Rob Williams

Congratulations December 2017 Graduates!!

December 15, 2017 by Rob Williams

Students standing in front of window in conference room. — Graduating students at the reception. From left to right are Olivia Nirider, Emily Parsoneault, and Erin Maxson. Photo by Rob Williams

A small group of students in the Department of Entomology had a great start to the holiday season as they joined thousands of other Aggies expecting to graduate in Reed Arena Friday afternoon.

The students included seven undergraduates, four Master of Science students, two Ph.D. students, and 10 students receiving their certification in Public Health Entomology during the 2pm ceremony.

Students, faculty and families joined the Department in a special celebratory lunch before graduation in the Heep Center where they shared good memories over coffee and light lunch items.

Congratulations to all that are expected to graduate this fall!!

Undergraduates:

Caleb Fields	Entomology
Sam Shook	Entomology
Olivia Nirider	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Emily Parsoneault	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Traci Hale	Horticulture and Entomology
Emma Jones	Biomedical Science and Entomology
Ernest Molina	Biomedical Science and Entomology

Graduates – Master of Science:

Sergio Lopez	Entomology
Erin Maxson	Entomology
Trevor Steele	Entomology
Jennifer Sweeney	Entomology

Graduates – Ph.D.:

Ashleigh Faris	Entomology
Derek Woller	Entomology

Public Health Entomology Certificate Recipients:

Arie Anderson	Biomedical Science
Meagan Blauth	Biomedical Science
Kadeja Evans	Biomedical Science
Michael Fuentes	Biomedical Science
Emma Jones	Biomedical Science
Bryan Byung Kuk Kim	Biomedical Science
Jasmine Mendoza	Biomedical Science, Entomology minor
Ortegon, Victoria	Biomedical Science
Tanner Stone	Biomedical Science
Abigail Spiegelman	University Studies – Veterinary Medicine Concentration, Business Administration/History minor

Members of Aggie Women in Entomology Helped Sixth Grade Girls Get Interested in STEM and Entomology

December 8, 2017 by Rob Williams

Joanie King talking to students in a classroom. — Joanie King teaching participants of the Expanding Your Horizons outreach program about termites. Photo by Rob Williams

Sixth grade girls statewide had the chance to expand their horizons in science and entomology as members of the Aggie Women in Entomology helped to increase interest in STEM fields during Expanding Your Horizons on Saturday, December 2.

This event allows girls in the sixth grade the chance to experience the various areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through interactive lectures and hands-on activities taught by both faculty and student volunteers.

During each 45-minute session, grad students and Aggie Women in Entomology members Jocelyn Holt, Alex Payne, Chloe Hawkings, Karen Poh, Joanie King, and Samantha Sawyer began the sessions by introducing themselves to the participants and showing them their research interests and told them about their favorite insects.

Alex Payne showing participants how beekeepers use their tools to manage hives. Photo by Rob Williams.

Each session also included on general insect biology and anatomy and demonstrated biodiversity in insects by allowing them to view different pinned insects from the Department’s teaching collection.

Some of the hands-on demonstrations included learning about honey bees and honey production, cockroaches, termites, and flies. After the hands-on demonstrations, the participants asked questions from the “Ask an Entomologist” members via Facebook video chat and a chance to sample some food with insects included.

Hawkings enjoyed teaching the girls during the event and said it was a great opportunity for them to learn about entomology and spark their interest in science.

“I think it’s great to educate the girls about the opportunities for them in STEM fields and to let them know that girls are awesome at science,” she said. “The girls were really excited to see and interact with live insects and see the variation of studies conducted by PhD women here.”

Members of the "Ask An Entomologist" answered participants' questions during the question and answer section. Photo by Rob Williams — Members of the “Ask An Entomologist” answered participants’ questions during the question and answer section. Photo by Rob Williams

Payne said the girls learned a lot from her and the other volunteers.

“I really had a great time working with other Aggie Women in Entomology members at the Expanding Your Horizons conference this past weekend!” Payne said. “The sixth grade girls that attended our workshop are at a very impressionable age where we can show them that insects are cool and not ‘just a boy thing’; to like and study. It was really rewarding to see the girls learn and try new things and say things like how they weren’t as afraid of insects anymore.”

Poh said the volunteering was a very rewarding experience for her and she was pleased with the turnout and with the amount of engagement the girls gave the group.

