Cornell Professor to Launch UC Davis Fall Seminar Series on Sept. 30

A soil arthropod ecology seminar by associate professor Kyle Wickings of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University, will launch the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's fall seminar series.

Wickings will speak on “Composition and Function of Soil Invertebrate Communities in Residential Greenspaces” at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Sept. 30 in 122 Briggs Hall.

“Turfgrasses cover a significant portion of U.S. land area and are used for a variety of cultural and other ecosystem services," he says in his abstract. "However, this service provisioning capacity varies tremendously by geographic location and management context. In this seminar, I will present research from my program on the potential or turfgrasses to serve as reservoirs for belowground biodiversity and soil organic matter in residential laws and public parks o the northwestern United States. I will also discuss the consequences of turfgrass cultural and pest management practices or soil biological communities and processes.”

His seminar will be broadcast on Zoom and archived. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

On his website, Wickings relates: "My research strives to understand the interactions between arthropods, microbes, and soil organic matter, and how these interactions may be modified to improve plant protection in the rhizosphere. One of my research goals is to identify underlying characteristics of soil organic matter (quantity, quality, and composition) which influence root herbivore populations. This knowledge could improve our ability to predict pest outbreaks and may ultimately be used to develop soil amendments which suppress root-feeding pests. I am also interested in understanding the role that soil microbes play in the nutritional ecology of root-feeding arthropods. My previous research demonstrates that soil arthropods interact closely with microbes during feeding, and it is well known that soil arthropods form diverse external and internal associations with microbes. My research at Cornell will continue in this area to improve our understanding of the role of microbes in root herbivore nutrition and the potential for managing root-feeding pests by influencing the soil microbial community."

Wickings, who joined the Cornell University faculty in 2013, holds a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies, summa cum laude (2001), and a doctorate in 2007 in ecology from the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. His dissertation: “Arthropod Biodiversity in a Georgia  Cotton Agroecosysem: Cotton, Tillage, Cover Crops and Red Imported Fire Ants." 

He did postdoctoral research from 2010-2013 for the Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire, Durham, where he conducted research on the effects of management intensity on soil biota and their role in long-term decomposition; performed advanced chemical analysis of soil and plant residue for collaborative research projects; and advised graduate students studying symbiotic microbes of soil invertebrates and patterns of microarthropod distribution in soils. 

He earlier served as a postdoctoral associate (2006-2010) for the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing. 

Wickings has authored or co-authored research  published in PloS One, Ecology Letters,  Peobiologia, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, and Annals of the Entomological Society of America, among others. 

Wickings received Cornell's  2017  Early Achievement Award for his work researching the effects of soil arthropods and microbes on plant health and chemistry. 

Nematologist Amanda Hodson, assistant professor, is coordinating the seminars. The full list is here. For more information or for technical issues, contact Hodson at akhodson@ucdavis.edu.