UC Davis Staff Bring Home 'ACE' Awards

DAVIS, CA -- Two University of California, Davis, communicators won a total of five awards this week for their writing and photography in a competition sponsored by the international Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences.

Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Steve Elliott, communication coordinator for the Western Integrated Pest Management Center, received the awards at the annual ACE conference, held this June 13-16 in New Orleans.

Judges awarded Garvey:

-- A silver (second place) award for a photo series titled, "Predator and the Pest: What's for Dinner?" on her Bug Squad post on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources website on Oct. 3, 2016. Her series showed a praying mantis eating a cabbage white butterfly. Judges commented: "Definitely tell a story, interesting angles and good macro technique. Caught in the moment, but has a still life feel to it, like it's a diorama in a museum and we get to look at the scene from all sides. A unique look and good capture."

-- A bronze (third place) award for her feature photo, "Save the Monarchs," posted Aug. 8, 2016 on her Bug Squad blog. It showed a monarch clinging to a finger. Judges commented: "The detail in this photo is incredible. The lighting on the hand against the black background is definitely striking. And it makes the white spots on the monarch pop! Beautiful!"

-- A bronze (third place) award for blog writing for her Sept. 6, 2016 Bug Squad blog post titled, "A WSU-Tagged Monarch: What a Traveler!" Judges wrote: "Short and sweet and to the point. Perfect for web reading. The photo is so helpful to the reader. The call to action at the end is a plus and not something I've seen on other entries. Fabulous use of social media to extend the reach of the article, too. "

Judges awarded Elliott:

-- A gold (first place) award for promotional writing for his story, "Safflower Makes an Areawide IPM Program Work," published in the newsletter, Western Front. Judges scored his work 100 out of a possible 100. They wrote: "You had me at Rodney Dangerfield. Very creative, the lead drew me right in wanting to read more. Excellent flow, packed with information in a narrative style. Congratulations on the terrific analytics for the newsletter."

-- A bronze (third place) award for his photo essay, "Loving the Land of Enchantment." Judges wrote: " Good variety of shot sizes which keeps it interesting. Diversity of stories along with photo content is engaging, and sticking to the IPM theme helps. There is so too much text info that it was difficult wade through. The words compliment the photos instead of the usual where the story supersedes the photos."

The pair also won ACE awards last year: Garvey, a gold, two silvers and a bronze; and Elliott, a silver.

The Western Integrated Pest Management Center is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture to promote the development, adoption and evaluation of integrated pest management, a safer way to manage pests. The Western IPM Center works to create a healthier West with fewer pests.

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is affiliated with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The department is globally ranked No. 7 in the world.

By UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology