In Spring 24, Yasmine Helbling, undergraduate student in the Biological Sciences: Ecology and Evolution Specialization & Lamp lab member, received an Honors College Grant. We are excited to see Yasmine receive this award in recognition of her Honors Program research, a program she just enrolled in.
Although new to the Honors Program, Yasmine is not new to entomological research. Since joining the Entomology program, Yasmine has supported two labs, gradually building on her research experience. As a lab tech in the Burghardt lab, she helped collect insects off native red maple trees and invasive Norway maples, dabbling in urban ecology research. Moving to the Lamp lab in Spring 23, she collected and pinned insects in support of the lab's Sustainability Grant, focusing on insect ecosystem services and biodiversity. In November 2024, she presented a research poster at ESA on the Lamp lab’s efforts to include a DNA barcoding module in the curriculum of BSCI 145 and 467, giving her an opportunity to flex her data analysis and science communication muscles. Now she is embarking on her first independent research project, which looks into whether host-plant resistance is reducing biological control, thereby allowing secondary pests to thrive.
