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Departmental Celebration:

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Celebration

A total of 39 students in the Department of Entomology celebrated their graduations virtually on Friday, May 8.

The students included 14 Entomology majors, 20 Forensic and Investigative Sciences majors, 2 Masters students, and 3 Ph.D. students. There also were 16 that received the Certificate in Public Health Entomology.

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

Undergraduate Students:

Marguerite Nicole Anderson	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Ryan Joseph Bannister	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Andrew Zinedine Bejean	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Mika Marie Campos	Forensic and Investigative Sciences -Science Emphasis
Marina Joy Conner	Entomology
Jordan Russell Cornell	Entomology
Alexandra Cameron Devany-Laughead	Forensic and Investigative Sciences -Science Emphasis
Katherine Elizabeth Donovan	Entomology
Emile Fierro Morel	Entomology
Michael Stephan Fischer	Entomology
Stephanie Flores	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Samantha Rose Franklin	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Marcelino Gonzalez	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Michel Javier Hernandez	Entomology
Raven Lee Johnson	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Sydney Belle Key	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Gillian Schubert Lane	Entomology
Ragan Breigh Miller	Entomology
Samantha Nicole Oakley	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Sabrina Valdez Quintanilla	Entomology
Andreana S. Rios	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Franchesca Isabella Rodriguez	Entomology
Myrah Elizabeth Rogers	Entomology
Maia Teresa Rubiano	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Jared Rowland Salin	Entomology
Harlee Marie Schneider	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
William Henry Shirley	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Jolie Fisher Starling	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Josephine Diane Starnes	Entomology
Katrina Ganzon Tan	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis
Emma Christine Thompson	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Tessa Alexandra Toler	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Emphasis
Jose Christopher Torres	Entomology
Molly Lou Totten	Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Science Emphasis

 

Graduate Students – Masters:

Subin Neupane	Master of Science – Entomology
Jeffrey Yung	Master of Science – Entomology

Graduate Students – Ph.D.:

Brittny Jones	Ph.D. – Entomology
Xiaotian Tang	Ph.D. – Entomology
Fengchun Yang	Ph.D. – Entomology

Certificate in Public Health Entomology:

Lauren Marie Breazeale

Marina Joy Conner

Jordan Russell Cornell

Alexandra Cameron Devany-Laughead

Victoria A. Kamilar

Kevin Lal

Gillian Schubert Lane

Myrah Elizabeth Rogers

Makenzie Marenne Roybal

Grecia Michelle Sanchez

Harlee Marie Schneider

Sydney Ellen Tejml

Erin Michele Wimberley

Cassidy Peyton Chu

Sarah Marie Kuriyan

Abigail Eden Malthaner

Sabrina Valdez Quintanilla

Macy Layne Thurston

 

 

The Department of Entomology would like to congratulate the students that are expected to graduate during summer commencement at Reed Arena

The 10 students included 2 Entomology majors, 2 double majors, and 3 Ph.D. candidates. Three students also received their certificates in Public Health Entomology.

Congratulations to all that are expected to graduate this summer and good luck with your futures!

Undergraduates

Lauren Bersano	Bachelor of Science – Biomedical Sciences and Entomology
Stephanie Rodriguez	Bachelor of Science – Entomology
Kejaun Jalil Tate	Bachelor of Science – Forensic and Investigative Sciences – Law Track and Entomology
Jacob Garrett Underwood	Bachelor of Science – Entomology

Graduates – Ph.D.

Andrew Golnar

Chelsea Miranda

Dongmin Kim

Certificates in Public Health Entomology

Lauren MacKenzie Bersano	Biomedical Science
Mikayla Madison O’ Leary	Biomedical Science
Anna Elizabeth Sneed	Biomedical Science

Death is a sure thing. And, when mass mortalities happen, understanding their impact on an environment can be perplexing. This is why Dr. Jeff Tomberlin collaborated with several scientists to figure out the ecological consequences of mass mortality events and how to best minimize potential long-term negative outcomes.

The research team includes Tomberlin, as well as Drs. Marcus Lashley, Heather Jordan, and Brandon Barton at Mississippi State University. The team wanted to find out what kinds of ecological changes happen both before and during the unexpected mass mortality events, such as the 200,000 saiga antelope in Kazakhstan and more than 300 reindeer that died in 2016 from a lightning strike in Norway.

In the article published recently in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology, the team studied mass mortality events and the potential effects, if any, that they may have on the environment.

Tomberlin wanted to find out if there were any ecological consequences of a mass mortality event on associated arthropod communities and how quickly the surrounding ecosystem can recover from such events. If the community cannot recover, he said that the researchers wanted to find a way to develop procedures to help reduce ecological and environmental impacts if and when a mass mortality event does occur.

