Awards

Entomology Faculty, Staff Receive Superior Service, Vice Chancellor Awards During Conference

January 15, 2016 by Rob Williams

BRYAN – Several members of the Department of Entomology started the New Year off right after they received awards at both the Superior Service Awards dinner and Vice Chancellor’s Awards in Excellence

The first award was a Superior Service Award in the Team category that was given to the Texas Sugarcane Aphid Team for their efforts in staving off a statewide disaster that came from sugarcane aphids, one of the worst pests to ever threaten the sorghum industry, and prevented millions of dollars in damage to crops across the state.

By the fall of 2013, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas A&M AgriLife Research had organized an immense research and educational effort to thwart the pest.

When grain sorghum was harvested in 2014 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, it was evident the effort had paid off. Texas Grain Sorghum Producers reported that the Sugarcane Aphid Team prevented crop loss with an estimated value of $160 million.

Similar research and educational work on the Texas High Plains in 2015 is reported to have prevented an additional $100 million in grain sorghum losses. The work is expected to continue, thus providing further benefits to sorghum growers, the nomination said.

The team members included Extension Entomologists Dr. Raul Villanueva (Weslaco), Dr. Allen Knutson (Dallas), Dr. Pat Porter (Lubbock), Dr. Ed Bynum (Amarillo), Dr. Robert Bowling (Corpus Christi), postdoctoral AgriLife Extension assistants Gabriela Esparza-Diaz, and Beto Garza of Weslaco.

Extension Agents-IPM included Danielle Sekula-Ortiz (Weslaco), Stephen Biles (Port Lavaca), Blayne Reed (Plainview), Tommy Doederlein (Lamesa), and Kerry Siders (Levelland). Other recipients included Extension agents Jason Ott (Nueces County), Brad Cowan (Hidalgo County), Enrique Perez (Cameron County), and

Additional team members by entity were:

Texas A&M AgriLife Research: Dr. Mike Brewer, entomologist, Corpus Christi; Dr. Mo Way, entomologist, Beaumont; Dr. Gary Odvody, plant pathologist, Corpus Christi; and Dr. Gary Peterson, agronomist, Lubbock.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: Dr. Scott Armstrong, entomologist, Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Cotton and Grain Producers of the Lower Rio Grande Valley: Dr. Webb Wallace, executive director, Harlingen.
United Sorghum Checkoff: Dr. Brent Bean, agronomist, Lubbock.
Cooperators: Chris Bauer, Montimer Cabrera, David and Fontis Newell, Dennis Ball, Sam Simmons, Sam Sparks, Randy Cook, Shane Blount and Ronald Groves.
Crop Consultants: John Norman, Weslaco; Jim Trolinger and Mike Grey, both of Harlingen.

Superior Service-Strawberry Team - 375px — The Texas Strawberry Project Team: Back row (from left to right): Robert (Skip) Richter, Laura Miller, Keith Hanson, Billy Lawton, Peter Ampim and Erfan Vafaie. Front Row: Mengmeng Gu, David Rodriguez, Monte Nesbitt, Daphne Richards, Russ Wallace, Kevin Ong, and Larry Stein. Photo by Rob Williams

The Texas Strawberry Project Team received the second Superior Service Award in the Team category. They were awarded for their work in helping to increase strawberry production in the state.

The team included Extension Program Specialist Erfan Vafaie and Extension Entomologist Dr. Pat Porter, consisted of more than 50 growers, and is a collaborative effort among AgriLife Extension, the lead agency, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife Research, according to the nomination.

“The objectives were achieved through unprecedented team collaboration by engaging growers and industry stakeholders,” the nomination said.

In 2012, Dr. Russ Wallace, AgriLife Extension horticulturist at Lubbock, had preliminary data suggesting strawberries could be a profitable crop in Texas for small acreage and limited-resource growers. The nomination said that, with faculty collaborators, he has led an immense effort to offer grower training opportunities and increase strawberry production sustainability statewide.

The Walmart Foundation provides funds under the direction of the National Strawberry Sustainability Initiative and the University of Arkansas. As a result of the project, locally grown strawberries are increasingly in high demand in Texas, the nomination noted.

Lubbock Cropping Systems Research Team. From left to right are: Jane Dever, Terry Wheeler, Megha Parajulee, Wayne Keeling, James Bordovsky, and Jason Woodward. Photo by Rob Williams.

