Kimberly Nesci, a 1996 entomology graduate and former graduate student of Dr. Galen Dively has provided over 20 years of excellent services in the world of pesticide regulation, 17 of which she worked directly in the Office of Pesticide Programs for the Environmental Protection Agency. Now, Nesci has advanced further into the pesticide sphere, accepting the position as the acting associate director for the Environmental Fate and Effects Division within the EPA.
Nesci graduated from University of Maryland with a Master of Science in Entomology. Her career started at the EPA’s Office of Pesticides as a Chemical Review Manager. A short four-years later, Nesci became a team leader in SRRD contributing her expertise to organophosphate reregistration actions/mitigations and the cancellation of lindane (a formerly common pesticide revealed to cause neurotoxic effects). After these accomplishments, Nesci joined the Registration Division as a Product Manager in the Insecticide Branch where she worked on the pet spot-on mitigation efforts, an intricate plan produced by the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council to assess the risks of insect treatments on pets. Simultaneously, she served as a member of and chaired meetings for the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Panel of Experts on Pesticide Management, a group that initiated best management practices for pesticide application in developing countries. Her resume continued to grow thereafter. Beginning in 2013, Nesci has served as Chief of the Microbial Pesticides Branch in the EPA’s Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, in which she was responsible for the scientific evaluation and constructing regulations for microbial pesticides and Plant-Incorporated Protectants. Her multi-disciplinary work in this position made her an influential component on the policy making, science, and regulatory decisions on new RNA-interference-based pesticide technologies and the development of resistance to certain proteins in genetically engineered crops. On September 19, 2016 Nesci ascended once more within the EPA by accepting a position as the acting Associate Director for the EPA’s Environmental Fate and Effects Division. The Department of Entomology is sending our best wishes to this astounding member of our alumni community. We are proud of what this Terp has accomplished and what she will continue to achieve well into the future. On Saturday, September 18th faculty, staff, and graduate students participated in the highly successful 2016 Entomology Retreat. Talks, discussions, and delicious food were shared by all attendees and the overall consensus was that our retreat was a grand time. One of the highlights was the distribution of the Departmental Awards. If you were unable to attend the retreat, be sure to congratulate the following folks on their achievements:
Steinhauer Award Jessica Grant Gussie MacCracken Teaching Achievement Award Rebecca Eckert Jonathan Wang Rebecca Wilson Great work, guys! We are so lucky to have you as part of our entomology family. Please join us for as many as you can! Lunch will be provided for all attendees.
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:
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! The vanEnglesdorp Lab was featured in a recent NBC Washington online post regarding a project that will attract pollinators to several stretches of Maryland highways by bringing "more milkweed and wildflowers, and possibly less moving." Read the complete post here! You may be hearing reports of another massive brood of cicadas emerging this year in Maryland, but UMD Entomologist Dr. Michael Raupp (a.k.a. "The Bug Guy") spoke with the Baltimore Sun recently to set the record straight. Unless you live in far Western Maryland, you'll enjoy another quiet spring and summer. Read the complete article here! RECENT DEPARTMENTAL NEWS
Alison Post (BS Biology 2014) received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Alison is the former Lab Manager for the Lamp Lab and is now an ecology graduate student at Colorado State University. Check out the news here: https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/3483. Congratulations Alison!
Entomology Graduate Students Nathalie Steinhauer and Meghan McConnell Collect Bees from California Almond Farm for USDA Testing – Los Angeles Times
Check out the full article here: goo.gl/6hSFZp Entomology’s David O’Brochta Comments on the Testing of Genetically Modified Mosquitoes – NBC News
Check out the full article here: goo.gl/SnlvgQ 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. Publications
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 Insect Genetic Technologies Research Coordination Network presents a free Mini-SymposiumThe 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. Publications
Talks
Congratulations to Dave O'Brochta who was the Plenary Speaker at the Ninth Annual Arthropod Genomics Symposium, held last week in Manhattan Kansas.
Dr. Raymond St. Leger named as recipient of the Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize6/25/2015
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.
Office of Extended Studies is administering new online programs for the Department of Entomology Entomology graduate certificates and Master of Professional Studies starts at the University of Maryland fall 2015. Apply now at oes-entm.umd.edu
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