Congratulations to the recipients of the Fall 24 Ernest N. Cory Undergraduate Scholarship, recognized for their extraordinary efforts in Entomology.

Veronika Valverde Jimenez is a senior at the University of Maryland majoring in Cell Biology and Genetics. She has been working in the Pick Lab since summer of 2023, with a focus on assessing the function of the ebony gene in Oncopeltus fasciatus with the help of Dr.  Katie Reding, work she continued this fall semester.In the Pick Lab she is learning to perform procedures such as RNAi and CRISPR injections. Afterwards, she plans to pursue genetic counseling, saying that “research has provided me with beneficial knowledge that will prepare me for this career.”

Margaret Kato is a junior majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Computer Science. Since June of 2023, she has worked as a lab technician in Krishnan Lab, helping with projects related to insect toxicology and how non-target species are impacted by pesticide application. She is also working on an entomology honors thesis about Coleopteran sensitivity to the major insecticide classes. Margaret says, “I am grateful for the hands-on experience offered by the Entomology Department and hope to use the skills and knowledge I have gained in my future career!”

Yasmine Helbling is an Ecology and Evolution Major, with an Entomology minor and Entomology honors student. She started off working in the Burghardt Lab dabbling in urban ecology research collecting insects off native red maple trees and invasive Norway maples. She currently works in the Lamp lab where 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. This semester she attended the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting to present, “Does host-plant resistance inadvertently increase secondary pest populations by reducing biocontrol?”

written by: Jillian Stewart 
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There’s something smelly down in Texas. These odors are produced by plants under attack by insects. Plants react to their insect attackers by producing specific blends of odor compounds. These responses to pests, and how they differ between plants was the topic of Dr. Emily Russavage’s Doctoral thesis, which she presented at UMD recently. She tested the reaction of different cultivars of sorghum when the sorghum aphid -a major, destructive pest- arrived and started sucking their juices.

written by: Allison Huysman
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​What do entomologists and stage actors have in common? We both speak in front of crowds of people. We may not think of scientific presentations as performances, but according to Drew Barker, University of Maryland Performing Arts Librarian, we should. Drew Barker grew up in the theatre and teaches oral communication through the Theatre department at UMD. At a recent seminar, he shared tips from the world of performing arts that scientists can use to make their presentations more engaging.

 written by: Makala Nicole Harrison 
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The looming threat of climate change highlights the importance of developing agricultural systems that can stand against the forces of pest arthropods, especially insects, and extreme weather. As part of the UMD Department of Entomology seminar series, Dr. Anna Wallingford – a USDA research scientist in the Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Lab in Beltsville, Maryland – discussed how the use of high tunnel systems can protect crops and increase their productivity. High tunnel systems, also called “hoop houses” consist of metal hoops covered in plastic or fabric to create a greenhouse-like structure (Fig. 1). High tunnel systems protect crops from rain and extreme weather, both being consequences of climate change, which increases the shelf-life and marketability of the produce while decreasing the occurrence of fungal diseases. While widespread use of high tunnels is fairly recent in the United States, the structures are used worldwide [1]. The structures can utilize varying levels of technology, some have electricity that powers automatic rolling side walls and air conditioning, while others are simple structures that require the farmer to roll up the sides manually. When the tunnels are equipped with passive heating and cooling systems, they are able to extend the growing season by staying warm into the cooler winter months. The tradeoff for using high tunnel systems is that unique pest control issues can arise. 

written by: Pick lab
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Visible features of organismal body plans are often highly conserved within large taxa. For example, different species of birds have wings and beaks. For insects, segmentation is a shared and defining feature of the body plan.  Screens in the model insect Drosophila previously identified genes responsible for the development of body segments and one might have thought that different insects would all utilize the same genes, given that they all are segmented. In a paper published from the Pick lab in Science Advances, Reding et al. show that this is not the case: different insects use different genes to achieve the same outcome – formation of body segments. Studying the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, graduate student Katie Reding undertook a challenging screen to ask if novel genes control segmentation in this species. Collaborating with scientists at the Institute for Genome Science, University of Maryland School of Medicine, she analyzed the sequences of genes expressed at time points during embryonic development when segmentation is established. She then analyzed the expression patterns of over 50 of these genes and identified one, Blimp1, expressed in a pattern expected for a role in segmentation. She followed this with RNA interference experiments that suggested a role for Blimp1 in generating segments. To stringently test Blimp1’ s function, Katie used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, a technique she had previously developed in the Pick lab, to generate a mutation in the newly identified gene. This mutation showed a Drosophila-like segmentation phenotype, although Blimp1 is not required for segmentation in Drosophila. This exciting result demonstrated genetic diversity underlying the highly conserved feature of segmentation in insects: during evolution, regulatory genes have changed function dramatically but without any impact on phenotype or morphology. Thus, organisms are even more diverse than their phenotypes show us: even for a shared feature, the genes controlling it may be wholly different in different species - an invisible layer of biodiversity in animal systems. 

written by: Robert Salerno
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​Have you noticed throughout the past few decades that the windshield of your vehicle rarely seems to receive smudges from collisions with insects anymore? Is it because the aerodynamics of your vehicle have improved so much so that the insects glide right by unscathed; or are there other forces at play?
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​This decrease reflects a larger problem. Studies around the world have revealed declines in insect abundance, diversity, and biomass throughout the past 20+ years1. It should come as no surprise that insects are facing a multitude of anthropogenic threats including habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and the introduction of invasive species (just to name a few). If these anthropogenic influences weren't severe enough on their own, combining them leads to interactions and synergies which have the potential to wreak havoc on insect communities.

written by: Ben Burgunder
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Across Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic United States, fall is rapidly approaching. But as the weather chills and pumpkins appear on porches, yard-owning Americans have a big choice to make: should they remove fallen leaves or let them rest? Every year, trees in urban America drop an estimated 37 million tons of leaves (Nowak & Greenfield, 2018). When homeowners elect to remove their fallen leaves, what happens to the spiders, caterpillars, beetles, and other insects that rely on decaying leaves for food and shelter? While it had been determined that removing leaves was bad news for soil-dwelling arthropods (Ober and DeGroote, 2014), inspiring campaigns to “Leave the Leaves” (AP News, Xerces Society), no one had yet tested this for aboveground insects and spiders.

Dr. Max Ferlauto (Fig. 1), the state entomologist of Maryland and recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s Department of Entomology, was up for the challenge. Over two years, he experimented with the fallen leaves of 20 pesticide-free suburban Maryland yards to work out the hidden effects of leaf removal on insects and the ecosystem. He set up experimental and control square meters across the lawns. In the experimental squares in ‘high maintenance’ spaces, areas of yards that were regularly raked, he added leaves. In the ‘low maintenance’ experimental squares, located in areas of the yard where leaves were historically left to rest, he removed the leaves. In the spring, he set up traps that captured insects emerging from these squares, which allowed him to sample the tens of thousands of pollinators, predators, herbivores, and decomposers that dwell in yards.

written by: Amanda ​Brucchieri​

​You’re standing in front of a wall of mosquito repellent. You need to choose the best product, or you are going to be itchy and rather miserable. An ad for some obscure product interrupts the music from the store's speakers and you know you are running out of time to decide. What bottle do you reach for? Dr. Chris Potter, a researcher and professor from Johns Hopkins may have some useful information that will have you choosing the right product for you. 

written by: Margaret Ann Schaefer

​In her talk “Working at the Intersection: Reflections on public engagement in science,” Dr. Holly Menninger, Executive Director of the Bell Museum in Minnesota, discussed her path into a career of science communication.
 
Although Dr. Menninger is now deeply involved in public engagement, it was not her original plan when she started at the University of Maryland as a student of Dr. Margaret Palmer. She also states she “never had an ah-ha moment” where she suddenly realized that was what she wanted to do – her career has been a journey in different areas of engagement (including science policy and extension) that ultimately led her to the museum field. While she was at UMD, she studied the effect of the nutrient pulse from the 2004 Brood X cicada emergence (and subsequent input to many streams) on stream metabolism. These periodical cicadas took flight across the Washington DC Metro area after seventeen years of feeding on tree roots as nymphs. When they came out and generated interest in the public, Dr. Menninger – as part of a group of grad students known as the “Cicadamaniacs” -- found herself the spokesperson. She noted that she had her first foray in media outreach live on CNN’s American Morning because Dr. Mike Raupp, the ‘Bug Guy,’ was appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America.

written by: Lasair ni Chochlain

Climate change is something that we are all worried about. But as scientific researchers, linking fields as disparate in focus as evolutionary development and global change is quite a challenge. Dr. Yui Suzuki from Wellesley College is helping to pioneer this interdisciplinary research area by exploring how climate change may shape insect evolution and development. The UMD Department of Entomology hosted Dr. Suzuki for a talk on his research as well as a talk on his experience as a liberal arts professor on August 30, 2024.

