- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Research entomologist Daniel Hasegawa of the Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, will speak on "Landscape and Molecular Approaches for Managing Thrips and Thrips-Transmitted Viruses in the Salinas Valley" at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's first seminar of the winter quarter on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
His virtual seminar begins at 4:10 p.m., announced agricultural Extension specialist Ian Grettenberger, seminar coordinator. To access the seminar, fill out this Google form link.
"In 2019-2020, lettuce production in the Salinas Valley of California was devastated by thrips-transmitted impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV)," Hasegawa says in his abstract. "Due to the inherent challenges in managing thrips using conventional chemical tactics, and no direct means for managing the virus, there is a strong need for new management strategies. This seminar will provide an overview of (1) the challenges in managing thrips and INSV in lettuce production, (2) what we've learned about the epidemiology of thrips and INSV, and (3) opportunities to improve cultural practices and develop biotechnology tools, such as RNAi for managing thrips and INSV in the Salinas Valley."
Hasegawa joined the Salinas USDA-ARS team in May 2019 after serving as a postdoctoral research associate (molecular biology) for three years with USDA-ARS in Charleston, S. C. He specializes in vector entomology, molecular biology and biotechnlogy. "My lab uses a variety of techniques to understand insect vector-virus relationships that impact plant health and agriculture," he says on Linked In. "We use molecular, genetic, and epidemiological concepts to understand drivers of vector-borne transmission of pathogens and utilize genetic technologies (e.g. RNAi and CRISPR), to improve agriculture productivity and sustainability."
Hasegawa received his bachelor of science degree in biochemistry in 2007 from UC Riverside and his doctorate in biology from Clemson University in 2013.
The mission of the Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit is to improve germplasm of lettuce, spinach and melon, determine basic biology of viral, fungal and bacterial diseases affecting these crops, develop alternatives to methyl bromide as a soil fumigant for control of soilborne pests in strawberry and vegetables, reduce postharvest losses of lettuce, develop scientifically based organic crop production practices, and develop methods for control of weeds. See more on the Pacific West Area website.
/span>![Thrips and a field of lettuce. (Image by Daniel Hasegawa) Thrips and a field of lettuce. (Image by Daniel Hasegawa)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/entomology/blogfiles/77501.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Five candidates will present seminars in Briggs Hall, UC Davis campus, for the two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) honey bee positions open at the USDA facility, located on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.
Paul Pratt, the selection committee chair, is the research leader for the Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center of the Agricultural Research Service, USDA, in Albany, Calif.
Seminars will be presented in 122 Briggs from 10 to 11 a.m. followed by a group faculty meeting (UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology) in Briggs 366 from 1:30-2:15 p.m.
The schedule:
Tuesday, Dec. 11:
Natalie Boyle: “Promoting Pollinator Health and Safety in Agroecosystems”
Wednesday, Dec. 12
Michael Smith: "How Does a Bee Detect her Colony's Size?”
Thursday, Dec. 13:
Julia Fine: "Inside the Brood Box: Using Novel Methods in the Study of Honey Bee Reproduction”
Friday, Dec. 14:
Arathi Seshadri: “The Role of Behavioral and Nutritional Factors in Honeybee Health”
Monday, Dec. 17:
Clint Otto: "From Landscapes to Flowers: Understanding Forage in America's Last Beekeeping Refuge”
![Honey bees at work. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Honey bees at work. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/entomology/blogfiles/56813.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
All will take place from 12:10 to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays in 122 Briggs Hall, Kleiber Hall Drive.
The winter seminar series:
Wednesday, Jan. 6
Mike Riehle
Associate Professor, University of Arizona
Title: "Manipulating Insulin Signaling in the Mosquito to Control Fitness and Parasite Resistance"
Host: Shirley Luckhart, professor, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and graduate student advisor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Jan. 13
Wayne Hunter
Ph.D. Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS, Fort Pierce, FL.
Title: "Topical RNAi for Pest and Pathogen Management: Meeting the Needs of Organic and Industrial Producers."
Host: Diane Ullman, professor. UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Jan. 20
Sulley Ben-Mahmoud
Postdoc, UC Davis
Title: "Cloning and Characterization of a Basic Cysteine-like Protease (cathepsin L1) Expressed in the Gut of Larval Diaprepes abbreviatus L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).
Host: Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Jan. 27
J. P. Michaud
Professor, Kansas State University
Title: "Challenges to the Management of Migratory Pests on the High Plains: Thinking Outside the Field."
Host: Ed Lewis, associate dean for agricultural sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Feb. 3
David Tarpy
Professor and Apiculturist, North Carolina State University
Title: Young Regality: a Day in the Life of a Virgin Queen Bee
Host: Elina Niño, Extension apiculturist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Thomas Phillips
Professor, Kansas State University
Title: "Pest Management for Stored Products: Persistent Problems and Hopeful Possibilities"
Host: Christian Nansen, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Feb. 17
Patrick O'Grady
Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Title: "Diversification of Hawaiian Diptera"
Host: Joanna Chiu, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Michael Kolomiets
Professor of Maize Defense Genetics, Texas A&M
Title: "Maize Lipid-Mediated Signaling in Defense against Insects and Nematodes"
Host: Christian Nansen, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, March 2
Yannick Wurm
Assistant Professor, Queen Mary University London
Title: "Population Genomics of Social Evolution"
Host: Brian Johnson, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, March 9
Diane Campbell
Professor, UC Irvine
Title: "Behavior of Hawkmoths and Plant Reproductive Isolation: a Tale of Two Continents"
Host: Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
The seminars are open to all interested persons.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminars are from 12:10 to 1 p.m. and most will be recorded for later viewing on UCTV.
Jan. 7
Ronald Rosenberg
Title of Seminar: "Detecting the Emergence of Novel Arthropod-Borne Pathogens"
Associate Director for Global Health in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Fort Collins, Colo.
Nominators/hosts: Professor Shirley Luckhart, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Medicine and graduate student advisor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and Professor Ed Lewis and Distinguished Professor James R. Carey, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Jan. 14
Daniel Matute
Title of Seminar: "Hybrid Speciation in Drosophila"
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Nominator/host: Meredith Cenzer, graduate student, Louie Yang lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Jan. 21
George Dimopoulous
Title of Seminar: "Exploiting Infection Bottlenecks in the Mosquito to Control Human Disease"
Director of the Parasitology Core Facility
John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Baltimore, Md.
Nominator/host: Jiawen Xu, graduate student, Bruce Hammock lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Jan. 28
Michael Parrella
Title of Seminar: "To Antarctica and Back: The Search for Belgica antarctica Jacobs, 1900 (Diptera; Chironomidae)"
Professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Feb. 4
Jay Evans
Title of Seminar: "What's It Like Inside a Bee? Genetic Approaches to Honey Bee Health"
Research entomologist
USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS)
Beltsville, MD.
Nominator/host: Marin County Beekeepers
Feb. 11
Amro Zayed
Title of Seminar: "Honey Bee Behavioral Genomics: Worker Behavior and Adaptation"
Associate Professor, Department of Biology
York University
Toronto, Canada
Nominator/host: Brian Johnson, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Feb. 18 (CANCELLED, due to inclement weather and flight cancellation)
Steven Frank
Title of Seminar: "Can Forests Take the Heat? Managing Pests and Ecosystem Services in a Warming Climate"
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, N.C.
Nominator/host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
March 11
Thomas Eltz
Title of Seminar: "Perfume Making and Signalling in Orchid bees: New Light on an Old Enigma"
Chemical Ecologist
University of Bochum
Bochum, Germany
Nominator/host: Santiago Ramirez, faculty member, UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology
April 1
George Kennedy
Title of Seminar: "Modeling the Epidemiology of Tomato Spotted Wilt: Understanding the Role of Thrips Population Dynamics and Virus Inoculum Sources "
William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Agriculture
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, N.C.
Nominator/host: Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
April 8
Michael Strand
Title of Seminar: "Role of Microorganisms in Growth, Development and Reproduction of Mosquitoes”
Regents Professor
University of Georgia
Athens, Ga.