“I felt like we really got the girls to be engaged in science and specifically in entomology,” she said. “Some girls probably didn’t know what entomology was, so we provided a nice introduction to get them interested in entomology. By the end of the section, all of the girls had a greater appreciation for insects and I really think we got them excited about the sciences in general.”

Texas A&M scientists synthesize historical tick models to help curb the pest globally

November 21, 2017 by Rob Williams

by Steve Byrns, Texas A&M AgriLife Communications

Cattle fever tick in hand. (Texas Animal Health Commission photo)

COLLEGE STATION – The battle against fever ticks rages on, and a group of Texas A&M University and French National Institute for Agricultural Research scientists are doing their best to determine where the fray will head by synthesizing historical models for use in curbing the pest globally.

Texas A&M’s departments of wildlife and fisheries sciences and entomology and the French institute have collaborated for a number of years to model systems approaches meant to address ecological and regulatory questions about fever ticks, said Dr. Pete Teel, who works within the entomology department’s Tick Research Laboratory.

Teel, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist, said the two species of cattle ticks affecting Texas, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus and R. (B.) microplus, were at the center of the study. These two closely related species are able to transmit pathogens causing bovine babesiosis, or Texas cattle fever. Both ticks and pathogens were brought to the U.S. on livestock with early settlers from other parts of the world.

Economic losses in cattle include direct losses in meat and milk production through tick blood-feeding. The R. (B.) microplus species now plagues cattle throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is also now recognized as one of the world’s most pesticide-resistant parasites.

Teel said global prevention of disease and of the direct economic effects of tick parasitism is highly dependent on tick suppression or elimination. Mortality rates in naïve cattle to bovine babesiosis range from 70 to 90 percent.

Dr. Hsiao-Hsuan “Rose” Wang, an AgriLife Research scientist at the wildlife and fisheries sciences department’s ecological systems laboratory, is lead author on the recently published “Quantitative models of Rhipicephalus ticks: historical review and synthesis,” which appeared in the Sept. 14 Ecosphere Journal. Go to http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.1942/abstract to see the abstract, then click on the article.

Wang was joined by co-authors Drs. Michael Corson, researcher with the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Ouest, Rennes, France; Bill Grant, AgriLife Research ecologist, department of wildlife and fisheries sciences, College Station; and Teel to conduct the work.

Wang said the work is meant to put a global perspective on a number of aspects researchers encountered and how these modelers approached various problems differently.

The U.S. has long had a permanent quarantine zone hugging the Mexican border to prevent the re-establishment of ticks from Mexico. As a result of recent outbreaks of cattle ticks in Texas, there are 2,720 premises under quarantine covering almost 9 million acres.

“Rhipicephalus ticks are among the most studied group of ticks in the world due to their wide global range and the devastation they cause,” Teel said.

Researchers have developed quantitative computer models of Rhipicephalus ticks since the early 1970s to study the complex biological and ecological relationships that influence the management or eradication of ticks and tick-borne diseases, he said.

“For our study, we reviewed the 45-year history of Rhipicephalus models developed first in Australia, a decade later in North and South America and then still later in Africa,” he said.

According to the paper, these started as analytical models studying parts of the ticks’ life cycles, progressed to simulations of their complete life cycles on to the current emphasis, which is on GIS-based bioclimatic envelope models derived from remotely sensed data and tick presence records, and then back to simulations with spatially explicit, agent-based models.

“Those earlier models predicted management techniques, such as pasture rotation, resistant cattle and anti-tick vaccines,” he said. “But with global climate change, new wildlife hosts and the ticks’ potential for widening its global reach, our study emphasis concentrated on the complexities of tick-host-landscape interactions and the potential for range expansion.”

Teel said their study and future efforts would focus on the development of clearer comparisons for Rhipicephalus ticks to provide ways to hypothesize specific cause-effect relationships, test tick abundance patterns and pathogen prevalence in the field, and simulate how these patterns might be interrupted to achieve tick suppression or eradication.

Linnaean Team Wins First Place, Department Receives Top Awards and Recognition at National Meeting

November 15, 2017 by Rob Williams

The Undergraduate Linnaean Team. From left to right, Dr. Juliana Rangel (coach), Jeffrey Barbosa, Bret Nash, Sam Shook, Shelby Kilpatrick, and Dayvion Adams. Submitted photo.

