UC Davis doctoral candidate Charlotte Herbert Alberts, who recently published the first chapter of her dissertation on a new species of assassin (robber) flies in ZooKeys, knows what it's like to juggle multiple roles of responsibility. 

She's been there. She's doing that. 

Charlotte is a wife, a mother of two children under age three with no outside childcare, a research fellow at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), and a talented scientific illustrator and creative artist. 

She moved cross-country during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to finish her dissertation, all the while tackling multiple obstacles and health issues. 

It's been a 5-year whirlwind: marriage in 2018 to artist George Albert, birth of their son Griffin in April 2020, and birth of their daughter Marceline “Marcy” in October 2022. 

 “I truly commend Charlotte for her recent publication of the first chapter of her dissertation,"  said Diane Ullman, UC Davis distinguished professor and a former chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. “She has overcome many obstacles, and I deeply respect her capacity to balance the science and research she loves, with being a mother of two, a wife and a devoted daughter.” 

Now a resident of Silver Spring, Md., Charlotte studies systematics, phylogenetics, insect biotechnology, genomics, speciation, and macroevolution, among other fields.  She enrolled in the UC Davis entomology graduate program in 2015, and anticipates receiving her doctorate in  "no later than June 2023—hopefully before."

Art-Science Fusion. While at UC Davis, her accomplishments included serving as a teaching assistant for Professor Ullman in Entomology 001, “Art, Science and the World of Insects,” an art-science fusion course.

 “Charlotte is a fantastic artist, as well as an excellent scientist,” Ullman said. I look forward to watching her as she finishes her Ph.D. and develops her career. My own daughter was born the year after I finished my Ph.D., and I certainly remember the challenge of being a mother, a wife, and taking care of aging parents while working to establish an academic career."

“Without a doubt," Ullman said, "I would not change a thing—I feel enormously grateful for the joy of my family, and for having the opportunity to simultaneously enjoy a full career in the sciences, as well as connecting art and science.” 

Alberts' paper, “A New Species of Saropogon Loew, 1847 (Diptera, Asilidae) from Arizona, with a Review of the Nearctic Species North of Mexico,” is her first journal publication.

“This new species of Saropogon (family Asilidae) was a known new species when it was collected for the first time in 1964,” Alberts said. “It wasn't until a community scientist posted pictures of this beautiful ‘fire-like' species to iNaturalist and BugGuide and requested identification that the description of this new species as well as a review of the entire Nearctic Saropogon, north of Mexico, became a priority. Publications like this are a great example of why community scientist and scientist engagement are so important. Websites like iNaturalist and BugGuide are an incredible resource for both and facilitate the finding and describing of new species.” 

First Chapter. “This publication," Alberts said, "stands as the first chapter in my dissertation 'Assassin Fly (Diptera: Asilidae) Systematics and Predator Ecology.' After I receive my degree, my other two chapters will be published—hopefully shortly: ‘Chapter 2: Over 3400 Predator-Prey Records for Assassin Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae), Compiled from United States Entomological Collections' and ‘Chapter 3: A Molecular Phylogeny of Assassin Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) with Ancestral State Reconstruction of Arthropod Prey Preference.' ”

Alberts praised the work of macro photographer Jeff Gruber of Madison, Wisc., a regular contributor to BugGuide and iNaturalist who provided the Saropogon pyrodes image in ZooKeys, and UC Davis alumna Keely Davies, the illustration. Davies (biognome.art on Instagram) holds a bachelor's degree in animal biology (2019) and a degree in scientific illustration (2021) from California State University, Monterey Bay.

Charlotte's family and friends on Facebook lauded her newly published research: “Wow, what a year you are having. Congratulations!” and “You are just killing it, woman!” and “YASSS, asilid queen! Congrats!” 

A native of Plainfield, N.H, Charlotte is a 2015 graduate of St. Lawrence University, Canton, N.Y., where she majored in conservation biology and developed an interest in assassin flies--and in celebrating World Robber Fly Day every April 30. 

Why assassin flies? “I chose assassin flies because I fell in love researching them as an undergraduate at St. Lawrence University,” she said. "They are fascinating flies and I like that they can immediately change someone's perspective of flies. They are venomous, predatory flies that eat other insects! And they sometimes even look exactly like the creatures they eat. Example: bumble bees!” 

Bohart Museum. At UC Davis, she worked on the identification and database of the Asilidae collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology from August 2015 until June 2021, while also engaged in numerous art projects and serving a year as secretary of the Entomology Graduate Student Association. 

Charlotte has collected insects in 16 states and four countries, including Belize, Namibia, and Sweden. She presented a virtual seminar on “Asilidae of Belize” at the 2021 Entomological Society of America meeting. 

How difficult is it to juggle so many roles? “I would be lying if I said it was easy,” Alberts said. “Being a mom, a wife, and a graduate student is a significant challenge. Balancing work and life is a skill that no one can teach you and takes a lot of trial and error. Thankfully, with the support and patience from my principal investigator (Diane Ullman), my advisor (UC Davis distinguished professor Rick Karban), my thesis committee (Ullman, research advisor Torsten Dikow of NNMH, and Jason Bond,  Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences), my husband, and family, I have been able to continue to work on my PhD through a pandemic, multiple health issues, moving across the country, and having two children. Though being a mom and a graduate student is a lot of work, and exhausting, I wouldn't change it for the world. My family brings so much joy to my life and fuels me to push forward, one step at a time!” 

More Flexibility. Alberts noted that being a graduate student “has allowed me more flexibility as a working mom to also care for my children than a typical 9 to 5 job. Instead of putting the kids in daycare, I have chosen to work during nap times, after and before bedtime, for chunks during the day when my husband can take over, weekends, and during my son's preschool, twice a week. Sometimes it's challenging to not have the same routine every day. and there are never enough hours in a day, but I do get to be a part of my children's childhoods, and I am forever grateful for that!” 

“Being a mom and a graduate student means that I am learning every day how to be more creative and flexible with my time,” she said. “I've learned how to modify my workspace to be available to my children. One of the many ways that having children has changed me is that I have less anxiety about my work. I used to sit on an email sometimes for days because of the fear of not being good enough or doing something wrong. Or sometimes, I wouldn't ask for help with something or ask how something was done because of the fear of being judged for not being able to do it myself. Since having my children, I've had to push my anxieties and fears aside because I simply don't have the time I used to have to worry about such things. I've learned to accept help from others and that I am not expected to know everything, especially in graduate school.” 

Alberts remembers how much she liked interning at NMNH in the summer of 2014 and working with Dikow on identifying specimens of Asilidae to genus. She then won a graduate student fellowship (July-September 2016) at NMNH; Dikow served as her advisor. "I hope to do my postdoctoral fellowship there," she said.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Alberts is geared toward finishing her dissertation while balancing her work-home life.  “My family brings so much joy to my life,” she reiterated, “and fuels me to push forward, one step at a time!”

Time's fun when you're studying flies!

Student fly researchers greeted guests and explained their work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house held last Saturday, Jan. 12.

The event, which took place from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, drew more than 150 visitors, despite competition with the televised National Football League playoffs and other activities.

The theme, "Time's Fun When You're Studying Flies," was a take-off of "Time flies when you're having fun."

"Despite the lovely weather, visitors spent a long time at the museum talking with our department's up and coming researchers," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum education and outreach coordinator. "Visitors learned about various research on flies that occurs in our department from evolution to geography to circadian rhythms."

Five scientists from the Joanna Chiu lab discussed their fruit fly research. They were graduate students Christine Tabuloc, Yao Cai and Xianhui "Nitrol" Liu, and undergraduate students Cindy Truong and Christopher Ochoa.

The Joanna Chiu lab currently has 4 PhD students (3 from Entomology and 1 from Genomics and Genetics), 6 undergraduate students (3 from Underrepresented Minorities or URM) undergraduate research programs), 1 postdoc, and 1 visiting graduate student from China.

Others fly researchers participating:

• Graduate student Caroline Wright Larsen of the James R. Carey Lab; she studies non-tephrid flies, including the Mediterranean fruit fly
• Graduate students Socrates Letana and Charlotte Herbert Alberts of the Lynn Kimsey Lab; Letana studies botflies, and Alberts, assassin flies
• Graduate student Alex Dedmon of the Robert Kimsey lab and UC Davis graduate Danielle Wishon; they specialize in  forensic entomology

"They all did an excellent job engaging the public with thoughtful slide shows, images, and specimens," Yang said. "They truly communicated their enthusiasm for science."

The next open house will be Saturday, Feb. 16, when the Bohart Museum will be open as part of campuswide Biodiversity Museum Day.

Upcoming open houses:

• "Eight-Legged Wonders" (spider theme, featuring the work of the Jason Bond lab) on Saturday, March 9 from 1 to 4 p.m.
• UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 13 from 10 to 3 p.m.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, houses nearly eight million insect specimens, plus a year-around gift shop and a live "petting zoo" that includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and praying mantids. The gift shop is stocked with newly published calendars, books, jewlery, t-shirts, insect-collecting equipment, insect-themed candy, and stuffed animals. UC Davis entomologist Richard “Doc” Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.

