Previous Seminars

Winter QUARTER 2025

January 06, 2025
Dr. Dylan Beal
UCANR, UC IPM Entomology Advisor
Title: From greenhouses and grapes to tree fruit, berries, and beyond: applying Entomology research in an extension context
Watch Recording

January 13, 2025
Dr. Angie Lenard
University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Biology
Title: Insects in human-modified environments
Watch Recording

January 27, 2025
Dr. Jiue-in Yang
UC Riverside, Department of Nematology
Title: AI and biological control for plant parasitic nematode management

February 03, 2025
Christopher Pagan
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Nadler Lab
Title: Soil Nematode Community Analysis: Insights from 28S Metabarcoding
Watch Recording

February 10, 2025
Dr. Mitzy Porras
San Francisco State University, Department of Biology
Title: Manipulation of plant and insect phenotypes by micropes in a changing world

Fall QUARTER 2024

September 30, 2024
Dr. Kyle Wickings
Cornell University, Department of Entomology
Title: Composition and function of soil invertebrate communities in residential greenspaces
Watch Recording

October 07, 2024
Dr. Juliana Rangel Posada
Texas A&M University, Department of Entomology
Title: Don’t compromise: food lipid content shapes protein-lipid regulation in honey bee (Apis mellifera) nurses
Watch Recording

October 14, 2024 - Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar
Dr. Michael Hoffmann
Cornell University, Department of Entomology, Professor Emeritus
Title: Our Changing Menu: Using the Power of Food to Confront Climate Change
Watch Recording

October 21, 2024
Dr. Andrew Corbett
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: In silico experiments with the effect of natural habitats in agricultural landscapes on biological control
Watch Recording

October 28, 2024
Dr. Jo'lene Saldivar
UC Davis Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow, Yang Lab
Title: Disturbance in coastal sage scrub and the implications for migratory butterflies
Watch Recording

November 04, 2024
Eliza Litsey
USDA-ARS, Invasive Species and Pollinator Health
Title: Developing a Novel Queen Honey Bee Treatment to Support Reproduction
Watch Recording

November 18, 2024 - In Person Only
Dr. André Franco
Indiana University Bloomington, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Title: Deciphering the Soil Macrobiome: Belowground communities driving ecosystem responses to global change”

November 25, 2024
Dr. Christine Sprunger
Michigan State University, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
Title: Nematodes as bioindicators of soil health and climate resiliency
Watch Recording

December 02, 2024
Dr. Inga Zasada
USDA-ARS, Horticultural Crops Research Unit
Title: How an applied nematolgists uses genomic tools to address plant-parasitic nematode research
Watch Recording

Spring QUARTER 2024

April 01, 2024
Dr. Jamie Ellis
University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: Understanding the risk that pesticides pose to honey bees

April 08, 2024
Dr. Eduardo Almeida
Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto
Title: The evolutionary history of bees in time and space
Watch Recording

April 15, 2024
Dr. Zachary Lamas
USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory - Beltsville, MD
Title: How Doing a PhD is like Building a House

April 22, 2024
Dr. Adam Wong
University of Florida, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: Microbial modulation of host behavior: Insights from Drosophila

April 29, 2024
Dr. Melissa Guzman
University of Southern California, Department of Biological Sciences
Title: Using occupancy models to infer trends of bee biodiversity in North America
Watch Recording

May 06, 2024
Dr. Clement Chow
University of Utah, Department of Human Genetics
Title: Flying to the clinic: Drug repurposing screen for rare diseases
Watch Recording

May 13, 2024
Dr. Alejandro Del Pozo-Valdivia
Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology
Title: Expanding the Toolbox: Applied Research for Improving IPM in Specialty Crops
Watch Recording

May 20, 2024
Danielle Rutkowski
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology, Karban and Vanette Labs
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Identity and functions of bee-associated fungi
Watch Recording

June 03, 2024
Dr. James Carey
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: California’s Fruit Fly Invasion Crisis: A 70-year Struggle Nears Critical Mass