DENVER—Several of the Department of Entomology’s undergraduate and graduate students received high recognition for their work during this year’s Entomological Society of America annual meeting at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

The conference, which was held from November 5 through 8, allows entomologists to learn the newest research and collaborate with others from across the United States and many international attendees. It is the largest gathering of Entomologists in the world with 3,700 in attendance this year. Our students competed in various poster and oral presentation competitions on their research.

Karen Poh, center, with Dr. Susan Weller, left, and Dr. Michael Parrella, right. Photo by Glenn Cook/Entomological Society of America.

The Texas A&M Undergraduate Linnaean Team took first place after defeating Ohio State University during the final Linnaean Games competition. The team consisted of Sam Shook, Dayvion Adams, Shelby Kilpatrick, Bret Nash, and Jeffrey Barbosa. The team pushed their way to the top by defeating both graduate and undergraduate teams from top colleges, such as Purdue, LSU, and Ohio State.

Linnaean Team coach Dr. Juliana Rangel was very pleased with the team’s progress during the tournament. “We practiced twice a week when the semester started. In the last few weeks, we practiced three times a week, so they were studying to the best of their ability, so I think that helped a lot.”

Pierre Lau, center, with Dr. Susan Weller and Dr. Michael Parrella. Photo by Glenn Cook/Entomological Society of America — Pierre Lau, center, with Dr. Susan Weller, left, and Dr. Michael Parrella, right. Photo by Glenn Cook/Entomological Society of America.

She also was very surprised and proud of the team’s success. “It’s almost unbelievable and surreal,” Rangel added. “I was very happy.”

In the ten minute paper competition, several of the Department’s students received top honors for their research presentation in their respected section. The students include the following:

Ashleigh Faris – Ph. D. student: 1st place Oral- Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology-Diptera, Flies
“Who Where, and when? A survey of Texas blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae)”
Karen Poh – Ph. D. student: 1st place Oral – Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology, Diptera, Mosquitoes – “Effects of prior temperature and precipitation on West Nile virus infection in Culex quinquefasciatus Say in Harris County, Texas”
Mackenzie Tietjen – Ph.D. Student: 1st place Oral- Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology, Ticks and Urban Pests “The mystery of the immature stages of Ixodes scapularis in the south: Where are they?”
Pierre Lau-Ph.D. Student: 1st place Oral – Plant-Insect Ecosystems, Apiculture “Determining the minimum number of pollen grains needed for accurate honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony pollen pellet analysis”
Alex Payne-Ph.D. Student: 1st place Oral- Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology, Pollinators “Are honey bees (Apis mellifera) feeling antsy? Ants as possible reservoirs of honey bee pathogens.”
Chloë Hawkings- Ph.D. Student: 2nd place – Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology, General Physiology “The influence of brood on the transcriptional profiles in the brain of the worker red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta)”
Liz Walsh – Ph.D. Student – 2nd place Oral – Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology, Pollinators “Honey bee (Apis Mellifera, L.) queen rearing environment affects behavior and physiology”

Chloe Hawkings, right, with Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy. Photo by Rob Williams — Chloë Hawkings, right, with Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy. Photo by Rob Williams

Ricardo Mariño-Perez – Ph.D. Student: 2nd place Oral, Systematics, Evolution, and Biology, Acari, Araneae, Opiliones, Orthoptera, Phasmatodea, and Phthiraptera “An illustrated key to the Pyrgomorphidae genera of the world (Orthoptera: Caelifera).”
Makaylee Crone-Undergraduate: Second Place Oral – Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology and Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology “The effects of pyriproxyfen exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera) sucrose sensitivity”
Emily Hildinger-Undergraduate: First Place Oral– Plant-Insect Ecosystems, Miscellanceous – “Assessing the importance of blow flies as potential pollinators in our ecosystem”

“I am so proud of Chloë ’s second place in her ESA section. She did an excellent job, her presentation was flawless,” Hawkings’ faculty advising chair Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy said. “It is a well-deserved reward. Chloe is not only excelling in her PhD work, but also she is engaged in different outreach and professional development activities.”

Chong Chin Heo, right, with Dr. Susan Weller. Photo by Glenn Cook/Entomological Society of America

Faris’ faculty advising chair Dr. Aaron Tarone was also proud that she won and said that it was a well-deserved award for her.

“I was proud to learn that Ashleigh had won an award for her talk at ESA,” Tarone said. “She had an interesting story to tell about a project that she put a lot of work into. It was nice to see her hard work pay off.”

Rangel was very proud of her students and their hard work.

