Please join us in congratulating the following CALS faculty and staff who were recognized on April 6 at the UF Faculty Awards Reception. 

Dr. Rebecca Baldwin: Undergraduate Faculty Advising/Mentor Award

Dr. Andrea Lucky: Undergraduate Teaching Award

Fulbright News

Two of our scholars have been awarded the Fulbright grant for 2014-2015. The Fulbright grant is awarded through the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

Dr. James P. Cuda was awarded the grant to work on a field impact study of Calophya psyllids on the Brazilian peppertree during his time at the University of Blumenau, Santa Catarina in Blumenau, Brazil. “I'm absolutely stunned­. I was notified on Christmas Eve, what a great present!” expressed Dr. Cuda when he received news he was a grant recipient. “The field study in Brazil will give us some real insight into what impact the psyllids will have on Brazilian peppertree when they are released in Florida,” stated Dr. Cuda in regards to what he hopes to accomplish after completing the study.

Dr. Phil Lounibos will also travel to the southern hemisphere thanks to his Fulbright award. He was awarded a grant to establish close collaborative links, and provide public and scientific seminars on the important field of invasive mosquitoes in Cairns and Brisbane, Australia. The program will allow him to engage with leading Queensland researchers in the field of mosquito control. “I hope to cross international borders to share new findings and knowledge that may contribute to public well being and decreased health risks,” stated Dr. Lounibos. Professor Lounibos is an entomology professor at UF/IFAS’ Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory (FMEL) in Vero Beach, Florida.

Almost 20 years after the introduction of Sentricon® in the market, Dr. Nan-Yao Su from the FLREC was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame! Sentricon® revolutionized termite colony elimination systems and has protected millions of structures through a safer and greener approach to termite control.

Dr. Christine W. Miller and four graduate students are teaching a new course this summer that is specifically for undergraduate students working in research labs on the topics of ecology, evolution, or behavior. Students will be learning presentation skills, about how their research fits within a broader context, and how science itself fits within our society and world. If you have student researchers who might be interested in joining us, please have them email Dr. Miller.

Dr. Christine W. Miller received a UFIC International Faculty Development Grant in March 2015. She will use it to travel to Australia this summer for an invited symposium presentation on the topic of Costs and Conflicts in Reproduction at Behaviour 2015: The International Ethological Conference. After the conference, she will travel north in Queensland to find tropical coreid species for a new project on insect weapon use and diversity.

A note from Dr. John Capinera

~Thanks to those of you who attended my retirement reception on February 17. The event, held at the Florida Museum of Natural History, went entirely too quickly, and though I tried to thank everyone who attended, I’m sure I missed a few of you due to the number of attendees.

I hope that you agree that the venue and refreshments were delightful, and the formal program mercifully short. The organizing committee did a wonderful job. I especially thank Clay Scherer, Glinda Burnett, Jane Medley, Dr. Faith Oi, and Dr. Jaret Daniels for their efforts in coordinating the event.

My 28-year tenure as department chair has been eventful and rewarding. I hope that I will be remembered for the positive outcomes during this period, though good things happen mostly when faculty and staff work together toward a common goal. Certainly many of the highlights of the past years (e.g., student enrollment increases, development of Distance Education programs, increased student endowments, increased faculty endowments, improved infrastructure for extension programs) reflect cooperative endeavors. Going forward, I hope that the Department can unite behind the new department chair to move the program to an even higher level of success.

~Dr. John Capinera

Dr. Cory Stanley-Stahr’s research was featured in two short videos filmed for the Florida Museum of Natural History. The videos are Explore Research: Specialty Crop Pollinators and Why Science: Specialty Crop Pollinators.

ABOVE: We would like to welcome Josh Gromoll to the Department. Josh has taken over for Steve Lasley who retired in March. Josh arrived on March 27th and his son Paul arrived on March 30th. When you get time please stop by Steve's old office and introduce yourself to Josh. We hope you will understand if he looks a little sleepy.

The staff and students at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity have been planting butterfly gardens at local schools for over a year. The project can use your support. Click here for more information.

The American Chemical Society recognized Dr. Robert Vander Meer (a courtesy faculty member in our department) for his 50 years as a member. While serving in the Peace Corps (1972-1976) as Lecturer in Chemistry in The School of Natural Resources, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands, Vander Meer nurtured many of his first year class through to graduation four years later. During this time he exposed some of them to research as his assistants and for the majority of those interested in chemistry Dr. Vander Meer started the first American Chemical Society Student Chapter outside of the United States.

Dr. James P. Cuda was a member of an Extension team that won the Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals National Innovative Program Award. The Extension program that won the award was titled "Invasive Tropical Soda Apple Biological Control Extension Program for Ranches in St Lucie County, FL."   Dr. William Overholt was the team leader.

Congratulations to Dr. Jim Maruniak for being named Club Advisor of the Year from the Student Activities Involvement Team. Dr. Maruniak has advised the Virology Club since 1998. Other nominations from our department's Entomology Club included Stefani Harrison as Club Member of the Year, Kristen Donovan as Club Officer of the Year, Dr.  Rebecca Baldwin as Club Advisor of the Year and BugFest as Event of the Year. The awards ceremony was April 9th in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom and had a masquerade theme.

