Entomologists aren't just skilled at netting insects.
Some of them do well at croquet, striking a ball with a mallet and knocking it through a wicket.
Question is: Can the Ian Grettenberger lab at UC Davis swing a mallet as well--or better--than an insect net?
Agricultural entomologist Grettenberger, associate professor of Cooperative Extension and a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) faculty, and his doctoral student Briley Mullin teamed to win the first-ever Graduate Student-Faculty Retreat Croquet Game.
The event took place Thursday, June 4 on the north lawn of UC Davis Student Community Center, following a morning of departmental business and lab talks inside the facility.
The Grettenberger team received a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) trophy, complete with a crown and a goat statue on a pedestal.
"Briley and Ian overcame the competition in the final moments for a dramatic finale," commented organizer Amanda Hodson, assistant professor of soil ecology and pest management, whose lab also competed in the croquet game. "They will safeguard the GOAT trophy until next year when they will have to defend it."
Four teams competed: the Amanda Hodson lab; the lab of Lisa Baik, assistant professor of insect biology; the Grettenberger lab; and a faculty team comprised of associate professor and medical entomologist Geoffrey Attardo; evolutionary biologist and ant specialist Rodolfo da Silva Probst, assistant professor of insect biology; and professor and ecologist Louie Yang.
Grettenberger later quipped: "Neither of us can swing a mallet as well as an insect net, but I think we managed to hit the ball in the right direction. The secret was start embarrassingly slow and make it through the wickets. And then go with the only option at the end of sending the Baik lab ball for an excursion into the bushes. But I couldn't swing the mallet with their ball in the way...only option. My memories of playing croquet are only a bit more recent than learning to ride a bike."
The retreat began with a welcoming address by molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and chair of the department, followed by lab reports and updates.
For years the lab of the late UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock staged a water balloon fight on the Briggs Hall lawn and invited all ENT labs and others to participate.
Cover image: Insect nets lined up at Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, during the 2026 campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day.