Rob Williams

Texas A&M Entomology Receives Numerous Awards at Southwestern Branch Meeting

April 26, 2017 by Rob Williams

Chloë Hawkings, left, and Carl Hjelmen, right, holding their certificates. Photo by Rob Williams.

AUSTIN—It looks like the spring semester 2017 is going well for the Department as several students, staff and faculty members received awards during the 2017 Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America meeting in Austin from April 11-17.

Ph.D. students Carl Hjelmen and Adrian Fisher were co-recipients for first place in the Ph.D. Oral Presentation category. Hjelmen was recognized for his presentation titled “What is underreplication and how does this phenomenon contribute to the enigma of genome size evolution in Drosophila?” Fisher was awarded for his presentation titled “The negative effects of in-hive pesticides on honey bee (Apis mellifera) drone spermatozoa viability.”

Ph.D. student Chloë Hawkings also received third place in the category for her presentation titled “The influence of brood on transcriptional variation in the worker brain of the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta).”

Luke Pruter, right, with his award for his poster. Standing with Pruter is Dr. Mike Brewer, left. Submitted Photo.

“Carl has worked hard to analyze genome size data in an original and meaningful way. It is to his credit that he can communicate what he has discovered to a broad audience,” Hjelmen’s mentor Dr. Spencer Johnston said. “I am really pleased to see his communication skills and his interesting results recognized with a first place award for his Ph. D. presentation at the Southwestern ESA branch meetings.”

Hawkings’ mentor Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy was excited about her receiving the award and praised her hard work and dedication working on her project.

“Chloë did a great job with her presentation and was very prepared,” said Hawkings’ mentor Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy. “I am very proud of her.”

Shelby Kilpatrick, center, with Wizzie Brown, left, and Dr. Carlos Bogran, right. Photo by Edmond Bonjour. — Shelby Kilpatrick, center, with Wizzie Brown, left, and Dr. Carlos Bográn, right. Photo by Edmond Bonjour.

Ph.D. student Luke Pruter received first place in the Ph.D Poster competition for his poster titled “Corn Hybrid and Bt transgene Performance in Yield and Protection from Pre-harvest Losses Caused by Lepidopteran Feeding” while Masters student Charluz Rosario received third place for her poster titled “Screening of novel antigens for the control of Boophilus microplus through artificial feeding.”

Extension Agent-IPM John David Gonzales won second place in the Masters presenation category for his talk titled “Evaluating insecticide efficacy and residual activity for control of the sugarcane aphid Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner).”

In the Undergraduate Oral Presentation category, senior Shelby Kilpatrick received second place for her talk titled “Density-dependent phenotypic plasticity in Schistocerca lineata Scudder, 1899 (Orthoptera: Acrididae).

Kilpatrick also received two special awards during the meeting, including the Percival Scientific Undergraduate Entomology Student Activity Award and the Undergraduate Student Achievement in Entomology Award.

The awards were presented in honor of Kilpatrick’s outstanding achievements during her undergraduate career in her research and outreach programs. Kilpatrick was most noted in her research studies in 2015 as she discovered a new species of halictid bee during a summer study abroad program in Dominica. Her discovery was a separate study that was featured in a paper written by Dr. Jason Gibbs of Michigan State University, as well as the species being named in her honor.

Kilpatrick also has been active in the Undergraduate Entomology Student Organization, the Collegiate 4-H Club, and the Horticulture Club while at A&M. She served as the organization’s Outreach Coordinator in 2015-2016, where she was responsible for coordinating volunteers for various outreach programs, such as Aggieland Saturday, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ annual Tailgate, and the Department’s 4-H and FFA Insect Identification clinic.

As a member of the 4-H club, she coordinated and led 8 club promotional events and volunteered at Texas 4-H Teen Retreat, Texas 4-H Roundup events, and the Beefmasters Programs. As a member of the Horticulture Club, Kilpatrick has helped plan and implement the Fall Pecan Sale, Pecan Tree Repotting, and the Spring Plant Fair.

Chong Chin Heo mug shot — Chong Chin Heo. Submitted photo.

