Bugs R Us

One of the highlights of the 58th annual Entomological Society of America meeting in San Diego, Dec. 12-15 is the Linnaean Games.

ESA describes the Linnaean Games as "a lively question-and-answer, college bowl-style competition on entomological facts played between university-sponsored student teams."

Indeed, the games are fun, entertaining and educational. Videos of last year's games are posted here.

This year 10 teams will compete in the preliminaries, set from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 12. The finals will take place from  5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14.

The teams include our UC Davis Department of Entomology team, coached by faculty member and Extension specialist Larry Godfrey. The bug team members are Meredith Cenzer, Matan Shelomi and Emily Symmes, all in the doctorate program, Andrew Merwin, who is in the master’s program; and alternate Ralph Washington, an undergraduate entomology major.

The list of teams:

Pacific Branch:
University of California, Davis
Washington State University

Southeastern Branch
University of Georgia 
University of Florida

Eastern Branch:
Penn State University
University of Maryland

North Central Branch:
Ohio State University
University of Nebraska

Southwestern Branch:
New Mexico State
Texas A&M

Stay tuned for the winners!