Nominators/hosts: Professor Shirley Luckhart, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Medicine and graduate student advisor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and Professor Ed Lewis and Distinguished Professor James R. Carey, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
April 15
Eric Palevsky
Title of Seminar: "Plant-Feeding Phytoseiids: Cheliceral Morphology, Feeding Mechanism and Host Plant Interactions" Acarologist, Department of Entomology
Newe-Ya'ar Research Center
Agricultural Research Organization
Ministry of Agriculture
Ramat Yishay, Israel
Nominator/host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
April 22
John Lane
Title of Seminar: "Explorations of the Hargy Caldera, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea"
Professional Geologist/Registered Environmental Assessor
Environmental Scientist/Certified Mold Inspector
Chico Environmental Science and Planning
Chico, Calif.
Nominator/host:Lynn Kimsey, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
April 29
Matt Daughtery
Title of Seminar: "Understanding the Impact of an Invasive Vector: Sharpshooter Transmission Efficiency, Behavior, and Pathogen Spread"
Assistant Extension Specialist and Principal Investigator
UC Riverside
Riverside, Calif.
Nominator/host: Jay Rosenheim
May 13
Amy Toth
Title of Seminar: "Molecular Evolution in Insect Societies: Insights from Genomics of Primitively Social Paper Wasps"
Assistant Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
Department of Entomology
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa
Nominator/host: Brian Johnson, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
May 20
John Hawdon
Topic: "Molecular Mechanisms of Hookworm Infection"
Research Center for Neglected Diseases of Poverty, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University
Washington, D.C.
Nominator/host: Steve Nadler
May 27
John "Jack" Longino
Title of Seminar: "Project ADMAC: Ant Diversity of the Mesoamerican Corridor"
Professor of Biology
Adjunct Curator of Entomology, Utah Museum of Natural History, University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Nominator/host: Phil Ward, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
June 3
Mike Singer
Title of Seminar: "One Butterfly, Six Host Shifts"
Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Sciences
Specialty: Butterfly ecology and behavior
(Formerly with University of Texas, Austin, Texas)
Nominator/host: Meredith Cenzer, graduate student, Louie Yang lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
![The malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. This is among the mosquitoes that Ronald Rosenberg studies. (Photo by Anthony Cornel, UC Davis) The malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. This is among the mosquitoes that Ronald Rosenberg studies. (Photo by Anthony Cornel, UC Davis)](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/entomology/blogfiles/26876.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The seminars, to be held from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs, begin April 2 and continue through June 4.
More information is pending: the title of the talks, abstracts, biosketches, and photos.
April 2:
Maryann Frazier, senior extension associate specializing in honey bees, Penn State University.
April 9:
Edwin Lewis, professor and vice chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
April 16:
John Jaenike, professor and chair, Department of Biology, University of Rochester, New York
April 23:
Elizabeth Tibbetts, associate professor, Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
April 30:
Eric Lonsdorf, visiting assistant professor of biology at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa.
May 7:
Riccardo Bommarco, professor, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
May 14:
Leithen M'Gonigle, postdoctoral fellow, Claire Kremen lab, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley
May 21:
There will be NO noonhour seminar.
May Berenbaum, professor and department head, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will present two evening lectures as part of the Storer Lectureship for Life Sciences.
- The first is a public lecture on Tuesday, May 20 on "Bees in Crisis: Colony Collapse, Honey Laundering and Other Problems Bee-Setting American Apiculture" at 4:10 p.m. in Ballrooms A and B of the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane.
- The second is a scientific lecture on Wednesday, May 21 on "Sex and the Single Parsnip: Coping with Florivores and Pollinators in Two Hemispheres." This will take place at 4:10 p.m. in Ballrooms A and B of the UC Davis Conference Center.
May 28:
Andrea Lucky, evolutionary biologist and biodiversity scientist, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University Florida, Gainesville (and UC Davis alumnus; doctorate in entomology, Phil Ward lab)
June 4:
Katharina Ullmann, graduate student, Neal Williams lab, Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Under the direction of professor James R. Carey, plans call for all the seminars to be recorded for later posting on UCTV.