UC Master Gardeners of San Joaquin County

 Congrats to Rithica! It's so great to see young scientists excel!Rithika Senthilkumar, an undergraduate research scholar in the UC Davis Vector Genetics Laboratory (VGL), School of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded a highly competitive 2025 Promega D.O.O.R.S. (Development of Our Research…

 Today (Tuesday) is Giving Day.Let's give to the honey bees. Or, rather, let's "give BACK" to the bees. Honey bees pollinate about one-third of our food supply, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. They also provide us with honey, beeswax and other products.To us, giving to the bees means giving…

The invasive pest spotlight focuses on emerging or potential invasive pests in California. In this issue we are covering nutria. Nutria Facts The nutria is a large semi-aquatic rodent introduced to California in the early 1900s to be farmed for their fur. When the fur market collapsed, many nutria…

 They are a special group of people--the people who receive the California State Beekeepers' Association's Eric Mussen Distinguished Service Award, launched in 2015.Eric Mussen (1944-2022), who served for 38 years as the UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of…

 Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis,  has just finished spreading the wings of a moth that has a 4mm wingspan."I've been concentrating for months on spreading our huge backlog of field pinned…

 When you sit down at your Thanksgiving table today, thank the bees.“A substantial portion of the meal is pollinated by the honey bee,” the late Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022), a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty and a noted authority on honey bees, told us…

 How to keep honey bees healthy...UC Davis alumnus and Honey bee specialist Richard Martinez of the E. L. Niño lab will present his exit seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on Wednesday, Dec. 3 in Room 122 of Briggs Hall.Martinez, who received his master's degree in…

 The incredible career and accomplishmenets of UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emerita Diane Ullman of the Department of Entomology and Nematology!She's featured in a newly released three-part video series produced by the UC Davis Emeriti Association in its ongoing video project to preserve the history…

 Noted honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr.--he is retired from administrative positions at UC Davis and Arizona State University--won't be in the United States on Thanksgiving.He'll be at a book launch Nov. 27 at the Deutches Museum in Munich where he will deliver a public lecture on his book,  …

 One of the innovative and riveting games at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house on "Bees and Their Mimics" was "Bird Brain," created by UC Davis doctoral candidate Alexia "Lexie" Martin, a member of the lab of community ecologist Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis…

The Fall season is a vibrant and inspiring time for the UC Master Gardener Program. As the days grow cooler and gardens shift into their final burst of color and productivity, communities across Northern California come alive with celebrations of the harvest. Across the region, many UC Master Gardener…

Let’s be real—California's rodent issue is extensive. In some areas, it may seem like an infinite sea of rats and mice. Commensal rodents, those that live among and benefit from association with humans, significantly affect public health, environmental sustainability, and urban infrastructure.  …

 Who needs a bug fix? Will some land in the stockings hung by the chimney with care?The Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, is gearing up for the holiday season with new items in its popular insect-themed gift shop."We just received a shipment of pins," announced Tabatha…

 Plant-parasitic nematodes rarely draw national headlines, but this newly published research should.First, what's a plant-parasitic nematode?As UC Davis nematologist Shahid Siddique, an associate professor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology explains: "Plant-parasitic nematodes are…