Fall 2019 Cory Undergraduate Award Recipients

​​Congratulations to the recipients of the Fall 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 James Digel, Sophia Moon and Maddie Potter & their extraordinary efforts in Entomology.

---

James Digel
James Digel will be a senior biology major this coming fall. He has worked in Dr. Pick’s lab over the past year determining whether the gene E75A has regulatory function over some of the pair-rule-like expressed Toll genes in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus. James has designed probes and performed in situ hybridizations that stain for the expression of the Toll 6, 7, 8, and 10 genes. The next step is to perform parental RNAi that can knock down E75A in embryos. The expression patterns of the Toll genes in the blastoderm and germband stages can then be compared to the gfp RNAi control. Whether E75A is responsible for directly or indirectly regulating the Toll genes can be determined if there is a change in pattern between the control and knocked down embryos. James would like to thank Dr. Pick, Katie Reding, and the rest of the lab for the opportunity to develop research skills as well as for their help and guidance.
​
So Eun (Sophia) Moon
Sophie is a rising senior majoring in Environmental Science and Policy with a concentration in Wildlife Ecology and Management. Since joining Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp’s Bee Lab in January of 2018, she has grown tremendously in her interest and knowledge in the field of entomology. In the lab, she is responsible for collecting and entering the necropsy data for various studies that examine the effects of certain pesticides on bee health. For her own project through the Entomology Honors Program, she will be focusing on the effects of the DMPF metabolite of amitraz on honey bee physiology. She also devotes part of her time to organizing the teaching collection, after developing great interest in insect collecting through Dr. Jeffrey Shultz’s Insect Diversity and Classification course. She says, “I greatly enjoy being a part of the community in the Entomology Department at UMD as I am surrounded by passionate and encouraging faculty, staff, and other students who motivate me to pursue my future academic goals, such as attending graduate school.”
​
Madeline Potter
Madeline Potter is completing her final semester toward an Environmental Horticulture Major and Sustainability Minor. She joined the Shrewsbury Entomology Lab, Spring 2018, aiding in research projects and beginning her own Entomology Honors Program project. Madeline’s independent research project aims to elucidate and enhance the impact of the exotic egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus, on the invasive, crop damaging, Halyomorpha halys (brown marmorated stink bug). Trissolcus japonicus is a dominant egg parasitoid of H. halys, in H. halys’s native range. Summer 2019, Madeline extended her research, investigating larval competition between T. japonicus and Anastatus reduvii through H. halys egg mass and parasitoid petri dish experiments. Anastatus reduvii is a native parasitoid shown to parasitize H. halys eggs. Madeline would like to thank Dr. Paula Shrewsbury, Dr. Rebeccah Waterworth and several others for supporting her throughout her experience and education within the University of Maryland Entomology Department. Madeline plans to complete the UMD Entomology Honors Program, graduate December 2019, and attend graduate school for Integrated Pest Management in the future.