The closest to retirement Emeritus Professor Mike Raupp has gotten is "almost" retired. The 'Bug Guy' shares with The Silver Terp the range of activities he has been up to from cicada-mania to plans for a critter filled study abroad and everything in between. 

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By Lasair ní Chochlain and Eva Perry
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Urban trees provide important habitats for insects and other arthropods. Dr. Paola Olaya-Arenas, an adjunct professor at Universidad Icesi, presented the results of her research on Bogotá’s urban trees and associated insect communities to the University of Maryland’s Department of Entomology this April. Dr. Olaya-Arenas and collaborators sampled insects associated with Ficus americana Aubl. located in parks and on sidewalks in three urban areas in Bogotá, Colombia. A diverse and abundant community of herbivores, predators, and parasitoids was sampled, and information about their feeding habits, other host trees, and damage to plant tissue is described in Dr. Olaya-Arenas et al., 2022 bilingual publication “Insects associated with urban trees in Bogotá (Colombia): exploring their diversity and function.” This publication can be downloaded from the following link (Electronic book link), and it is a good guide for citizens and visitors of the city.

Dr. Sara Via's webinar series, "Climate & Biodiversity Action", has begun! Next talk, "Regenerating our soil," is Wednesday, June 19, 2024, 4-5:30 pm. Tune in to find out what healthy soil is and how we can get it back. 

Can't wait till June for expert advice on climate change?! Want to do something now but not sure what? Check out webisodes on her youtube page, Sara Via: Climate Change Impacts & Solutions

​Congratulations to Lasair ní Chochlain, MS Student in Dr. Hamby’s Lab, for being named one of this year’s Distinguished Services Award finalists by campus’s Division of Student Affairs. Lasair is not only a talented researcher but also a fierce disability advocate. When Lasair isn’t researching the ecological interactions that structure insect communities and sustainable IPM techniques for grain and small fruit crops, they are inviting disability advocates to talk at our Entomology speaker’s series and facilitating affinity spaces for UMD graduate students with disabilities - a space to find support, resources, and community.

Please join us in applauding Lasair for this well-deserved recognition & thanking them for their dedication to this important work. Watch Lasair being acknowledged for their efforts at campus’s Student Leadership Award ceremony held this May. They are mentioned at about 2:00:03.

 By: Amanda Brucchieri and Helen Craig
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On any given day, Dr. Tanisha Williams might be found exploring the desert in search of bush tomatoes, analyzing historical herbarium samples, or nurturing a vibrant community of Black botanists. What underscores all her work is the elevation and exploration of the relationships between people and plants, especially in the context of human mediated climate change caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases (IPCC, 2013). In her work, Dr. Williams investigated how this change is affecting the phenology and diversity of plants, particularly in the context of climate change and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK).  

​We are thrilled to extend a big CONGRATULATIONS to Samantha Rosa, for being selected to join the esteemed cohort of NOAA’s Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellows! Samantha Rosa is a graduate student in the Gruner and Espíndola Labs. As part of the fellowship Samantha will conduct collaborative research with the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve in Ka-waha-o-ka-manō on the island of O‘ahu. Her research will focus on developing K-12 Community-Driven Science curriculum and programming that draws on Indigenous and contemporary knowledge to empower children and educators to lead biocultural restoration and management of Hawai‘i's cultural and ecological systems. Samantha is excited to contribute her experience as a classroom teacher and ecologist towards enhancing the education programs at the only NOAA reserve formally recognized as an Indigenous and community-conserved area. 

Congratulations to Dr. Margaret Palmer on her election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences! We are thrilled to see her receive this prestigious honor, sharing in President’s Pines sentiments…
 
“Margaret Palmer's election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is a richly deserved honor," said university President Darryll J. Pines. "Her unwavering commitment to both academic excellence and real-world impact is truly inspiring. The University of Maryland is incredibly fortunate to count her among our faculty.”
 
Check out the University's full press release here>>