Winter QUARTER 2024

January 08, 2024
Dr. Adler Dillman
UC Riverside, Department of Nematology
Title: Nematode Parasitism of Insects with Toxic Cardenolides
Watch Recording

January 22, 2024
Dr. William Ja
The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation and Technology in Jupiter, Florida
Title: EAT, EXCRETE, & DIE: Regulation of homeostatic behaviors and aging in Drosophila
Watch Recording

January 29, 2024
Dr. Todd Johnson
Louisiana State University, Department of Entomology
Title: Characterizing ecological interactions of arthropods in forests under global change
Watch Recording

February 05, 2024
Dr. Orie Shafer
City University of New York
Title: Circadian and Homeostatic Regulation of Fly Sleep

February 12, 2024
Dr. Peter Piermarini
The Ohio State University, Department of Entomology
Title: Discovery of Novel Chemical Tools for Controlling the Most Dangerous Animals on Earth

February 26, 2024
Dr. Dorith Rotenberg
North Carolina State University, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Title: Advances and Innovations in the Characterization of Molecular Interactions Between Frankliniella occidentalis, Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus and the Plant Host

March 04, 2024
Dr. Salil Bidaye
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
Title: How flies control how they walk by knowing when and how to stop
Watch Recording

March 11, 2024
Dr. Inga Zasada
USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon
Title: How an Applied Nematologist Uses Genomic Tools to Address Plant-Parasitic Nematode Research

Fall QUARTER 2023

October 02, 2023
Dr. Paul CaraDonna
Chicago Botanic Garden and Northwestern University
Title: Understanding the dynamics of plant-pollinator interactions in a changing world
Watch Recording

October 09, 2023
Dr. Geoffrey Attardo
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: The Mating Biology of Tsetse Flies – Insights into the Morphological, Biochemical, and Molecular Responses to Mating Stimuli in a Viviparous Disease Vector
Watch Recording

October 16, 2023
Dr. Anthony Vaudo
U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Title: Pollen Nutritional ecology of Bee-Blower Interactions
Watch Recording

October 23, 2023
Dr. Sascha Nicklisch
UC Davis, Department of Environmental Toxicology
Title: Disarming the Defenses of Resistant Pests: Rational Design of Inhibitors for ABC Transporter Proteins in the Varroa Mite
Watch Recording

October 30, 2023
Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz-Ruedas
San Diego State University, Department of Biology
Title: Ring Species, Ring Speciation or a Ring of Species? An Example with California Mygalomorph Spiders
Watch Recording

November 06, 2023
Dr. Jason Hong
USDA-ARS, U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory
Title: Managing Soilborne Pathogens and Pests with Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD)
Watch Recording

November 13 - Virtual Only
Charlotte Alberts
UC Davis, Department of Entomology, Ullman Lab and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Assassin Fly (Diptera: Asilidae) Systematics and Predator Ecology

November 20, 2023
Dr. Étienne Danchin
INRAE, Genomics & Adaptive Molecular Evolution
Title: Parasitic Success in the Absence of Sex: What Have We Learned from Nematode Genomes?
Watch Recording

November 27, 2023
Dr. Arnon Dag
Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Institute
Title: Improving Cross-Pollination in Deciduous Fruit Trees
Watch Recording

December 04, 2023
Dr. James Nieh
UC San Diego, Division of Biological Sciences, Department of Ecology, Behavior & Evolution
Title: Danger, Dopamine, and Dance: New Insights from the Magic Well of Honey Bee Communication
Watch Recording

Spring QUARTER 2023

April 05, 2023
Dr. Terry McGlynn
California State University, Dominguez Hills, Department of Biology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Lessons about thermal ecology from rainforest ants
Watch Recording

April 12, 2023
Dr. Chistopher Mayack
USDA-ARS, Invasive Species and Pollinator Health Research Unit
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Chemical biomarkers and the physiological underpinnings of honey bee health decline
Watch Recording

April 19, 2023
Zachary Griebenow
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology - Ward Lab
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Systematic revision of the ant subfamily Leptanillinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) using reciprocal illumination from phylogenomics and morphology
Watch Recording

