News

The Department of Entomology’s faculty and students received very high honors during this year’s Southwestern Branch of the Entomological Society of America’s 66th annual meeting during the week of March 25-29 in Albuquerque.

Members of the Texas A&M Graduate Linnaean Team won first place after defeating the undergraduate team during the final round of the Linnaean Games. Graduate members Fabian List, Mackenzie Tietjen, Joanie King, and Mark Janowiecki, won against the undergraduate team, which consisted of Dayvion Adams, Jeffrey Barbosa, Betty Hernandez, and Aria Deluna. The teams faced off against each other after several rounds with other universities within the Branch during the competitions.

Both the graduate and graduate teams will be heading to the national Linnaean Games at the Annual Meeting in Vancouver in November. “I couldn’t be more proud of being able to bring our two teams, not just one, to the national games this year,” Linnaean Team coach Dr. Juliana Rangel said.

Three graduate students placed in their talks during the meeting’s ten-minute oral presentation student competitions. These included Alex Payne, which took first place for her presentation titled “Synergistic effects of in-hive miticides and agro-chemicals on honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony growth” while Mackenzie Tietjen received second place for her talk titled “A comparative evaluation of questing height between populations of Ixodes scapularis in the northern and southern United States.”

“This award shows Alex’s dedication and her attention to detail when it comes to preparing presentations and preparing content, as well as her demeanor during the presentations itself,” Rangel said. “She has become one of the best student speakers that I have seen in our department in a long time”

Jocelyn Holt received third place for her talk titled “Characterization of the sugarcane aphid microbiome in the continental US.” Payne is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Juliana Rangel’s lab while Tietjen and Holt are Ph.D. students in Dr. Raul Medina’s lab.

“I think Jocelyn’s work on the sugarcane aphid is providing timely information that is increasing our understanding of this emerging sorghum pest,” Medina said. “Jocelyn is a gifted PhD student when it comes to communicating her findings to the public. Not only she is objective and clear but she also succeeds in conveying excitement about her research questions.”

“Mackenzie’s work is increasing our understanding of the ecology, behavior and population genetics of the black-legged tick in the Southern US. Her results are providing information that will help us understand the reasons that may explain the wide variation in Lyme disease cases within the US.  Mackenzie is an excellent speaker,” he said. “She is precise and clear and has the ability to present complex information in an understandable fashion. It is no surprise she got an award for her talk!”

Senior Makaylee Crone also received the Undergraduate Student Achievement in Entomology Award and former Ph.D. student Freddy Ibanez received the John Henry Comstock Award. Crone is a biomedical sciences major that is working in Dr. Juliana Rangel’s lab as an undergraduate researcher.

“I was very excited that Makaylee got the student award,” Crone’s mentor Dr. Juliana Rangel said. “It was really a great example of how someone can come into the lab without any previous experience and research and then flourishing in just one or two years. That is really rewarding for me a mentor and I am incredibly proud of her.”

Dr. Greg Sword was nominated by the branch for the Entomological Society of America’s Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management while Dr. Craig Coates was nominated for the ESA Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching. These awards will be announced during the 2018 ESA, Entomological Society of Canada, and Entomological Society of British Columbia joint annual meeting that will be held in Vancouver on November 11-14.

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Chloë Hawkings as she received the Women’s Progress Student Award during the ACE Awards Ceremony in the MSC on Wednesday, April 11.

Hawkings, who is currently advised by Dr. Cecilia Tamborindeguy, was honored for her hard work and dedication in demonstrating a commitment to improving the environment for women students through volunteer work, an elected position or advocacy programs on or off campus.

Since her college career, Hawkings has been instrumental in representing the Department in several ways. She has served as a leader and mentor to other graduate students in her role as a lead teaching assistant where she facilitated weekly planning meetings for all lab sections in the Department. She also has been a leader in redesigning the laboratory curriculum and developing a laboratory manual that is currently in use.

“Chloë tirelessly connects students interested in entomology and related STEM fields to individuals who can assist them in identifying and achieving their goals, then follows up and maintains her relationship with those students, mentoring them to continued success,” senior advisor Rebecca Hapes said.  “Her diligent and intentional efforts with students in this manner are simply remarkable.”

In 2017, Hawkings founded the Aggie Women in Entomology, an organization created to enhance the professional community of women in entomology. She currently serves as President of the organization, has hosted two seminar speakers for the Departmental seminar series. Also she founded the mentorship in entomology program where undergraduates could attend panels and workshops helpful for transitioning to graduate school.

“Chloë leads in the creation of positive solutions for an improved environment for women and a commitment to women’s issues,” said EGSO president Phillip Shults.

Hawkings is an active member of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), where she has served as an entomology workshop leader for the ‘Expand your Horizons’ event, a career conference for 6th grade girls designed to inform and engage them in STEM through innovative and experiential experiences.  She also represents WISE as a graduate student mentor, meeting with undergraduate students formally on a weekly basis and interacts with her mentees frequently as they need her.

Hawkings also established herself as a strong entrepreneur and businesswoman.  She is involved with the entrepreneurship community within Texas A&M University through Startup Aggieland, and is a student representative of the female founders group.  In 2017, she received the Dell Computers Scholarship for women from Mays Business School to attend the Circular Summit Women in Entrepreneurship Annual Meeting in Houston.  Hawkings also was selected by Startup Aggieland to present her entrepreneurial success at conferences in both New York City and Florida.

Tamborindeguy was very proud of Hawkings for receiving the honor.

“Chloë has performed outstanding service for the Department of Entomology, the University and for the entomological and scientific community,” Tamborindeguy said. “This award highlights Chloë’s stellar contribution and leadership role for advancing women in science.”

The Department of Entomology recently invited Dr. Doug Landis this year’s  Dr. Perry Adkisson Distinguished Lecturer for 2018.  The lecture was held at 4 pm in the Minnie Belle Heep Center during our regular departmental seminar  on Thursday April 5.

Landis is a Professor of Insect Ecology and Biological Control in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University where his research focuses on understanding the factors that influence biodiversity in arthropods and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. He is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles, 25 book chapters, and more than 50 Extension bulletins.

Landis has won numerous awards for his work including the Entomological Society of America’s Recognition Award in Entomology for outstanding contributions in agriculture, and the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the North Carolina State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He also received the MSU Beal Distinguished Faculty Award in 2013 and was named a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 2016.

In his Extension program, Landis focuses on the use of ecological restoration to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services, with a special focus on the ecology and management of invasive organisms. His current areas of outreach include the biodiversity implications of various bioenergy landscapes, prairie fen and oak savanna restoration, the use of native plants to enhance ecosystem services, monarch butterfly conservation, and biological control of the invasive spotted knapweed.

The Perry Adkisson Distinguished Lecturer is the premier award in the area of Integrated Pest Management named after Dr. Perry Adkisson, former head of the Department and Chancellor the Texas A&M System.    During his career, Adkisson was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and the first ever recipient of all three of the world’s major prizes in agriculture, the Alexander von Humboldt Award, the Wolf Prize, and the World Food Prize. Along with Dr. Ray Smith at the University of California, they co-developed what is now known as IPM or Integrated Pest Management.  His legacy is alive and well in Texas and in most states where IPM Coordinators help organize Extension faculty and other professionals to implement IPM practices in agriculture in their respective states.