Kaitai Liu Wins PBESA Undergrad Research Scholarship
UC Davis senior entomology major Kaitai Liu of the Department of Entomology and Nematology is the winner of the fourth annual Dr. Stephen Garczynski Undergraduate Research Scholarship, sponsored by the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA).
The merit-based award honors the memory of Dr. Stephen Garczynski (1960-2019), a research geneticist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wapato, Wash., who “had an unmatched passion for mentoring undergraduate students in their research.”
Liu will receive waived registration for the PBESA conference, set March 30-April 2 at the Salt Lake City Center, Utah, and a $1000 award for travel expenses.
Liu, who holds a 3.945 grade point average, is a research scholar with the campuswide UC Davis Research Scholar Program in Insect Biology (RSPIB), founded by three UC Davis entomology professors (Jay Rosenheim, Joanna Chiu and Louie Yang). It provides cutting-edge research and mentoring opportunities to promising undergraduates.
“As a member of RSPIB, I was fortunate to join the Jason Bond lab and work with passionate, knowledgeable researchers who share their techniques and experiences,” Liu wrote in his application. Professor Bond is the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Works on Insect Biodiversity and Barcode Project
Liu works with the Bond lab and the Bohart Museum of Entomology in the state-funded California Insect Biodiversity and Barcode Project, which aims to document all the insect species found in California. At the time of his PBESA application, Liu had prepared more than 700 specimens, confirming the identification, verifying the validity of the scientific name, databasing, and digital imaging of the specimen, and "looking forward to the next step: collecting tissues from the specimens and preserving them for DNA extraction and sequencing.
“My career plans are to pursue a doctorate in entomology, become a professor, and specialize in researching beetles, specifically the rain beetle (Pleocomidae)," Liu wrote. “Significant geographic boundaries divide the species into multiple spatially isolated populations, which may cause the formation of cryptic species group. The flightless nature of the females may further increase the level of isolation. I am interested in how geographic boundaries contribute to speciation by affecting gene flows and whether morphological characters accurately reflect the genetic diversity between geographically isolated groups."
"I plan to use phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches to reveal their evolutionary relationship and expand our knowledge of speciation and insect biodiversity in California. I am also interested in their phenology change in response to climate change since their life cycle highly relies on precipitation in the winter. I have visited many habitats of rain beetles, and I am in the process of mapping a detailed distribution of each isolated population.”
Core Member of Entomology Club
As a core member of the UC Davis Entomology Club, Liu helps organize--and participates in--the club's collecting trips, which include camping trips to Arizona. He volunteers at the Bohart Museum of Entomology’s weekend open houses and special events, including the annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day and the campuswide Picnic Day. "I love sharing my knowledge with the public and helping them appreciate insect’s diversity, importance, and beauty," he wrote. He shows the tenants of the live petting zoo to open house visitors. Among them: Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas. "I love how visitors’ faces light up when they learn new things about insects, and this, in turn, inspires me to become the best educator I can be."
Liu credits his RSPIB research and volunteer experiences to cementing his goal to become an entomologist. "I want to become a beetle systematist and taxonomist and study the evolution of rain beetles, as well as an inspiring entomology educator like the late Dr. Garczynski, Dr. Bond, and other mentors I’ve met at UC Davis."
Liu is the fourth UC Davis student to win the Dr. Stephen Garczynski Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Gwen Erdosh of the lab of Professor Louie Yang won the inaugural award in 2022, and Gary Ge of the labs of Professor Louie Yang and UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro, received the honor in 2023.