April 26, 2023 - Virtual Only
Samuel Jaffe
The Caterpillar Lab
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Telling The Whole Story: Using native caterpillars, their ecological connections, and novel outreach tools to showcase the importance of biodiversity
Watch Recording

May 03, 2023
Dr. John Hargrove
Stellenbosch University, South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Tsetse, trypanosomiasis and climate change: What can we learn from field data collected in the Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe?
Watch Recording

May 10, 2023
Dr. Irene Newton
Indiana University, Department of Biology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Friends with benefits: protective microbial symbioses in the honey bee
Watch Recording

May 17, 2023 - Virtual Only
Dr. Paulo Vieira
USDA-ARS, Mycology & Nematology Genetic Diversity & Biology Laboratory
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Beech leaf disease: an emergent threat to beech forest ecosystems in North America

May 24, 2023
Dr. Katie Thompson-Peer
UC Irvine, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Cellular mechanisms of dendrite regeneration after neuron injury
Watch Recording - UCD Login Required

June 06, 2023
Lindsey Mack
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology - Attardo Lab
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Genetic and molecular factors influencing pyrethroid response in Aedes aegypti from California
Watch Recording

June 07, 2023
Jill Oberski
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology - Ward Lab
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Phylogenetics and biogeography of the pyramid ants
Watch Recording

Winter QUARTER 2023

January 11, 2023 - Virtual Only
Dr. Clément Vinauger
Virginia Tech, Department of Biochemistry
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Neural and molecular basis of mosquito behavior

January 18, 2023
Dr. Quinn McFredrick
UC Riverside, Department of Entomology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: The weird world of pathogens, microbes, and meat-eating bees
Watch Recording

January 25, 2023
Dr. Lisa Chamberland
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Biogeography and eye size evolution of the ogre-faced spiders
Watch Recording

January 31, 2023 - Special Seminar
Dr. Justin Runyon
US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Secrets of a long life: Chemical defense of bark beetles by bristlecone pines
Watch Recording

February 1, 2023
Dr. Chris Fettig
US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Bark beetles: How tiny insects are transforming western forests with a little help from climate change
Watch Recording

February 8, 2023
Dr. Lauren Ponisio
University of Oregon, Institute of Ecology and Evolution
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Disease in plant-pollinator communities
Watch Recording

February 15, 2023
Christine Tabuloc
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Environmental and anthropogenic impact on insect gene expression and physiology
Watch Recording

February 22, 2023
Kyle Lewald
UC Davis, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Using genomic data to understand and prevent the spread of Tuta absoluta
Watch Recording

March 1, 2023
Dr. Dana Nayduch
USDA-ARS Center for Grain & Animal Health Research
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Can surveying microbial communities of house flies help us understand emerging threats to animal and human health?

March 8, 2023
Dr. Amy Worthington
Creighton University, Department of Biology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: A host of hardships: The costs of harboring a long-lived parasite
Watch Recording

March 15, 2023 - Virtual Only
Dr. Sylvain Pincebourde
University of Tours, Insect Biology Research Institute
Professional Webpage Link
Title: The key role of microclimates in modulating the response of ectotherms to climate change
Watch Recording

Fall QUARTER 2022

September 21, 2022
Nicholas Miller
Illinois Tech
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Adaptation in the cornfield, research in the classroom
Watch Recording

September 28, 2022
Nissa Coit
UC Davis Dept. of Entomology and Nematology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Effects of ethyl oleate pheromone on honey bee (Apis mellifera) overwintering Physiology
Watch Recording

October 05, 2022
Olivia Winokur
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Temperature drives transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens: improving entomological estimates for Aedes aegypti-borne virus transmission risk
Watch Recording

October 12, 2022
Julian Dupuis
University of Kentucky
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Developing genomics-based molecular diagnostic tools for recurrently invading tephritid pests
Watch Recording

October 19, 2022
Dr. Filipa Rijo-Ferreira
UC Berkeley
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Circadian Rhythms in Parasitic Diseases
Watch Recording

October 26, 2022
Yao Cai
UC Davis Dept. of Entomology and Nematology
Professional Webpage Link
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: How do flies tell the time of day?
Watch Recording

November 02, 2022
Dr. Wanhe Li
Texas A&M
Professional Webpage Link
Title: How Time Flies During Lock-down? – Mechanisms Underlying Chronic Social Isolation-induced Sleep Loss in Drosophila

November 09, 2022 - Virtual Only
Dr. Xoaquín Moreira
Biological Mission of Galicia
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Insularity effects on plant-herbivore interactions: searching for biotic and abiotic explanatory variables to promote insular biodiversity conservation
Watch Recording

November 16, 2022
Dr. Cynthia Gleason
Washington State University
Professional Webpage Link
Title: How do we help potato growers combat the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne chitwoodi?
Watch Recording

December 07, 2022 - Virtual Only
Dr. Mônica Ulyssea
Universidade de São Paulo Museu de Zoologia
Professional Webpage Link
Title: Morphology for assessing species diversity and previously unknown biological traits of the ant genus Hylomyrma
Watch Recording

Spring QUARTER 2022

March 30, 2022
Ziad Khouri
UC Davis
Title:Scoliid wasp evolution and some adventures with posterior predictive simulation
Watch Recording

April 6, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Makedonka Mitreva
Washignton University School of Medicine
Title:Multi-omics applications in helminth research
Watch Recording

April 13, 2022
Tobin Hammer
University of Texas Austin
Title:“Mystery of the missing microbes: why do bees keep losing their symbionts?”
Watch Recording

April 20, 2022
Jared Ali
Penn State University
Title:Chemical Ecology of Plant Defense and Multi-trophic Interactions: Bad Bugs, Pungent Parasites and Toxic Travelers
Watch Recording

April 27, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Heather Bruce
Marine Biological Laboratory; University of California, Berkeley;
Title:Evolution and development of arthropod appendages: novelty and homology
Watch Recording

May 4, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Scott McArt
Cornell University
Title:Pesticide risk to pollinators: What we know and what we need to know better
Watch Recording

May 11, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Mostafa Zamanian
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Title:Combing target and whole-organism paradigms for anthelmintic discovery
Recording Unavailable

May 18, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Corlett Wood
University of Pennsylvania
Title:The conflict beneath your feet: indirect effects in plant-symbiont interactions
Watch Recording

May 25, 2022
James R Carey
UC Davis
Title:“The conceptual sweep of a mathematical discovery in insect demography: From estimation of medfly population age structure to an historical analysis of U.S. Congress incumbency distributions, 1785-2000”
Watch Recording

June 1, 2022
Isgouhi Kaloshian
UC Riverside
Title:Root-Knot nematode perception and immune signaling in Arabidopsis
Watch Recording

Winter QUARTER 2022

January 5, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Randa Jabbour
University of Wyoming
Title:Interdisciplinary collaborations in pest management research - my alfalfa weevil stories
Watch Recording

January 12, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Sylvia Fischer
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Title:Recent expansion of Aedes aegypti distribution¿are the populations adapting to colder climate regions?
Watch Recording

January 19, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Megan Meuti
Ohio State University
Title:How do mosquitoes correctly interpret environmental signals into complex seasonal responses?
Watch Recording

January 26, 2022
Tobin Hammer
University of Texas, Austin
Title:Diversity and dynamism in social bee microbiomes

February 2, 2022
Simon Niels Groen
UC Riverside
Title:Plant toxins and the evolution of host-parasite interactions
Watch Recording

February 9, 2022
Vince D'Amico
USDA
Title:Monitoring and Ecological Research in the Forests of the BosWash Megalopolis
Watch Recording

February 16, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Michelle Heck
Boyce Thompson Institute
Title:Challenge-driven innovation in citrus greening disease research
Watch Recording

February 23, 2022
Adam Steinbrenner
University of Washington
Title:Plant immune recognition of insect herbivores
Watch Recording

March 2, 2022
Erica Henry
North Carolina State University
Title:Insect conservation in an uncertain future
Watch Recording

March 9, 2022 - VIRTUAL
Melissa Mitchum
University of Georgia
Title:The tricks phytonematodes use to modulate plant development
Watch Recording

