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Dr. Frank Zalom, Extension Agronomist and Entomologist in the Agricultural Experiment Station

In a sunny corner office on the third floor of Briggs Hall works Frank Zalom. Today he is developing a management plan for almond growers, so that their practices will be not only environmentally sound, but also economically feasible. Having recently stepped down as head of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UCIPM), he continues to work very closely with the agricultural industries through Cooperative Extension.

Frank earned his PhD from the UC Davis Entomology Department in 1978. While a graduate student he met his future wife of 25 years, a masters candidate at the time, Janet (Smilanick) Zalom. He became an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota teaching their Economic Entomology and Insect Vectors courses. He returned to UC Davis in the Fall of 1980 at the inception of the UCIPM program, when he was hired as UC's Extension IPM Coordinator. He also taught a core course in the Plant Protection and Pest Management Graduate Group.

Over the years Frank has been active in extension education for a number of field and vegetable crops, but today his work is primarily on tree crops, small fruits, and tomatoes. He has to keep abreast of new technologies and production practices in order to recommend what he feels are the best management practices for these high value crops. "Over the years we've greatly changed our recommendations to keep up with new research and environmental concerns," he says. "For example, in the 1980's we promoted organophosphate dormant sprays which were a significant improvement over what growers had been doing, but we continued to investigate more environmentally sound alternatives. In 1986, 95% of almond growers used organophosphate dormant sprays, but by 2002 all but 10% had adopted other practices."

In addition to his extension program, Frank has an active research program. He and one of his PhD students Hannah Burrack are studying a recently introduced pest in California, the Olive Fruit Fly. They have identified sampling procedures for the pest, which have been adopted by state agencies, and are in the process of developing models of its lifecycle and olive fruit development as they are affected by environmental conditions. They hope to understand when the fruit becomes a reproductive host, and how best to control fly populations by using post harvest cultural controls and pesticide treatments only at times when they are most effective.

He also is co-major advisor for PhD candidate Natalie Hummel with entomology Professor Christine Peng who are trying to understand the reproductive physiology of the Glassy-winged Sharpshooter, a homopteran pest that has become a major concern for California grape and almond growers. By learning more about its reproductive biology they hope to understand how best to control its future impact on vineyards and orchards in the state.

Frank has received much recognition for his research and service. In 1990 he became a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, and in 1993 he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for research on the Medfly and silverleaf whitefly in Spain. He has received both the ESA's Recognition Award in Entomology and the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension. He has served as President of the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) and is running for President of the National ESA this year. But despite these and other prestigious honors he's received primarily for his research, he is most proud of the many recognitions given to him by growers and crop consultants for his service.

"I enjoy the science of entomology and I like to think that the work that I do enhances our knowledge of insect biology, but what I really enjoy is knowing that I have helped people in the practical application of our work to their problems," says Zalom, who was recently given a recognition award from the Friends of Agricultural Extension, a group of San Joaquin Valley growers. "The recognition that I received from them is validation of that - it's what keeps me going. That and my students."