Scientists, colleagues, collaborators and former students from throughout the world will honor the "Life and Legacy of Bruce Hammock" at a memorial set for 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 in California Hall, UC Davis campus.

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May will deliver the opening remarks, and Ashley Stokes, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will present  "a dean's reflections."

Lisa Baik, assistant professor of insect biology and the coordinator of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's seminars for the 2026-27 academic year, has announced the list of speakers and their topics.

All seminars will take place on Wednesdays from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall and will be hybrid. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

The schedule:

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

USDA-ARS research plant pathologist William Rutter will speak on "Investigating the Mechanisms that Underlie Host Plant Resistance Against Root-Knot Nematodes" at a seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology on Monday, May 12.

Nematologist Christopher Pagan of lab of UC Davis distinguished professor Steve Nadler will present his exit seminar on "Soil Nematode Community Analysis: Insights from 28S Metabarcoding" at 4:10 p.m., Monday, Feb. 3 in 122 Briggs Hall and also on Zoom (https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672).

Pagan received his doctorate on Sept. 13, 2024. 

UC Davis doctoral alumnus and Cornell University emeritus professor Michael Hoffmann, a noted entomologist and climate change educator, warned of the worldwide disastrous effects of climate change when he delivered the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Award Seminar recently in the Putah Creek Lodge.

“The goal of climate change now is simply, let’s not make it worse,” he said. “Our goal is to stabilize it…we need to confront climate change, meet it head on…. As they say, there's no Planet B.”

Ecologist Andrew Corbett, a research associate with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT), will speak on "In Silico Experiments with the Effect of Natural Habitats on Biological Control in Agricultural Landscapes" at the next department seminar, set for 4:10 p.m., Monday, Oct. 21 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.

The seminar also will be on Zoom. The link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

Cornell University emeritus professor MIchael Hoffmann, who will deliver the Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Award Seminar, hosted Monday, Oct. 14 by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be introduced by his longtime friend and colleague, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor Frank Zalom.

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.

It’s not often that your first doctoral published research makes the cover of an academic journal and focuses on an insect that most people have never heard of--and will probably never see--except in insect museums like the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis.