Texas A&M Entomology Research Network

Department News

Congratulations Fall 2020 Graduates

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The Department of Entomology congratulates our students graduating during the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences commencement ceremonies held at Reed Arena during the week of December 9-18.

A total of 21 students from the department are will receive their diplomas along with thousands of other students within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences this fall. Seven of the Ph.D. students received their hoods during the doctoral hooding ceremony held on December 10 and degrees will be conferred to three M.S. and eleven B.S. students during the 2pm ceremony on the 18th.

“We could not be more proud of our undergraduate scholars completing their degrees in our FIVS and ENTO majors.  We know that they are headed into an exciting world and will bring their Aggie spirit and values with them as they add to our incredible alumni base,” said Dr. Phillip Kaufman, professor and head.  “We also offer our deepest congratulations to our M.S. and Ph.D. graduates.  These students demonstrated their resilience and excellence through sustained efforts to complete their research during this most challenging time.”

Kaufman added that student success was supported by hard work and dedication from everyone in the department.

“I also want to thank all of the students, staff, and faculty of the department who each contributed to these graduates’ experiences and success,” he said.

Undergraduates

Marisa Nicole Guerrero Entomology
Isaac Eduardo Luna Entomology
Lyann W Chen Forensic & Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Annie Mei Lin Lin Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Samuel Scriven Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Cameron R Kelly Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Entomology
Andrea Reyna Macias Psychology and Entomology
Danielle Celeste Merrell Horticulture and Entomology
Ashley M Ridlon Biomedical Sciences and Entomology
Christine Victoria Torres Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Entomology
Leah Danielle Voss Biomedical Sciences and Entomology/Psychology double degree

 

Graduates – Master of Science

Dayvion Reshaud Adams Entomology
Lauren Kate Crumley Entomology
Kyle Andrew Gilder Entomology

 

Graduates – Ph.D.

Bert Foquet Entomology
Cody Gale Entomology
Mark Allan Janowiecki Entomology
Mackenzie Kjeldgaard Entomology
Ashley Elizabeth Tessnow Entomology
Erfan Vafaie Entomology
Caixing Xiong Entomology

 

Students Win Top Awards at ESA Annual Meeting

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Eight students from the Texas A&M Department of Entomology were awarded 1st or 2nd place in the 2020 Entomological Society of America’s annual national meeting student 10-minute paper competition for the Presidents Prize.

This year’s meeting was held virtually from November 11-25. During the competition, students presented their research in one of four sections: 1. Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology, 2. Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology, 3. Plant – Insect Ecology(P-IE), and 4. Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity (SysEB).

“We are quite proud of all of our TAMU students who participated in the 2020 ESA meeting, including those presenting talks and posters, as well as those participating in the Entomology Games and the Student Debate,” Professor and Department Head Dr. Phillip Kaufman said.

Kaufman said that the Department did quite well participating, despite the changes in the meeting delivery format due to the pandemic.

“This is made even more impressive by the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in; having on-line talks, debates and games was especially challenging and I applaud our students showcasing what it really means to exhibit Aggie Excellence. The success of our students at the meeting demonstrates the excellence in all of our student research, the quality of our students, and support from their faculty mentors and peers.”

The awards were given to the following:

Graduate Student 10-Minute Paper Competition

Medical, Urban, Veterinary Entomology:

  • Casey Flint: Second Place – Forensic Entomology, Muscoid Flies
    “Who runs the (decomposition) world? Microbes influencing decomposition and attraction of the blow fly, Cochliomyia macellaria”
  • Mackenzie Kjeldgaard: Second Place – Hymenoptera, Spiders
    “Polygyne ants are not cooperating: Colony boundaries and larval discrimination in multiple-queencolonies of the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta)”

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology:

  • Jordan Ellis: Second Place – Pollinators 1
    “Honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers experience accelerated age polyethism and premature death due to developmental stressors”

Plant – Insect Ecology:

  • Crystal Wright: First Place – Biocontrol 1
    “Characterization of honeydew sugar profiles in sugarcane aphids on sorghum and Johnson grass”
  • Erfan Vafaie: First Place – Biocontrol 2
    “Whitefly suppression by multiple natural enemies challenges with whitefly immigration or delayed natural enemy releases”
  • Jaclyn Martin: First Place – Vectors of Plant Disease
    “Revealing differences in the viral transmission mechanism between viruliferous and nonviruliferous Tagosodes orizicolus using transmission electron microscopy”

