Upcoming... A return to the northeast as phylloxerid collecting season begins anew
May 2017. Wenhua Tian joins the lab as a visiting PhD student! WELCOME Wenhua!! Wenhua is visiting us from the China Agricultural University on a fellowship. She is eager to join our bioinformatics group and to continue discovering insect effectors.
|
April 2017. The blog post on our Journal of Ecology paper is live!
Also, check out these woollies from a collecting trip up North! |
|
|
February - March 2017
Our first spring in the California desert saw a return of the rains, long absent for the past decade. As the carpets of wildflowers took form, we went out in search for new systems to study. We also setup a few trial experiments in the greenhouse to understand how evolutionary history explains inducible defenses, secondary chemistry, and pollinator success. More on these trials soon! We found out in March that we were granted a continuation of support for our ongoing investigation into how the woolly apple aphid colonizes and transforms apple roots and scions. We are grateful to the WTFRC for their continued support! Josh even managed to dig some up here in CA. Lastly, our latest article in the Journal of Ecology was selected as the Editor's Choice and they chose our photo for the cover! This will be posted near May. |
|
January 2017. Above is a view looking from Box Springs Mountain Park down onto the UCR campus and neighboring communities. As prominently displayed, it is very sunny here!
October - December 2016
Our collaborative paper was just published in the Journal of Ecology. Here we compiled a large dataset on plant phenology across the Northern Hemisphere and tested how evolution constrains adaptation to environmental change. Read more about it here!
Our seminar "Understanding how insects manipulate plant resources: implications for resource use under climate-change". IN Insect-plant Interactions in a Changing Climate: Effects on Populations Dynamics and Biological Control, at the International Congress of Entomology in Orlando, Florida went great. We met so many fascinating people and initiated several collaborations to continue working on the Phylloxeridae. We are also expanding our effector studies to include related organisms and colleagues.
Our collaborative paper was just published in the Journal of Ecology. Here we compiled a large dataset on plant phenology across the Northern Hemisphere and tested how evolution constrains adaptation to environmental change. Read more about it here!
Our seminar "Understanding how insects manipulate plant resources: implications for resource use under climate-change". IN Insect-plant Interactions in a Changing Climate: Effects on Populations Dynamics and Biological Control, at the International Congress of Entomology in Orlando, Florida went great. We met so many fascinating people and initiated several collaborations to continue working on the Phylloxeridae. We are also expanding our effector studies to include related organisms and colleagues.
|
August - September 2016
We ended our summer with some exciting news! Our lab will be moving in January to the University of California in Riverside Department of Botany and Plant Sciences. We are looking forward to this new adventure and developing new projects with the many engaging scientists we met. Stay tuned for more updates as they develop. We also welcome Eva Morton to the lab! Eva is visiting us from Manchester, England as part of an internship program to work on plant-insect interactions of various sorts. 
|
Our first and last Lentil Festival. The world's largest cup of lentil chili is surprisingly tasty and vegetarian! |
|
Our lab made quick work of enough apples for 10 gallons of cider, as several labmembers experiment with their first foray into crafting hard cider. Chaoyang, per usual, was the workhorse in the lab. Once the fermentation finishes, we will celebrate our efforts with some of our finished cider that hopefully will make even Léa's home country proud. |
|
July 2016
|
A celebratory outing to the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains saw epic scenery, and finally an elusive Phylloxerina species.
|
|
June 2016
Josh Wemmer joined the lab to work on apple and its interaction with the woolly apple aphid. Welcome Josh! Richard Ellis is also an undergraduate investigator for the summer.
May 2016
|
A successful collecting trip to Maryland and nearby DC resulted in many Phylloxera species.
