Entomology minor graduates first students

Grace Soltis, first student to join the minor when it launched in 2021.

When Terps graduate this semester, some will be stepping off the stage with the Entomology minor on their diploma. The minor program is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the form and function of insects, their interactions with people and society, and their role as model species for fundamental and applied research. After fulfilling the core course requirements in general and advanced entomology, minors take two to three electives that cover a wide variety of subjects including, advanced biology, pollination biology, plant sciences, and environmental sciences.

Grace Soltis, a Biological Sciences: Ecology and Evolution Specialization student (soon to be alum!), was the first student to join the minor when it launched in 2021 and will be one of the first to graduate. She joined Dr. Dan Gruner’s lab in January of 2020. In 2021, Grace was awarded the Ernest N. Cory Undergraduate Scholarship for her extraordinary efforts in Entomology. In May we congratulated her once more, this time for successfully defending her entomology honors thesis, "Periodical cicadas emergence triggers dramatic shift in avian foraging,” a project that measured the impact of Brood X cicadas on the food webs of Maryland forests. 

It has been wonderful having Grace in the Entomology Minor and Honors Program. We wish her all the best in her next endeavor, a PhD program in Biology: Ecology and Evolution at Florida State University.

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