{"id":120259,"date":"2025-03-08T15:28:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T15:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/uc-davis-professor-rachel-vannette-talks-bees-and-skis\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T15:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T15:28:03","slug":"uc-davis-professor-rachel-vannette-talks-bees-and-skis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=120259","title":{"rendered":"UC Davis Professor Rachel Vannette Talks Bees and Skis"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Ski with a scientist?<\/p>\n

Yes! That\u2019s what occurred when community ecologist (and veteran skier)\u00a0Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, led a program on \u201cBees in Winter Survival Mode\u201d in a\u00a0Ski with a Scientist<\/em>\u00a0scientific event hosted by the\u00a0UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center\u00a0(TERC).<\/p>\n

The attendees\u2013all on skis or snowboards\u2013learned \u201cwhere bees go in the winter\u201d and \u201chow they survive\u201d during the 90-minute afternoon program, held recently at the Palisades Alpine Meadows, \u00a0located at Alpine Meadows, Calif., on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.<\/p>\n

The event, with limited enrollment and a waiting list, drew the maximum 15 attendees, plus several TERC educators and mountain hosts from Palisades Tahoe Alpine Ski Resort.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked about the different strategies that bees use to survive the winter, contrasting honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees,\u201d said Vannette, a TERC research affiliate. She discussed how young digger bees (genus\u00a0\u00a0Anthophora<\/em>), which overwinter in brood cells in underground burrows or tree holes, are susceptible to mold and fungi. \u201cFungal pathogens are a main source of mortality for many\u00a0bee species,\u201d Vannette told the attendees. \u201cIn some populations, that\u2019s responsible for over 70 percent of young bee deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

TERC educators also shared information on the geology of the region, reforestation in the Tahoe basin following fire, and how the snowpack season is changing.<\/p>\n

The attendees, all in ski attire, including googles, maintained their balance with ski poles planted firmly in the snow, as they gathered around the professor to learn about bumble bees (genus\u00a0Bombus<\/em>) and digger bees. They skiied or snowboarded with the professor to multiple locations.<\/p>\n

It was Vannette\u2019s first\u00a0Ski with a Scientist<\/em>\u00a0event, which is patterned after \u201cSki with a Ranger<\/em><\/a>,\u201d a free conservation program hosted by the Heavenly Mountain Resort and the USDA Forest Service.<\/p>\n

Skiing was no challenge for the UC Davis professor. \u201cMy parents put me on skis before I turned 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ski with a Scientist<\/em>\u00a0takes place every Friday at 1 p.m. through March 28 at the\u00a0Palisades Tahoe Alpine Ski Resort. \u00a0 Like\u00a0Ski with a Ranger<\/em>, it is free and family friendly.<\/p>\n

Vannette, an international leader in microbial ecology, studies interactions between\u00a0plants, insects and microbes, focusing her research on the chemical and microbial ecology of plant-pollinator interactions and how microbes influence\u00a0plant defense and resistance against insect pests. A member of the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology Department \u00a0since 2015, she \u00a0was named\u00a0a\u00a0five-year Chancellor\u2019s Fellow\u00a0in 2023 and a\u00a0Hellman Fellow\u00a0in 2018.\u00a0She holds a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology (2011) from the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

The Vannette lab is a\u00a0team\u00a0of entomologists, microbiologists, chemical ecologists, and community ecologists trying to understand how microbial communities affect plants and insects.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch of the work in my lab focuses on how microorganisms affect plant defense against herbivores and plant attraction to pollinators,\u201d Vannette related. \u201cFor example, we are interested in understanding the microbial drivers of soil health, which can influence plant attractiveness to herbivores and the plant\u2019s ability to tolerate or defend against damage by herbivores. In addition, we are working to examine how microorganisms modify flower attractiveness to pollinators. This may have relevance in agricultural systems to improve plant and pollinator health.\u201d<\/p>\n

TERC, dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education, seeks to \u201cadvance the knowledge of aquatic\u00a0and terrestrial\u00a0ecosystems and their interactions within natural and developed\u00a0Earth systems, and to communicate science-informed solutions worldwide,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n

Its vision is three-fold:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To achieve healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through scientific understanding and education for the benefit of communities locally and globally.<\/li>\n
  2. To guide the preservation of a resilient and sustainable ecosystem at Lake Tahoe for generations to come.<\/li>\n
  3. To provide objective scientific knowledge to the public, school children, private industry, government agencies, and elected officials.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reporter\u00a0<\/em>Eli Ramos of the\u00a0Tahoe Daily Tribune\u00a0<\/em>covered Vannette\u2019s talk on bees and published the piece,<\/em>\u00a0titled\u00a0\u201c<\/em>Tahoe\u2019s Bees May Use Fermentation and Bacteria to Survive the Winter<\/a>,\u201d in the March 4th issue.<\/p>\n

    Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, talks bees and skis.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ski with a scientist? Yes! That\u2019s what occurred when community ecologist (and veteran skier)\u00a0Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, led a program on \u201cBees in Winter Survival Mode\u201d in a\u00a0Ski with a Scientist\u00a0scientific event hosted by the\u00a0UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center\u00a0(TERC). The attendees\u2013all on skis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12026],"tags":[21855,15136,5463,5568,29566,11119,53134],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-120259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-bees","tag-davis","tag-professor","tag-rachel","tag-skis","tag-talks","tag-vannette"],"yoast_head":"\nUC Davis Professor Rachel Vannette Talks Bees and Skis - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=120259\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UC Davis Professor Rachel Vannette Talks Bees and Skis - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ski with a scientist? Yes! That\u2019s what occurred when community ecologist (and veteran skier)\u00a0Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, led a program on \u201cBees in Winter Survival Mode\u201d in a\u00a0Ski with a Scientist\u00a0scientific event hosted by the\u00a0UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center\u00a0(TERC). 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