UC Davis Doctoral Student Jackson Audley: On the Road to Improve Forest Health

Forest health promises to take a turn for the better, thanks to forest entomologists like Jackson Audley, a doctoral student at the University of California, Davis. Audley just received the 2019 Western Forest Insect Work Conference (WFIWC) Memorial Scholarship Award for his research on the...

Jackson Audley (left) with major professor Steve Seybold in front of a dying black walnut tree on E St. in Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Jackson Audley (left) with major professor Steve Seybold in front of a dying black walnut tree on E St. in Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Sign of the Times: Why This Black Walnut Tree Is Dying

If you've ever walked into the courtyard on the 100 block of E Street in downtown Davis, Calif., you've probably noticed the massive black walnut tree near Sophia's Thai Bar and Kitchen. It's about 150 years old, 50 feet in height, and measures about five feet in diameter. And it's dying. What's...

Forest entomologists Steve Seybold (right) and Jackson Audley stand by a 150-year-old black walnut tree on the 100 block of E Street. It is dying of thousand cankers disease. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Forest entomologists Steve Seybold (right) and Jackson Audley stand by a 150-year-old black walnut tree on the 100 block of E Street. It is dying of thousand cankers disease. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Walnut twig beetles tunnel into branches and trunks of walnut (Juglans) where they create galleries for mating and reproduction. In association with a canker producing fungus, Tthey cause a disease known as thousand cankers disease. This tree is in downtown Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Walnut twig beetles tunnel into branches and trunks of walnut (Juglans) where they create galleries for mating and reproduction. In association with a canker producing fungus, Tthey cause a disease known as thousand cankers disease. This tree is in downtown Davis, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This massive, 150-year-old black walnut tree on the 100 block of E Street, Davis, is dying of thousand cankers disease. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

This massive, 150-year-old black walnut tree on the 100 block of E Street, Davis, is dying of thousand cankers disease. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bugs and Beat: Talented UC Davis Graduate Students Form Insect-Themed Band

If you missed hearing The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall during the recent UC Davis Picnic Day, not to worry. They're featured in a recent Entomology Today blog, published by the Entomological Society of America (and written by yours truly) and headlined "Bugs and...

Yao-“Fruit-Fly”-Cai has been playing drums since age 17. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Yao-“Fruit-Fly”-Cai has been playing drums since age 17. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall. From left are Jill Oberski, Zach Griebenow, Brendon Boudinot, Yao Cai, Wei Lin, Jackson Audley and Christine Tabuloc.

The Entomology Band performing in front of Briggs Hall. From left are Jill Oberski, Zach Griebenow, Brendon Boudinot, Yao Cai, Wei Lin, Jackson Audley and Christine Tabuloc.

Group photo: In front is Yao Cai. The three in the second row are (from left) Jill Oberski, Brendon Boudinot and Christine Tabuloc. In back (from left) are Zachary Griebenow, Jackson Audley and Wei Lin.

Group photo: In front is Yao Cai. The three in the second row are (from left) Jill Oberski, Brendon Boudinot and Christine Tabuloc. In back (from left) are Zachary Griebenow, Jackson Audley and Wei Lin.

Jackson Audley: A Case Study with the Walnut Twig Beetle

So tiny and so destructive. It's about the size of a grain of rice but it's a killer. That's the walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis, which in association with a newly described fungus, Geosmithia morbida, causes thousand cankers disease, wreaking havoc on native black walnut...

The walnut twig beetle is about the size of a grain of rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The walnut twig beetle is about the size of a grain of rice. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)