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Grace Soltis graduated with her BS in Biological Sciences (Ecology and Evolution) and a minor in Entomology. Grace was the first to enroll as an Entomology minor when the program launched in 2021. Earlier this month, Grace successfully defended her thesis with High Honors in Entomology: "Periodical cicadas emergence triggers dramatic shift in avian foraging” - coming soon to a peer-reviewed journal near you! In the fall, Grace will enroll in the Ph.D. program in Ecology & Evolution at Florida State University with Dr. Nora Underwood.
Congratulations and good luck, Grace!
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Congratulations and good luck, Grace!
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Stokes Aker publishes first, first-authored paper in the Journal of Economic Entomology. Since the introduction of the emerald ash borer (EAB) to the USA in the 1990s it has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees, and it imperils billions more. Stokes documents that the most recently introduced biological control agent – a specialized parasitoid wasp from Asia, Spathius galinae (Braconidae) – that may hold the most promise for spatial spread to keep pace with EAB.
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Update 4/2022: Stokes Aker will begin his bid for a Master’s degree in Entomology this fall at the Penn State University. Good luck, Stokes, we will certainly miss you!
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Update 4/2022: Stokes Aker will begin his bid for a Master’s degree in Entomology this fall at the Penn State University. Good luck, Stokes, we will certainly miss you!
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Dan was honored by the Entomological Society of America’s Eastern Branch with the Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching! UMD Entomology colleagues also receiving ESA EB awards this cycle from the Eastern Branch include Drs. Karin Burghardt and Margaret Lewis for the Excellence in Early Career Award and John Henry Comstock Award for best dissertation, respectively!
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Congratulations to Grace Soltis, one of three awardees of the Fall 2021 Ernest N. Cory Undergraduate Scholarship! This scholarship provides up to $1,000 for undergraduate students each semester who are contributing creatively to Entomology Department research and/or extension efforts. For her Entomology Honors thesis, Grace is researching the impacts of Brood X periodical cicadas on the food webs of Maryland forests, observing changes in bird predation pressures both before and after the cicada 2021 event. Grace is an Entomology Minor also working on emerald ash borer biocontrol research in the Gruner lab. Dominique Desmarattes (Fritz lab) and Molly Jones (Burghardt lab) also earned a scholarship.
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Grace Soltis was featured in the Audubon and WIRED magazines for her senior thesis research on bird foraging on periodical cicadas. The articles feature her work with George Washington University and Georgetown University ecologists, including Dr. Zoe Getman-Pickering pictured with Grace (photo credit: Chris Linder). Grace is studying Brood X impacts on Maryland food webs.
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Madhvi -- ahem -- Dr. Venkatraman defended and filed her dissertation: "What makes a successful invader? Population genomics and adaptation in the invasive Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus)"
Dr. Venkatraman was awarded a prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology to continue her research in this system, collaborating with Dr. Marty Martin at the University of South Florida and Dr. Rob Fleischer at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics at the National Zoo.
Dr. Venkatraman was awarded a prestigious NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology to continue her research in this system, collaborating with Dr. Marty Martin at the University of South Florida and Dr. Rob Fleischer at the Smithsonian Center for Conservation Genomics at the National Zoo.
Fig. from Venkatraman et al. 2021 Genome Biology and Evolution doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab063
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We are pleased to welcome Ángela Soto Sáenz as a Masters candidate in Entomology. Her arrival from Costa Rica was delayed from August 2020 to January 2021 because of the COVID-19 crisis. Ange, we appreciate your patience and perseverence!
Ángela is interested in biological control and landscape management to attract natural enemies of invasive insects.
Ángela is interested in biological control and landscape management to attract natural enemies of invasive insects.
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Dr. Tielens will use NEXRAD atmospheric radar with data from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to study aerial feeding and population change of purple martins, tree swallows, and Mexican free-tailed bats.
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Mayda Nathan successfully defended her dissertation, "Plant-insect interactions in a shifting coastal ecosystem: Avicennia germinans and its associated arthropods."
Dr. Nathan seeks opportunities in science policy. Congratulations & best of luck in all your future endeavors, wherever these may take you!
Dr. Nathan seeks opportunities in science policy. Congratulations & best of luck in all your future endeavors, wherever these may take you!
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Graduate Research Fellowship Program Award goes to 2 Gruner Alum! THE NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. The awardees are:
Lily Durkee (B.S. ’18, biological sciences) with Gruner Lab, now MS student at Colorado State University.
Kristin Jayd (B.S. '19, Environmental Science and Policy) starting entomology grad program in fall 2020 w/ Burghardt Lab. Her current research focus is on parasitoids and their relationships, and how tree diversity shapes them.
Lily Durkee (B.S. ’18, biological sciences) with Gruner Lab, now MS student at Colorado State University.
Kristin Jayd (B.S. '19, Environmental Science and Policy) starting entomology grad program in fall 2020 w/ Burghardt Lab. Her current research focus is on parasitoids and their relationships, and how tree diversity shapes them.