Texas A&M Entomology Research Network

Awards

Tomberlin Receives Presidential Impact Fellow

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Dr. Jeff Tomberlin at a microscope
Dr. Jeff Tomberlin. Photo by Rob Williams

Congratulations to Professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Fellow Dr. Jeff Tomberlin as he received the Presidential Impact Fellow award on November 5.

Tomberlin was among 20 faculty members from the University who were honored at the ceremony for the recognition.

Tomberlin has become a national and international leader in the science and applications of decomposition ecology where his work has made highly significant impacts in animal and food waste systems and forensic science.

One of Tomberlin’s latest discoveries is utilizing the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) to help recycle food waste and produce protein for use as livestock, poultry or aquaculture feed. This research has gained both national and global recognition and was in part responsible for US regulators of animal feed to approve the species for use as feed for salmon fisheries. The policy shift has resulted in creating legislation to prevent food waste from entering landfills and has allowed for the bioconversion industry to grow.

Tomberlin is currently leading a National Science Foundation initiative to develop a National Center on the production of insects for use as human food and livestock feed. Human food and animal feed companies are joining academic communities in the US and EU countries to enhance global recognition and growth of insects human and animal nutrition.

Tomberlin’s forensic entomology research program related to decomposition ecology also has been successful in that he has seen an increase in number of highly qualified visiting researchers, which included seven Fulbright recipients, that have conducted research in his lab.

Tomberlin also has been selected to several key leadership roles within the major forensic associations, including the American Academy of Forensic Science, where he has been elected fellow in of the Pathology/Biology section of the American Academy of Forensic Science.

In addition, Tomberlin’s research program has generated almost half of the current individuals being nationally certified by the American Board of Forensic Entomology and one that is a full-time forensic entomologist in a crime laboratory in the United States. His research efforts have resulted in acquiring several grants, including the National Institute of Justice, and the National Science Foundation.

“I am flattered by receiving such recognition at the university level,” Tomberlin said.

Tomberlin will receive an annual cash stipend for the next three years to help support his research, teaching and service effort. The honorarium helps foster opportunities to collaborate with other leading scholars and create new partnerships and confers the lifetime title of Presidential Impact Fellow.

Grad Student Wins Graduate and Professional Student Government Fall Travel Award

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Phillip Shults holding his certificate
Phillip Shults. Photo by Rob Williams

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Phillip Shults on receiving the Graduate and Professional Student Government’s Fall Travel Award.

The award will allow Shults to travel to Puerto Rico to attend the Society for Vector Ecology’s annual meeting. Shults will be giving a presentation titled “Taxonomic uncertainty in the C. variipennis complex part II: population genomic structure of C. sonorensis throughout North America” during the meeting.

Shults will also be coordinating a symposium titled Unveiling the Ecology of North American Culicoides Vectors where he will have experts speaking on different members of the genus Culicoides, which are commonly known as biting midges. The topics range from pathogen transmission to molecular ecology to novel vector control strategies.

“I’m thrilled to have received this award,” he said. “I’ve been a part of multiple awards committees and that experience was incredibly helpful when filling out the travel award application.”

Texas A&M entomology student chosen as fellow for National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Scientist Training Program

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Pohlenz cultures cells in the lab for titering virus. (Photo by graduate student Sarah O’Leary.)
Tyler Pohlenz cultures cells in the lab for titering virus. (Photo by graduate student Sarah O’Leary.)

COLLEGE STATION — Tyler Pohlenz, a Texas A&M University doctoral student, has been selected as a fellow for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Scientist Training Program, or APHIS-NSTP, starting the 2019 fall semester.

Pohlenz’s doctorate concentrates on arboviruses, such as Zika, and other important pathogens.

“With the move of the USDA’s Animal Disease Center from Plum Island, New York, to Kansas, USDA needs to staff the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, NBAF,” said Kevin Myles, Ph.D., professor of entomology and Pohlenz’s major advisor. “The fellowship looks for young people who are studying for their master’s or doctorate in the areas of interest to the type of work that will be going on in the facility.”

The APHIS-NBAF Scientist Training Program was created to identify highly qualified candidates to fill key roles in the new facility.

“One major aspect of this is that USDA will connect me with someone who is currently working at the facility, and they will act as a mentor,” Pohlenz said. “We will have biannual meetings where they will connect me with other scientists in the field and high containment laboratories. So it will give me a chance to network with people in the field as well as research funds to help me continue my Ph.D. research.”

According to APHIS and the fellowship parameters, fellows will receive full tuition and supplementary support to complete their degree program in target laboratory-based fields of study including microbiology, virology, molecular biology, diagnostics, bioinformatics, etc. Fellows are also required to maintain a 3.25 GPA.

Myles said Pohlenz’s research is focused on arboviruses, such as Zika and other important pathogens, and how they are transmitted by mosquitoes. His research is focused on those viruses and how they are transmitted and spread during periods of epidemic activity.

“There are some pathogens that are very important as far as the livestock industry, and these pathogens can be very devastating to livestock if you have an epidemic,” Myles said. “But because of that, it is important that we study these types of pathogens in order to come up with therapeutic treatments, etc. to help protect our livestock industry.”

Fellows will be required to fulfill a tiered service commitment following completion of the program, based on the number of years of funding received.

“I will be spending at least five years in the foreign animal disease diagnostic lab, but after that, I plan to stick around the government sector,” Pohlenz said.

“He has proven to be one of the top graduate students that I have had during my 13 years of running the laboratory,” Myles said. “He is just very passionate about the questions he’s investigating. He has good hands and is very skilled in the laboratory and is very intelligent. He has been an excellent graduate student.”

Dr. Frank Gilstrap Named Honorary Member of Entomological Society of America

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Dr. Frank Gilstrap

Congratulations to Professor Emeritus Dr. Frank Gilstrap upon being named a 2019 Honorary Member of the Entomological Society of America (ESA).

Dr. Gilstrap is recognized for extraordinary contributions to the ESA through his career while he was with the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

His research included biological control of insects and mites damaging small grains, field crops, and fruit.  Dr. Gilstrap earned the B.A. Degree (1968) in biology from Fresno State College and the Master of Science Degree  and Doctor of Philosophy Degree  in Entomology from the University California-Riverside in 1971 and 1974, respectively.

During his career, Dr. Gilstrap conducted entomological research in the United States, Africa, and Central America; generated $4.25 million in funding; graduated 14 M.S. and 14 Ph.D. students; and published 237 articles and reports (83 peer refereed, 31 in ESA journals).

As an AgriLife Research Associate Director from 1996-2003, Dr. Gilstrap managed intellectual property, $5 million in appropriated funds, and Texas commodity relationships. As the director of the Dallas Urban Center, he created and implemented a business-based management model for the Center and established more than 60 partnerships that grew annual Center revenue from $250,000 from 2000 to 2005 to $2.1 million in 2011.

Dr. Gilstrap has been a continuous member of the Entomological Society of America since 1972.  He served as President (2006), as member of the ESA Governing Board (2000-2007), as member of the Entomological Foundation Board of Counselors (1997-2011), and as member of the editorial board for the Journal of Economic Entomology (1983-87; Chair in 1987).  Dr. Gilstrap was named Fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 2011.

Additional highlights of his service to the discipline include 1989 President of the International Organization for Biological Control/Nearctic Regional Section (1979-1989) and project leader for the International Sorghum-Millet Collaborative Research Support Program, US Agency for International Development (1979-1995).

Dr. Gilstrap retired in 2010 and named  Professor Emeritus  by the Texas A&M System Board of Regents in 2011, and was honored by the Department of Entomology in January 2019 with the Department’s Lifetime Achievement Recognition.

Grad Students Receive Top Awards at Graduate Student Forum

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Winners of the Graduate Student Forum for 2019
The winners for the 22nd annual Graduate Student Forum. From left to right are: Zanthé Kotzé,-First Place, Pierre Lau – Second Place, and Xiaotian Tang – Third Place. Photo by Rob Williams.

Congratulations to three of our graduate students as they received awards during the 22nd annual Graduate Student Forum that was held on August 22 in Room 103.

Ph.D. candidate Zanthé Kotzé received first place for her presentation titled “Mechanisms regulating behavior of arthropods that consume vertebrate carrion: Deciphering succession as related to forensic entomology.”

Ph.D. student Pierre Lau received second place for his talk “Understanding honey bee foraging preferences and nutrient regulation to improve beekeeping pollen substitutes” while Ph.D. student Xiaotian Tang received third place for his presentation titled “Let’s talk about eating, by the way, it’s self-eating.”

The winners were three out of a total of 18 grad student that participated in this year’s forum. The event allows the Department’s graduate students to present their latest research and gives them an opportunity to practice for the upcoming competitions at the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting that will be held in St. Louis, Mo., on November 17-20.