The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology has announced the list of speakers for the fall seminars. Agricultural entomologist and seminar coordinator Christian Nansen said the topics include everything from soapberry bugs to monarchs.
Instead of the previous noon-hour seminars, however, there's a change in the time: they're from 4:10 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, Kleiber Hall Drive.
Doctoral candidate Meredith Cenzer will speak on "Ecological and Evolutionary Interactions Between Soapberry Bugs (Jadera Haematoloma) and Their Host Plants" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set from 4:10 to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 5 in 122 Briggs Hall. This is her exit seminar.
Soapberry bugs are a classic evolutionary example of how rapidly insects can switch hosts, adapting from a native to an invasive plant, she says.
Her newly published UC Davis research shows that soapberry bugs have not only lost adaptations to their native host plant but are regionally specializing on an invasive host. (Read about her latest publication here.)
The October-November schedule:
Wednesday, Oct. 5:
Meredith Cenzer, doctoral candidate, Louie Yang lab
Topic: ""Ecological and Evolutionary Interactions Between Soapberry Bugs (Jadera Haematoloma) and Their Host Plants" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Oct. 12:
Howard Ferris, professor of nematology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Roles of Nematodes in Soil Ecology and Soil Health"
Wednesday, Oct. 19
Justin Whitehill, postdoctoral research associate
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Topic: "Carbon Castles and the Physical Defense of Conifers Against Insect Invaders"
Wednesday, Oct. 26
Marek Borowiec, doctoral candidate, Phil Ward lab
Topic: "Genomic Data and the Tree of Life: Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns of Army Ant Evolution" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 2
Sandy Olkowski, doctoral candidate, lab of Thomas Scott (now emeritus professor of entomology)
"Temporal Inconsistency of Dengue Fever Surveillance in Iquitos, Peru" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 9
Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic:"Monarchs in the Pacific: Contemporary Evolution or Local Ecology?"
Wednesday, Nov. 16
Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Thrips Salivary Glands: The Relevance of Tissue Tropism and Gene Expression to Tospovirus"
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Phil Ward, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Exploring the Ant Tree-of-Life"
Wednesday, Dec. 7
Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
"How Can We Help Bees Via Research? The Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Well Being."
Christian Nansen, seminar coordinator: chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
Jessica Padilla, graduate program coordinator: jespadilla@ucdavis.edu
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