Amanda Hodson, an assistant professor specializing in soil ecology and pest management at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will deliver a seminar titled “Musings on the Subterranean Invertebrate Metropolis” on Wednesday, January 14. The event is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall and will also be accessible via Zoom.
Hodson highlights the abundance of earthworms in agricultural settings by asking, “Did you know that in one acre of almond orchard there can be more earthworms than the entire population of Los Angeles? What are they doing down there?”
In her seminar abstract, Hodson explains the important roles that earthworms play in soil health. “We know that earthworms generally assist nutrient and residue management by ingesting and transporting debris from the soil surface to the subsurface,” she states. “Resulting burrows and increased soil organic matter improve soil structure, water holding capacity, nutrient availability, and microbial activity.” She also discusses nematodes: “Nematodes, worms of a different phyla, are also very involved with soil carbon, with research indicating that bacterial-feeding nematodes are the most important, perhaps because they increase the cycling of microbes by feeding on them. One big question is how can we increase beneficial nematodes and naturalized earthworm populations through on-farm management to harness their power?”
Hodson has been active in UC agroecological research since 2010. She earned her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 2010 after completing a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of New Mexico. Her career includes roles as Staff Research Associate at UC Cooperative Extension in Stockton (March-December 2010), Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources (December 2010-February 2015), Project Scientist at UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (April 2015-March 2017), Assistant Professional Researcher at UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (March 2017-November 2022), before becoming Assistant Professor at UC Davis from November 2022.
According to Hodson, her lab aims “to learn how to more sustainably manage agroecological systems to control pests and improve soil health. Our work integrates the fields of nematology, acarology, biogeochemistry, and molecular biology.”
She is affiliated with several professional organizations including the Society of Nematologists, California Nematology Workgroup, and Soil Ecology Society.
For those experiencing technical issues with Zoom during the seminar, Marshall McMunn—assistant professor and seminar coordinator—can be contacted via email.
Cover image: Earthworms from an Amanda Hodson lab field study. (Photo courtesy of Hodson lab)
