Assistant professor Nicholas "Nick" Miller of the Department of Biology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, will present the first-of-the-fall seminars hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, on Wednesday, Sept. 21 when he speaks on "Adaptation in the Cornfield, Research in the Classroom."

His seminar, set for 4:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall, will focus on Diabrotica (cornroot worms). It will be both in-person and via Zoom. The Zoom link: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/95882849672.

Host is molecular geneticist and physiologist Joanna Chiu, professor and vice chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.

"Although they are largely studied because of their economic significance, agricultural pests can be useful model systems to study fundamental biology," Miller says in his abstract. "The beetle genus Diabrotica ("corn rootworms") includes species with generalist and specialist feeding habits that overlap on a common host plant, maize. This makes the genus an excellent system to study the adaptations of insect herbivores with differing host ranges to a common set of plant defenses. A long-standing area of interest in my lab is the adaptations of generalist and specialist Diabrotica species to the maize defensive compound DIMBOA."

"Our interest in Diabrotica biology and evolution has lead naturally to an interest in Diabrotica genomics," Miller related. "Sequencing arthropod genomes is becoming relatively easy but analyzing and understanding those genomes remains hard and labor intensive. The flood of arthropod and other non-model genome sequences represents an opportunity for undergraduates to access research experiences that would otherwise be unavailable."

Research in the Miller lab focuses on the population genetics and evolution of herbivorous insects. "We mostly study species that are pests of agriculture," he says on his website. "Key areas of interest include: adaptation by insect pests to the technologies intended to control them, including genetically-modified crops and pesticides; the interactions of specialist and generalist herbivores to plant defenses; dispersal and movement of insects and the genes they carry."

Miller holds a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from the University of Birmingham. His most recent publication: 

• Rault LC, Siegfried BD, Gassmann AJ, Wang H, Brewer GJ, Miller NJ( 2018). Investigation of Cry3Bb1 resistance and intoxication in western corn rootworm by RNA sequencing. J Appl Entomol. 2018. 1–16. DOI: 10.1111/jen.12502

Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, coordinates the department's seminars for the 2022-23 academic year. All 11 seminars will take place both person and virtually at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in Room 122 of Briggs Hall except for the Nov. 9th and Dec. 7th seminars, which will be virtual only, she said.  (See list of seminars)

For further information on the seminars or technical difficulties with Zoom, contact Meineke at ekmeineke@ucdavis.edu.