“I am very honored to have been recognized by the Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America (SWB-ESA) for each of these awards. It has been a privilege to serve the SWB-ESA during my undergraduate career,” Kilpatrick said. “Attending branch meetings has also allowed me to enhance my knowledge and experiences that will contribute to my graduate studies and eventually, my career within entomology.”

Chong Chin Heo received the ESA’s John Henry Comstock Award. Heo is a former lab member in Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin’s lab. His research project was titled was titled “Sensitivity of Arthropod and Microbial Communities Associated with Vertebrate Carrion in Response to Delayed Blow Fly Access: Implication for Carrion Ecology and Forensic Entomology”. His research was in collaboration with Dr. Tawni Crippen – USDA – ARS and Dr. Jacqueline Ann Aitkenhead-Peterson from the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University.

The Comstock Award recognizes the accomplishments in research, service, and public engagement of one graduate student in each branch. The award helps support funding for travel to attend the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America, which will be in Denver in November.

Wizzie Brown, left, with Molly Keck, Sonja Swiger, with Dr. Henry Fadamiro, far right. Photo by Edmond Bonjour.

“I was really excited to see Chin receive such a great award. He was an exceptional student, and I am sure he will be an exceptional faculty member at his institution,” Heo’s former mentor Dr. Jeff Tomberlin said. “Chin has become a close friend and colleague. My hope is we continue to collaborate over the course of our careers.”

Heo graduated with his Ph.D. in August 2016 and is currently working in Malaysia.

Professor and Extension Specialist, and Associate Department Head for Extension Programs Dr. Charles Allen also was recognized during the ceremony as the Southwestern Branch nominee for the ESA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension. He was nominated for his excellent work as the Associate Department Head for Extension Programs, and as the previous integrated pest management program coordinator. The award will be given out at the national meeting in November.

The Undergraduate Linnaean Team. (From left to right: Shelby Kilpatrick, Bret Nash, Sam Shook, and Dayvion Adams. Photo by Juliana Rangel.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s Arbovirus (Arthropod Borne Virus) Team received the Southern Region IPM’s special Friends of IPM Award during the ceremony. The team includes Dr. Sonja Swiger, Dr. Mike Merchant, Dr. Holly Jarvis Whitaker, Steve Byrns, Diane Bowen, Bill Watson, Wizzie Brown, and Molly Keck and Robin Williams.

The team was awarded the special recognition for their work on developing, distributing, and providing educational materials to help protect Texans from the West Nile and Zika Virus outbreaks that have occurred from 2012 to 2016.

The Undergraduate Linnaean Team also fared very well during the branch Linnaean Games, where they received second place after defeating the graduate team in the finals. The team consisted of undergraduate students Shelby Kilpatrick, Bret Nash, Sam Shook, Dayvion Adams and Jeffrey Barbosa.

Pierre Lau, right, with Dr. Carlos Bogran. Photo by Edmond Bonjour.

The team will be advancing to the national Linnaean Games in November at the ESA’s annual meeting in early November.

“I am incredibly proud of these students, as they outcompeted even our graduate team in double elimination rounds,” Linnaean Team coach Dr. Juliana Rangel said. “I can’t wait to help them practice for the national games.”

Kilpatrick was excited about getting the opportunity to travel to Denver to compete in the national Linnaean Games.

“I am very proud of my team and how we all contributed to winning 2nd Place at the SWB-ESA Meeting as well as the opportunity to advance to the national games in Denver, Colorado this November,” she said.

Forrest Mitchell, left, with Dr. Carlos Bogran. Photo by Edmond Bonjour.

In the Southwestern Branch’s Photo Salon, Dr. Forrest Mitchell won Best Traditional Macro and Arthropods in Action while Abdul Hakeem won

Abdul Hakeem, left, with Dr. Carlos Bogran. Photo by Edmond Bonjour.

Microphotography and Pierre Lau won for Artistic and Best Overall.

