- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Noted entomologist and UC Davis doctoral alumnus Michael Hoffmann, an emeritus professor at Cornell University known for his advocacy of climate change literacy and the relationship between food and climate change, plus his leadership activities and biological control projects, will deliver the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar on Monday, Oct. 9 in the Student Community Center, UC Davis.
The Leigh seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, annually honors distinguished alumni. Hoffmann was selected the 2020 recipient, but the COVID pandemic intervened. This is first seminar since the beginning of COVID pandemic.
Hoffmann will present his lecture from 4 to 5 p.m., in Room D, second floor of the Student Community Center. It is free and open to the public and no reservations are required.
An invitational reception and buffet dinner will follow in the Student Community Center.
Hoffmann, who received his doctorate in entomology in 1990 from UC Davis, studying with Professor Ted Wilson and later Professor Frank Zalom, will present the seminar on “Our Changing Menu--Climate Change and the Foods We Love and Need,” the title of a book he co-authored with Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, and Danielle Eiseman in April, 2021.
The co-authors "offer an eye-opening journey through a complete menu of before-dinner drinks and salads; main courses and sides; and coffee and dessert. Along the way they examine the escalating changes occurring to the flavors of spices and teas, the yields of wheat, the vitamins in rice, and the price of vanilla." They round out their story "with a primer on the global food system, the causes and impacts of climate change, and what we can all do. Our Changing Menu is a celebration of food and a call to action?encouraging readers to join with others from the common ground of food to help tackle the greatest challenge of our time."
Hoffmann transitioned to emeritus in January 2020 after 30 years at Cornell, but remains active. Serving as executive director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (2015-2020), he continues to provides visionary leadership, communicates to a wide range of audiences the challenges and opportunities that come with a changing climate, and builds partnerships among public and private organizations.
Hoffmann's leadership activities include co-chairing the President's Sustainable Campus Committee and helping to lead a climate change literacy initiative for students, staff, and faculty. He dedicates his time toward what he calls “the grand challenge of climate change and (to) help people understand and appreciate what is happening through food.” Effectively communicating about climate change, Hoffmann presented a TEDX talk in 2014 on “Climate Change: It's Time to Raise Our Voices” that drew widespread attention.
A native of Wisconsin, Hoffmann holds a bachelor of science degree (1975) from the University of Wisconsin, and his master's degree from the University of Arizona (1978). He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971, achieving the rank of sergeant.
UC Davis Experiences. Hoffmann remembers well his experiences at UC Davis. “I was privileged to work with many dedicated faculty in entomology and several other departments.”
After receiving his doctorate at UC Davis, Hoffmann joined the faculty of Cornell in 1990 as an assistant professor, with 60 percent Extension and 40 percent research duties, and advanced to associate professor in 1996, and professor in 2003. His academic career focused on administrative endeavors (80 percent) beginning in 1999.
Hoffmann's career at Cornell included serving as associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, director of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, and director of the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program. He helped initiate a leadership and professional development week-long program that benefited more than 400 faculty at Cornell and beyond.
Prior to his administrative duties, he worked to develop and implement cost-effective and environmentally sensitive tactics for management of insect pests. He emphasized biological control, development and application of insect behavior modifying chemicals, and novel control tactics, all in an integrated pest management (IPM) context. Much of his research and Extension programming was multi-state and multidisciplinary in nature.
Among his entomological achievements, he
- Developed unique, cost-effective and environmentally benign biological control tactics for insect pest of sweet corn, peppers and potatoes, and presented wide scale demonstrations on conventional and organic farms in New York, Virginia, Massachusetts and Canada.
- Published the first popular guide to beneficial insects (64 pages, with more than 5,000 copies distributed)
- Developed patented unique fiber barrier technology for pest control
His publication record includes 105 refereed journal articles, nine book chapters, and three books.
Leigh Seminar. The Leigh seminar memorializes cotton entomologist Thomas Frances Leigh (1923-1993), an international authority on the biology, ecology and management of arthropod pests affecting cotton production. During his 37-year UC Davis career, Leigh was based at the Shafter Research and Extension Center, also known as the U.S. Cotton Research Station. He researched pest and beneficial arthropod management in cotton fields, and host plant resistance in cotton to insects, mites, nematodes and diseases. In his memory, his family and associates set up the Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar Entomology Fund at the UC Davis Department of Entomology. When his wife, Nina, passed in 2002, the alumni seminar became known as the Thomas and Nina Distinguished Alumni Seminar.
