Current Student News

Hawkings Receives Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Award for Mentoring

February 8, 2018 by Rob Williams

Chloe Hawkings, center, standing with Women in Science and Engineering president Carolina Mantilla Rojas, left, and WISE finance chair Keya Mukherjee, right. — Chloë Hawkings, center, standing with Women in Science and Engineering president Carolina Mantilla Rojas, left, and WISE finance chair Keya Mukherjee, right.

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Chloë Hawkings as she received the 2018 Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Award for mentorship on Thursday, February 8 during the Ethel Ashworth-Tsutsui Memorial Lecture at the Engineering Technologies Building.

Hawkings is the first student in the Departmentt of Entomology that received this high honor, which recognizes the research and mentoring efforts of women on the Texas A&M campus. She was recognized for her efforts in mentoring both undergraduate and graduate women students into the field of entomology.

In 2017, Hawkings was one of the founders of the Aggie Women in Entomology, an organization created to enhance the professional community of women in entomology. Since its founding, the organization has hosted several Mentorship Panels during the fall semester where undergraduate students could answer questions about general entomology, the panelists’ research interests, and transitioning to graduate school.

Hawkings serves as the president of the Aggie Women in Entomology and serves as the Event Coordinator for the Entomology Graduate Student Organization. She also served as a graduate mentor for the College of Science’s learning communities program and served as a research mentor for undergraduate students Franchesca Rodriguez and Colin Roper in 2017. Both Rodriguez and Roper work in Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy’s lab.

During her college career, Hawkings has been involved in several outreach programs including Expand Your Horizons in December, the “Insects and Beyond! An Interactive Introduction to the Wonder-full World of Entomology” event for members of the North Bryan Community Center’s summer camp program, and for programs at various area schools and community events.

“I am very proud,” Hawkings’ advisor Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy said. “It is a great recognition for her work and leadership in this area. Chloe has been instrumental for developing and leading many mentoring efforts.”

Hawkings was very honored to have received the award.

“I am grateful the experiences and opportunities I have had in mentorship within the Department of Entomology, both through teaching and through the Aggie Women in Entomology Organization, she said. “Mentorship is something that is deeply important to me”

Sponsored by the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), the award is given to honor women graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research staff who take action to encourage and support women graduate students in the university.

Online Journal Features Best of Undergraduate Student Research

June 19, 2017 by Rob Williams

A screenshot of the third volume of the Instars journal. — A screenshot of the third volume of the *Instars* electronic journal that was launched recently.

Students in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University now have another way to display their research as the third edition of the Instars student-edited online journal was just released this june.

Since its inception two years ago, the Instars open access online journal has grown from a handful of journal articles from various undergraduate student research projects into a place to where students could have a place to easily showcase their research to the public.

Articles in the third volume include a variety of undergraduate projects such as surveys of mosquitoes in several areas around Bryan/College Station and Snook, adult longevity studies on Chrysomya rufifacies flies, a survey on cockroach species infesting homes in the Houston area, a study on the effects of black pepper on killing ants, and the efficiency of common household products as suitable repellents for fire ants.

Students in the class serve as peer editors during the planning stages each semester. Brundage said the students were placed in small groups of two to three and tasked with reviewing each submission for proper content, format and grammar by using a standardized rubric for submitting papers professionally.

After the review session, each group then submitted a written article analysis on each of the submissions given to them, basing their critiques on grammar, style and content. The completed article analysis was then passed onto three different groups with a final publication decision after the third review. She said that at the end of the semester, the students voted on 15 to 20 papers that were submitted to the journal as their final project.

Brundage said the participation has grown to more than 170 submissions reviewed.

“The issues keep getting better and better,” she said “We were fortunate this year to have a record number of submissions and it was very difficult to narrow down to just a few.”

She also said that the editing process has become a little more streamlined with each issue published.

“It has gotten easier to format the papers with the students, and I’ve had the student assist me in clarifying the author guidelines,” she said. “We refine things each issue, so it’s a work in progress.”

Brundage hopes to get even more exposure after she presents the journal to the National Forensic Entomological Association’s annual meeting later this summer.

“We’ve started to get some good traction, and students from all over the country are starting to submit their work,” she said. “In a few weeks I’ll be presenting the journal at the North American Forensic Entomological Association meeting, so I anticipate even more high quality work in the future.”

The third volume can be viewed at: https://journals.tdl.org/instars/index.php/instars/issue/view/5/showToc while the journal’s past issues can be viewed at the main page located at: https://journals.tdl.org/instars/index.php/instars/index

Department of Entomology Undergraduates Recognized During Special Reception

May 4, 2017 by Rob Williams

Dr. Jeff Tomberlin at the podium — Dr. Jeff Tomberlin speaking words of encouragement to the audience and to undergraduates. Photo by Rob Williams

COLLEGE STATION, Texas–Several of the Department’s undergraduates received recognition and awards at a special recognition reception on the first floor of the Heep Center on Wednesday, May 3.

Students and faculty members were first treated to food outside Room 103 before the main program started and juniors Tammy Starr and Dayvion Adams welcomed everyone to the event.

After the welcome, guest speaker Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin said a few words of encouragement to the graduating seniors during the keynote address.

Adams then reported highlights from the Undergraduate Entomology Student Organization’s activities during the year while Tammy Starr reported highlights from the Aggie Forensic and Investigative Sciences Organization.

Katie Rowe, right, with Dr. Pete Teel. Photo by Rob Williams

Dr. Pete Teel then announced several scholarships during the awards presentation portion of the reception.

This year’s scholarship recipients are:

Katie Rowe – Burruss McDaniel/Entomology Systematics Scholarship
Lindsay Akers – Roger Walker Meola Memorial Scholarship
Jeremy Arnold – Fowden G. and Katherine G. Maxwell Scholarship
Franchesca Rodriguez – Honorah A. Dore Scholarship
Brice Phillips – Paul Truman Riherd Memorial Scholarship
Marina Connor – Dr. Manning A. Price Scholarship
Emily Parsoneault – Dr. Micky Eubanks Outstanding Faculty Scholarship
Mya Gates – Dial and Eva Martin Memorial Scholarship
Jacob Underwood – Perry L. Adkisson Scholarship
Calli Allison- Len P. Quattrochi Memorial Scholarships
Marina Connor, right, with Dr. Pete Teel. Photo by Rob Williams

The 2017-2018 cohorts of the Department’s Entomology Scholars Society also announced. The Entomology Scholars Society was developed to help current students to expand their leadership and outreach skills though the enhancement of various departmental events. Members serve as liaisons between faculty, staff, and prospective students and represent the Department by serving as hosts to prospective students, parents, and other campus visitors.

The 2017-2018 Entomology Scholars Society. From left to right: Dayvion Adams, Franchesca Rodriguez, Fatimah Bouderdaben, Mya Gates, Nicholas Richter, and Kejaun Tate.. — The 2017-2018 Entomology Scholars Society. From left to right: Dayvion Adams, Franchesca Rodriguez, Fatimah Bouderdaben, Mya Gates, Nicholas Richter, and Kejaun Tate. Photo by Rob Williams.

The 2017-2018 Scholars are:

Dayvion Adams
Franchesca Rodriguez
Fatimah Bouderdaben
Mya Gates
Nicholas Richter
Kejaun Tate
Dr. Jim Woolley, right, with UESO president Dayvion Adams, left. Photo by Rob Williams

Dr. Jim Woolley received the Outstanding Professor of the Year award while Ashleigh Faris received Outstanding Teaching Assistant for Forensics while Chloe Hawkings received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant for Entomology.

The 2017-2018 officers for both AFIS and UESO were announced during the end of the ceremony.

Ashleigh Faris, right, with Tammy Starr, AFISO president, left.

AFIS officers are:

Tammy Starr – President
Fatimah Bouderdaben – Vice President
Adriana Peterson – Treasurer
Katie McLeod – Secretary
Mya Gates-Historian
Skylar Huddleston – Activities Coordinator
Chloë Hawkings, right, with Dayvion Adams. UESO president, left.

UESO officers are:

Isaac Luna – President
Jefferey Barbosa – Vice President
Myra Rodgers – Treasurer
Katie Rowe-Webmaster/Outreach Coordinator

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.

Entomology Department Helps Youths Practice for 4-H, FFA Judging Contests with Annual Clinic

March 23, 2017 by Rob Williams

Shelby Kilpatrick, left, and Marshall Sullivan, right, teaching participants about the basics of entomology, as well as pinning and insect collection techniques. Photo by Rob Williams

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—More than 170 members of the Future Farmers of America and 4-H youth programs statewide and their agricultural science teachers, adult leaders and county agents spent a rainy Saturday morning learning about entomology, entomology contests, and testing their insect identification skills in the Heep Center during the Entomology Judging Clinic on Saturday, March 4.

The annual half-day clinic is designed to help 4-H and FFA students with skills to collect, prepare, and identify insects, to learn about their biology and relationships to different environments, all in preparation for for upcoming contests.

The clinic opened with a welcome session by Professor and Associate Department Head for Academic Programs, Dr. Pete Teel. During the session, Teel introduced participants to the clinic and its design and encouraged students to take what they had learned and apply it to the upcoming contests.

Participants were then sent into three concurrent sessions on topics such as insect identification basics, different collection and mounting techniques, and a leaders-only session on building reliable and lasting resources for success as an entomology team.

The newest addition to this year’s clinic included having two practice rooms open with integrated FFA/4-H mock contests where students could test what they had learned throughout the morning and a larger, more interactive pinning and mounting workshop.

Dr. Pete Teel in front of a class — Dr. Pete Teel speaking to participants about the clinic.

Participants also got the chance to view numerous insects in the orders of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera in the upstairs teaching labs, as well as a room dedicated to learning how to identify specimens from additional assorted insect orders.

At noon, the group reconvened in Room 101 to discuss the contest and its rules and for a question and answer session. During the session, student panelists answered questions from the audience such topics as the various careers in entomology, a day in the life of a college student at A&M, and entomology in general.

Volunteer Shelby Kilpatrick, a senior Entomology major and former 4-H member, has been involved with volunteering for the clinic for four years as a student and said the clinic is a great way for youth to learn about entomology.

“I really enjoyed the 4-H entomology clinic. It really is a great way for us to share our knowledge and to promote the department and encourage the study of entomology,”” she said. “We try to make it a great learning experience for the kids.”

Student pinning an insect — Students also got the chance to try their hands pinning and mounting insects during a hands-on session.

Leader Madison Landreth from Midway ISD was very pleased with this year’s clinic and said it was a great learning experience for her and her students.

“I think this is a great workshop and like the hands on aspect of this clinic,” she said. “I loved that the kids get good practice and the volunteers were very helpful.”

“It was very exciting to see lots of the younger students being excited about entomology and the ag field in general,” volunteer Stephanie Rudolph said.

“Participants from the clinic are known to score very well in subsequent contests, and this avenue of interest in entomology is increasing the number of freshman Entomology majors,” Teel said. “Our student volunteers for this program provide a personal level of engagement with the clinic participants that is most welcoming and helpful. They are a very positive connection to building future entomologists.”