Kilpatrick Receives 2017 COALS Senior Merit Award

April 20, 2017 by Rob Williams

Dr. Ragsdale, left, with Shelby Kilpatrick, center, and Rebecca Hapes, right. Shelby is one holding award. — Shelby Kilpatrick, center, with Department Head Dr. David Ragsdale, left, and Senior Academic Advisor II Rebecca Hapes. Photo by Scott Kilpatrick

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—Shelby Kilpatrick’s hard work and dedication is paying off well as she received the College of Agriculture of Life Sciences’ Senior Merit Award during the College’s Spring Convocation on Saturday, April 8.

Kilpatrick is a senior Entomology and Agricultural Leadership and Development double major. She is a very active member of the Department’s Undergraduate Entomology Student Organization, where she served as Outreach Coordinator in 2015-2016 and Secretary and Webmaster in 2014-2015.

As the UESO’s Outreach Coordinator, she was responsible for coordinating volunteers for various outreach programs, such as with local schools and events, Aggieland Saturday, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ annual Tailgate, and the Department’s 4-H and FFA Insect Identification clinic. Since joining UESO in Fall 2013, she has coordinated over 22 outreach programs impacting more than 19,000 people and 2 club programs, and helped with coordinating 2 honey sales fundraisers.

Kilpatrick is also an active member of the TAMU Collegiate 4-H Club and the Horticulture Club. She served as the Collegiate 4-H Club’s President in 2015-2016 and Public Relations officer in 2014-2015. As a member of the 4-H club, she coordinated and led 8 club promotional events and volunteered at Texas 4-H Teen Retreat, Texas 4-H Roundup events, and the Beefmasters Programs. As a member of the Horticulture Club, Kilpatrick has helped plan and implement the Fall Pecan Sale, Pecan Tree Repotting, and the Spring Plant Fair.

Since 2014, Kilpatrick has been actively involved with the Department of Entomology’s Scholars Society, where she serves as an ambassador, assisting more than 162 prospective students during 20 conferences that were held during the summers of 2014 and 2015.

She also is involved in several community service activities, including volunteering at the Brazos Valley Food Bank in 2016, where she helped fill backpacks, bags and family boxes with food to be distributed to area families. She also educates citizens about safe, sustainable, and effective horticultural practices to promote healthy gardens, landscapes, and communities.

Kilpatrick served as an undergraduate student instructor during the current spring semester for the Biodiversity and Biology of Insects course (ENTO 301/602) and has worked on various research projects as an undergraduate honors student researcher, including studying density-dependent phenotypic plasticity in Schistocerca lineata, the biology and behavior of lacewings, sodium regulation in Schistocerca americana, and the effectiveness of traps for horse and deer flies.

Kilpatrick was most noted in her research studies in 2015 as she discovered a new species of halictid bee during a summer study abroad program in Dominica. Her discovery was a separate study that was featured in a paper written by Dr. Jason Gibbs of Michigan State University, as well as the species being named in her honor.

She has received numerous awards for her research, including first place for presentations at the 2017 Ecological Integration Symposium in March and second place at the 2017 Southwestern Branch Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) in April. In 2016, Kilpatrick also received first place for her presentations at the International Congress of Entomology and National ESA Meeting, the Southwestern Branch ESA Meeting and the TAMU Ecological Integration Symposium. She also received the 2016 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award in the Undergraduate Research Category and the 2015 Class Stars Award in the 2017 Academics Category.

Kilpatrick was recently honored with the Percival Scientific Undergraduate Entomology Student Award as well as the Undergraduate Student Achievement in Entomology Award at the 2017 Southwestern Branch ESA Meeting. She has also helped the TAMU Undergraduate Linnaean Games Team receive 2^nd place both in 2016 and 2017 at the Southwestern Branch ESA Meetings.

Students Receive Awards for Research at Ecological Integration Symposium

April 12, 2017 by Rob Williams

Shelby Kilpatrick and Tyler Raszick standing with award certificates — Shelby Kilpatrick and Tyler Raszick. Photo by Rob Williams

Congratulations to senior Shelby Kilpatrick and Ph.D. student Tyler Raszick on receiving top awards during the 2017 Ecological Integration Symposium held on Friday, March 24.

