Ongoing research

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Heat is something that many Californians are used to, and live with for several months out of the year, but prolonged triple digit heat is not something I am used to in my corner of the state. Sure it gets hot up here in Lassen County, but there is most often a place to retreat from the heat.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Beautiful things can happen when plants surround themselves with the right microbes. A study on Acmispon strigosus, a plant in the pea family, showed a 13-fold growth increase in plants that partnered with a highly effective strain of the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Bradyrhizobium.

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County Client's Request: Hi, I've created a new garden area this year. I've put down new dirt and compost but haven't had time this year to plant anything other than my green onions.

Yellowjackets have a well-deserved reputation for being aggressive since they often sting when defending their nests or when they encounter people while out scavenging for food. This time of year, yellowjacket colony populations are increasing, and people may encounter them more frequently.

What a gorgeous weekend, at least where I was. I wasn't sure it was going to ever start given that it took me 4 hours to get home from Oakland on Friday due to extra security on BART followed by a car accident. Who knew it would be quicker to get from San Jose to Davis, departing at 4 pm (3 hours).

Reposted from The Daily Californian Peter Berck, one of the world's foremost forestry economists and a professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, or ARE, died of cancer Aug. 10 at age 68.

Reposted from the UC Berkeley News The 10-campus UC system is approaching a tipping point where it it may not be able to excel without increased state support.

It has been a couple of rough weeks managing the diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), in the Central Coast.

A mannequin in a firefighter turncoat pinned with fire beetles drew "oohs" and "aahs" at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house last Sunday afternoon at the University of California, Davis.