Michael Hoffmann has been selected to deliver the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar

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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.

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 26 will feature six “Faculty Flash Talks.”

The seminar, set from 4:10 to 5 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, will include Joanna Chiu, Jason Bond, Geoffrey Attardo, Rachel  Vannette, Julia Fine, and Arathi Seshadri.

Associate professor Joanna Chiu, vice chair of the department, will present “results from a project in which we study the mechanisms by which insects sense environmental changes (temperature and photoperiod) to regulate their seasonal physiology. Our lab has identified a protein that can track seasonal changes in temperature and photoperiod to promote winter physiology. Without this protein, insects don't know winter is coming!”

Her laboratory research interests include molecular genetics of animal behavior, Circadian rhythm biology, and posttranslational regulation of proteins.

Capsule information:

Jason Bond, Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics, is a global expert on spiders. His research interests include systematics, taxonomy, and evolution of terrestrial arthropods with an emphasis on arachnids and myriapods. "We employ molecular, morphological, and ecological approaches to study questions related to evolutionary diversification at multiple hierarchical levels (populations – higher taxa)," he says. (See recent grant.)

Geoffrey Attardo, a medical entomologist/geneticist, focuses his research on insect disease vectors, insect reproduction, vector/parasite interactions, reproductive physiology, male seminal secretions, symbiosis, lactation, nutrition, lipid metabolism, transcriptional regulation, comparative genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. His research on tsetse flies was recently featured on KQED's Deep Look (see news story on Deep Look). (See news story on landmark research.)

Rachel Vannette, community ecologist and assistant professor who coordinates the department's seminars, says: "All plants are colonized by microorganisms that influence plant traits and interactions with other species, including insects that consume or pollinate plants. I am interested in the basic and applied aspects of microbial contributions to the interaction between plants and insects. I also use these systems to answer basic ecological questions, such as what mechanisms influence plant biodiversity and trait evolution." (See recent research)

Arathi Seshadri and Julia Fine, who recently joined the USDA-ARS lab on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis, aim to improve honey bee survival and beekeeping sustainability in California and nationwide. They collaborate with federal, university, non-governmental and industry partners. (See news story on opening of the facility.) 

Seshadri, a pollination biologist with expertise in honey bee behavior and plant reproductive strategies, is working with beekeepers and farmer stakeholders to develop projects aimed at finding solutions to the ongoing pollination challenges. Also trained as an evolutionary biologist, she has applied principles of plant-pollinator mutualism, specifically the impact of phytochemicals in pollen and nectar on honey bee health and colony performance. Her contributions to pollinator conservation include enhancing the sustainability of all pollinators, including native bees on farms and urban areas. She also has expertise in agroecosystem-based approaches and citizen science programs to promote pollinator diversity and abundance.

Fine, an entomologist with expertise in insect toxicology, honey bee physiology, reproduction and development, focuses her research on identifying how stressors impact honey bee behavior, health and fecundity. She uses both established and novel laboratory techniques. Her previous projects involved investigating how agrochemical and viral stressors interact to affect the development and survival of honey bee brood and how nutritional stress affects honey bee queen fecundity. In engaging with beekeepers and growers, Fine is researching how realistic biotic and abiotic stressors affect honey bee reproduction, longevity and pollination services, and she is identifying techniques and strategies to overcome these effects.

The seminar is open to all interested persons. For more information, contact Vannette at rlvannette@ucdavis.edu.

Karen Menuz, first speaker

Karen Menuz, assistant professor, Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, will be the first speaker in the UC Davis Department of Entomology's winter quarter seminars.

Menuz will speak on "Molecular Basis of Insect Olfaction" at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 8 in 122 Briggs Hall. Host is chemical ecologist Walter Leal, distinguished professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a former chair of the entomology department.

Her abstract: "Development of new insect control measures will require the discovery of novel molecular targets that can alter their olfactory capabilities. The past two decades have witnessed an explosion of research on the two insect odor receptor families, but nearly all odor receptors are poorly conserved. Therefore, my research focuses on molecules that are likely to play critical roles in olfaction in distantly related insect species. Recently, we have found that Amt/Rh ammonia transporters are essential for the sensing of ammonia, an odor released by humans and attractive to insect vectors of disease and other insects. These transporters are highly conserved and are expressed in the antennal transcriptomes of all insect species examined. To identify additional genes that may contribute to olfaction in the periphery, we carried out a computational screen in Drosophila to reveal genes whose expression in the antenna is greatly enriched compared to other tissues. Importantly, we found that most orthologs of the olfaction-candidate genes are expressed in the antennae of other species, including mosquitoes, ants, bees, and beetles. These candidates will provide a foundation for future studies investigating conserved mechanisms of odor signaling." (See research by Pratyajit Mohapatra and Karen Menuz in the journal G-3)

Menuz holds a bachelor of arts degree in genetics, cellular and developmental biology and a bachelor of ats degree in biophysical chemistry, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College (1999), Hanover, N.H. She received her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco, in 2007, working with advisor Roger Nicoll. Her thesis:"In Vivo Regulation of AMPA receptors by Their TARP Auxiliary Subunits."

Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, is coordinating the department's seminars. All seminars begin at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in 122 Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Hall Drive.

Other seminar speakers include:

Wednesday, Jan. 15
Corrie Moreau, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Topic: "Piecing Together the Puzzle to Understand the Evolution of the Ants"
Host: Marshall McMunn, graduate student

Wednesday, Jan. 22
Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, University of Cambridge, UK
Topic: Nematology (to be announced)
Host: Shahid Siddique, assistant professor

Wednesday, Jan. 29
Elizabeth Crone, Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
Topic:  Plant-insect interactions (to be announced)
Hosts: Neal Williams, professor; Rachel Vannette, assistant professor

Wednesday, Feb. 5
Andrew Young, postdoctoral scholar at California Department of Food and Agriculture, Pest Diagnostic
Topic: Syrphids
Host: Lynn Kimsey, professor and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology

Wednesday, Feb. 12
Kevin Rice, University of Missouri, Columbia
Topic: "Lasers, Drones, and Growth Promoting Fungus: New Technologies for IPM"
Host: Ian Grettenberger, assistant professor

Wednesday, Feb. 19
Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Topic: (pending) She studies evolutionary ecology of reproductive traits and behaviors, sexual conflict, reproductive polymorphism, arthropod biology
Host: Jason Bond, professor and Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics

Wednesday, Feb. 26:
Faculty Flash Talks (featuring series of faculty members, including Rachel Vannette, Ian Grettenberger, Shahid Siddique, Geoffrey Attardo, Jason Bond)

Wednesday, March 4
Brendon Boudinot, doctoral candidate, Phil Ward lab, exit seminar
Topic: "Morphology and Evolution of the Insects, and the Ancestors of the Ants"
Host: Phil Ward, professor

Wednesday, March 11
 Mary Salcedo, postdoctoral researcher, Virginia Tech
Topic: "Hydraulics in an Insect Wing: How Venation Pattern Affects Circulation"
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor

More information on the seminars is available from Vannette at rlvannette@udavis.edu

Rachel Vannette, seminar coordinator

Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor and coordinator of the Department of Entomology and Nematology's winter quarter seminars, has announced the schedule.

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

Wednesday, Jan. 8
Karen Menuz, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Topic: "Molecular Basis of Insect Olfaction"
Host: Walter Leal, distinguished professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a former chair of the entomology department
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Jan. 15
Corrie Moreau, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
Topic: "Piecing Together the Puzzle to Understand the Evolution of the Ants"
Host: Marshall McMunn, graduate student
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Jan. 22
Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, University of Cambridge, UK
Topic: Nematology (to be announced)
Host: Shahid Siddique, assistant professor
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Jan. 29
Elizabeth Crone, Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
Topic: "Why Are Monarch Butterflies Declining in the West?"
Hosts: Neal Williams, professor; Rachel Vannette, assistant professor
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Feb. 5
Andrew Young, postdoctoral scholar at California Department of Food and Agriculture, Pest Diagnostic
Topic: Syrphids
Host: Lynn Kimsey, professor and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Feb. 12
Kevin Rice, University of Missouri, Columbia
Topic: "Lasers, Drones, and Growth Promoting Fungus: New Technologies for IPM"
Host: Ian Grettenberger, assistant professor
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Feb. 19
Mercedes Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Topic: (pending) She studies evolutionary ecology of reproductive traits and behaviors, sexual conflict, reproductive polymorphism, arthropod biology
Host: Jason Bond, professor and Schlinger Chair in Insect Systematics
Link to seminar

Wednesday, Feb. 26:
Faculty Flash Talks (featuring series of faculty members, including Rachel Vannette, Ian Grettenberger, Shahid Siddique, Geoffrey Attardo, Jason Bond)
Link to Seminar

Wednesday, March 4
Brendon Boudinot, doctoral candidate, Phil Ward lab, exit seminar
Topic: "Morphology and Evolution of the Insects, and the Ancestors of the Ants"
Host: Phil Ward, professor
Link to Seminar

Wednesday, March 11
 Mary Salcedo, postdoctoral researcher, Virginia Tech
Topic: "Hydraulics in an Insect Wing: How Venation Pattern Affects Circulation"
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor
Link to seminar

For more information, contact Vannette at rlvannette@ucdavis.edu.