 |
| The UC Davis prize-winning Linnaean team in front of Briggs Hall. From left are graduate students Emilly Symmes, Andrew Merwin, Meredith Cenzer, Matan Shelomi and Melody Schmid, and coach-advisor Larry Godfrey. Click to enlarge. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS--The Linnaean Games team from the UC Davis Department of Entomology is heading for the national competition after winning second place in the regionals.
The team of entomology graduate students placed second overall in the Linnaean Games on Monday, April 12 at the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America (PBESA) meeting. Washington State University took first.
PBESA will send the top two teams to the national competition, which will be held during the 58th annual ESA meeting, Dec. 12-15 in San Diego.
The team is comprised of Melody Schmid, Meredith Cenzer, Matan Shelomi and Emily Symmes, all in the doctorate program, and Andrew Merwin, who is in the master’s program. Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey, UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, serves as their advisor and coach.
The Linnaean Games is a college-bowl type of quiz on entomological facts, covering apiculture, biological control, ecology, economic entomology, medical and veterinary entomology, physiology and biochemistry, taxonomy and toxicology, as well as the history of entomology and biographical information on prominent entomologists.
Godfrey said that Schmid served as the alternate and let the other four compete. Cenzer correctly identified the small hive beetle (with the family) from a slide. Merwin correctly detailed the techniques to avoid resistance development in GMO crops. Shelomi answered questions about developmental tissues for insects. Symmes correctly answered a question about the theme for this year’s meeting.
Schmid studies with major professors and medical entomologists Greg Lanzaro and Anton Cornel. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Colorado College.
Cenzer studies ecology with major professor and community ecologist Louie Yang. She received her bachelor of science degree in entomology and entomology from the University of Florida.
Shelomi studies with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. He received his bachelor’s degree in organismic and evolutionary biology from Harvard.
Symmes studies with major professor and integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom. She received her bachelor’s degree in entomology from UC Riverside.
Merwin studies with major professor Michael Parrella, chair of the Department of Entomology. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry, from California State University, Long Beach, and a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish from UCLA.
Coach Godfrey is no stranger to the Linnaean Games. He was a member of the University of Kentucky championship team. His team competed in the second annual Linnaean Games (second annual in the North Central Branch of ESA where the games originated).
The Pacific Branch of ESA encompasses 11 U.S. states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming); several U.S. territories, including American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands; and parts of Canada and Mexico.
The Linnaean Games are named for Swedish-born Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) a famous taxonomist, ecologist and botanist
Back to News
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
