Faculty and Staff News

While it is difficult to put into words the disruptions and complexities of dealing with the coronavirus, I also think it is important to put into perspective how much our department has accomplished despite the global pandemic. While some might look at the year as being lost, I believe the department has shown great resilience and continues to serve its stakeholders and students and produce impactful research that is improving the lives of our citizens and increasing our understanding of the complex world we live in.

Our department continues to grow with the addition of new faculty both here in Gainesville and at RECs. Dr. Eric Caragata, Dr. Yoosook Lee and Dr. Brian Giordano joined our faculty at FMEL. Dr. Tololupe Morawo joined our faculty at the IRREC in Fort Pierce as our new insect biocontrol expert, and Dr. Alexandra Revynthi joined the horticultural entomology program at TREC in Homestead. Here in Gainesville, Dr. Phil Hahn (insect ecology) and Dr. Estelle Martin (vector biology) joined our department and Dr. Ted Burgess (veterinary entomology) will be joining us in January. For our new faculty, there has been the added challenge of getting to know people in the midst of lockdown, social distancing and trying to get to know faces that are constantly covered by masks. I know that these new faculty have experienced unprecedented challenges, but also recognize that we continue to hire outstanding people and scientists who have worked to overcome these challenges.

We have seen additional changes in the past year as we celebrate the careers and accomplishments of faculty and staff who have retired. Dr. Catherine Mannion, Dr. Phil Koehler, Dr. Jim Cuda, Dr. Joe Funderburk, Dr. Robin Giblin-Davis and Mr. Nik Hostettler have either retired or will do so at year’s end. We congratulate them on their many years of service and wish them well in their transitions to the next phase of their lives. As has been my experience with many retired faculty members from our department, I am sure that these folks will continue their involvement, and we will get to see them often.

In spite of the pandemic, we have not been idle in the last year. Most of our courses have been offered either on-line or in a hybrid manner to provide students the best possible educational experience under these unusual circumstances. I am grateful for all the investment in distance learning that has taken place over the last two decades and was part of the vision of my predecessor, John Capinera. Because of John’s vision, I am certain that we were better prepared than most in making this conversion. We have also learned to accommodate Extension delivery and outreach programs through online mechanisms or in person meetings at reduced capacity. We have adopted the rules of social distancing, mask wearing, and working to minimize occupancy in our labs. To my knowledge, we have not had a single work-related instance of transmission here in Gainesville, and I am extremely grateful to our faculty, students, postdocs and staff who have made compromises in both their personal and professional lives to keep us moving forward.

The last year has also seen a renewed and committed response to social injustice that has been a big part of our news cycle. I believe that our department under the leadership of Dr. Heather McAuslane and the newly established Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, has made significant strides in developing a framework and strategic plan for addressing these issues for our department. These conversations have not been easy, but they are necessary to our future, and I look forward to implementing recommendations for a more inclusive and welcoming Department and University in the coming year.

Although the pandemic is far from over, I am optimistic and enthusiastic about the coming year. I believe that some of the strategic planning on issues such as invasion sciences, urban pest management and pollinator biology and conservation will bring opportunities for growth, partnership and investment in 2021. We have had a very good year in terms of competitive grant funding, and I am hopeful that we have positioned ourselves for another very successful year around some of these initiatives. Our educational and Extension programs continue to thrive and our efforts to coordinate and advertise our programs seem to be paying off. There will be opportunities to leverage our efforts and successes to develop integrated programs and I am confident that we can be successful. I know that we will have another challenging start to 2021 and as frustrating and difficult as 2020 has been, I believe we are positioned for success.

Winter/semester break has been a part of my entire adult life and a time to be with my family and friends, to rest and renew and to prepare for coming year. This year will be different in many ways, but I hope that we can all find time to reflect on the good fortune that allows us to be part of an academic department, College, and University that recognizes our contributions, that embraces creativity and values our diversity. I will be the first in line to get my vaccination in 2021 and am willing to wait a few more months to see my family and friends. We saved a lot of resources in 2020 since we did not have an alumni reception at the ESA meeting. I am looking forward to a “mask-burning” celebration at the beginning of Fall semester to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished in a time of unprecedented challenge using the money that we saved! I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday season.

-Dr. Blair Siegfried, Professor and Department Chair

Dr. Bryony Bonning was the 2020 recipient of the ESA PBT Recognition Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology. The award was announced at the PBT section networking session during the ESA meeting, during which she presented on “Targeting Hemipterans with Bacillus thuringiensis-derived Pesticidal Proteins”.

ABOVE: Specialty license plate developed by the Florida State Bee Keepers Association! Proceeds from the sales of the plate will be used for Honey Bee research. You can pre-order the plate now here.

Outreach

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ABOVE: Brynn Johnson educating the Jacksonville Garden Club on the importance of “bugs” on November 14th. Photo by J.Standley

Recent Outreach events:

November 14th – Virtual Bug Fest, hosted by the Undergraduate Entomology Club. There was a live bee demo, origami, pinning techniques, insect care, and more.

November 14th – Jacksonville Garden Club in person presentation on the importance of “bugs” to children with the animated volunteer Brynn Johnson who also dressed as a mantis.

November 21st – Girl Scouts of West FL virtual presentation on meeting an entomologist.

Upcoming Outreach events:

December 17 - Alachua County Schools. Melody Bloch volunteered with a virtual presentation to fourth graders.

What’s better than a live show and tell of some really cool arthropods?! Our live petting zoo consists of: tarantulas, scorpions, vinegaroons, bess beetles, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, and native insects when in season. With a short training program, they are available for you to check out should you be leading an outreach event, even if it is virtual. The critters are always popular with both youth and adults and are used as a tool to expose the public to STEM disciplines. We have doubles of our most popular critters, as well as various native insect species depending on the time of year. We have large wood and Plexiglas cages for viewing our native orb weaving spiders. There is one travel cage and one larger static cage. We also have activity kits and lesson plans that are available as well. Please be sure to contact us and review the protocol on transportation and handling of the animals. If you lead an outreach event, be sure to fill out a documentation form so your event can be included in the newsletter and we can log all outreach events. Also note, that volunteering to assist with outreach events will count as departmental service for ENSO travel grants. (Please note that some venues require background checks or additional screening.) If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please email us.

Cheers – Jennifer Standley, Outreach Coordinator.

Getting social!

Use #UFBugs so our department can find and share your social posts easily!

We have several social media sites for the Entomology & Nematology Department. To make them easily searchable, all three (YouTube, Facebook and Twitter) have the same page name: UFEntomology. Please share these links with past students or colleagues who may have an interest in departmental activities.