Systematics, Evolution, & Biodiversity:

  • Ashley Tessnow: First Place – Genomics
    “Patterns of divergence between fall armyworm strains: New insights from genomic and behavioral studies”

Undergraduate Student 10-Minute Paper Competition

  • Jordan Gomez: First Place – Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology – Pollinators
    “Determining the effects of nutrition on honey bee (Apis mellifera) pathogen defense against deformed wing virus”

 

 

Professor Retires After 30+ Years with Extension

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Mike Merchant
Dr. Mike Merchant

The Department of Entomology and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service celebrated the retirement of a longtime professor and Extension Entomologist during a virtual celebration held on August 7.

Merchant, a Professor and Extension Entomologist in Dallas, will be retiring on August 31. He has been with Extension for more than 30 years when he joined as an Urban Entomologist in the District 4 offices located in the Dallas area.

His career highlights started in 1993 when Merchant was named Chair of the statewide School IPM Advisory Committee. As chair, Merchant served as principal drafter of the original regulations establishing the Texas School IPM program. Since then, he has created video training tapes and wrote a handbook for school IPM coordinators, and a training conference.

In 2001, Merchant and Program Leader and Extension Specialist Dr. Don Renchie were awarded a multi-state grant in to develop the Southwestern Technical Resource Center for IPM in Schools and Daycare Facilities. The grant also allowed Merchant to hire Extension Program Specialist Janet Hurley to help create the Texas School IPM Team, which gained national recognition for their outstanding work developing training materials and courses in integrated pest management for schools.

In the early 1990’s Merchant was the author of the original fact sheet for the “Texas Two-Step” method of controlling fire ants that was developed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.  The sheet was the most frequently requested publication from 1995-1997 and is now being used by commercial fire ant bait manufacturers and is recognized as the most effective control program available in the nation.

Merchant teaching an Associated Certified Entomologist training
Dr. Mike Merchant teaching an Associated Certified Entomologist training class.

Over the past decade, Merchant led a team of entomologists to identify a new insect pest of crape myrtle, officially named the crape myrtle bark scale or Eriococcus lagerstroemiae.  The scale has now spread throughout the southern U.S.   Merchant demonstrate that neonicotinoid soil drenches controlled the scale, and his research has focused on safe and effective methods of control that are also safe, economically feasible, and do not adversely impact pollinators who use crape myrtle as a source of pollen in the late summer.

In 2003, Merchant along with colleagues Drs. John Jackman and Carlos Bogran developed the Master Volunteer Specialist in Entomology program.  This training consists of a course which offers in-depth training in entomology to Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists and created an online outreach tool for professionals and general public called Insects in the City.  He also oversaw the renovation project in 2016 that eventually became the Texas IPM House, which is a hands-on training facility for pest management professionals to learn about IPM and pests that invade homes or used structures as a source of food and shelter.

Merchant also created an interactive website called “Mosquito Safari” to help teach homeowners and businesses about proper mosquito control. During the emergence of the Zika virus, Merchant worked with Dr. Sonja Swiger to develop a statewide outreach program to educate about controlling mosquitoes and prevention of Zika in Texas. In 2016, they enlisted the help of several Extension agents, specialists, and program specialists to create and distribute materials.

Their efforts in mosquito control educational programming resulted in 339 education events, directly training nearly 140,000 people plus over 2 million media contacts engaged with the programs. In addition, 76,400 people received newsletters with Zika information and more than 11,000 printed copies were distributed throughout the state.

Since 1995, Merchant has also maintained another highly popular website called Insects In The City, or citybugs.tamu.edu, that allows visitors to sign up for insect updates, post questions, and view fact sheets. The site receives at least 1.2 to 1.5 million visitors and an average of 3.2 million views per year.

In addition to Extension, Merchant was very active in the Entomological Society of America where he made significant contributions through his service, including co-authoring a 208-page study guide Associate Certified Entomologist program titled IPM for the Urban Professional: A Study Guide for the Associate Certified Entomologist.

Merchant also served on the Entomological Society of America’s Certification Board, a board that is responsible for the Society’s certification programs, and the Director of the BCE program in 2001-2002. Since he was director of the BCE, he led the reorganization of the program committee and established the Associate Certified Entomologist program.

Extension Program Specialist Wizzie Brown said that Merchant will definitely be missed by everyone.