Members of the Lubbock Cropping Systems Research Team, which includes Professor, Faculty Fellow, and Texas A&M Regents Fellow Dr. Megha Parajulee, received a Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence in the collaboration category for their efforts in helping crop producers in improving their crops.

According to the nomination, the team was assembled to address the unique crop production challenges producers face on the Texas High Plains. Their objective has been to address important cotton production decision making issues at the farm level. The overall goal has been to assure profitability and future viability of cotton production in the Texas High Plains.

A notable achievement from the team included successfully partnering with Lamesa Cotton growers in utilizing their 160-acre farm for long-term research for over two decades. The partnership has allowed the scientists to expand their research from the small-plot level to larger scale experiments to demonstrate the outcomes to farmers. The team’s success led to the establishment of the Helms Farm in Hale County in 1999 and to the 2008 purchase of additional land and the installation of 22 acres of drip irrigation in Hale County.

“The producer-led initiatives in securing these research sites indicate producers’ enthusiasm and confidence in our scientists working as a team to provide additionally sound and economically viable production systems,” Moore wrote.

Grad Students Receive High Awards for Presentations at National Meeting

December 3, 2015 by Rob Williams

Ph.D. student Carl Hjelmen speaking to an audience at the Graduate Student Forum

MINNEAPOLIS– Congratulations to Ph.D. students Carl Hjelmen and Liz Walsh as they were given awards for the Graduate Ten Minute Paper Presentation Competition at the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting on Monday, November 16.

Hjelmen’s paper received first place in the SysEB – Citizen Science, New Methods, and Physiology section and was titled “Phylogenetic basis for understanding genome size evolution in Drosophila.”

In his paper, he is looking at the evolution of the genome size in the Drosophila species of flies. In his research, he is utilizing phylogenetic comparative methods to uncover the best fitting hypothesis for genome size changes in the species, given the wealth of sequence data and ease of size estimation for the group.

Hjelmen then compared the quantitative DNA differences consequent to the formation of heteromorphic sex chromosomes to understand how sex influences genome size evolution, specifically through a process called chromosomal degradation.

The comparative methods, he said, would provide a novel and useful way to understanding the genome change between species. Also, he said that the development of the methods would allow the researchers to apply the technique to a variety of other organisms.

Liz presenting — Liz Walsh speaking about her research at a recent meeting. Photo by Rob Williams

Walsh received second place in the 10-minute paper competition in the PBT (Physiology, Biochemisty, and Toxicology) section for her paper titled “The effects of in-hive miticides on honey bee, Apis mellifera, queen retinue response and mandibular pheromones.”

Her research examines some of the sub-lethal effects of the presence of the miticides that are currently being used to treat hives, especially the effects miticides have on the queens when pesticides are already present in the wax in the area where the queens mature.

Walsh explored whether the presence of the chemicals coumaphos and fluvalinate in the queen-rearing beeswax environment had an effect on queen attractiveness to workers by raising queens in miticide-free beeswax or beeswax with miticide.

Walsh said she measured each queen’s retinue and conducted cage experiments whereby five-day-old workers were exposed to mandibular gland extracts of two queen types. She said that the comparisons of both the average worker retinue size per queen type and the number of workers attracted to the gland extracts showed that the queens reared in miticide-free beeswax attacted a significantly larger retinue than the queens reared in the miticide-laden beeswax.

Walsh found that the exposure to miticides during queen development did severely alter the retinue behavior by impacting the queen’s pheromones. The pheromones, she said, are what the queens use to attract her retinue. The results have a very important implication in how in-hive miticides could affect the overall colony health.

Hjelmen is advised by Dr. Spencer Johnston and participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program previously hosted by the department in 2012. Walsh is advised by Dr. Juliana Rangel and participated in the REU program in 2013.

“I am incredibly proud of Liz’s accomplishment as she received second place for the 10 minute oral presentations in her section,” Rangel said. “This award also helps bring out the research that’s being done at Texas A&M University regarding honey bee biology.”

Vargo Receives Crown Leadership Award

November 3, 2015 by Rob Williams

Ed Vargo with carton for Inside page — Dr. Ed Vargo. Photo by Rob Williams.

Less than a year into his tenure as the new Endowed Chair for the Texas A&M Urban and Structural Program and Dr. Ed Vargo has already received national attention recently during a special ceremony in Nashville.