Kilpatrick tied for first place in the Undergraduate Oral Presentation category. Kilpatrick’s presentation was titled “Density-dependent phenotypic plasticity in Schistocerca lineata Scudder, 1899 (Orthoptera: Acrididae)”

Kilpatrick is an Entomology and Agricultural Leadership and Development double major and works in Dr. Hojun Song’s lab.

Raszick tied for first place in the Graduate Oral Presentation category with his presentation titled “Boll Weevil (Antonomous grandis) population genomics as a tool for monitoring and management.”

Raszick is currently mentored by Dr. Gregory Sword.

Hamer Receives $3.5 Million to Study Mosquito-Borne Viruses

April 7, 2017 by Rob Williams

Lopa Chakraborty checking a trap — Technician Lopa Chakraborty collecting mosquitoes from an Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Photo by Ester Carbajal.

Mosquitoes are considered the deadliest animal on the earth, not because of the annoying bite, but because of their ability to transmit pathogens resulting in human diseases such as Malaria, West Nile and Dengue fever, and most recently, Zika.

Assistant Professor of Entomology, Dr. Gabriel Hamer, has received $3.5 million in new funds in the past year from several agencies to research mosquitoes and mosquito-borne viruses. According to Hamer, “These applications for external support were prepared by large collaborative teams from multiple universities and agencies”.

Two of these awards are from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with one being a career development award (K01) titled “Consequences of pathogen co-infection in mosquitoes on West Nile virus transmission.” The grant, Hamer said, would provide protected time to enhance his lab’s capacity in the fields of virology, mathematical modeling, and to conduct laboratory transmission experiments. These skills will be enhanced while conducting laboratory mosquito co-infection experiments of both avian malaria and insect-specific viruses with West Nile to see how co-circulating pathogens in nature influence the way which mosquitoes transmit West Nile Virus. “The project aims to understand the mechanisms of how this virus amplifies so successfully in the mosquito-bird cycle in the U.S. which then results in spill-over transmission to humans and animals,” Hamer said. “The better we understand this process, the more effective we will be at predicting when the risk of transmission is highest and how to efficiently intervene to block transmission using control measures.” The mentor team for this award includes Dr. Sanjay Reddy, Texas A&M University, Dr. Scott Weaver, University of Texas Medical Branch, and Dr. Renata Ivanek, Cornell University.

Members of Dr. Gabe Hamer’s lab working with the community to sample mosquito larvae from container habitat in South Texas. Photo by Ester Carbajal.

A second award from the NIH is an R21 titled “Social-ecological factors influencing receptivity to Zika virus and the efficacy of interventions in communities along the Texas-Mexico border.” Hamer said this project will evaluate a mosquito control technique using the Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap. This trap, developed by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control, is a simple five gallon bucket attracting mosquitoes with water but instead of reaching the water to lay eggs, the female mosquito gets stuck to a sticky surface and dies. Once this trap is deployed in large numbers, it has proven to be an effective tool in Puerto Rico so Hamer and colleagues will explore the potential for this trap to be used in an integrative approach to control mosquitoes in Texas.

Hamer also has two awards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The newest is titled “Dispersal, larval habitat source, and efficacy of intervention using autodissemination on Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in South Texas”. The objectives, Hamer said, are to identify the relative importance of different container habitats for producing Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes and understanding how far adult mosquitoes travel from these water habitats. In addition, this project will evaluate the ability of autodissemination stations to control mosquitoes. These control tools work by attracting females to a simulated habitat where she will lay eggs but while doing that, she is comes into contact with the container side and is dusted with an insect growth regulator. Then as this female travels to other natural larval habitat, she inadvertently treats those other habitats with this larvicide preventing the production of mosquitoes.

Hamer is also an investigator in the CDC-funded “Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases”. The lead institution of this project is the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX but several investigators from Texas A&M University are involved. Hamer’s contributions will be to work with local agencies in the Lower Rio Grande Valley area to help improve their intervention strategies in controlling mosquitoes. Hamer’s team will use field data and mathematical modeling to help determine the necessary level of control needed to reduce mosquito populations below the threshold necessary to maintain mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika virus. In addition, Hamer and colleagues will study the social science dimensions of vector control by conducting public surveys of citizens in several communities in Texas to evaluate the impact of mosquitoes on their quality of life, their support or opposition to different mosquito control techniques, and their willingness to pay for mosquito control.

