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Posts Tagged: research
Something Wonderful Is Happening Saturday, Jan. 18 at Bohart Museum of Entomology
Something Wonderful Is Happening Saturday, Jan. 18 at Bohart Museum of Entomology! If you're a student and thinking about a science career, this is...
Zachary Griebenow, shown here at UC Davis Picnic Day, will present his research on ants at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Forensic entomologist Alexander Dedmon is enthusiastic about his research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Doctoral Yao Cai (left) (shown here with undergraduate student Christopher Ocoa, will discuss his circadian clock research on fruit flies and monarch butterflies. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Charlotte Alberts studies assassin flies and also draws them! This is an Ommatius amula with prey.
Forest entomologist Crystal Homicz will talk about bark beetles. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bumble Bees on the Move
Bumble bees stole the show during the Graduate Student Poster Research Competition at the fourth annual UC Davis Bee Symposium, themed "Keeping Bees...
A bumble bee, Bombus melanopygus, nectaring on lavender in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis doctoral student John Mola won the Graduate Student Research Poster Competition at the UC Davis Bee Symposium with his work on bumble bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis doctoral student Maureen Page stands by her research poster on honey bees that won second place at the UC Davis Bee Symposium. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis doctoral student John Mola explains his research to the judging panel. From left are Mea McNeil, timer; Santiago Ramirez of the UC Davis Evolution and Ecology faculty; Tom Seeley of Cornell, the keynote speaker at the symposium; and Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis doctoral student Maureen Page tells judges that honey bees may have negative impacts on native bees and native plant communities in certain contexts. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The panel of judges conferring. In the foreground is timer Mea McNeil. In back (from left) are judges Robbin Thorp and Santiago Ramirez of UC Davis, and Tom Seeley of Cornell. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Drone technology on display at UC research center
“The intent of this workshop is to start bringing the knowledge about unmanned aerial systems to the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources division and the public at large,” said Sean Hogan, coordinator of Informatics Geographic Information Systems for UC ANR. “There is so much curiosity about it right now, it's a growing industry and there is a lot of concern and controversy about the misuses on it.”
The article said the UC system now has the green light to begin using drones. Hogan is holding workshops throughout the state to share his expertise with UC ANR employees and members of the community.
Desert Research and Extension Center director Jairo Diaz said the workshop was important because participants were able to see a demonstration of how the technology works and how it can be applied to the projects and research they are currently working on.
“These workshops that give growers and stakeholders can use in the area are very important because tech like this can help in the near future help find out different types of issues on the field like management of nutrients, water and find out to improve management of field,” Diaz said.
At the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center last week, technicians tested a drone that will be used throughout the summer to collect growth data on 600 varieties of sorghum begin produced under different irrigation regimens. With imaging and lidar, the drone collects information on leaf area and biomass in half an hour that would take a full day for a person in the field.
Read more about the sorghum research at Kearney here.
Ag research too focused on production, report says
National agricultural policies and research programs should look beyond cutting costs and increasing production and adopt a more holistic approach to farming, according to a 598-page report issued Tuesday by the National Research Council National Academies.
A news release about the report was the basis of an Associated Press story that was picked up widely by the media.
"Many modern agricultural practices have unintended negative consequences, such as decreased water and air quality, and farmers have to consider these consequences while trying to increase production," said Julia Kornegay, chair of the committee that wrote the report and horticulture professor at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. "If farmers are going to meet future demands, the U.S. agriculture system has to evolve to become sustainable and think broadly -- past the bottom line of producing the most possible."
To help achieve a sustainable agriculture system, the committee said four goals should be considered simultaneously:
- satisfy human food, fiber, and feed requirements, and contribute to biofuels needs
- enhance environmental quality and the resource base
- maintain the economic viability of agriculture
- improve the quality of life for farmers, farm workers and society as a whole
While most current research is aimed at solving a particular problem, the authors say there is a need for a broader, integrated approach to ag research. The report suggests more research be conducted into the effectiveness and consequences of such practices as reduced tillage, planting cover crops and diversifying crops on individual farms.
The 16-member committee that authored the report included one ANR scientist, Deanne Meyer, a livestock specialist at UC Davis.
Clinton lauds UC research in hunger speech
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the contribution of UC research in combating world hunger in a speech yesterday honoring the winners of the 2010 World Food Prize.
The president of Bread for the World, David Beckmann, and president of Heifer International, Jo Luck, were honored by the State Department for expanding their grassroots organizations and bringing help to the world's hungry.
Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization that presses lawmakers to support anti-hunger policies. Heifer International brings food and income producing animals to extremely poor families around the globe.
In her presentation, titled "Remove the Barriers, Remove the Fear of Sharing," Clinton recounted a litany of work by U.S. scientists to feed the world.
"In South and Southeast Asia, we’re seeing good research being done on rice, and with our support, research at UC-Davis and the International Rice Research Institute are developing strains of rice that thrive even when they have been submerged in water," Clinton said, according to the speech text published on the State Department website.
Clinton noted that the federal government supports agricultural research and extension with funding to benefit farmers and consumers worldwide.
"Some of this is not expensive, like no-till farming, which has been adopted by thousands of farmers in Asia with help from the United States. And there is so much that we can do in conveying information about what works as well as investing in new answers," Clinton said.
Hillary Clinton
