The mysterious population decline of the imperiled Franklin’s bumble bee, which once flourished in a small area of northern California and southern Oregon, is not due to pathogens, but most likely to population bottlenecks and environmental issues, such as fire and drought stressors, according to newly published museum genomic research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

UC Berkeley professor Rosemary Gillespie, an evolutionary biologist who discovered an adaptive radiation of Tetragnatha spiders and went on to work on the systematics and evolutionary ecology of the lineage, will be the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar speaker.

UC Davis alumna Hannah Burrack, professor and chair of the Michigan State University and recipient of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology’s 2025 Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award, chronicled her career in entomology and thanked her collaborators at her recent seminar in the UC Davis Student Community Center.

UC Davis assistant professor Felicity Muth will present a Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar on "What Are Bees Thinking? Cognition in Captive and Wild Bumble Bees" on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Her seminar will take place at 12:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall and also will be on Zoom. The link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, an internationally recognized hymenopterist who directed the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years, is a newly inducted Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS). A ceremony honoring the Class of 2025 Fellows took place Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the former associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) under the Helene Dillard administration, is the newly selected executive associate dean of CA&ES.

He had previously served several months as interim executive associate dean.

The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, where UC Davis undergraduate students connect science with art, creating and installing ceramic-mosaic art for permanent display in public places--has been selected for a UC Davis Crowdfund campaign. 

The goal: to raise $10,000 during the month of October.

Lisa Baik, assistant professor of insect biology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT), will speak on “Understanding and Targeting the Taste System of Deadly Mosquitoes” at the department's first fall seminar, set for 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 1 in 122 Briggs Hall.

Her seminar will be broadcast on Zoom at https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology will host its first open house of the 2025-26 academic year on Sunday, Oct. 5.

 The event,  themed "Museum ABCs: How to Collect and Curate," will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It is free and family friendly. Parking is also free.

UC Davis alumna Lisa Baik, a former postdoctoral researcher at Yale University and described as a “brilliant scientist,” is the newest member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology  (ENT) faculty.

Baik joined the faculty this fall, accepting a position as assistant professor of insect biology.