Pest Management & Plant Health

Congratulations to UC Davis distinguished professor Walter Leal, the recipient of the Academic Senate's highly competitive 2024 Distinguished Faculty Research Award. That makes three. Good things come in threes.

Back in October of 2020, we wrote about the newly published research of an international team of scientists involving the genome analysis of the western flower thrips, an invasive global agricultural pest that feeds on plants and spreads viruses.

If you've used disinfecting wipes to clean surfaces in your home, an herbicide to control weeds in your garden, or insect repellents while on a hike, then you have used a pesticide.

California rice growers will have a new herbicide available this year: Cliffhanger, manufactured by Gowan Company. The active ingredient is benzobicyclon, which is the same as one of the two active ingredients in the currently registered herbicide, Butte.

From the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) Graduate Student Organization newsletter (Feb. 2024) * * * * * * Graduate Student of the Month Deniz Inci, Ph.D. Candidate with the Al-Khatib Lab at UC Davis, is the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) graduate student of the month.

That lady beetle, aka ladybug, that landed on the shoe of San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk just before the NFL championship game, apparently didn't show up at the Super Bowl. The 49'ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, but what a great battle it was.

In February we recognize Valentine's Day, President's Day, and Black History Month, but did you know it is also IPM month?

Nematologists answered scores of questions at the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Day, a "Super Science Day" held Feb. 10. The Nematode Collection, showcased in the Katherine Esau Science Hall, drew hundreds of visitors wanting to know more about the organism commonly known as "roundworm.

Background White water fire (Bergia capensis) was found in September of 2023, by the Butte County Agricultural Commissioner's office in a rice field in Butte County. The weed was identified by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA.

Can you link nematodes, aka roundworms, with tomatoes, sugar beets, peaches, dogs, horses, whales and even Mormon crickets? You'll see specimens and get to talk to nematologists during the 13th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 10.