“Mike has been an excellent mentor over the years and will be sorely missed by myself, other entomologists, and people within the pest control industry,” Brown said.

“Dr. Merchant has always been some whom I could depend on whenever I had a question or an issue,” Associate Professor and Extension Specialist Dr. Sonja Swiger said.  “He has provided guidance, wisdom, compassion and steadfast for all of us in the Extension Entomology group. While his retirement is well deserved, he will be deeply missed by all.”

Congratulations Summer 2020 Graduates!!

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A total of seven students in the Department of Entomology celebrated their graduations this summer virtually during August graduation on Friday, August 7.

The students included 1 Entomology major, 1 Forensic and Investigative Sciences major and 5 Ph.D. candidates.

Congratulations to the following students that are expected to graduate and good luck on your future endeavors!!

Undergraduate Students

Andrew Brock Chapman Bachelor of Science – Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Stephen Colton Matcha Bachelor of Science – Entomology

Graduate Students – Ph.D.

Carlos Aguero Ph.D. – Entomology
Isaac Luis Esquivel Ph.D. – Entomology
Mark F. Olson Ph.D. – Entomology
Zachary Ray Popkin-Hall Ph.D. – Entomology
Mackenzie Tietjen Ph.D. – Entomology

 

Kaufman takes lead of Texas A&M entomology department

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Dr. Phillip Kaufman
Dr. Phillip Kaufman

Moving forward with classes, research

by Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M AgriLife Marketing & Communication

Taking over as head of the Texas A&M University Department of Entomology is a pretty daunting task in normal times, but during COVID-19, Phillip Kaufman, Ph.D., is finding challenges and opportunities.

Kaufman, head of the Texas A&M Department of Entomology, said determining how to best serve students in-house and online amid the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as staying on top of important research issues such as tick surveillance, mosquitoes and murder hornets are priorities.

“As we move forward, I want faculty to feel confident in looking in new directions, experimenting with new techniques and areas of interest, so they can offer our students at Texas A&M the opportunity to be at the forefront of scientific discovery, and so we can help protect Texans from pests and pathogens now and well into the future,” he said.

Kaufman joins Texas A&M from the University of Florida where he served as a professor in the Entomology and Nematology Department in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Class is in session

“When I took this position, I had envisioned walking in and everyone being here to get things started,” Kaufman said. “With COVID-19, that didn’t happen, but we are busy preparing for the fall semester and how the students will come back to campus and how they will be supported in the classroom and in the lab.”

He said they are finalizing schedules to determine where gaps and challenges are, but overall feels the department is in excellent shape for the fall semester. Undergraduates have all had virtual advising conferences; undergraduate and graduate courses are populating well; and the faculty are preparing to deliver the course materials both in the classroom and remotely.

“We’re in much better shape now to meet the research demands of our 75 graduate students, although a handful of new students will be deferring for a semester until the pandemic hopefully settles down,” Kaufman said.

On the undergraduate side, his department has some excitement and challenges. The entomology side of the house remains fairly consistent, with about 45 majors and others who are double majors or minors. Meanwhile, the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program has continued growing and is  attracting a large cohort this year.

“We have 125 freshmen coming in for that major. That’s good but preparing freshmen for success is extremely important. We have a fantastic academic programs staff who are prepared and ready to help the students build habits that will lead to their success.”

Kaufman said all of the courses’ content is the same, “but the way we are delivering the material is changing. For example, Medical Entomology is one of the most popular classes, and it is being transferred to an online course. Students may be using a USB camera instead of a microscope in the laboratory to look at the different mosquitoes they will be learning to identify. We are all trying to find the best ways to deliver information for the highest quality learning experience for our students.”

From the classroom to the research field

Kaufman said in the research field, understanding both the applied and molecular sides of the equation can help make educational experiences far more impactful.

“We encourage students to invest time and learning in both sides of research. They need that basic understanding of how something that seems very laboratory-based can solve a problem in the field. Molecular technology can be cool, but if it isn’t translated to an application, a great opportunity to solve a problem is lost.”

On the opposite side, students working to solve field problems can harness the power of molecular biology to help producers bring high-quality crops to market.

This understanding will certainly play a role in the area of human and animal pathogen transmission that is demanding cutting-edge research.

“In Texas, I’ve yet to see an agricultural endeavor that doesn’t have a problem with insect pests. It is important to continue to address those challenges and work in those areas. We produce tremendous graduates here at the university, and it’s important to value their research contributions.”