- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Among those there to honor him were his graduate students Kelly Hamby, Jenifer Sedell and Rachel Graham; and Cindy Preto, a MURALS (Mentorship for Undergraduate Research in Agriculture, Letters and Science) scholar whom Zalom also mentors.
Hamby and Graham, with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, are studying for their doctoral degrees, and Sedell is a graduate student researcher with the Community Development and Geography Graduate Groups.
Preto isworking on an independent research project on European grave vine moth in his lab; she presented a paper on “The Chronological Distribution of European Grapevine Moth’s Life Stage” at the 24th annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference in April.
Also involved in the nomination were colleague and research collaborator James Grieshop, Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus, Department of Human and Community Development; postdoctoral researcher Margareta Lelea, Department of Entomology, and Department of Human and Community Development; and Hillary Thomas of the California Strawberry Commission, who received her doctorate at UC Davis; Zalom was her major professor.
In addition to Zalom, the Consortium for Women in Research singled out as outstanding mentors Cecilia Colombi, Department of Spanish and Portuguese; Diana Davis, Department of History; Annaliese Franz, Department of Chemistry; and Archana Venkatesan, Department of Comparative literature and religious studies.
The outstanding mentor award provides “recognition and research money to faculty who have been outstanding in the mentoring of women graduate students and postdocs at UC Davis,” according to consortium director/sociology professor Laura Grindstaff.
“From personal experience, Frank is an excellent mentor who cares for his students as people as well as professionals,” Hamby said. “From the first moment I stepped into his office, Frank has treated me as a colleague and valued my insight into our research as an equal. In the three years I have been advised by Frank, I have been introduced to over 40 professional entomologists and been to over 20 meetings. These meetings range from grant planning meetings to commodity extension meetings and professional entomological society meetings.”
See more about Frank Zalom on news blog.