Sept. 22, 2008
The Department: 1907 to 2008
The UC Davis Department of Entomology traces its beginnings back to 1907 when a UC Berkeley professor lectured on whiteflies at a farmers’ short course in Davis. A two-year entomology program launched in 1913 led to degrees offered in 1923-24. See timeline.
Since its turn of the century beginnings, the UC Davis Department of Entomology has become the No. 1 department in the country, as ranked by the Chronicle of Higher Education in November 2007.
Fusion of Talent. Headquartered in Briggs Hall, the department enjoys a fusion of teaching faculty, Cooperative Extension specialists, professional researchers, international scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and academic and staff support. The department’s work on fundamental and applied problems has led to ground-breaking scientific discoveries, integrated pest management approaches in California’s agricultural and urban environments, management of insect-vectored human diseases and a global impact that stretches from UC Davis to Africa and South America and beyond.
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Lynn Kimsey, chair |
The Entomology Department is chaired by Lynn Kimsey, who also directs the Bohart Museum of Entomology. The department is also known for the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility; UC Davis Superfund Basic Research and Training; and the Mosquito Research Lab. Department faculty housed at the UC Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier, conduct research involving insect-plant interactions, economy entomology, and mosquito-borne diseases, such as West Nile virus and malaria.
In addition, related research spans a variety of UC ecological preserves and biological field stations, including the Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve in the Vaca Mountains; Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, in Northern California’s foothills; Sagehen Creek Field Station, near Truckee; Jepson Prairie Reserve in Vacaville; Bodega Marine Reserve; Hopland Field State near Ukiah; Wolfskill Experiment Orchard in Winters; UC South Coast Research and Extension Center in Irvine; and the Blodgett Experimental Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Breadth and Vitality. The faculty members, researchers and first-class students and staff join to create a department of exceptional breadth and vitality, advancing research and education along a broad spectrum of insect and arthropod science. Areas of emphasis include biological control, economic entomology, pollination biology, insect chemical ecology, insect olfaction, insect demography, insect physiology, insect toxicology, integrated pest management, ecology and evolution, forensic entomology, medical entomology (human and animal health) and systematics.
The faculty include internationally recognized leaders in insect molecular biology, physiology and biochemistry, insect biodiversity, systematics and evolutionary biology, plant and animal pest management and the beneficial uses of insects.
Distinguished Achievements
Members of the entomology faculty have received many coveted international and national awards:
National Academy of Sciences: Bruce Hammock
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: James Carey, Bruce Eldridge, Thomas Scott, Walter Leal and Robert Page
Fellows of the Entomological Society of America: Richard Bohart (deceased), John Edman, Bruce Eldridge, Harry Kaya, Harry Laidlaw Jr. (deceased), Donald McLean, Michael Parrella, William Reisen, Robert Washino and Frank Zalom
Harry Hoogstraal Medal (top international award in medical entomology): Robert Washino, John Edman and Bruce Eldridge
Silverstein-Simeone Award in Chemical Ecology (top international award in chemical ecology): Walter Leal
Medal of Science from the Brazilian Congress of Entomology: Walter Leal
Geoffrey G. E. Scudder Award: Walter Leal
American Association of Professional Apiculturists’ Award for Apicultural Excellence: Eric Mussen |
Many of the alumni now chair entomology departments at other universities or hold higher administrative posts; head professional scientific organizations; or lead teams advancing scientific studies. Fifty-five alumni hold university faculty positions.
Multidisciplinary Approach. The Department of Entomology maintains ties to other departments within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, as well as to the College of Biological Sciences and the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. This interdisciplinary approach has brought the department to prominence both in basic insect science and in applied research that improves plant, animal and human health in California and all over the world.
Outreach. In keeping with the university's strong traditions of public service, the Department of Entomology participates in a variety of outreach programs which bring the expertise developed on campus into the community. These programs help farmers grow better crops, encourage the interest of children in science and nature, and reduce health hazards by controlling insects without harmful pesticides.
A primary focus of the department is reducing the use of pesticides by developing alternative pest control techniques that are effective and economical. Cooperative Extension specialists within the department provide advice to farmers and the general public on pest management in agricultural and ornamental crops, on household pests, and on rearing honeybees. Medical entomologists help protect public health by seeking new strategies to control insects and other arthropods that transmit diseases.
Home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America and housing more than seven million specimens, the Bohart Museum of Entomology is essential to research, teaching and outreach.
Undergraduate and Graduate Students. In this environment of research excellence and public service, the department provides programs in undergraduate and graduate education, including bachelor's, masters and doctoral degrees.
Graduate students in the entomology program, or housed in entomology, conduct research in insect demography, medical entomology, insect systematics, biological control, integrated pest management, insect biochemistry, insect ecology, insect pathology, biology and evolution of insects, aquatic ecology, insect physiology, environmental toxicology, apiculture, horticultural entomology, and insect vectors of plant pathogens.
The Insects
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| Honey bee gathering nectar on guara. |
Ladybeetle drying her wings. |
Blood-fed mosquito.
(Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
Since their ancestors crawled from the sea 400 million years ago, insects continue to be the world's greatest opportunists. From the mountains to the oceans, they invade every possible niche, exploiting every imaginable source of food. Eighty-five percent of the million or so animals species are insects, and it's estimated that from six to 15 million species are still undiscovered. Insects are both our chief competitors and our closest partners in making a living on earth.
Insects feed us by pollinating the crops that produce a third of our diet. They clothe us by producing silk and pollinating fiber crops. Without insects, this would be a world devoid of most flowering plants and heaped with dead vegetation, animal corpses and dung.
Some insects are killers. Of all the animals, insects are responsible for more human suffering than any other animal group. They transmit disease in humans and domestic animals, destroy crops and consumer our food, clothing and blood.
100 Ways that UC Davis Has Transformed the World in Agriculture
UC Davis Centennial Page
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