Hamer is also receiving funds from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for a project titled “Integrated vector-animal-human test bed for surveillance of high-consequence transboundary infectious diseases”. Hamer says this project aims to study the receptivity of South Texas communities for emerging mosquito-borne viruses as well as partnering with local agencies to conduct enhanced biosurveillance. Mosquito samples are being collected and screened broadly for many viruses and other microbes both in Hamer’s lab in College Station and also at the National Lab in California.

Hamer also has a contract from the Department of Homeland Security titled “Competence of North American arthropod vectors for high consequence or transboundary foreign animal diseases”. This collaborative project will conduct a quantitative synthesis of published studies to evaluable the risk of introduction and transmission of Rift Valley Fever virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, Venezuelan encephalitis virus, and African swine fever viruses, Heartwater (Ehrlichia ruminantium) to be transmitted in the continental U.S.

“The global pandemic of Zika virus has stimulated interest and funds to allow researchers to urgently address critical gaps in knowledge”, according to Hamer. We are in a unique position in Texas given that we are at the front lines to Zika virus which is now established in Mexico and has resulted in 6 locally-acquired human cases in South Texas.

Several of these new projects based in in the Lower Rio Grande Valley are possible thanks to the support of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco. “Dr. Juan Landivar (Center Director) and Dr. Ismael Badillo-Vargas (Assistant Professor) have been very supportive in helping to acquire these external grants and manage these projects”, Hamer says. “One of the most exiting aspects of these new projects is the opportunity to grow our collaborative team with the addition of other investigators, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students. We have a lot of accomplish in the next few years”.

Department Names Frank Zalom as 2017 Adkisson Distinguished Seminar Speaker

March 31, 2017 by Rob Williams

Dr. Frank Zalom, right, with Dr. David Ragsdale, Professor and Department Head

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—The Department of Entomology recently announced Dr. Frank Zalom as the recipient of the 2017 Dr. Perry Adkisson Distinguished Seminar Speaker Award during a special seminar that was held on Thursday, March 30.

Zalom is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California – Davis and has appointment as an Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension Specialist for the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He teaches arthropod pest management and conducts research on integrated pest management (IPM) on vine, tree, and small fruits and vegetable crops.

Zalom provides leadership national and has served as Co-Chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ National IPM Committee from 1999-2015. He also has served as an IPM representative to the ESCOP Science and Technology Committee since 2003, USDA Western Region IPM Competitive Grants Program Manager for 10 years, and served on the USAID Board of Directors for the IPM CRSP from 2001-2005.

Before coming to UC-Davis, Zalom worked briefly as a postdoctoral research associate at UC-Berkeley in the late 1970s, and was an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, where he taught Economic Entomology and Insects in Relation to Plant Disease, as well as conducted research on insect vectors of plant diseases. In 1980, he returned to University of California as an Extension IPM Coordinator and served as UCIPM’s Associate Director for Research and then Director for 16 years before returning to UC-Davis’ Department of Entomology in 2002. Zalom was also Vice Chair of the Department from 2005-2008.

Zalom is a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, the Entomological Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Entomological Society. Some of the most recent awards Zalom received included the Entomological Foundation IPM Team Award, the Entomological Foundation Excellence in IPM Award, and the Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research.

Zalom served numerous leadership roles in the Entomological Society of America national organization, including President in 2014, Vice President-Elect and vice president in 2012. He also served as the President of the Entomological Foundation, and continues to serve as a member of the Entomological Foundation’s Board of Directors and the ESA’s Science Policy Committee.

He has authored over 335 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and has served as Major Professor for 12 Ph.D. students and seven Master’s students.

The award is named for Dr. Perry Adkisson, former head of the Department and of the Texas A&M University Chancellor. During his career, Adkisson was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the first ever recipient of all three of the world’s major prizes in agriculture, the Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Wolf Prize, and the World Food Prize. Along with Dr. Ray Smith, he developed what is now known as IPM or Integrated Pest Management.