Vargo was awarded the Pest Control Technology/Syngenta Crown Leadership Award, which spotlights individuals who have positively contributed to growing and developing to the pest control industry and establishing ties to their communities.

Vargo became Professor and Endowed Chair for the university’s urban and structural program in December 2014 after replacing Dr. Roger Gold who retired in January 2015. He has been recognized as a respected urban entomologist for 17 years.

A native of California, Vargo began his undergraduate career at the Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, where he studied biology. After he graduated with his Bachelor of Science, he began post-graduate work first at the University of Massachusetts in 1980, where he studied social insects and termites before transferring to the University of Georgia in 1981.

While at Georgia, Vargo focused on fire ants and the role the queen plays in regulating reproduction and development, specifically the production of new alates in the colony. He graduated with a Ph.D. in entomology from Georgia in 1986.

Vargo went to the University of Texas in Austin as postdoctoral associate. Shortly after arriving at UT, he was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to work with Luc Passera in Toulouse, France, where he studied Argentine ants. He then returned to UT-Austin in 1989, where he partnered with the Texas Department of Agriculture officials on outreach and educational programs.

Before coming to Texas A&M, Vargo was at North Carolina State where he studied the population genetics of termites and other urban pests and performed research on various pest control issues and collaborated with pest control operators. He also trained graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, collaborated with researchers within and outside the department, and established a solid reputation for his scholarship in the field both nationally and internationally.

At NCSU, Vargo served as interim department head of the Department of Entomology from 2013-2014 and was the academic advisor for Pest Management Technology majors in the NCSU Agricultural Institute from 1998 to 2012. He also was faculty advisor to the department’s Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) from 2004 to 2005. As a graduate committee member, he has mentored over nine Master’s and 12 Ph.D. students during his term and has been a Thesis Committee Adviser for 5 Masters and 3 Ph.D. students.

Some of the grants Vargo received at NCSU included awards from the USDA’s National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program to do comparative studies of colony and population genetic structure of Reticulitermes termites, genetic structure of German cockroach populations in urban and agricultural environments, and population genetic structure of bed bugs, as well as a Tropical & Subtropical Agriculture Research grant to work on genetic analysis of colony organization and elimination in Formosan subterranean termites. He has also worked on several grants relating to the Texas Imported Fire Ant Program and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and his research has been strongly supported by the pest management industry.

Vargo is currently a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Entomological Society of America, and the International Union for the Study of Social Insects. He also has received the Entomological Society of America’s Recognition Award in Urban Entomology both at the national and the Southeastern Branch levels in 2006.

Vargo shared these thoughts on receiving the award, “It’s a tremendous honor to receive this prestigious award. This is a great recognition of our work at Texas A&M and what we’ve been able to contribute to the science and practice of urban entomology.”

Ph.D. Student Receives USDA-AFRI Travel Grant

September 18, 2015 by Rob Williams

Congratulations to Wenqing Zhou on receiving a USDA – AFRI travel award to attend the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting in Minneapolis this November.

The travel grant award is funded by USDA-NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Program on Plant-Associated Insects and Nematodes. It was created to provide financial support to graduate students for new networking, presentation, and research opportunities at the meeting that will be held on November 15-18.

Zhou is a Ph.D. candidiate currently being mentored under Professor and Charles R. Parencia Chair in Cotton Entomology, Dr. Greg Sword. Her research interests include plant-herbivore-microbe ecological interactions and their mechanistic explanations.

She received her BS in crop protection from Northwest A&F University in China in 2007, and earned her MS in Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010, studying the molecular phylogenetic reclassification of the parasitoid family Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea).

Her current dissertation project focuses on exploring interactions between endophytic fungi and plant parasitic nematodes/insect herbivores in cotton, along with their potential use as tools in Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

She has broadened her interdisciplinary experience by working with nematologists, Dr. James Starr and Dr. Terry Wheeler, conducting both lab and field experiments. Beginning with a project on endophyte-associated plant-nematode interactions belowground, she expanded her study to above ground insect-plant-endophyte interactions.

The main goals of her research are to develop fungal endophytes as novel pest control agents against insects and nematodes, explore plant-endophyte-nematode interactions in agroecosystems, and explain the mechanisms underlying endophyte-mediated plant-fungus defensive mutualisms. She is currently writing her dissertation.

“Wenqing has worked hard to develop a very unique data set that illustrates many previously unknown and certainly under-appreciated effects of fungal endophytes in cotton,” Sword said. “Her dissertation work, which is near completion, includes a combination of greenhouse and field trials that clearly demonstrate negative effects of fungal endophytes on both insects and plant parasitic nematodes. Working on nematodes attacking plants below-ground as well as insects attacking plants above-ground is a very novel aspect of her approach.”

Sword was very proud of her accomplishments and said the award will help Zhou share her research with her peers nationwide.

The USDA-AFRI support to attend the 2015 Entomology meeting will allow her to share her exciting work with the scientific community and continue to network to advance her career,” Sword said.

Faculty, Staff Honored at Annual COALS Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Awards Ceremony

September 16, 2015 by Rob Williams

Dr. Jim Woolley, right, receiving the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award for International Impact from Dr. Mark Hussey, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Congratulations to Dr. Jim Woolley and Mr. Pete Krauter for receiving the highest award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for their achievements.

Woolley and Krauter were honored on Wednesday, September 16, during the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Awards ceremony held at the AgriLife Center.

Woolley, a professor of Entomology, received the Dean’s Award in the international impact category. Woolley has been with the Department for 32 years teaching and researching the taxonomy and evolution of parasitic wasps and their use in biological control of insect pests.

During his career, he has collected insects in at least 12 countries, with emphasis on Mexico, Panama and Peru. All of his collection efforts have been recorded in the Texas A&M Insect Collection.

Woolley has taught several short courses and workshops in Mexico and Peru, as well as serving on various committees, including the the sis and examining committees for Licentiatura students, which are undergraduate degree with thesis students, was a founding member of the International Society of Hymenopterists and has been elected to President, Secretary and Treasurer.

The greatest impact Woolley has had on the university is in the Study Abroad program with his course in Tropical Field Biology that he participates in teaching along with Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department Professor Dr. Tom Lacher. When the 2015 program is completed, Woolley would have impacted more than 270 Aggies and taught the program 16 times.

“In Entomology, it is virtually a must-have experience for our students interested in insect biodiversity and field ecology,” Ragsdale said. “Although Dr. Woolley has had huge international impacts throughout his career, I believe that by far the greatest impact locally has been through the Dominica Study Abroad program. I am proud to have this program affiliated with Entomology in concert with the department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Dr. Woolley’s counterpart, Dr. Tom Lacher for the past 25 years.”

inside page — Pete Krauter, right, receiving the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Staff from Dr. Mark Hussey, Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Senior Research Associate Pete Krauter received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Staff category for his outstanding support and dedication to the Dr. Kevin Heinz Lab and the Department in the past 30 years.

Krauter has been an ambassador to the University, the Texas A&M AgriLife program, Texas Department of Agriculture, and various other state, national, and international researchers in allowing them to continue their research programs. He has also been instrumental in providing valuable advice and expertise on areas ranging from IPM to statistics to systematics and host plant interactions to graduate students.

“Pete exemplifies the concept of a team player,” Heinz said. “Regardless of project affiliation, Pete shares his numerous talents with a wide range of faculty, staff, and students within the Department.”

Krauter also handles several high-priority duties including the main security officer, handling the Department’s keyless lock systems and serves as a liaison to the Department Head and Committee on Utilization and Assignment of Physical Space, keeping the Department Head informed on critical space matters. He also serves as the point person in providing necessary information and/or recommendations in assessing renovations, repairs, and space assignments.

“His knowledge, dedication to detail, and persistence in seeing a project through to timely completion has saved the Department and College tens of thousands of dollars and a large portion of these cost saving activities will not be found anywhere on a position description,” Heinz said. “Pete has become the “go-to” individual when something needs to get done. He is a master of détente in working with Facilities Services in getting equipment repaired quickly and correctly and in keeping Department and College facilities clean, orderly, and in working condition.”

In addition to Woolley and Krauter, Associate Professor Dr. Craig Coates was also recognized for being named a Critical Thinking Academy Fellow while Julio Bernal was recognized for receiving promotion to Professor, and Dr. Aaron Tarone for receiving both promotion to Associate Professor with tenure. Drs. Hojun Song and Ed Vargo were then recognized as new faculty who joined the college in the past year. Congratulations to all who were recognized at this annual event.