Entomology
The most diverse order of insects
What are beetles/coleoptera?
A common certification valuable for marine field work, demonstrating competence in underwater research. Many marine jobs require this certification.
What is a SCUBA Diving Certification?
The deepest part of the ocean, located near Australia
What is Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench?
The most extensive native plant community in California, found in the foothills and mountain regions of the state but also much of its coastal regions. Most identifiable by its characteristic large, dry shrub bushes
What is chaparral?
Fun fact: chaparral is found in every county of California, at a wide range of elevations; San Diego County boasts the most acreage of chaparral!
Geisel Library at UCSD is named for this children's book author
Who is Dr. Seuss?
Insects known for their large hind legs and mating sounds
What are crickets / grasshoppers / katydids / orthoptera?
An industry where ecologists and marine biologists assess the environmental impact of proposed developments like construction or infrastructure projects.They assist in the creation, analysis and enforcement of government policies designed to protect the environment from industrial hazards
What is environmental consulting?
The movement many do to avoid stings when surfing/swimming at La Jolla Shores
What is the stingray shuffle?
The largest single-stem plants on Earth, found only at select altitudes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range
What is the Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)?
This series of art installations across campus includes the Sun God, Warren Bear, and the Snake Path among other artworks
What is the Stuart Collection? (Bonus 50 points if you name another installation that is part of the collection???)
The type of mouthpart used by mosquitoes and lepidoptera to feed
What is a proboscis?
Competitive summer research programs in the United States for undergraduates studying science, engineering, or mathematics, funded by the National Science Foundation, and are hosted in various universities. This program typically offers a stipend to the recipient at the end
What is an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates)?
A marine organism known for regenerating lost fragments/arms
What are sea stars?
A rare, critically endangered tree species found only in coastal San Diego County and Santa Rosa Island (offshore from Santa Barbara), endemic to the California coastal sage/chaparral ecoregion
What is the Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana)?
This 2010 Sun God Festival headliner is the most streamed artist of all time on Spotify, as of 2025
Who is Drake?
Body parts used by bees to carry pollen flower to flower
What are pollen pockets?
A network of 42 protected natural areas across California that are used for university-level teaching, research, and public service
What is UC NRS (University of California Natural Reserve System)?
The body part known scientifically as vibrissae, found on seals, walruses, sea lions, and house cats, better known as…
What are whiskers?
A coastal shrub native to California and part of the Rose family, known for its distinct red berries and role as a food source for a variety of birds, insects, and mammals
What is toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)?
The UCSD Men’s and Women’s basketball teams are part of this athletic conference
What is the Big West?
Insects that lay their eggs in living hosts and often live inside of them
What are parasatoids?
This fellowship program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $37,000 and a cost of education allowance of $16,000 to the institution
What is the NSF GRFP (Graduate Research Fellowship Program)?
The marine organisms with the greatest biomass
What are bacteria/protists?
A concept in ecology where ecosystems can exist under distinct, non-transitional settings, driven by disturbances in the environment. The best example in California is the transition from native shrubland regions to non-native, annual grasses, shifted by increasing wildfire intensity
What are alternative stable states?
This ongoing record monitoring global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was founded by its namesake researcher at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography
What is the Keeling Curve?