- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The event begins at 5:45 with pizza and continues until 7 p.m.
Presenting their work are:
- Jasen Liu of the Santiago Ramírez lab, a member of the Graduate Group in Population Biology, who will discuss “Evolution of Floral Volatile Composite Across a Specialized Pollination System”
- Ashley Grupenhoff of the Hugh Safford lab, a member of the Graduate Group in Ecology, whose topic is “Plant Community Response to Increased Fire Frequency in Northern California Chaparral”
- Reed Kenny of the Dan Potter lab, a member of the Graduate Group in Ecology, who will cover "A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Placement of Juncus Sections Caespitosi and Graminifolii"
Jasen Liu. "Jasen went to UC Santa Barbara for his undergraduate studies, where he worked in the Mazer and Hodges labs studying mating system evolution and variation in floral pigmentation, both within and across species. He is fascinated by floral evolution, particularly through the lens of plant-pollinator interactions, and joined the Ramirez lab in 2019 through the Population Biology graduate group. Jasen is interested in investigating macroevolutionary patterns of scent production in euglossine-pollinated plants, in addition to the role of microevolutionary processes on generating reproductive isolation."
Ashley Grupenhoff. "Ashley's research is aimed at examining the consequences of altered disturbance regimes on species composition and ecosystem function. She is particularly interested in the effects of prescribed fire in shaping plant species, populations, and communities and is currently working with CalFire to implement a long-term monitoring program of prescribed fire in California. Before coming to Davis, she has conducted fieldwork across multiple taxa in Ecuador, American Samoa, and the western United States. Ashley obtained her BS in Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University."
Reed Kenny. "I am broadly interested in plant evolution and biodiversity. My past work has focused on plant taxonomy and floristics. My current interests are in the systematics of the genus Juncus. My ongoing projects include using molecular systematics to confirm the non-monophyly of the genus, resolve subgeneric relationships and study biogeographic patterns in the genus."
The Davis Botanical Society awards research grants to graduate and undergraduate students at UC Davis to help defray the expenses of independent study or other research projects. The student projects are field-oriented and related to plant taxonomy or plant evolutionary biology and ecology. A previous recipient was Shawn Christensen of the Rachel Vannette lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The Davis Botanical Society is the support organization for the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity and Botanical Conservatory. Membership includes subscription to the semi-annual newsletter, Lasthenia, as well as invitations to talks, field trips, and other events.
For more information, contact the Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium at (530) 752-1091 or Teri Barry, collections manager, at tcbarry@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The grants, announced Dec. 13, total $1.1 million.
Grettenberger and his UC Davis research collaborators will receive $499,847 for “A Proactive Approach to Prepare for the Invasion of Tuta absoluta into California.” T. absoluta, a tomato leafminer, is a serious pest throughout Europe, Africa, western Asia and South and Central America and could decimate California's tomato industry, a CDFA spokesman said. “This project will proactively test targeted insecticides, identify native natural enemies that could be used in biological control, and conduct work to assist in breeding plants resistant to this pest. This project will be conducted at UC Davis, throughout California, and in Chile and Peru."
Grettenberger and co-project leaders Alejandro Del Pozo-Valdivia and Daniel Hasegawa of the UC Davis Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), will receive $261,543 for “Detection, Biology and control of the Exotic Swede Midge (Contarinia nasturtii) for California Cole Crops.” Swede midge, a pest of cole crops in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, could cause significant management issues for California's large cole crop industry, a CDFA spokesperson said. “This project will collect important information about the biology of Swede midge, test low impact insecticides and botanical products as options for control, assess the possibility of weeds as alternative hosts, and work with growers to start monitoring for the pest. This project will be conducted mainly at UC Davis and in the Salinas Valley.”
The third CDFA grant of $348,893 went to project leaders Mark Hoddle and Jocelyn Millar of UC Riverside for “Proactive Management of Avocado Seed and Stem Feeding Weevils, Heilipus spp. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae).” This project will develop pheromones, identify natural enemies in the host range, and quantify flight capacity of the avocado seed weevils, a CDFA spokesperson said. The weevils, native to Mexico and invasive in Ecuador, feed directly on avocados and could cause substantial damage to the California avocado industry, a CDFA spokesman said. "The California Avocado Commission pledged an additional $150,000 to support this project, a testament to their concern over this pest. The work will be conducted mainly at UC Riverside and in Mexico. “
Each project received strong support from commodities that could be affected by invasive pests. A review committee, of scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of California, state government and private pest control advisors, scored the proposals and recommended the recipients.
CDFA is responsible for preventing and mitigating invasive pests in California.
- The Proactive IPM Solutions grants program targets exotic pests likely to arrive in California. It aims to identify and test IPM strategies that can be rapidly implemented if the pests become established in California.
- OPCA, created to provide consultation to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), focuses on potential pesticide regulatory impacts and pest management alternatives that may mitigate or prevent such impacts on production agriculture.
Grettenberger, who joined the UC Davis faculty earlier this year, replaces the late Larry Godfrey, who died of cancer April 18, 2017. Grettenberger holds a bachelor of science degree from Western Washington University and a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. His areas of expertise include field and vegetable crops; insects, mites and other arthropods affecting plants; biological control of pests affecting plants; and beneficial insects.
