Now we know why it was so hard to find a nematologist May 3rd to 9th. They were all in South Africa. The nematologists of South Africa hosted the 6th International Congress of Nematologists. There were over 500 in attendance, with nematologists coming from all parts of the world.

Those attending from Florida included faculty Dr. Don W. Dickson, Dr. William Crow, Dr. Larry Duncan, Dr. Joe Noling, Dr. Robin Giblin Davis, Dr. Janete Brito, Dr. Tesfa Mengistu, post doctorate Dr. Maria Mendes, and graduate students Silvia Vau, Kanan Kutsuwa, Tina Gu, and Richard Baidoo.

Dr. Jim Maruniak took the Society for Viral Studies (aka, Virology Club) to Lima, Peru, for the annual medically oriented trip. The eight students and Maruniak were in Peru from May 3rd to May 13th. They visited the Cayetano Heredia Hospital and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia medical school. 

They watched physicians performing and viewing diagnostic microbiology tests early in the morning before going to visit their patients. Students observed doctors and medical students treating patients. They saw many different types of parasites in the parasitology laboratory, which also had preserved samples of poisonous spiders and Reduviidae, which are Chagas disease vectors.

At the medical school they attended lectures in Spanish about HIV and immunology. The medical students watch video lectures before coming to class (like distance education); then in class the medical professor, without PowerPoint presentations, asked questions to most of the students.

ABOVE: Their trip included taking a bus and train to Cusco and Machu Picchu. The Inca ruins are breath taking, especially the part where Dr. Maruniak had to follow the students up the Inca trail to 8,900 feet. 

Dr. Phil Kaufman and a team of researchers visited numerous cities and agricultural facilities across China as a part of the USDA, Foreign Agriculture Service, Scientific Cooperative Exchange Program, which also was sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.

Team members included Drs. Jerry Hogsette (USDA-ARS-CMAVE, Gainesville, FL), Andrew Li (USDA-ARS-IIBBC, Beltsville, MD) and Ping Hu (Auburn University). During the visit, the team met with numerous colleagues from several Chinese universities, the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, animal disease control centers, the Sino American Biological Control Laboratory and dairy producers to discuss livestock pest management challenges in China and the potential to establish future collaborations. During the 14-day trip, the team traveled to the cities of Beijing, Hohhot (Inner Mongolia autonomous region), Shanghai and Haikou (Hainan province).

ABOVE: Dr. Andrew Li (2nd from left), Dr. Ping Hu (4th from left) and Dr. Phil Kaufman and Dr. Jerry Hogsette (far right) met with Dr. Baoliang Pan (far left) of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Chinese Agricultural University-Beijing and management staff of the University's dairy research unit located north of Beijing, China. Also pictured is Ms. Hu Rong (3rd from right), Program Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture. Members who toured animal rearing facilities are wearing biosecurity plastic booties, one of several measures taken to protect the dairy cattle from outside pathogens.

Dr. Christine W. Miller served as a keynote speaker for the 2014 Symposium in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Kentucky on May 15, 2014. The Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, which puts on the symposium, is a joint venture between the Entomology, Psychology, and Biology Departments at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Christine Miller's photograph of the cactus bug, Chelinidea vittiger (Hemiptera: Coreidae) is featured on the June 2014 cover of the journal Ecology.

Dr. Akito Kawahara and Nick Homziak traveled to French Guiana in May 2014 to study bat-moth interactions.

The UF/IFAS Brazilian peppertree biological control program was featured in the ESA’s Newsletter Entomology Today.

A new Insect Photo Gallery CD-ROM titled “Beneficial Arthropods, Parasitoids” was recently completed and will be distributed to all UF/IFAS County Extension Offices. The purpose of the CD is to provide Extension faculty with high-quality images of common parasitoids and their hosts for use in their presentations and publications. This was a collaborative effort by departmental faculty/staff and current/former students.  

Nematology students Silvia Vau and Tina Gu both won 2nd place in the Best Student Paper presentations at the 6th International Congress of Nematologists in South Africa. Congratulations to them for doing such a great job representing our program!

Dr. Lacey Jenson (Ph.D. December, 2013, Dr. Jeff Bloomquist, major professor) was designated as one of three finalists for the Young Investigator Award by the Agrochemicals Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). She will present her research at a symposium at the ACS national meeting in San Francisco this coming August, and part of the award is $1,000 to defray travel expenses. The award winner will be announced after the three finalist seminars are presented. Last year's winner of this award was Dr. Daniel Swale, who completed his doctorate with Dr. Bloomquist in December of 2012.

Lary Reeves traveled to Peru to work on Cyclosa dummy spiders, research being covered by BBC.

Minjia Zhong (Bucholtz High School) received a Mu Theta Alpha grant to study saturniid moths in the Kawahara lab. $2,000; a huge accomplishment for a high school student.

Ms. Julie Baniszewski, an undergraduate student in Dr. Jim Cuda’s lab, was the recipient of the ESA Plant-Insect Ecosystems Undergraduate Student Achievement in Entomology Award. 

Ms. Gabrielle Nease joined the laboratory of Dr. James P. Cuda for the summer (and hopefully beyond). Gabby is a Horticultural Science Major and will be responsible for propagating and maintaining our nursery plants.

From the Outreach Coordinator