Leigh joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1958, retiring in 1991 as an emeritus professor, but he continued to remain active in his research and collaboration until his death on Oct. 26, 1993. The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America awarded him the C. F. Woodworth Award for outstanding service to entomology in 1991.
Resources:
'Our Changing Menu': Warming Climate Serves Up Meal Remake" Cornell

- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
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The seminars, coordinated by community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, are held on Wednesdays from 4:10 to 5 p.m.
The schedule:
Wednesday, April 1
Javier Ceja-Navarro, research scientist, Biological Systems and Engineering, Biosciences, Berkeley
Topic: (He researches multitrophic interactions in ecosystems such as digestive tracts of insects and soil)
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, April 8
Reginald “Rex” Cocroft, professor of biology, University of Missouri
Topic: (He researches plants as receivers of insect sound and vibration)
Host: Rick Karban, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar (to be determined)
Michael Hoffmann, emeritus professor, Cornell University
Topic: “Our Changing Menu: What Climate Change Means to the Foods We Love and Need”
Host: Steve Nadler, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, April 22
(To be announced)
Wednesday, April 29
Dhruba Naug, professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Colorado State University
Topic: (He combines his interests in behavioral and cognitive ecology to understand the functioning of individuals and social groups. His research involves experimental work in behavior and physiology complemented by approaches based on individual based modeling.)
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 6
Xianhui "Nitrol" Liu, Joanna Chiu lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: Exit seminar (title pending)
Host: Joanna Chiu, associate professor and vice chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 13
Andre Kessler, chemical ecologist and professor Cornell University
Topic: (He is chemical ecologist whose research focuses on the mechanisms, ecological consequences and the evolution of plant induced responses to herbivore damage)
Host: Rick Karban, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 20
Shalene Jha, University of Texas, Austin
Topic: "Plant-Insect Interactions in the Face of Global Change"
Host: Charlie Nicholson, Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, May 27
Rebecca Godwin, doctoral candidate, Jason Bond lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: Exit seminar (title pending)
Host: Jason Bond, Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, June 3
Esther Ngumbi, assistant professor of entomology and African-American studies, University of Illinois
Topic: (Pending)
Host: Elvira DeLange, Christian Nansen Lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
For more information, contact Rachel Vannette at rlvannette@ucdavis.edu. The winter seminars just concluded.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Paine is widely recognized for his work in landscape and forest entomology, and the integrated pest management of woody ornamentals. His research has developed successful biological control projects and explored the biology and ecology of invasive pests and their interactions with other species.
His primary research focus is "to develop a better understanding of the biology and ecology of the herbivorous insects through studies of their interactions with host plants, competitors, and natural enemies, and determine the influence of environmental stress on those interactions."
Born in Delano, Calif., Paine is a 1973 graduate of UC Davis, with bachelor degrees in history and entomology. He received his doctorate in entomology in 1981 from UC Davis under tutelage of Martin Birch. Paine then completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Arkansas in Fred Stephens' lab. In 1986, he returned to California and became an assistant professor at UC Riverside, and advanced to associate professor in 1992, and full professor in 1995.
Paine has written more than 200 refereed journal publications, book chapters, proceedings, technical papers, and edited two books. Since becoming a member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in 1975, he has received many honors including the Recognition Award in Urban Entomology (1999), the Distinguished Achievement Award in Horticultural Entomology (2009), and fellow (2006). He served as president of the Pacific Branch of ESA in 1999-2000. Paine was selected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2005. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, both from the ESA and UC Riverside.
The seminar memorializes prominent cotton entomologist Thomas Frances Leigh (1923-1993) and his wife, Nina Eremin Leigh (1929-2002). Tom Leigh was an international authority on the biology, ecology and management of arthropod pests affecting cotton production. During his 37-year UC Davis career, he was based at the Kern County Shafter Research and Extension Center, also known as the U.S. Cotton Research Station. He researched pest and beneficial arthropod management in cotton fields, and host plant resistance in cotton to insects, mites, nematodes and diseases.
Leigh joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1958, retiring in 1991 as an emeritus professor, but he continued to remain active in his research and collaboration until his death on Oct. 26, 1993. The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America awarded him the C. F. Woodworth Award for outstanding service to entomology in 1991.
