Graduate

Welcome to the Department of Entomology Graduate Website

The University of California, Davis Department of Entomology is ranked the No. 1 entomology department in the United States, as rated in November, 2007 by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The graduate program offers both the M.S and Ph.D. degree. This program draws its strengths from several sources including a teaching and research faculty of some 40 professional entomologists and nematologists, and a full range of laboratory and field equipment for teaching and research.

Facilities at Davis provide resources for a wide range of studies. The Richard M. Bohart Museum of Entomology houses extensive insect collections from California and around the world, and the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Center has space and laboratories for basic and applied studies of honey bees and native bees. The department has state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment. Controlled environmental growth chambers, agricultural plots, and greenhouses are available for student projects.

The University Information Technology, Campus Access Point (ITCAP) is excellent and up-to-date, and most faculty have microcomputers connected to Information Technology, Campus Access Point. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Davis is the largest such college west of the Mississippi. In conjunction with the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the Davis campus has one of the largest concentrations of biologists in the country. The excellent spirit of cooperation provides opportunities to our graduate students for interdisciplinary studies. Our location near the center of the California Central Valley with its vast acreage of field crops, orchards and vineyards, as well as our proximity to such diverse ecological areas as the Pacific Ocean, Coast Range, Sierra Nevada and Great Basin Desert provides a unique environment for applied and basic entomological research and teaching. Research by faculty and students also takes place throughout the world.

Graduate research programs deal with a variety of topics, including ecology, evolution, behavior, plant-insect interactions, biological control, integrated pest management, chemical ecology, molecular biology, olfaction, demography, apiculture, systematics, arthropod-borne diseases of plants and animals, medical entomology, insect physiology, and insecticide toxicology. The Department of Entomology usually has about 60 graduate students, all of whom are supported through a combination of research and teaching assistantships funded by the department, the graduate school, and individual grants held by major professors. The department strongly supports the professional development of all graduate students by offering funding to assist with the costs of attending one professional meeting each year, and by encouraging their involvement in departmental governance.

MS Degree Both thesis and non-thesis options are offered in the department. In addition, the department is the home of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Graduate Group which offers an MS degree. The IPM degree focuses on a broad understanding of entomology, weed science, plant pathology, nematology, and pesticide toxicology and application, and is intended as a terminal master's degree.

PhD Degree The Department offers a PhD degree in Entomology, and many faculty are also members of other Graduate Groups on campus, including Ecology, Animal Behavior, Genetics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Population Biology, Plant Pathology, Agricultural Chemistry, and Horticulture. Graduate students are welcome to come to Entomology through these graduate groups, and serve to diversity and enrich our graduate program.

Graduate Student Newsletter Fran Keller edits the EGSA Newsletter. The November 2007 edition is now available in PDF. First page. Second page.

CONTACTS

Program Chair Michael Parrella mpparrella@ucdavis.edu 752-0475

Academic Advisors Jay Rosenheim jarosenheim@ucdavis.edu 752-4395
Rick Karban rkarban@ucdavis.edu 752-2800