Prime Time for Learning

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The noonhour seminars sponsored every Wednesday through March 10 by the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, are drawing widespread interest.

And delightedly so.

Many faculty, students and staff make it a point to attend the 12:10 to 1 p.m. sessions in 122 Briggs Hall, Kleiber Drive, or they listen to the live Webcasts. Most, but not all lectures are being Webcast. (Exceptions: lectures containing unpublished data.)

On Wednesday, Jan. 13, tropical arthropod ecologist Steve Yanoviak with the Department of Biology, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, will speak on "Ecology and Behavior of Tropical Arboreal Ants."

Yanoviak does research in the rain forests of Peru. He recently returned with a fun image of himself (the exuberance expressed in this photo would prompt anyone to want to study ants!) and an image of an arboreal ant, Cephalotes atratus (above). He will be hosted by graduate students Michael Branstetter and Bonnie Blaimer, who study with professor and ant specialist Phil Ward.

Graduate student Ian Pearse of professor Rick Karban's lab is coordinating the winter noonhour seminars. Fellow graduate students James Harwood and Amy Morice, who study with professor James Carey, are devoting their time and talents to Webcasting the seminars. Folks can also access the archived Webcasts dating back to February 2009.

Here's the winter quarter schedule, which includes the live link to the Webcasts.