Collaborators

Throughout its history of more than 100 years, the Department of Entomology has forged partnerships with many public and private organizations. Current faculty, staff, and students engage in collaborative research projects in Maryland, DC, nationally, and internationally. These linkages present special opportunities for pursuing interests in diverse settings and focus areas.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs at UM

The interdepartmental degree-granting programs on campus, as described in the Graduate section, offer graduate students special opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary research. The Department currently collaborates in the following interdisciplinary graduate programs:

Entomology students participating in these programs are housed in the Department of Entomology and their major advisors are on the Entomology faculty. They may conduct their research in a number of different settings, often in collaboration with different disciplines. The Maryland Center for Systematic Entomology is a consortium for research and graduate training in the systematics and evolution of insects and other terrestrial arthropods. It combines the resources of our University with the world's largest community of arthropod systematists and its associated collections and facilities.

Maryland

The Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station has nine Research and Education Centers in the state where field and laboratory work is carried out on urban and agricultural insects - often collaboratively with different disciplines. The Maryland Center for Agroecology, Inc., an affiliate of the University of Maryland, offers additional opportunities for in-state research on agricultural pest problems. The Department has well-established research collaboration with the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Many faculty, staff, and students have collaborated with the agency on pest and pesticide management projects. The Center for Biosystems Research, located in the same building as Entomology, offers great opportunities for collaborative research in biotechnology. The Center is developing new tools in biotechnology for increasing crop yields, enhancing human and animal health, modifying microorganisms for waste management, etc. In addition, the Center is heavily involved in phylogenomics research aimed at better understanding evolutionary relationships in arthropods. Entomology faculty and graduate students are partners in the Center’s phylogenomics research program.

Washington, DC

The University of Maryland’s strategic location in the Washington, D.C. area provides special opportunities for collaboration with well-known national agencies such as the Smithsonian Institution, USDA-ARS, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, National Institutions of Health, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and National Park Service. In addition, the USDA's National Agriculture Library at Beltsville is only four miles from the campus, and the Library of Congress is in nearby Washington, D.C.

In addition to the public sector collaborators, the Department has numerous collaborators in the private sector. Examples include the different crop associations, nursery and landscape industries, turf industries, agribusinesses, and urban pest management businesses.

Not all of the collaborative research is restricted to the state and national boundaries. The faculty, staff, and students also participate in a range of international projects as described in the different Focus Areas .