Backyard Orchard News
Best Sentence Collection: Stings Happen When Bees Are 'Aminated and Antagonistic'
"Killer bees can pursue people for more than a quarter mile when they are animated and antagonistic...
An unusual image of a honey bee sting. Note the stinger embedded in the wrist and the honey bee pulling away, its abdominal tissue trailing. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee encounters a velvetry tree ant. They are foraging on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Kearney says farewell to retiring UCCE IPM advisor Pete Goodell
Kearney family sent off UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Pete Goodell with a pot luck lunch and warm wishes today, his last before completing a distinguished 36-year career, the last 26 at Kearney. Read more about Goodell's career here.
The University of California has conferred on Goodell the honor of emeritus status, enabling him to fulfill his goal of working in collaborative entomology during retirement. Goodell and his colleagues will bring together a diverse group of Californians to enhance understanding of pests, pesticides and integrated pest management.
In retirement he will also pursue his passion for the Great Outdoors. Goodell plans to hike the John Muir Trail one segment at a time, and visit the National Parks in the western United States in style, by staying at historical lodges.
Tabatha Yang of Bohart Museum Lauded for Outstanding Service
The Bohart Museum of Entomology came out in force on Monday, June 26 to honor Tabatha Yang, ...
Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, shows butterfly specimens to a group of students. She received a Citation for Excellence from the UC Davis Staff Assembly for outstanding contributions. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bohart associates came out in force to honor Tabatha Yang, recipient of a Citation for Excellence. From left are Bohart associate Fran Keller of the Folsam Lake College faculty; Tabatha Yang; senior museum scientist Steve Heydon; and three Bohart associates Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology; naturalist and photographer Greg Kareofelas; and entomologist Tom Nguyen, who has just accepted a position at the Smithsonian. Not pictured: Lynn Kimsey, Bohart Museum director.
Future water leaders soak up irrigation information
University of California students are taking a long journey through California to trace the state's complicated and critical water supply. The recent graduates and upper-division co-eds from UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC Davis are part of the UC Water Academy, a course that combines online training with a two-week field trip for first-hand knowledge about California water.
The tour began June 18 at Lake Shasta, the state's largest reservoir, and followed the water's course to the Sacramento Valley, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and south along the Delta-Mendota Canal. Since a key water destination is agriculture, the UC Water Academy toured the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension June 23, where research is underway to determine how the state's water supply can be most efficiently transformed into a food supply for Americans.
“You're visiting a place ideal for growing high-quality fruits and vegetables, because of the Mediterranean climate and low insect and disease pressure,” said Jeff Dahlberg, director of the UC KREC.
UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Khaled Bali joined the students next to his alfalfa research plot, where different irrigation regimens are compared to determine the maximum yield that can be harvested with the minimum amount of water.
“It used to be that the No. 1 objective was to maximize yield,” Bali said. “But with the limited supplies and the cost of water, now the No. 1 objective is to get the maximum economic return. Growers might be better off selling some of their water to other jurisdictions.”
A water tour wouldn't be complete without an introduction to drought research. A recently planted sorghum trial provided the backdrop.
“California is a great place to study drought tolerance,” Dahlberg said, “because you can induce a drought by withholding irrigation.”
The sizable field contains 1,800 plots with 600 sorghum cultivars under three irrigation schemes: one irrigated as usual, one in which water is cut off before the plants flower, and the final one where water is cut off after the plants flower.
“Every week, a drone flies over to collect data on the leaf area, plant height and biomass,” Dalberg said. “Hopefully we will get associations with gene expression and this phenotype data."
Dahlberg and his collaborating researchers believe identifying the genes responsible for drought tolerance in sorghum will help scientists find drought-tolerant genes in other cereal crops – such as wheat, corn, rice and millet. “This will go a long way to feeding the people of the world,” he said.
There is still much to learn about sorghum drought tolerance – is it conferred by the plant's waxy leaves, the way stomata are controlled, accumulation of sugar in the leaves, or a mechanism in the roots?
“These are all questions you will have to answer to feed the world,” Dahlberg said. “That's why I would encourage you to continue studying water. There's a lot for you to get into.”
A third-year earth science student at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the academy, Denise Payan, said the sense of responsibility for the future is not daunting, but encouraging.
“It makes me feel like I can make a difference,” she said. The tour through California is shaping her plans for the future, which may include a career at the intersection of geology and biology.
“This has opened my eyes to a lot of issues,” she said.
The next stop for the UC Water Academy is the vast Tulare Lake basin to learn about groundwater recharge before heading east to the Owens Valley and the shores of Mono Lake. From there the academy turns to the Sierra Nevada to visit San Francisco's water supply, which is collected by Hetch Hetchy Dam. The field trip ends with a two-day rafting trip on the American River.
The UC Water Academy is offered through UC Water and led by UC Merced professor Joshua Viers and UC Cooperative Extension water management specialist Ted Grantham. In addition to the two-week tour, students participated in weekly online meetings and complete a project on communicating California water issues to public stakeholders. Students receive 1 unit of academic credit.
UC Davis Commencement Speaker: Upholding the Standard of a Healthy Flatworm
“Nematodes” and “commencement” don't usually appear together in the same...
Student speaker Hannah Trumbull is flanked by Helene Dillard, dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter.