News and Events

Brian Lovett Receives AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award

2/13/2019

Congratulations to Brian Lovett (ENTM PhD student, St. Leger Lab) for being selected to receive the American Institute of Biological Sciences’ Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award! This award recognizes the achievements of biology graduate students who have demonstrated an interest and aptitude for contributing to science and science policy.

As a recipient of the award Brian will:
Travel to Washington, DC to participate in the AIBS science communications training program and AIBS Congressional Visits Day
Meet with lawmakers to advocate for federal investment in the biological sciences
Receive a one-year membership in AIBS, which includes a subscription to the scientific journal BioScience

Check out the AIBS press release here: https://www.aibs.org/public-policy/news/aibs_announces_2019_emerging_public_policy_leadership_award_winners.html

Congrats Brian on receiving this award! What a wonderful and well-deserved recognition!

Underpinnings of Adaptation: Genomics of adaptation and resilience in aquatic systems

2/7/2019

Written by: Katie Reding, Serhat Solmaz, and Arielle Arsenault-Benoit

Adaptation to abiotic stressors and environmental change is imperative to survival in a rapidly changing world. Dr. Reid Brennan, an ecological geneticist and postdoctoral scholar in the Pespeni Lab at University of Vermont, presented his research in aquatic systems to explore the genomic basis of populations’ responses to these stressors over short- and long- time periods.

Magdalene Ngeve Awarded President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

2/7/2019

Congratulations to Dr. Magdalene Ngeve for being awarded the highly prestigious University of Maryland President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for her postdoctoral work in Maile Neel's lab!

To find out more about Magdalene Ngeve's research please visit, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Magdalene_Ngeve

Patricia L.Graham (Pick Lab) et al. published in Developmental Biology

2/7/2019

Patricia L. Graham, Research Assistant Scientist and Entomology colleagues W. Ray Anderson, Elizabeth A. Brandt, JieXiang (PhD 17’, UMD MOCB, Pick Lab) and Leslie Pick, have a new paper out in Developmental Biology. Check out “Dynamic expression of Drosophila segmental cell surface-encoding genes and their pair-rule regulators” here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2019.01.015

Harvestmen of Canada

2/6/2019

Associate Professor, Jeffrey Shultz has a review article out in ZooKeys. His paper reviews the taxonomic diversity of harvestmen in Canada. Find out how many species of harvestmen are in Canada & more in the full article, "Opiliones of Canada".

UMD Researchers Study Plant Responses to Leafhopper Injury

2/5/2019

Image Credit: David Eickhoff

UMD Scientists, Postdoctoral Research Associate Alina Avanesyan and Professor William Lamp, assessed native Hawaiian plant responses to leafhopper injury. Read findings in their recent paper titled, "Short-Term Physiological Response of a Native Hawaiian Plant, Hibiscus arnottianus, to Injury by the Exotic Leafhopper, Sophonia orientalis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)", published in Environmental Entomology.

Macroinvertebrates alter phosphorus dynamics in drainage ditches

2/4/2019

Image Credit: Alan Leslie & William Lamp

A new study published by UMD Extension Agent, Alan Leslie ( PhD 14’, UMD ENTM) & Entomology Professor, William Lamp in the Journal of Aquatic Sciences showed that burrowing macroinvertebrates can alter dynamics of phosphorus storage and release in drainage ditches.

Check out full paper, “Burrowing macroinvertebrates alter phosphorus dynamics in drainage ditch sediments” at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-019-0621-8

Becca Eckert Awarded Cosmos Foundation Grant

2/1/2019

Becca Eckert, Ph.D.student (Lamp Lab), is a recipient of this year's Cosmos Scholars Grant Program. The foundation, which began in 1998, awards research grants for graduate students enrolled in Universities in the D.C. area. The Cosmos Scholars Grant Program will support Becca’s research, more specifically, experiments measuring the contribution of algae growing on leaves to stream macroinvertebrate growth.

Congratulations Becca!

Pocomoke Middle School Visits UMD Entomology

1/31/2019

Written By: Nancy Harding

In December 2018 the Entomology Department conducted an educational outreach event that provided hands-on experience with insects and other arthropods to 7thand 8thgrade students along with their teachers: Karen McCabe, Phyllis Porter and John Roach from Pocomoke Middle School of Pocomoke City MD. Students were provided with an overview of some of the innovative and important research currently being conducted in the department. Anna Noreuil, Ph.D.student (Fritz lab) provided a presentation and hands-on activity regarding the northern house mosquito; Rachel Kuipers, Lab Assistant (vanEnglesdorp lab) gave an overview of research to further understand the loss in honey bee colonies in the United States. Alexander Forde, Ph.D.student (Gruner lab), and Todd Waters, Agricultural Technician Supervisor and caretaker of the department’s insect zoo, gave the students an opportunity to look at and hold native and exotic arthropods. Nancy Harding, Research Assistant, (Shrewsbury lab) set up and coordinated the visit from Pocomoke Middle School. Feedback from the students and teachers was extremely positive. The event was extremely educational and enjoyable for all the attendees.

Spring 2019 Cory Undergraduate Award Recipients

1/25/2019

Justin Lee, Madeline Potter, Catherine Trelstad, and Betsy Wang

!Congratulations to the recipients of the Spring 2019 Ernest N. Cory Undergraduate Scholarship! This scholarship provides up to $1,000 for undergraduate students each semester who have creatively contributed to Entomology Department research and/or extension efforts. Choose, "Read More" to find out about Justin Lee, Madeline Potter, Catherine Trelstad, and Betsy Wang and their extraordinary efforts in Entomology!

UMD-led research shows varroa mite feeds on bee fat body-not bee blood

1/15/2019

Image credit: UMD/USDA/PNAS

Congratulations to Entomology researchers Samuel Ramsey, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, David Hawthorne, & their colleagues on their new paper, “Varroa destructor feeds primarily on honey bee fat body tissue and not hemolymph,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research provides new details on the feeding habits of the parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, which is one of the major threats to honey bee colonies worldwide.

Read the full CMNS press release here.

ESA Nominates Megan Fritz to Tick-Borne Disease Working Group

1/10/2019

The Entomological Society of America has nominated Assistant Professor, Megan Fritz, to serve on the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group.

Announcement from ESA newsletter: "In response to a Federal Register notice calling for nominees to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, ESA submitted a letter of support for the nomination of Megan Fritz, Ph.D., a professor of entomology at the University of Maryland. Fritz's work in the field, which supports public health efforts in Maryland, is representative of the Society's mission to share entomological science with the world, and ESA is proud to support her nomination."

Fritz's recommendation letter may be found here.

Dennis vanEngelsdorp Quoted In New York Times

1/8/2019

Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

ENTM Associate Professor comments on the prospect of a vaccine for honeybees.

Quote:
“This is a very new way of thinking about how we can help bee health,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an entomologist with the University of Maryland. “As a proof of concept, this is really exciting.”

Read full article here.

Faculty Assistant Position Available in Burghardt Lab

1/8/2019

The Burghardt lab in the Entomology department at the University of Maryland-College Park is hiring a Faculty Assistant. The lab focuses on understanding the ecology of plant/insect/soil interactions within human-managed landscapes.

The Faculty Assistant will function as a lab manager and technician. They will aid in laboratory and protocol setup and contribute to the maintenance and data collection for at least two current lab projects: (1) quantifying insect herbivore communities, predation/parasitism rates, and
plant traits within a large-scale tree diversity experiment (BiodiversiTREE) located at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and (2) examining whether rhizobial diversity determines soybean resistant to drought and herbivore stress.

The position will provide opportunities to work with Smithsonian researchers and UMD extension scientists and involves interaction with stakeholders and citizen scientists.

Click here for the complete Job Announcement.

A NY Times Article Features New England Journal of Medicine Paper, to which the Pick lab contributed

1/8/2019

Credit: Julia Rendleman for The New York Times

The New York Times published an article, When the Illness Is a Mystery, Patients Turn to These Detectives, about a recent paper published in New England Journal of Medicine, to which the Pick lab contributed.

Read full article here

Using Chemical Signals from Plants to Protect Crops from Insect Pests

12/17/2018

Written by: Darsy Smith & Lindsay Barranco

Destruction by crop insects requires strategies to combat pests below ground and above ground. Dr. Hiltpold’s novel approach uses nature to do this work.

Protect or Destroy? The Role of Native Grasshoppers in their Home Habitats

12/13/2018

Photo credit: Sergey

Written by: Dylan Kutz & Serhat Solmaz

Our ecosystems are under siege by plants hailing from exotic realms. Can one of nature’s most ubiquitous insects be the key to saving protecting our native locales from invasion?

ENTM Newsletter|Fall 2018

12/13/2018

Check out our Fall 2018 Entomology Department Newsletter to see what we've been up to! Content includes news on publications, awards, defenses and much more.

Is there something you'd like to see in the Spring 2019 edition? Let us know by sending an e-mail to umdentomology@umd.edu.

Enjoy!

Julianna Greenberg Wins Student Poster Competition at the MD Water Monitoring Council’s Annual Meeting

12/10/2018

Congratulations, Julianna Greenberg (Biological Sciences Undergrad, Palmer Lab) for winning first place in the Student Poster Competition at the Maryland Water Monitoring Council’s Annual Meeting. Julianna’s winning poster, " Evaluating the effects of system maturation on pollutant loads from stream-wetland complexes”, is on display in the hallway outside of room 4129.

Abstract: Throughout the world many streams and rivers are highly degraded and scientists are working to understand when and why certain restoration efforts result in improvements and others don’t. This study focused on small urban streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that were slated for restoration in order to reduce the movement of excess nutrients and sediments toward Bay Waters. Church and Cypress creeks were degraded urban streams located in Anne Arundel County. These were converted to stream-wetland complexes (SWCs) that include engineered wetlands and step-pool conveyances extending to the estuarine interface. Monitoring occurred throughout the pre- and post-construction phases to estimate the changes in catchment loads of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and total suspended solids (TSS) from the outflow of the restored stream reaches. Results indicate that moderate reductions in N loads and increases in TSS and P occurred since SWC implementation in Church Creek. The study authors concluded that the increases in TSS and P were due to extensive and more recent headwater restoration activities. By contrast, Cypress Creek had no recent disturbances in its headwaters and results indicate that water quality (e.g., TSS and P) has improved with system maturation. This improvement implies that shorter-term restoration studies that do not capture the maturation process may underestimate the true long-term performance of SWCs for some constituents.

Anahí Espíndola Published in PNAS

12/7/2018

This map shows the predicted levels of risk to more than 150,000 species of plants located worldwide.

Image credit: Anahi Espindola & Tara Pelletier

Congratulations to Entomology's Anahí Espíndola, co-author of a new research paper, “Predicting plant conservation priorities on a global scale,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Anahi co-developed a machine learning algorithm that predicts which plant species may be eligible for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Researchers hope this algorithm will help prioritize conservation efforts.

Read the CMNS press release here>>

Other notable media mentions include WIRED & Smithsonian.

External Funding In Entomology - 2018 Summary

12/7/2018

New and on-going research in the Entomology Department is supported by a variety of external funding sources, including federal agencies like USDA, NSF, and NIH; Maryland and other State agencies like the MD Department of Agriculture, the MD State Highway Association, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture; and other sources like the Almond Board of California, the National Honey Board, and the North American Bramble Growers Research Foundation. For the past 5 fiscal years, Entomology has received over $4,000,000 in support from such sources as estimated by grant expenditures.

Of the 44 currently active research awards in Entomology, 16 were new in calendar year 2018.For more information on these awards choose "Read More" below.

ENTM Attends SACNAS & ABRCMS

12/7/2018

The Entomology Department at UMD is committed to encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in science. Sending students and faculty to meetings like SACNAS & ABRCMS is just one way the department is attempting to meet those commitments.

SACNAS Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX- In October, Anthony Nearman (Ph.D. Student vanEngelsdorp Lab) represented ENTM at a recruiting booth hosted by the UMD Graduate School. SACNAS is an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists, from college students to professionals, in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM.

ABRCMS Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN- In November, Marcia Shofner (Senior Lecturer) attended represented ENTM at a recruiting booth hosted by the UMD Graduate School. The Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) is one of the largest conferences for underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Students attend this conference to present their research, enhance professional development skills, explore graduate schools, and network.

ENTM Professors Gruner & vanEngelsdorp Named 2018 Highly Cited Researchers

11/30/2018

Congratulations to Associate Professors Dennis vanEngelsdorp & Daniel Gruner for making the Clarivate Analytics’ 2018 list of Highly Cited Researchers, a compilation of influential names in science. vanEngelsdorp's research focuses on using an epidemiological approach to understand and improve pollinator health, which involves understanding the etiology of individual diseases and large-scale monitoring. Gruner's research investigates species interactions in food webs, the maintenance of biodiversity in ecological communities, community feedbacks with ecosystem function, and the impacts of global change. Read more>>

Peter Coffey Successfully Defends Thesis

11/27/2018

Congratulations to Peter Coffey (Hooks Lab), UMD ENTM Grad Program's newest MS graduate, for successfully defending his thesis, "Can cover crop residues suppress pests and improve yield in eggplant?"

How the heck I got here and what’s next?

11/20/2018

Dr. Kimberly Wallin

Written by: Jonathan Wang & Mike Nan

It’s no secret that the road to academia is tough. Faced with a “publish or perish” atmosphere and stagnant or declining rates of scientific funding, the academic route for a graduate student is daunting. A recent study suggests graduate students are six times more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared to the general population. Part of the problem is how hard it is to navigate a way into a tenure-track position. Thankfully, the problem is being recognized and a number of high-profile failure CVs have made waves online. Dr. Kimberly Wallin has her own advice to graduate students and reveals exactly “how the heck” she got here.

<<Previous

Brian Lovett Receives AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award

Underpinnings of Adaptation: Genomics of adaptation and resilience in aquatic systems

Magdalene Ngeve Awarded President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship

Patricia L.Graham (Pick Lab) et al. published in Developmental Biology

Harvestmen of Canada

UMD Researchers Study Plant Responses to Leafhopper Injury

Macroinvertebrates alter phosphorus dynamics in drainage ditches

Becca Eckert Awarded Cosmos Foundation Grant

Pocomoke Middle School Visits UMD Entomology

Spring 2019 Cory Undergraduate Award Recipients

UMD-led research shows varroa mite feeds on bee fat body-not bee blood

ESA Nominates Megan Fritz to Tick-Borne Disease Working Group

Dennis vanEngelsdorp Quoted In New York Times

Faculty Assistant Position Available in Burghardt Lab

A NY Times Article Features New England Journal of Medicine Paper, to which the Pick lab contributed

Using Chemical Signals from Plants to Protect Crops from Insect Pests

Protect or Destroy? The Role of Native Grasshoppers in their Home Habitats

ENTM Newsletter|Fall 2018

Julianna Greenberg Wins Student Poster Competition at the MD Water Monitoring Council’s Annual Meeting

Anahí Espíndola Published in PNAS

External Funding In Entomology - 2018 Summary

ENTM Attends SACNAS & ABRCMS

ENTM Professors Gruner & vanEngelsdorp Named 2018 Highly Cited Researchers

Peter Coffey Successfully Defends Thesis

How the heck I got here and what’s next?

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