 years, 15 minutes at a time.

"Bruce has a good aim," said Christophe Morisseau, a Hammock lab researcher who coordinates the annual battles.

Doctoral candidate Ziad Khouri shows insect specimens at the Bohart Museum of Entomology to 2016 UC Davis Picnic Day attendee Andrea Gudino of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two of the department's exhibits are in the running for special awards at the 103rd annual UC Davis Picnic Day, set Saturday, April 22. One is “Honey Tasting” at Briggs Hall, and the other is “Bigger, Better, Buglier: Impressive Science” at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. 

“Honey Tasting" will feature a selection of varietal honeys in a display that's the work of Extension apiculturist Elina Niño and colleagues at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Facility.

"We will have the crowd favorites: coffee blossom, sweet meadowfoam, as well as some classics such as orange blossom and blackberry blossom and the 'love-it-or-hate-it' buckwheat honey," Niño said. "This year we will also be featuring our own 2016 crop of UC Davis honey from the apiculture program." The exhibit is one of six competing for awards in the category, "Hunger Fix.”

“Bigger, Better, Buglier: Impressive Science” from the Bohart Museum  is one of six entered in "Secrets of Nature." The insect museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. It is the  home of nearly 8 million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and taranatulas) and a year-around gift shop that includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.

The department's two exhibits are among 30 special exhibits competing in five categories: Best in Show, Fun with Crafts, Arts and Humanities, Hunger Fix and Secrets of Nature, said UC Davis Picnic Day exhibits director Helen Xie.

The way it works: Picnic Day attendees vote for their favorite exhibits. Winning exhibits will be featured on social media pages such as Picnic Day website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts after Picnic Day. They will also be featured next year, in preparation for Picnic Day 2018.  

The poll will open at 8 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. the same day. All are welcome to vote at: https://orgsync.com/51524/forms/258052.

Last year the department won two special awards. By popular vote, "Little Swimmers and Fly Tyers (Briggs Hall)," won the category, Hidden Treasures; and "Real Insects and Mimics" (Bohart Museum of Entomology) won the category "Family Friendly."

This year's Briggs Hall activities will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Bohart Museum of Entomology will swing open its doors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Graduate student Brendon Boudinot, who is chairing the department's Picnic Day Committee, announced these activities at Briggs:

• Honey Tasting (You can sample varietals of honey)
• Bug Doctor (The doctor is in!)
• Cockroach Races (Pick a winner: this event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
• Scavenger Hunt (Do you know your insects?)
• Dr. Death (Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will answer your questions)
• Insect Face Painting (Get a bee, lady beetle or another insect painted on your face)
• Little Swimmers and Fly Tying (Watch and identify aquatic insects, a project from the Sharon Lawler lab, and learn "how to tie a fly" from the Fly Fishers of Davis
• Maggot Art (Dip a maggot into a water-based, non-toxic paint and create a painting suitable for framing)
• UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM)  (See their many publications and ask questions; youngsters can receive a vial of free lady beetles, aka ladybugs)
• T-shirt sales by the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (popular t-shirts include beetles and honey bees)
• Social insects, insect forestry, medical entomology, and more (See a honey bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and ants from the Phil Ward lab; and also learn about forest insects and mosquitoes. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District will staff a booth)

The nematology collection will be on display in the Sciences Laboratory Building, across from Briggs.

Theme of this year's campuswide Picnic Day is "Growing Together." The event gets underway at  9:30 a.m. with an opening ceremony by the grandstands on North Quad Ave., across from Wickson Hall. The parade starts at 10 a.m. from the same site. Announcement locations are at 2nd and D streets in downtown Davis; F Street in front of PDQ Fingerprinting, and 3rd and C streets in downtown Davis. The UC Davis Entomology Club, advised by forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, will enter its popular black widow float.

The schedule can be downloaded from the campus website.