Graduate

The University of California, Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is consistently one of the top ranking entomology programs in the United States. 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 45 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.

 

Degree Offerings

MS Degree Both thesis and non-thesis options are offered in the department.

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 serve to diversify and enrich our graduate program.

 

Graduate Program Contacts

Louie H Yang, Ph.D.
Entomology Graduate Chair and Graduate Program Advisor
lhyang@ucdavis.edu, 380K Briggs Hall

Geoffrey Attardo, Ph.D.
Entomology Graduate Admissions Chair
gmattardo@ucdavis.edu, 37B Briggs Hall

Rick Karban, Ph.D.
Entomology Major Graduate Program Advisor
rkarban@ucdavis.edu, 380 Briggs Hall

Neal Williams, Ph.D.
Entomology Graduate Advisor
nmwilliams@ucdavis.edu, 380 Briggs Hall

Amanda Hodson, Ph.D.
Entomology Graduate Advisor
akhodson@ucdavis.edu, 4204 Storer Hall

Graduate Group Affiliated Faculty

In addition to the Faculty of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, these outside faculty are also affiliated with the Department’s Graduate Program

Graduate Student Coordinator: 

Theresa Garcia
Graduate Program Coordinator
tgarcia@ucdavis.edu, 388 Hutchison Hall, (530) 754-9506