A note from Dr. Siegfried

I hope that everyone had a safe and restful winter break. I have always looked forward to winter break but get anxious to return to work when I am away for too long. The cold weather in Nebraska and Pennsylvania, where most of my family resides, has made me especially grateful for my decision to not travel over break.  

Many positive things have happened in the last year (e.g., ground-breaking for the Honey Bee Research and Extension Lab, five new faculty joined the department, and a number of significant recognitions were received by our faculty). Another important event was the recent contribution from Judy and Fred Donaldson to support student scholarships. 

ABOVE: Fred Donaldson graduated in 1959 majoring in Entomology. He was first employed by the State Plant Board (now the Division of Plant Industry) as a laboratory technician working primarily in identification of plant parasitic nematodes. After six years of laboratory work, in 1966 he decided to go into the farm pesticide business. He worked for a number of companies before he joined the Bayer Agricultural Chemical Company, where he worked in Louisiana and Mississippi for 25 years. Fred retired in 1999 and returned to his family farm near Waldo, FL. After Fred’s passing in June of last year, we were contacted by his wife, Judy, about their wish to support the department. 

I clearly remember seeing the plaques outside our classroom during my interview and was impressed by the number of scholarships that we award to our students. Visitors from other departments both on- and off- campus, have expressed envy of these scholarships, and we are extremely fortunate to have generous donors. The Donaldson’s are the latest example of this generosity that I hope will some day, require another wall to display the students that are supported.

Happy New Year,
~Dr. Blair Siegfried

Give Back
Want to support the UF Entomology & Nematology Department? Consider making an online gift today! Questions can be directed to Christy Chiarelli at (352) 392-1975 or ccw@ufl.edu.

Dr. James P. Cuda was selected by the Southern Region IPM Center to receive the 2017 Friends of IPM Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is given to individuals in recognition of achievement and involvement in the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) during their professional career. The award recognizes Dr. Cuda’s contributions to IPM implementation in Florida and beyond and his leadership in the IPM community for several decades. The award ceremony will be held at either the 2018 SEB-ESA meeting in Orlando, FL or the 9th International IPM Symposium in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Adam Dale was selected to receive the 2018 Friends of Southern Region IPM - Future Leader Award, which is awarded annually by the USDA-NIFA Southern IPM Center. Dr. Dale will be presented with the award at the ESA Southeastern Branch meeting in Orlando, FL in March.

Dr. Jennifer Weeks was selected to participate in the Roche Teaching Scholars Program. Dr. Weeks is one of seven faculty members from across CALS selected to participate in the inaugural class of the Roche Teaching Scholars Program, a competitive academic fellowship geared toward toward enhancing the learning experience for CALS students by developing dynamic teaching leaders. As part of the program, Dr. Weeks will will engage in a year-long program that includes professional development sessions, course development and a department-level project. 

Dr. Gregg Nuessly recently traveled to the World Food Prize meetings in Iowa as part of an IFAS team that rallied international attention to the threat of the fall armyworm in Africa. Dr. Payne published this column on the importance of Dr. Nuessly’s work.

Dr. Virendra Gupta, a retired professor from our department, died on December 24th in Gainesville at the age of 85.

Last December the following students graduated from the Department!

Ph.D. students: Dr. Eutychus Kariuki, Dr. Chase Kimmel, Dr. Kevin Langdon, Dr. Ashley Mortensen, Dr. Elena Ortiz, Dr. Lawrence Reeves, and Dr. Kylie Zirbel.

MS students: Lisbeth Espinoza, Ryan Fessenden, Dana Johnson, Zulaikha Mazlan, Ariane McCorquodale, and Darren Van Steenwyk.

BS students: Katherine Arguez, Rebecca Perry, Tyler Shaw, Gabrielle Steele, and Joshua Ore.

We are very proud of our graduates!

Kubra Khan, an undergraduate student from Dr. Adam Wong's lab, was selected as the UF Emerging Scholar and will receive a generous scholarship to support her research for two semesters.

Matthew Borden, DPM and M.S. graduate student in the Dale Lab, was selected to receive a 2018 Florida Fertilizer and Agrochemical Association (FFAA) graduate student scholarship in the amount of $2,500.

On December 20th, Oliver Keller gave an online presentation about general entomology and fireflies to 4th graders in Tuckerton, NJ via a new outreach initiative called Skype a Scientist.

From the Outreach Coordinator

Here are our events from December:

• December 4th – STEM Night at Stephen Foster Elementary – Nicholas Martin
• December 12th – Healthy Learning Academy – Madison Gibbony and Laurel Lietzenmayer
• December 14th – Fort White Elementary – Sara Alvarez, Laurel Lietzenmayer, and Eleanor Phillips

Upcoming Events

• January 18th – Science Night at Littlewood Elementary
• January 20th – 4-H Insectathon at Steinmetz Hall
• January 23rd – Alachua County eSchool
• January 26th – Putnam County 4-H
  

ABOVE: Undergraduate Sara Alvarez showing off a Madagascar hissing cockroach to 4th graders at Fort White Elementary.

The live critters are always a hit with children and adults alike. The critters are available for you to check out should you be leading an outreach event. 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. Please be sure to contact us and review the protocol on transporting and handling the critters if you are not already familiar with it. If you lead an outreach, be sure to fill out a documentation form so your event can be included in the newsletter and we can log all outreach events.