"The world was a better place when Bruce Hammock was in it."

That was the theme of a heartfelt video released today (Aug. 13) on what would have been UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Hammock's 79th birthday anniversary celebration. (See YouTube at https://youtu.be/BAses9EoYXQ)

Doctoral candidate Carla-Cristina “CC” de Melo Edwards of the lab of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the newly selected recipient of the 2026 Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Student Recognition Award in Medical Entomology for a PhD Student from the Entomological Society of America (ESA). 

Doctoral candidate Alexia "Lexie" Martin of the laboratory of Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has received a Garden Club of America (GSA) Board of Associates Centennial Pollinator Fellowship for her research on the native bees, Osmia.

Her research: "Non-Native Horn-Face Bees (Osmia cornifrons) as Possible Disease Reservoirs for Native Blue Orchard Bees (Osmia lignaria)."

Meet the newest member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty: Rodolfo da Silva Probst, assistant professor of insect biology. 

Probost joined the faculty in March and is based at 394 Briggs Hall.

UC Davis Professor Shahid Siddique of the Department of Entomology and Nematology is the newly appointed inaugural Howard Ferris Endowed Chair in Plant and Soil Nematology at UC Davis. 

"This is a is a tremendous privilege, and I look forward to advancing research, mentoring the next generation of scientists, and building on Howard Ferris’ extraordinary legacy," Siddique said.

Professor Neal Williams of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, a pollinator ecologist internationally recognized for his research on bee and pollination biology, is a newly elected Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Bruce Dupree Hammock, 1947-2026, a legendary scientist who held a joint appointment with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT-NEM) and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, is memorialized on the University of California Academic Senate website. 

The lab of UC Davis nematologist Shahid Siddique was well represented at the international Society of Nematologists' recent meeting in Baltimore.

UC Davis Professor Emerita Valerie Moroz Williamson of the Department of Plant Pathology is the recipient of the Society of Nematologists' highest honor: Honorary Member.

Williamson, a fellow of the Society of Nematology (SON) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), received the plaque, inscribed with "For Outstanding Contributions to Nematology,"  at its recent meeting in Baltimore. 

UC Davis Professor Shahid Siddique of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, received the 2026 Outstanding Educator Award--the Excellence in Teaching Award--at the annual meeting of the international Society of Nematologists (SON) held in Baltimore.

Oh, what a night!

"No way!" said entomologist Joel Hernandez when a giant silkworm moth fluttered into his backlighting setup on Saturday night, July 18 during the annual Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night. 

A highly acclaimed documentary, Anopheles, spotlights the mosquito research of UC Davis medical entomologists Greg Lanzaro and Anthony "Anton" Cornel.

Congressional passage of the Sunshine Protection Bill, which mandates a permanent Daylight Saving Time  throughout the United States, would be "a big mistake."

So declared circadian biologist Joanna Chiu, newly elected president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR) and professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. 

When honey bees become trapped in a milkweed’s elaborate pollination system and die, what are the ecological consequences? Is the presence of dead bees a deterrent to future visitors, such as honey bees (Apis mellifera) and non-Apis visitors? Do the dead bees result in an influx of predators, like ants? 

The Bohart Museum of Entomology will celebrate National Moth Week by hosting its annual Moth Night open house on Saturday, July 18.

The event, free and family friendly, will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Bohart Museum headquarters, Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus--as well as outdoors for the two blacklighting displays.