Election as Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) acknowledges outstanding contributions to entomology. Dr. Blair Siegfried has established an internationally recognized program in evolution and management of insecticide resistance and the environmental impacts of pesticide use.

ABOVE: Dr. Blair Siegfried, professor and chair of the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department, has been elected as a 2019 ESA Fellow!

The votes are in and Dr. Faith Oi is the new Entomological Society of America (ESA) Treasurer! Dr. Oi has actively and continually served ESA at the branch, section, and national levels since 1995. Leadership capacities include two terms on the ESA finance committee (2008-2014); Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Section president (2015), which also included participation in the program planning committee; and Southeastern Branch nominations chair (2016). She currently chairs ESA's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is MUVE's representative on this committee.

Top Photo Details: Two of our faculty received awards at the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Teaching Enhancement Symposium on August 13th. Dr. Jennifer Gillett-Kaufman received a 2018-2019 Innovation in Teaching Award. Dr. Andrea Lucky received the 2018-2019 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award. Dr. Lucky’s engagement in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning focuses on evaluating and identifying educational practices that improve learning outcomes for students. Her research in entomology education has been published in education and science communication journals, including:

• Lucky A., Branham M, Atchison R. 2019. Collections-based education by distance and face-to-face: Learning outcomes and academic dishonesty. Journal of Science Education Technology. 28: 414-428.
  
  
• Vitone T, Stofer K, Steininger MS, Hulcr J, Dunn RR, Lucky A. 2016. School of ants goes to college: Integrating citizen science into the general education classroom increases engagement with science. Journal of Science Communication. 15. 10.22323/2.15010203.

Dr. Lorena Lopez has joined the Liburd Lab as a new Post Doctorial Associate. Please welcome Dr. Lopez!

Dr. James P. Cuda attended the 20th Annual CALS Teaching Enhancement Symposium held at the UF Hilton Conference Center on August 13th.

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded 2019-20 CALS scholarships for academic excellence!

Graduate

• A.S. Herlong, Sr. Scholarship Fund, $2,000 Alexander Orfinger
• William C. and Bertha M. Cornett Fellowship, $1,500 Octavio Menocal
• A.S. Herlong, Sr. Scholarship Fund, $2,000 Kristin Sloyer
• William C. and Bertha M. Cornett Fellowship, $1,500 Shova Mishra

Undergraduate

• Alto and Patrecia Straughn Scholarship, $ 1,000 Tanner Felbinger
• Marion County Farm Bureau Scholarship, $1,000 Kaylin Kleckner
• CALS Scholarship, $1,000 Ashley Morris
• Florida Rural Rehabilitation Corporation Scholarship, $1,000 Elise Pounders
• Orange County Farm Bureau Scholarship, $1,000 Rachel Shepherd

This fall, we welcome our new graduate students to the department!

New doctoral students are:
At the Balm REC—Gagandeep Kaur
In Gainesville—Kaitlin Gattoni, Parr McQueen, Leo Ohyama, and Samantha Pryer
At the Lake Alfred REC—David Olabiyi
At the Milton REC—Izailda Barbosa dos Santos

Our new masters students are:
At the Balm REC—Joseph Montemayor
At the Belle Glade REC—Eric Schwan Resende
At the Ft. Lauderdale REC—Alvin Puzio
In Gainesville—Shannon Barry, Keiran Hyte, Purity Muthomi Jean Solon Rosulme, VR Seagal, and Runhang Shu
At the Homestead REC—Marielle de Moraes Berto
At the Lake Alfred REC—Kristen Gaines
At the Quincy REC—Rowda Altamimi
At the Vero Beach REC—Sierra Schluep

Our new masters students who will be earning their degrees as distance students:
Houston Bates, Marta Diaz Garcia, and Hannah Romo.

Ms. Jillian Skairus, a sophomore in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences majoring in Biology, joined the laboratory of Dr. James P. Cuda as a volunteer on  August 23rd. Jillian will be involved in mass rearing the Brazilian peppertree weevil and will help to maintain our plant nursery. 

Congratulations to Octavio Menocal, a Ph.D. student in the Carrillo Lab at the Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC) in Homestead. Octavio was awarded one of the 2019-2020 CALS scholarships. He is the recipient of the William C. and Bertha M. Cornett Fellowship.

ABOVE: Izailda dos Santos Barbosa is a new Ph.D. student at the West Florida Research and Education Center. She has just graduated from Auburn University and will be working with Dr. Silvana Paula-Moraes.

From the Outreach Coordinator

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.