In March, Dr. Roberto Pereira took a 2-week trip (Mar 13 to Mar 28) to Brazil where he participated in the following activities:

Mariah Baggio’s defense (Mariah stayed for 6 months in our lab here at UF through the program Science Without Borders - Ciência Sem Fronteiras, that Brazil has to encourage researchers to get experience outside of the country), Dr. Roberto Pereira's participation in the defense was as an outside member of her defense committee. Ph.D. defense committees at the University of the State of São Paulo (UNESP)-Jaboticabal, where Mariah got her degree, are required to have two invited members from outside the university + two from the department + the student advisor.

Presented the opening lecture of the VI Course in Domisanitary Treatments (VI Curso de Tratamento Domissanitário), a biannual meeting promoted by the UNESP- Jaboticabal for folks involved in the Pest Management Industry in Brazil. The lecture was entitled “Research and Development of Techniques for Urban Pest Management” in which he discussed the education and research we do here at UF.

Presented two sections of a 2-hour short course on Pest Ant Biology and Identification as part of the VI Curso de Tratamento Domissanitário.

Offered a 30 hour graduate-level course on Urban Entomology including lectures on pest ants, cockroaches, termites, flies, bed bugs and their control. This was the second time Dr. Roberto Pereira taught this course at UNESP. Mariah Baggio helped with a couple of lectures, and they had five registered students.

Please join us in congratulating the following Entomology and Nematology majors and minors who have been awarded a University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Department Travel Scholarship for 2015.

Funds for this scholarship are made available through donations from faculty members and former faculty members who wish to promote undergraduate research. The fund is an endowment known as the Book Fund Scholarship.

• Ms. Stefani Harrison  - $400 for travel to work with type specimens at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
• Mr. Mason Russo - $400 for study abroad in New Zealand (Sustaining Humans and their Environments).
• Ms. Johnalyn Gordon - $400 for travel to Arizona as a field assistant for a butterfly research project.
• Mr. Grayson McWhorter - $200 for travel to the Florida Entomological Society meeting to present undergraduate research in evolutionary ecology.

ABOVE: Over spring break Dr. Billy Crow took the Field Plant Nematology class on a 1-week field trip focused on careers in the Agrichemical Industry. They visited the research facilities of DuPont Crop Protection in Newark Delaware, the U.S. research facilities of Syngenta Crop Protection in Greensboro and Raleigh NC, the U.S. research facilities of Bayer CropSciences in Morrisville and Raleigh NC, the U.S. research facilities of BASF in Raleigh NC, and the U.S. headquarters of Adama in Raleigh NC.

The students learned about all aspects of crop protection including pesticide discovery, pesticide development, gene discovery, biotech, formulation, packaging, seed treatment, environmental fate, patents, and marketing. They met with potential employers, including CEO's who gave them advice on career preparation, CV writing, and interviewing. They also were very well hosted and well fed by the sponsors.

Congratulations to Ms. María Cristina Carrasquilla, Entomology and Nematology Ph.D. student at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory for winning first prize in the student research competition of the American Mosquito Control Association. Her talk entitled "Sterilization without insemination of Aedes aegypti by invasive Aedes albopictus" won the annual Gerald Hollandsworth prize that includes a $2,000 cash award. Maria Cristina is co-advised by Dr. L. Philip Lounibos and Dr. Jorge R. Rey of FMEL.

Congratulations to Ms. Maria Fernanda Checa Villafuerte, doctoral candidate, who was recognized at The 18th Annual Women’s History Month Award Celebration. Maria was one of 8 finalists for the two graduate student awards presented by the UF Association for Academic Women.

ABOVE: Congratulations to Ms. Casey Parker, M.S. student in Entomology and Nematology, for bringing home the Grand Prize at the One World event sponsored by Syngenta and the Challenge 2050 Project. Casey received a $1500 award for her presentation on a novel mosquito trap that has the potential to dramatically reduce transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

The Miller Lab is proud to host an excellent team of six undergraduate researchers for the summer. Among these students, M. Grayson McWhorter is embarking on independent study as part of the UF University Scholars Program, Jamie Capps is working as part of the UF/IFAS Summer Internship Program, and Tyler Herrington is joining us as part of the UF-HHMI Science for Life intramural research program. The students will all be directly mentored by graduate students in the lab and Dr. Christine W. Miller.

Ms. Brittany Campbell won first place in the scientific poster competition at PestEx 2015, held by the British Pest Control Association in London, March 25th-26th, 2015. Her poster was titled "Insecticide resistance in bed bug, Cimex lectularius, eggs and first instars."

Mr. Eutychus Kariuki, a Ph.D. student in the laboratory of Dr. James P. Cuda, attended the 2015 College of Agriculture and Food Sciences Research Forum held at Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, 31 March.  Mr. Kariuki was the First Place Winner for a Graduate Student Oral Presentation titled "Host specificity of a potential hydrilla biological control agent, Cricotopus lebetis Sublette (Diptera: Chironomidae), in Lakes Rowell and Istokpoga."

ABOVE: Mr. Mike Bentley was awarded Honorable Mention for his photo “Afternoon Drink” in the Elegance of Science Art Contest organized by the Marston Science Library and the Florida Museum of Natural History. The Elegance of Science Art Contest emphasizes and facilitates the link between artistic and scientific perceptions of reality. His submission along with the other winners can be viewed online.

From the Outreach Coordinator