The Pacific Coast Entomological Society (PCES) will hold its first meeting of the year on Saturday, January 24 at 1 p.m. in Room 122 of Briggs Hall at the University of California, Davis.
After the business portion of the meeting, members and attendees will visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology to learn about insects collected in Belize. Fran Keller, president of PCES, professor and chair of the Department of Biology at Folsom Lake College, and an entomology lecturer and research affiliate with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, announced these plans.
Keller is a UC Davis alumna with a master’s degree (2007) and doctorate (2014) in entomology. Her dissertation focused on darkling beetles under the guidance of Lynn Kimsey, former Bohart Museum director who retired in 2024 after 34 years in that role.
Keller also serves as a research associate at the Bohart Museum and works in Professor Jason Bond’s lab. Bond holds the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, is director of the Bohart Museum, and executive associate dean for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
According to Keller: “Then at 1:30 p.m., the regular meeting will begin with preliminary information on our field trip in May,” Keller said, “and I will do a demonstration of new digital microscopes that can be projected when viewing insects used in Entomology courses.” She added that PCES members are encouraged to share information about equipment they use both in fieldwork and laboratory settings.
Keller has experience leading or co-leading several insect-collecting trips to Belize. The PCES meeting will also be available via Zoom for those unable to attend in person. For further details, Keller can be contacted at kellerm@flc.losrios.edu.