The Bohart is open to the general public Mondays through Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m.,   plus occasional, weekend open houses​. Admission is free. Further information is available on the Bohart Museum website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/ or contact (530) 753-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.

Time flies when you're having fun?

No, time's fun when you're studying flies!

Nearly a dozen fly researchers from throughout the UC Davis campus will greet the public and explain their research at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 12 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane. The event, themed “Time's Fun When  Studying Flies," is free, open to the public, and family friendly.

The open house will showcase botflies, fruit flies, assassin flies, mosquitoes and other members of the Diptera order. Ten scientists, including undergraduate students, graduate students and a visiting scholar, are scheduled to participate. They will display specimens, photos and field equipment and chat with the public.

"Besides checking out the flies, this is also a good time for visitors to inquire about graduate school, ask about starting research projects, and to meet people working in forensics, evolution, agriculture, animal behavior, genetics, geography, and home pests, among other topics," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Bohart's butterfly and moth section, will be on hand to open the Diptera section. "He will dust off and put on his pest industry hat to talk about those relevant flies," Yang said.

A family craft activity is also planned.

Among the fly researchers participating will be fourth-year doctoral candidate Charlotte Herbert Alberts, who studies assassin fly (Asilidae) systematics with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and UC Davis professor of entomology.

“Assassin flies are one of the only families of flies that are predatory (on other insects) both in their larval and adult stages,” Alberts says. 

She lists other interesting facts about assassin flies:

1. They are venomous! Their venom both immobilizes their prey and starts extra-oral digestion.
2. They have very fancy facial hair (beards and mustaches) called a mystax, thought to protect their face while they catch and eat their prey.
3. Some assassin flies are very selective in their prey choice and may have specialized venom to help them overcome their prey. 
4. There are more than 7,500 species found all over the world! 

“I am currently working on a few projects: An Asiloidea Phylogeny, Predator-Prey Dynamics of Asilidae and their kin, and a few side projects including the revision of Ablautus, and Nearctic Saropogon,” Alberts says. She is also interested in assassin fly venom and how it may have evolved to target certain prey taxa. In addition, she teaches basic entomology and art in a UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program course.

Graduate student Socrates Letana, who also studies with major professor Lynn Kimsey. researches the evolution and diversification of botflies (Oestridae) "in the global mammal host-space with special emphasis on the New World." Part of his research interests include Diptera systematics, biogeography and Southeast Asian biodiversity. He is a research associate with the California State Collection of Arthropods, California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The larvae of botflies are internal parasites of mammals; some species grow in the host's flesh and others within the gut.  Dermatobia hominis is known as the only species of botfly known to parasitize humans routinely.

UC Davis undergraduate researcher Cindy Truong of the Joanna Chiu lab, will be showing flies in various life stages and provide coloring pages for kids. "We primarily study circadian rhythm, which is the sleep and wake cycle. More specifically we study the mechanisms in which 'clock proteins' go through in order to maintain this cycle." She will expand on "How flies tell time.”

Christine Tabuloc, graduate student researcher in the Chiu lab, will discuss her work on fruit flies. "My current focus is to investigate the effects of climatic change on gene expression of an invasive pest and determine whether there is a correlation to resistance and survival," she said. "In addition to pest management research, I am also studying a kinase of a core clock protein in Drosophila melanogaster and hoping to dissect its functional contribution to the molecular oscillator."

Others from the Chiu lab participating will be Yao Cai, a doctoral graduate student who studies genetic mechanisms underlying the regulation of organismal behavior, and undergraduate researcher Christopher Ochoa.

The presenters also will include fruit fly, forensics and mosquito experts:

• Kathlyne-Inez Soukhaseum of the Frank Zalom lab will talk about her research on the spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, a major agricultural pest that invaded California in 2008.
• Danielle Wishon, a forensic entomologist who holds a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis, will discuss how flies are used in forensics. She hopes to enroll in graduate school at Purdue University.
• Nermeen Raffat, visiting scholar in the Sharon Lawler  lab, will focus on mosquito larvae. He is working on "the effect of copper sulphate and other toxicants on the development and anti-predatory behavior of the mosquitoes larvae."

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by UC Davis entomologist Richard “Doc” Bohart (1913-2007), is the home of nearly eight million insect specimens, plus a year-around gift shop and a live "petting zoo" that includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and praying mantids. The gift shop is stocked with newly published calendars, books, jewlery, t-shirts, insect-collecting equipment, insect-themed candy, and stuffed animals.

The Bohart Museum is open to the general public Mondays through Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m.,   plus occasional, weekend open houses​. Admission is free. Further information is available on the Bohart Museum website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/ or contact (530) 753-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.