Professor Emeritus, Don Messersmith, who retired in 1989, celebrated his 90th birthday last December. After he retired from the University of Maryland in 1989, he continued to teach adult courses in Orthnithology in the DMV area and still continues that work today. He teaches part-time to senior citizens enrolled in the Osher Program at Johns Hopkins University in Rockville. The course he is currently developing for the upcoming Hopkins’ program is titled "Culture and Wildlife." The course will focus on how cultures around the world incorporate wildlife into their ceremonies, traditions, art, dances, costumes, etc.

To read more about Don's past and present influence check out recent message from North American Association for Environmental Education's Executive Director, Judy Braus. Read article here>>

Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp  is one of two college employees named to Clarivate Analytics' 2016 list of Highly Cited Researchers (HCR). HCR is a comprehensive list of influential individuals in various scientific disciplines. More on the announcement can be found on the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) home page.

Brian Lovett (St. Leger Lab) was featured today on the BioMed Central Blog as part of World Malaria Day for the work that won him the Fungal Biology and Biotechnology Student Prize at the European Conference on Fungal Genetics in Paris in early April. 

Check out the complete blog post here!

Brian has had a productive Spring semester overall, including talks, workshops, and posters in both Paris and Burkina Faso:

• A poster presentation entitled “Applying Transgenic Fungi In a MosquitoSphere” at the European Conference on Fungal Genetics in Paris, France on 5 April 2016.
• A talk entitled “The Dual Lifestyles of Metarhizium” at the Clavicipitaceae Workshop of the European Conference on Fungal Genetics in Paris, France on 3 April 2016.
• A two-day workshop entitled “Quality In, Quality Out- Statistics In R” at the Centre Muraz in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso on 1-2 March 2015.
• A talk entitled “Using GM Fungi to Prevent Malaria Transmission” at the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso on 29 February 2016.

Keep up the great work Brian!

UMD Entomology's Dr. Michael Raupp and Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp will appear on WAMU 88.5's Kojo Nnamdi Show on Monday, April 25 at 12:30pm. They will discuss with Kojo whether the recent ban on neonicotinoid pesticides for homeowners in Maryland will help prevent the loss of Maryland's honeybees.

​Be sure to tune in! 

Did you know? There's a new bee habitat wall located at the University of Maryland, Arboretum Outreach Center.  The main purpose for the bee wall is to raise public awareness of wild pollinators and to monitor campus bee populations.  For pics and details please take a look at the blog by Entomology's PhD student Lisa Kuder advised by Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp.

Graduate student, Jonathan Wang, advised by Dr. Raymond St. Leger received the 1st place presentation award at the Society of Invertebrate Pathology 48th Annual Meeting held August 9-13, 2015 for his talk entitled " A Genome Wide Association Study of Resistance to Metarhizium anisopliae.

Building engineered structures, such as dams and dikes, has been the conventional approach to water management.  Some suggest that such "gray" infrastructure make way for "green" ecosystem-based approaches.  Margaret Palmer, Director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) co-authored in support of managing water in a green way.

The Department of Entomology sponsored event will be held  Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at the Universities at Shady Grove.  Three cutting-edge topics, Flies, Monarchs, and Mosquitoes, from three of the world's foremost authorities will be presented. There will be free food, free drinks, and free parking.  For additional information and free registration, click on the button.

Former graduate student of the Department of Entomology BEES program, Megan Paustian, research biologist who specializes in mollusks, specifically slugs, makes the Washington Post.  Megan studied forest moths as a graduate student while working in a laboratory with a group of entomologists at the University of Maryland.     

Congratulations to Dr. Margaret Palmer for being named 2015 Distinguished University Professor, the university's highest academic honor!

Dr. Michael Raupp and Dr. Paula Shrewsbury , Entomologist at the University of Maryland, reviews the new Ant-Man movie on USA Today video.  For the Win took them to an advance screening of the latest superhero movie to tell us what Paul Rudd and co. gets right-and wrong-about ants. 

Mike Raupp, University of Maryland Professor of Entomology provides tips on how to keep ants and other pest from your home. 

 A new study by entomologists at the University of Maryland shows that brown marmorated stink bugs have a strong preference for ripe fruit.  The study, published online June 25, 2015 in the Journal of Pest Science, reports the number of stink bugs feeding on nearly 4,000 fruit-bearing ornamental trees representing more than 200 popular varieties grown for sale at commercial nurseries.  The researchers found that trees with ripe fruit attracted more than twice as many adult stink bugs compared with trees bearing immature fruit. 

Congratulations to Dr. Raymond St. Leger who has been named as the recipient of the Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize for 2015 by President Loh.  The Kirwan Prize for 2015 recognizes Dr. St. Leger's accomplishments in the areas of biomedical research and agriculture and his work in genetic engineering techniques that develop new and more effective and environmentally safe technologies for controlling insect agricultural pests and vectors of important human diseases. 

BALTIMORE (AP) — With the arrival of an invasive green Asian beetle in Baltimore, local governments and property owners are confronting tough — and potentially costly — choices about whether to try to save ash trees at risk of infestation or cut them down.

The culprit is the emerald ash borer, which could attack any of the 5 million to 6 million ash trees across the Baltimore metropolitan area. With the infestation already underway, City Hall is seeking a contractor to inject as many as 820 curbside ash trees with insecticide.

“We are taking the initial steps to deal with what’s going to be a tragic situation,” said Erik Dihle, the city’s arborist.

Florida Keys state agency is awaiting approval from the federal government of a trial release of Oxitec's genetically modified mosquitos to prevent a recurrence of a dengue fever outbreak.  Distinguished university professor at the University of Maryland, Entomology Department, Raymond St. Leger stated "Some people don't want to see GE (genetically engineered) anything."  "It's an emotional response.  It's hard to reason people out of a decision they didn't reason themselves into."  St. Leger is now conducting field trials in Burkina Faso to test a method in which a mosquito is exposed to a fungus that prevents it from transmitting malaria.

Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Assistant Professor of Entomology at the University of Maryland, featured in a story  about neonicotinoid pesticides and honeybees in today's Nature.  

Mike Raupp,  Professor of Entomology and known as the University of Maryland's "Bug Guy" joins Kojo to talk about the emerald ash borer and other insects of spring. Listen to him hear.