Can You Spare a Leg?

If you collect insect specimens, can you spare a leg?

It's for science.

UC Berkeley doctoral alumnus Brad Balukjian, CEO and Intern, Islephile LLC, Concord, and research associate, California Academy of Sciences, recently posted this on the Pacific Coast Entomological Society (PCES) server:

"The non-profit California Institute for Biodiversity  (CIB) is working on a project to create a DNA reference library of all the known insect species of California, part of its All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventories program. The project entails sequencing both freshly collected material and historical specimens preserved in museums and collections. If you have a private collection or know of someone who does and are willing to have a leg or two sampled from certain specimens to go to the project, please contact coordinator Brad Balukjian at bbalukjian@gmail.com."

New Officers of PCES. UC Davis doctoral alumna Fran Keller was recently elected president of PCES.  Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College, a lecturer with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and a Bohart research associate,  received her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, studying with UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey,  then director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and now emeritus. 

Keller is serving her presidential term with three affiliates of the Essig Museum of Entomology, UC Berkeley: UC Davis doctoral alumna Kathy Schick, managing secretary; UC Davis doctoral alumna Elizabeth Arias, recording secretary; and Bob Zuparko.

Schick, a research associate at Essig, received both her master's degree and doctorate in entomology from UC Davis.  Arias, an associate curator (widow of Richard Bohart, for whom the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis is named) also received both her master's degree and doctorate from UC Davis.  Zuparko, an Essig associate curator and a curatorial assistant at the California Academy of Sciences, obtained his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley.