Texas A&M Entomology Research Network

Awards

Conner Receives Buck Weirus Spirit and Phi Kappa Phi Gathright Outstanding Junior Award

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Marina Conner with her two awards. Photo by Marina Conner.
Marina Conner with her two awards. Photo by Marina Conner.

Congratulations to junor Entomology major Marina Conner as she received the Association of Former Students’ Buck Weirus Spirit Award and the Gathright Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Junior Award.

A native of Rowlett, Texas, Conner has been an active member of the COALS Council, where she served as the Entomological Department representative and is member of the Service Committee. She also plays mellophone for the Fighting Texas Aggie Band where she has participated in the Christmas Band at Holiday on the Quad and at a Salvation Army event, as well as Aggie Muster and the Bryan/College Station Christmas Parade.

Conner has been in the Corps of Cadets since 2016 and has served as the Scholastics Sergeant and Squad Leader of 5 cadets and a mentor to a sophomore from 2018 until 2019 and has been the Public Relations Corporal and Team Leader and mentor to a freshman from 2017 until 2018.

“The Corps of Cadets and the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band provide me with the opportunity to represent the university’s traditions and Aggie Spirit,” she said. “Being a cadet it’s my privilege to embody the university’s core values of integrity, leadership, loyalty, excellence, selfless service, and respect.”

Conner participated in the A&M Caribbean Tropical and Field Biology Study Abroad in 2018 where she conducted field research on the Streak Gecko and a group field project on centipedes and millipedes. She also is currently working with Dr. Kevin Conway in the Department of Wildlife Fisheries Sciencs and a Trinidadian scholar to prepare for submission to the Living World of Journal of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists Club.

As a member of the Texas A&M Pre-Vet Society, she has been a distinguished member, where she had volunteered at several events, including Special Olympics, Weiner Fest, and the Texas A&M Vet School’s Open House.

“In addition to the Corps, I have enjoyed expanding my impact off the Quad through representing the Entomology Department’s voice on COALS Council and volunteering with the Pre-Vet Society,” Conner said.

Conner will be graduating in 2020 and plans on either going to veterinary school or entering into the public health industry.

“I am amazed and humbled to receive the Buck Weirus Spirit Award. I love being involved at A&M both on and off the quad,” Conner said. “I am honored to receive the Phi Kappa Phi Gathright Outstanding Junior for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I am proud to get to represent the Entomology Department in this way. I have learned so much and am thankful for everyone who has supported me along the way.”

Students Receive COALS Senior Merit Awards

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Nicholas Richter and Kylee Morrison, center, received the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Senior Merit Award during the College’s Spring Convocation. Photo by Rebecca Hapes

Congratulations to seniors Kylee Morrison and Nicholas Richter as they received Senior Merit Awards during the College’s annual Spring Convocation at the Hildebrand Equine Complex on Saturday, April 11.

Morrison, a Forensic and Investigative Sciences major and Chemistry minor, is a member of the Aggie Forensic and Investigative Sciences Organization, where she has been a member of the Banquet Planning Committee, a mentor to underclassmen forensics majors and volunteered at the Chemistry Open House.

She also has been involved in other organizations, such as the ARTISTS Organization, and Breakaway Ministry, and has served in The Big Event both as a volunteer and as a site leader.

During the summer of 2018, Morrison interned at the Crime Scene Unit of the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, where she helped document and collect evidence, as well as lab work and photographing evidence. In 2017, Morrison also worked as an intern for the Garland Police Department’s Forensics unit where she maintained and organized case files and fingerprint cards.

“Receiving the Senior Merit Award at the convocation was truly an honor! Having my family and faculty mentor, Dr. Adrienne Brundage, as well as Dr. Craig Coates, there to support me made the day so memorable,” she said.  “This recognition allowed me to reflect on my past four years at A&M with great pride for what I’ve accomplished. I owe it all to the dedicated and encouraging faculty members in the Department of Entomology!”

Richter is a double major in Forensic and Investigative Sciences and Entomology. He is currently a member of Squadron 17 of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and a member of the Ross Volunteer Company. Richter was an administrative officer from 2018 to 2019 and a Drilling Member from 2017 to 2018. He has also served as Head of Unit Public Relations from 2016-2019, a platoon leader and seargant, and an assistant squad leader.

Richter also serves as the Reunion Class Liaison for the Aggie Muster Committee from 2018-2019 and has been a counselor for Fish Camp from 2016-2018. He served as the senior member of the Old Army Gentleman’s Society (Ol’ Ags) from 2018-2019, Campaign Events Coordinator for the Student Body President Campaign Team in 2018, and the Department of Entomology’s Scholars Society from 2017-2018.

In 2017, Richter volunteered as a mobile clinic volunteer in Lima, Peru for Medlife, which is an organization that partners with low-income communities in Latin America and Africa to improve their access to medicine, education and community development initiatives.

Richter received numerous awards, including the Corps 21 Scholarship, First Wing Most Outstanding Sophomore in 2017, First Wing and Squadron Outstanding Freshman in 2016, and the Corps of Cadets Distinguished Student Award in 2015.

“It was a huge honor to receive the Ag and Life Sciences Senior Merit Award. After all of my hard work at Texas A&M it was nice to be recognized for my pursuits in and out of the classroom,” Richter said.

Grad Student Receives Top Prize for Presentation at Ecological Integration Symposium

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Crys Wright. Photo by Rob Williams.
Crys Wright. Photo by Rob Williams.

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Crys Wright on receiving first place for her talk at the Ecological Integration Symposium that was held at Rudder Tower on April 5-6.

Advised by Dr. Raul Medina, Wright tied with Raven Blakeway for first place in the Graduate Student Oral Presentation section. Wright’s presentation was titled “Fecundity Compensation: Possible in the Sugarcane Aphid?”

Medina was very proud of Wright and her award.

“I was thrilled, yet not surprised to learn Crys got first place for her EIS talk,” Medina said. “Crys is really good at generating interesting questions, designing the experiments to answer them and presenting her ideas to the public.”

Medina also added that Wright’s outstanding presentation style helped her to achieve the award.

Her clarity and creativity makes interacting with her a real pleasure. I am convinced Crys will be a leader in our field,” Medina said. “I am so glad others saw in her presentation what I see every time I hear her scientific ideas and insights.”

Grad Student Places Second for Talk at Student Research Week

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Joanie King with her award. Photo by Rob Williams.
Joanie King with her award. Photo by Rob Williams.

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Joanie King as she received a top award during the 2019 Student Research Week held from March 18-22 at the Memorial Student Center.

King received second place in the graduate oral competition in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences category for her talk titled “Science Communication in Entomology: Knowing What’s Bugging Them Can Help Us Connect With Communities”

“It was really nice winning an award for Student Research Week,” King said. “I am glad that I stayed positive because this opportunity was a great way to end my week. In addition, I enjoyed meeting other students in different colleges and departments here at Texas A&M. It was exciting to share my ideas and research. I got a lot of great feedback.”

King’s faculty advisor is Dr. Ed Vargo.

Liz Walsh Receives Outstanding Grad Student Award

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Liz Walsh, left, with Dr. Craig Coates. Photo by Rob Williams
Liz Walsh, left, with Dr. Craig Coates. Photo by Rob Williams

The Department of Entomology would like to congratulate Ph.D. candidate Liz Walsh as she received the 2019 Outstanding Grad Student Award in the Ph.D. category.

The award was given during a special presentation during the pre-seminar social held in the Heep Center fourth floor atrium on Thursday, February 14.

Walsh is no stranger to the Department, as she joined Dr. Juliana Rangel’s laboratory in June 2013 as a student in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduate – EXCITE program. Walsh graduated from her undergraduate institution, Ripon College, in Wisconsin in 2014 and was recruited by Rangel to work in her lab in the fall of 2014.

Walsh is conducting her research projects related to the combined effects of using miticides and other agro-chemicals and how they affect the reproductive health of queens in honey bee colonies. She also co-authored a paper that was published recently in the journal called Insects.

Walsh also is an Apprentice Master Beekeeper for the Texas Master Beekeeper Program and is a regular instructor for the annual bee schools held by the Central Texas, Brazos Valley, and the Austin Area beekeepers associations, as well as the Texas Beekeepers Association’s Summer Clinic, and has been invited to speak at various beekeeping organizations around the country.

She received several awards and honors during her college career, including the 2018 Research Award from the American Association of Professional Apiculturists and the 2017 International Union for the Study of Social Insects’ Jeffery LaFage Award in Applied Social Insect Biology projects. Walsh also won second place in the oral competition at the Entomological Society of America’s oral competition in 2017 and the Graduate Student Research Award in 2015.

She has also been active in beekeeping outreach, including writing a methods paper titled “Queen pheromones and mandibular gland dissection” and a review paper titled “Local honey bee queen production and quality” in the journal Bee World and is a regular column writer for the Kelley Online Newsletter.

Walsh has been a teaching assistant in the ENTO 320 Honey Bee Biology class for 3 years and for the ENTO 321 Beekeeping Laboratory during the spring semester of 2018.

“I am delighted that I get to work with Liz every day, as I am proud that I am helping promote diversity in the STEM fields and the field of apiculture by helping to train such a strong and intelligent female scientist,” Rangel said.