Fall QUARTER 2021

September 29
Hanna Kahl, PhD Candidate
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title: EXIT SEMINAR: Herbivory of Citrus fruit by European Earwigs in California

October 6 - VIRTUAL
María Silvina Fenoglio
National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina
Title: Do green roofs benefit urban arthropod communities? Evidence from a South American city

October 13
Hans R Herren
Millennium Institute, USA
Title: Why is transforming the food system along the agroecology principles an imperative?
Watch Recording

October 20
Sergio Hidalgo Sotelo
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title: Using Drosophila melanogaster to understand complex disorders: insights on the pathophysiology of schizophrenia
Watch Recording

October 27
Adler Dillman
Department of Nematology, UC Riverside
Title: Nematode venom contains potent modulators of insect immunity
Watch Recording

November 3
NO SEMINAR (ESA Meeting)

November 10
Fatemeh Ganjisaffar
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title: Addressing an evolving invasive species crisis: insecticide resistance management and behavioral control of Drosophila suzukii
Watch Recording

November 17 - VIRTUAL
Gabe Zilnik
Temperate Tree Fruit and Vegetable Research, USDA
Title:  Improving Tobacco IPM with Large Data and Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning
Watch Recording

November 24 - VIRTUAL
Monika Egerer
Technical University of Munich, Germany
Title: Entomological investigations in urban gardens
Watch Recording

December 1
Fatma Kaplan
Pheronym, Davis
Title: Conspecific and heterospecific pheromones stimulate dispersal of entomopathogenic nematodes during quiescence
Watch Recording

SPRING QUARTER 2021

  • March 31, Bob Peterson - Tigers in Yellowstone National Park: Insect Adaptations to Extreme Environments
  • April 14, Dr. Priya Rajarapu - Insect-plant molecular interactions: stories from invasive insects to disease vectors
  • April 21, Dr. Chris Hamilton - TBD
  • April 28, Dr. Ellen Currano - Ancient bug-bitten leaves reveal the impacts of climate and plant nutrients on insect herbivores
  • May 5, CANCELLED
  • May 12, Dr. Margarita López-Uribe - Ecoevolutionary consequences of crop domestication on plant-pollinator interactions
  • May 19, Dr. Manuela Ramalho - Exploring connections among microbial community, ecology and phylogenetic history of ants
  • May 26, Dr. Javier Ceja Navarro - The complex microbial life and interactions in lilliputian landscapes: from the guts of insects to the rhizosphere
  • June 2, Dr. Alexandra Harmon-Threatt - Beyond flowers; examining the role of soils in bee conservation efforts

WINTER QUARTER 2021

  • January 20, Daniel Hasegawa - Landscape and Molecular Approaches for Managing Thrips and Thrips-transmitted Viruses in the Salinas Valley of California
  • January 27, Charissa deBekker - What Makes a Zombie Ant Tick? Connecting Genomes with Behavioral Phenomes in Ants, Manipulated by a Fungal Parasite
  • February 3, Shalene Jha - Plant-Insect Interactions and Ecosystem Services in the Context of Global Change
  • February 10, Estelí Jimenez-Soto - A Complex Cup of Joe: Biodiversity, Pest Control and Political Ecologies in Mexican Coffee Agroforests
  • February 17, Brian Weiss - Metabolic Complementation Between Members of the Tsetse Fly Holobiont
  • February 24, Jessica Kansman - To be an Aphid in a Cruel World: How Abiotic and Biotic Stressors Influence Plant-Insect Interactions
  • March 3, Monika Gulia-Nuss - Pending (Her research program investigates the fundamental questions related to vector biology and vector-parasite interaction. She is particularly interested in aspects of invertebrate reproductive physiology, nutrient allocation, and vector competence and population genomics)
  • March 10, Romina Rader - Pending (Her research deals with community ecology in agroecosystems)

FALL QUARTER 2020

  • CANCELLED DUE TO PANDEMIC

SPRING QUARTER 2020

  • CANCELLED DUE TO PANDEMIC

WINTER QUARTER 2020

FALL QUARTER 2019