UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Associational
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Associational Susceptibility of a Native Shrub, Atriplex canescens, Mediated by an Invasive Annual Forb, Brassica tournefortii, and Invasive Stinkbug, Bagrada hilaris A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Entomology by Sarah Lillian September 2017 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Matt Daugherty, Chairperson Dr. Rick Redak Dr. Erin Rankin Copyright by Sarah Lillian 2017 The Dissertation of Sarah Lillian is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the past 5+ years, I have received so, so much help…with every part of graduate school and dissertate-ing, with decisions about my career, research, and everything else, with my personal life transitions and the occasional crisis, and with a million things I needed help with or just didn’t want to do alone. I have found myself surrounded by a community of people that are generous, funny, helpful, kind and lovely. Thank you to everyone who has helped me, in big and small ways, once or many times, thank you. And… Dr. Matt Daugherty: Thank you first and foremost, for serving as my advisor, for the privilege (and perhaps, risk) of being your first graduate student. You have provided guidance, support, sympathy and honesty; you’ve pushed me when I needed it and when I didn’t want it. You’ve allowed me the freedom to fail, graciously let me know when my ideas were overly ambitious, and still helped me pursue them so I learned it for myself. You’ve mostly refrained from saying “I told you so” (but you totally wore it on your face a few times). Your door has always been open, your responses to my questions and last-minute requests for recommendation letters always generous and prompt. Selfishly, I’d have preferred if you wouldn’t have moved to Berkeley during my time in grad school. But even with that distance, you were still attentive and available when I needed help or encouragement, checked in on me regularly, and provided the extra time and involvement I needed during my last year, and it made all the difference. You iv granted me autonomy over my work, allowed me to manage my own team of undergraduate student research assistants, complimented and defended my efforts as a mentor. In your lab, I’ve always felt free to pursue any career path I wanted, and your advising, mentorship, and (especially) statistical prowess, prepared me for the non- academic, non-research journey I now find myself starting. I have repeated to others the advice you’ve given me. You allowed me to present at every conference I wanted to, and made it financially possible to do so. You’ve supported and even participated in the varied extra-curricular activities I’ve committed myself to, obliged my requests for lab social events, and you have fed me a lot of food over the past 5 years. You were kind and forgiving when I spilled champagne on your desk, and when I made a toner cartridge explode inside the lab printer, and when Duchess ripped up the underside of your office futon. Thank you. Dr. Rick Redak: Thank you for serving as my co-advisor. Before I applied to graduate school, you responded to my inquiry with a long and informative reply full of generous advice and insight into the graduate school politics and the admissions process. From you I learned that I was more likely to be admitted as a PhD student than a MS student, this changed how I approached potential advisors, and effectively put me on the path to a PhD. (Is it fair to say that it’s your fault I did this?) I’ve come to you countless times since then with questions and requests for help, and you haven’t let me down; you have more than one answer to most questions I ask, opinions I trust and have relied on often, and you always seem to know who has what I need. You have provided guidance, support, snarky commentary, criticism, and a lab full of abundant resources – in terms of v space, storage, people to ask for help, and random lab supplies that have served me well in both my fruitful and fruitless endeavors. Each time we had a meeting to discuss designing an experiment, how to interpret results or write a paper, and even at my oral qualifying exam, you made a point of saying how much you had enjoyed that time, that it was the most productive thing you’d do all day, I appreciated hearing that each time. It’s been encouraging and uplifting at times when I’ve felt low, and unsure about whether I could do this thing. Meetings with you were entertaining sources of campus and departmental news, and having you as a co-advisor has pushed me to learn how to analyze all my data in so many more ways than I would have if I only had one stats whiz on my committee, rather than three (honestly, sometimes I hated this, but it was really good for me). Thank you for feeding Shithead all of the treats in your office; I’m sorry he’s still afraid of you. But I also think it’s funny. Thank you. Dr. Erin Wilson-Rankin: Thank you serving as my committee member, and for kindly treating me as an honorary member of your lab. Your enthusiasm for my ideas and projects gave me confidence when I felt lost, and gently pushed me to continue, to not give up on my sometimes-too-ambitious goals. Attending and presenting in lab meetings with you and your lab gave me structure in my schedule, confidence in what I had accomplished, and a way to recognize in myself how much I knew and had learned through this process. It was empowering to realize I had something to offer the newer graduate students in your lab, and rewarding to share my experience and perspective with them. You have been generous with your time and resources (training me in PCR and barcoding, reviewing my work, and advising me on professional next steps, networking, vi and strategizing how to advance my career). Your qualifying exams were my favorite to prepare for, because you gave me a very well organized study guide and an interesting, enjoyable reading list. Being a part of your lab gave me the opportunity to visit San Clemente Island, an experience I may never get to repeat, and that I will always remember fondly. I’ve felt welcome in your lab, and this has been a source of support, friendship, scientific and personal community, good food, and often just a whole lot of fun. Thank you. Diane Soto: Thank you for so, so much help. You have spent many, many hours in the field with me (and en route to/from field work), you’ve managed and coordinated assistants and supplies and vehicle use, you’ve anticipated things I’d need before I knew I’d need them, helped with so much monotonous data collection and processing, and colluded with me to make lab social events happen. You’ve helped me troubleshoot and navigate minor catastrophes, all with a calm, patient attitude toward problem-solving. In general, you’ve played a huge role in making things go smoothly, truly above and beyond. Your sweet, quiet demeanor and efficient work ethic have been a huge asset to the lab, and I’m so glad that Matt stole you. Thank you for everything. Dr. Andy Sanders: Thank you for permitting me to audit the lab sections of “Taxonomy of Flowering Plants,” for indulging my plant identification requests, and for providing your input on my experimental designs. You provided extensive assistance in identifying seeds and seedlings for me and for undergraduate assistants, without your help I would have been lost. Your approach to plant identification, your perspectives on plant community ecology have informed and improved my own skills in these areas, as vii well as the quality of my research. I appreciate your generosity, your wisdom and insight, and the indispensable UCR Herbarium. Thank you. Dr. Christiane Weirauch: Thank you for sharing your expertise in Hemiptera, and for assisting me with access to scientific papers, for complimenting me to my advisor during my first year of grad school, and for being a kind face in the department. Dr. Dan Hare: Thank you for allowing me use of your laboratory space and equipment. Dr. Richard Stouthamer: Thank you for allowing me use of your laboratory space and equipment during ENTM 203. You provided criticism of early research ideas, and insight into relevant experimental limitations. Since then, you’ve been a source of entertaining criticism of poor seminars, insufficient amounts of job talk food, and teasing those who deserve it. Dr. Darcy Reed: Thank you for extensive assistance with early experimental design and development of experimental methods. You provided so much assistance with learning to rear and care for Bagrada hilaris, and granted access to microscopes and lab equipment which have been invaluable. You helped me learn how to be a Teaching Assistant, and granted me the freedom to develop my own lecture as a brand new instructor. Dr. Tim Paine: Thank you for patient, thoughtful, helpful advice and guidance with questions on science, research, teaching, graduate school, academia, entomology, and all the other topics I came to you with questions about. You helped me track down Rick numerous times, and you were kind and gracious when I replaced you on my viii guidance committee and I was really nervous about it.