Dec. 14, 2007
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Nate Hardy
(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS —
Nate Hardy, a graduate student in entomology at the University of California, Davis, won a coveted President’s Prize for his oral presentation on mealybugs at the recent Entomological Society of America (ESA) conference in San Diego.
Hardy discussed his classification work on mealybugs, scale insect pests that feed on citrus, grapes, greenhouse plants and other agricultural crops. His topic: “A New Mealybug Subfamily Classification Based on Integrated Morphological and DNA Sequence Data.”
Hardy competed in the Systematics, Morphology and Evolution section, which included four concurrent sections, each with about a dozen students. Judges selected one presentation from each section for the President’s Prize.
He studies with UC Davis entomology professors Penny Gullan and Peter Cranston.
The President’s Prize was especially sweet. “In 2004, I gave what many remember as the worst talk they’ve ever heard at an ESA meeting,” Hardy quipped. His topic: Australian gall-inducing felt scales, which feed on Eucalyptus trees.
Initially from Philadelphia, but a resident of Davis since 2002, Hardy received a bachelor’s degree in entomology, with honors, from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. in 2002.
Hardy’s research interests center on the diversity and evolution of scale insects, especially felt scales (Eriococcidae) and mealybugs (Pseudoccoccidae).
His future plans? “I am interested in the evolution and ecology of gall-inducing insects in general as well as the problem of species delimitation. In the future I hope to continue describing scale insect diversity and contribute to the assembly of the scale-insect tree of life.”
The UC Davis Department of Entomology, chaired by Walter Leal, is ranked No. 1 in the country, in rankings just released by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The department is headquartered in Briggs Hall.
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
