Agriculture

UC Davis-trained entomologist Jessica Gillung is nothing short of amazing--from research to leadership to public service.

(Update: The seminars are now uploaded for public viewing. See links.) The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology will launch its fall quarter seminars on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

What are the odds? Here you are, standing in the garden section of a home improvement store, and you select a tropical milkweed to purchase. You place it on the ground and admire the brilliant yellow blossoms and luxurious green foliage. It's the best of the best.

Jessica Gillung, who received her doctorate in entomology from the University of California, Davis, and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, has won the Snodgrass Memorial Research Award from the Entomological Society of America (ESA) for her landmark dissertation on spider flies.

When the UC Davis Staff Assembly honors Elvira Galvan Hack at its campuswide Citation for Excellence Award ceremony on Friday, Sept. 6 at the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center, there's a story behind the story. An amazing story. A story of success. A story of paying it forward and making a difference.

Dairies produce lots of milk and manure. The ingenious dairymen of the Central Valley often use one to produce the other. They grow forage crops like alfalfa and corn that they then feed to their cattle.

Where are all the monarch butterflies? There's good news and bad news. First, the bad news: "An Epic Migration on the Verge of Collapse," wrote the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation on its website detailing monarch conservation.

Today is Labor Day 2019, a federal holiday celebrated the first Monday of September. However, "the girls" are working, as they do every day of the year, weather permitting. "The girls" are the worker honey bees. Unless you keep bees or have access to a hive, you mostly see them foraging.

The date is set. The celebration of life for global bee expert Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and a beloved scientist, is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Putah Creek Lodge.

Armyworms can be a serious pest in rice. The worms can eat the rice foliate or panicles, and cause yield reductions. In 2015, a severe outbreak of armyworms caught rice growers by surprise, resulting in yield losses.