In order for the team to study a mass mortality event, the researchers needed to find a way to simulate an event as predicting them is not possible for the most part. Tomberlin said they needed a mass amount of animal carcasses to view the resulting changes in the ecosystem. The group decided on using feral swine carcasses that were donated by state and federal agencies after trapping to eradicate the invasive species.

Tomberlin said the team chose to use the hogs as a model for this study because of the high availability due to the overpopulation issues that several states have seen in several states in the country. He said that the current feral hog suppression programs states employed helped make the resources needed for this study.

“Feral hogs were chosen as a model due to their availability and current issues surrounding their control in the USA,” Tomberlin said. “These two factors go hand-in-hand. Suppression of feral hog populations means resources are made available. These factors allowed to repurpose carrion to generate an artificial MME to understand how natural MMEs affect ecosystems.”

During the study, the group used more than 3 tons of hogs that were spread over five levels of land in 20-square-meter study plots over forest land that was used by Mississippi State University for research. The plots were laid out in a way to where the researchers could easily access and observe each plot for activity.

Tomberlin said they used several methods to collect the data, including molecular methods evaluating microbial communities and analyses of arthropod communities in the study area during simulation. The group also used special cameras, as well as from observations in the field. From the findings, the group found that the most abundant species that was observed were blow flies, along with the flies’ predators: green anoles and bald-faced hornets. They also saw at least 30 other vertebrate and invertebrate species that were interacting in the food web, including a rare species of wasp, as well as a beetle that has yet to be identified.

The team is still working on the ecological consequences from the simulated event but hopes to have a clearer picture on a solution to managing mass mortality events, as well as reducing the resulting the impact such events might have on the environment.

“We still do not have a complete picture of what the ecological consequences of such events are on a given environment,” Tomberlin said. “Hopefully, with additional analyses and continued research, we will have a more clear picture.”

COLLEGE STATION, Texas–The devastation from Hurricane Harvey has left thousands of people in the town of Dickinson without anything or very little in the aftermath. For former student Xanthe Shirley, it was a mission to help collect items for all those that were affected in the Dickinson area during Hurricane Harvey.

Shirley heard about the devastation that hit Dickinson and wanted to do something for those that were affected in her hometown by the flooding.

“Words can not express how heartbroken I was when I started to hear the news about my hometown,” Shirley said. “I felt helpless when I saw the news and read social media posts from friends and colleagues in that area about the incredibly devastating flooding in the community. That’s when Tyler and I decided that one way to help could be to bring down some items that were in need to help in the recovery during the aftermath of Harvey.”

During August 31-September 1, Shirley and Ph.D. student Tyler Raszick had set up locations both at her office in the TAMU Insect Collection and at the Biocontrol Center to collect such items as toiletries, clothes, school supplies, cleaning supplies, dog and cat food.

After collecting everything, Shirley and Raszick then traveled early Saturday morning where it was distributed to the people at the former Dickinson Junior High School, as well as to the pet shelters.

Shirley was very pleased with the turnout and the outpouring of help from everyone that donated.

“Our hearts are so full and grateful. My SUV was full when we left College Station Saturday morning to drop off donations in Dickinson,” she said. “The outpouring of support from the graduate students in the Entomology Department was incredible.”

Shirley was very grateful for everyone that donated and said the distribution of supplies went well after they delivered them on Saturday.

“We were able to drop off supplies to Dickinson ISD teachers, the Dickinson supply distribution center located at the former Junior High School, and the Dickinson animal shelter, Bayou Animal Services. We are so very thankful to all who helped in this venture!” Shirley said.

Eight students in the Department of Entomology were among more than 2,200 Aggies that walked the stage at Reed Arena during summer commencement exercises on August 11.

The total of 8 students included 2 undergraduate Entomology majors, 1 Master of Science, and 5 Ph.D. students that were at the 9am ceremony.

The graduating students and families joined faculty and staff for coffee and cake during a special reception Thursday afternoon in the Heep Center fourth floor atrium.

The Department would like to recognize the following and wish them good luck on their futures:

Undergraduates

Brandon Hays	Entomology
Pablo Daniel Ramirez	Entomology

Graduates – Master of Science

Abadi Mashlawi

Entomology

Graduates – Ph.D.

Carl Ernest Hjelmen	Entomology
Adrian Leon Fisher	Entomology
Kevin Canning Deitz	Entomology
Hee Jun Kim	Entomology
Freddy Ibanez Carrasco	Entomology