“We invested all of all of our time in working together to improve each person’s presentation. I was very happy to see that was the case because it was very competitive,” she said. “It has been my best ESA meeting. This was very special and a very positive meeting for all of us.”

“Mackenzie succeeded in presenting her data in an engaging fashion.She used her results to inform her audience about the importance of ecological factors in explaining disease incidence,” Tietjen’s faculty advising chair Dr. Raul Medina said. “Her results have provided information that is helping us to better understand the ecological factors that contribute to the difference in Lyme disease incidence between the the North East and Southern US.”

In addition to the ten minute presentations, several students and former students received special awards during the meeting. Former Ph.D. student Chong Chin Heo was honored with the John Comstock Award. Heo, who received his Ph.D. in entomology in 2016 and currently is a faculty member at the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia and has also worked as a research officer at the Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur.

“I found Chin’s thirst for knowledge to be exceptionally hard to quench. He was always reading and discussing scientific publications with other students and faculty,” Dr. Jeff Tomberlin said.

“He was a blast to watch develop as a doctoral student in my lab.”

As of 2017, Heo has published 43 peer-reviewed journal articles, one book and chapter of a book, as well as delivered over 70 platforms and poster presentations at local and international conferences.

Liz Walsh, left, with Dr. Stephen Pratt, right. Photo by Dr. James Nieh.

“I believe the Comstock Award is such a wonderful recognition of Chin’s efforts. And, I know he is humbled by his selection to receive it,” Tomberlin said. “I know moving forward that he will be a great ambassador for the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, and the Entomological Society of America.”

Ph.D. student John Gordy also was honored with the Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology during the event. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Texas A&M University under Drs. Michael Brewer and Mo Way and works as a County Extension Agent in Fort Bend County in the Rosenberg area.

Walsh was also recognized for her research with the Jeffery P. La Fage Student Award for Applied Research on Social Insect Pests. The award is given to exceptional PhD students that show exemplary work in their research on social insects with an applied emphasis. Walsh was awarded for her work on mandibular gland pheromones on honey bee queens and how the queen’s rearing environment impacts her on a physiological level and behaviorally on the workers.

Dr. Megha Parajulee, left, accepting a plaque from Dr. Maya Evenden. Photo by Glenn Cook/Entomological Society of America

Ashleigh Faris also was recognized for receiving the 2017 Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology’s Student Travel Award and Dr. Megha Parajulee also was recognized for serving as president of the International Branch of the Entomological Society of America.

Gordy Receives Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology

November 6, 2017 by Rob Williams

Portrait of John Gordy with green tree background. — John Gordy. Submitted photo

Congratulations to Ph.D. student and County Extension Agent John Gordy for receiving the Larry Larson Graduate Student Award for Leadership in Applied Entomology.

Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the award recognizes Dr. Larry Larson’s role as a leader and pioneer in insect management and carries that legacy to the next generation of leaders in applied entomology.

Gordy received his Bachelor of Science in both agronomy and entomology at Texas A&M University and received his Master of Science in entomology from Louisiana State Unversity where he worked with Drs. Michael Stout and Rogers Leonard in the rice and cotton labs. Gordy focused his thesis on induced defenses in cotton, rice, corn and soybeans.

Gordy is currently pursuing his Ph.D. under Drs. Michael Brewer and Mo Way and is doing his dissertation research on threshold development and management of sugarcane aphid in grain sorghum. In addition to his Ph.D., Gordy works full time in Rosenberg for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as a County Extension Agent in Fort Bend County.

Gordy is passionate about agriculture and enjoys being able to interact with producers on a daily basis to better understand their challenges and to help them find solutions. He loves working closely with growers to conduct on-farm research in the Upper Gulf Coast Region of Texas. Being a former teacher, he also enjoys teaching youth and providing mentorship to undergraduate and high school students interested in agriculture.

Gordy hopes to be able to work cooperatively with growers, researchers, industry and other Extension personnel to evaluate existing and to propose new methods for scouting crops and making management decisions for pests in Texas and the southern United States.

“I was honored just to be considered as a nominee by the department and I am grateful to have been selected and included among previous recipients,” Gordy said. “I gather that, from those that knew him, Dr. Larson was an inspirational leader within ESA, was instrumental in developing new and innovative pest management strategies and technologies, and was passionate about youth science (and specifically entomology) education –those are all admirable accomplishments and goals to work toward as both a graduate student and a professional.”