Also Chaoyang and Léa both were awarded travel fellowships to attend the International Congress of Entomology in Orlando this September. Congrats to both of them! and thanks to Alaska Airlines and the Department of Entomology for the support |
|
April 2016
|
|
While in North Carolina for a talk, I visited some of the local reserves. The phylloxerids were abundant, as were the snakes. Stay tuned for an update on the diversity of galls and their inhabitants.
|
Our seminar at North Carolina State, Department of Entomology, Genes underlying insect induced phenotypes within the Phylloxeridae, went well. It was great to meet so many people excited about phylloxera.
|
The Pacific Branch of ESA was a success. Our organized symposium on the "Strategies underlying the evolution of herbivory" was held at an exciting venue and our break-out session saw some amazing scenery.
|
|
March 2016
Our grant proposal to the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission was funded! We are excited to continue our foray into insect effector biology and plant immunity using apples as an agriculturally significant model.
The Nabity lab is now a member of the Molecular Plant Sciences program at WSU! Yay! We are excited to work more closely with our fellow plant biologists and recruit students through this program.
Undergraduates Madison Armstrong and Sierra Gallaway joined the lab! Welcome!
January 2016
Léa Fléchon joined the lab as a new PhD graduate student! Welcome to the Nabity Labity Léa!
Léa Fléchon joined the lab as a new PhD graduate student! Welcome to the Nabity Labity Léa!
|
November 2015
Performing field work in November is always a highlight, but this adventure was to Wapato, WA, where we went scouting for phylloxera with WSDA Biologist Mike Klaus. This was Chaoyang's first field experience and, as the photo indicates, he was successful at locating the insects (and pretending to be a badger). Many thanks to the growers who allowed us to excavate.
|
|
October 2015
Our invited talk at Insects, pathogens, and plant reprogramming: from effector molecules to ecology, Tours, France, went great! Several new collaborations have been established. We are extremely excited to work on the upcoming phylloxera genome.
August 2015
Dr. Chaoyang Zhao joins the lab to work on insect effector discovery, function, and evolution! Welcome Chaoyang!!
Dr. Chaoyang Zhao joins the lab to work on insect effector discovery, function, and evolution! Welcome Chaoyang!!
|
July 2015
Meanwhile, back in Pullman the common garden keeps getting larger. Our grapes are doing quite well in this environment!
|
Also during July we headed to the Rockies in search of several other specimens of Phylloxeridae. We also happened upon Emerald lake, home to some early work on plant parasitism. The diversity in plant hemiparasites up here is amazing! Might be a new lab project developing soon...
|
|
June 2015
Another quick trip to the southwest yielded several populations of grape phylloxera. We even found a bear!
|
|
|
|
Also, a fantastic article on galls was published on the Entomological Society of America sponsored news portal Entomology Today:
Galls! Galls! Galls! The insects behind the weird growth on plants
Galls! Galls! Galls! The insects behind the weird growth on plants
May 2015
A quick trip to the Arnold Arboretum yielded several species of Phylloxeridae.
|
|
|
April 13 2015
"Genomic basis of insect-induced phenotypes" in the Arthropod Interactions with Plants and Pathogens symposium. Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America, Coeur d'Alene, ID.
"Genomic basis of insect-induced phenotypes" in the Arthropod Interactions with Plants and Pathogens symposium. Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America, Coeur d'Alene, ID.
Welcome to Pullman!
Winter 2015
Winter 2015
|
When I arrived I was fortunate to have a computer and printer waiting for me. May my graduate students be so lucky!
|
|
So many apples and pears, yet so little time to eat them all. Can't wait to explore the region for all the cultivars!
|
|
|
I was told this is an unusually warm spring, yet the balmy weather has been wonderful to explore the nearby hillsides. Kamiak Butte (left) and Moscow Mountain (right) offer spectacular views of the Palouse region.
|
Spring flowers bloomed early this year with this Ranunculus glaberrimus appearing in early February.
|
November 2014 - a quick glimpse of our current research at the Annual Entomological Society of America meeting:
- "Reduced antagonism by a galling parasite through a novel induced phenotype" in the P-IE Section Symposium: Novel Plant-Insect Associations: Implications of the Lack of Coevolution, Portland, OR. November 19th 11am.
August 2014 - The lab is being renovated!
This is what the lab should look like when it is finished. It is going to be awesome!
|
and the office...
|
