NEWSLETTER
CONGRATULATIONS
A New Addition On December 27, 1997 Nancy Sanders gave birth to Clay Lane Sanders bringing a new addition to the Entomology and Nematology extended family. Clay was 6.5 pounds and 17 inches long at birth, and after a brief stay with the hospital staff he is now at home along with his mother. Nancy is doing fine and will be taking two months off to spend some time with Clay.
Dr. James P. Cuda was invited to serve as a member of the Steering Committee for the Natural Resources Forum “Linkages in Ecosystem Science, Management and Restoration,” to be held at the Radisson Hotel, Gainesville June 9-10, 1998. The purpose of this conference is to emphasize solutions through linkages and will focus on bringing together people within agencies and institutions to study, manage, and restore natural resources, especially ecosystems and ecosystem processes.
The following students graduated in December 1997 receiving their Ph. D. degree: Tom Dykstra, Denise Johanowicz, Enrique Perez, and Andrei Sourakov. Additionally, Margaret (Peggy) Johnson, and Dina Richman graduated with their Masters of Science degree. The entire department extends our congratulations to the new graduates!
The Department of Entomology and Nematology has nominated two recent graduates for the IFAS Excellence for Graduate Research Award. Denise Johanowicz was nominated in the Best Dissertation category and Van Sherwood won the nomination for the best thesis within the department. Their publications will compete with others within IFAS and the winners will receive a plaque and a check for $1000 and $600 for the best dissertation and best thesis respectively. We wish both of them, and their major professors, luck in the IFAS competition.
ESA at Opryland
Dr. James P. Cuda attended the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America at Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee, 14-18 December. He organized and moderated an informal conference for the International Organization for Biological Control, Nearctic Regional Section, Biological Control of Weeds Working Group. Dr. Cuda also served as a moderator for the section Cd Student Paper Competition.
Tom Fasulo and Skip Choate co-authored a 30-minute invited presentation on electronic knowledgebases, computer-verified training tutorials and their WWW sites at the ESA meetings.
Congratulations to Hugo Aguilar for receiving an award for Best Paper by a Graduate Student by the Acarological Society of America. His presentation entitled “Tydeidae associated with citrus in Florida” was part of the ASA student paper competition during the ESA National Meetings. The competition was tough this year, and he did an outstanding job!
Rejane R. Moraes won honorable mention for sections Cb, Cc, Ce for her poster presentation entitled “Baculovirus persistence and movement: Molecular techniques for detection of Anticarsia gemmatalis nucleopolyhedrosisvirus in soil.” The poster was co-authored by Dr. James Maruniak, and Dr. Joseph Funderburk.
Juan A. Villanueva-Jiménez won the Presidential Award first prize for his poster presentation entitled “Relative toxicity of pesticides to the citrus leafminer and its parasitoid Ageniaspis citricola.” The poster was co-authored by Dr. Marjorie Hoy. Juan’s poster is now on display outside room 3307, and if anybody wants to review the judging sheets, feel free to ask.
Chris Tipping presented a paper entitled, “A new parasitic species is an important natural enemy of tobacco thrips in peanuts” in the student competition subsection Ca (Biological Control).
In our thoughts
On Wednesday January 7, Dr. John Strayer suffered a mild heart attack and was hospitalized for observation. He is now at home recuperating and plans to return soon safe and healthy.
Departmental Christmas party
The party was held at the Austin Carey forest on December 6 and was a smashing success. The food was delicious, the entertainment was unique and everyone had a good time. Dini Miller and Tim McCoy performed an adaptation of “The Night Before Christmas” which included a dung-slinging “Scarabeid Santa Claus.” Haze Brown and Tim Robson performed Christmas carols on electric bass guitars, and the night was made complete with a visit from the vertebrate Santa Claus, Greg McDermott. Unconfirmed reports claim the two Santas squared off in a wrestling match after the party and Scarabeid Santa was crushed. The results of the Christmas contests were announced and the winners were: Ornament contest winners: Elke Fulton (1st), John Hewlett (2nd), and Yasmin Cardoza (3rd); Cookie contest winners: Lane Selman (1st), Paul Rupert (2nd), and Dina Richman and Dorota Porazinska (shared 3rd). The winner of the M&M contest was Dr. Robert Dunn. His guess of 976 M&Ms was the closest to the actual total of 930.
PUBLICATIONS
Chen, Z. X., and D. W. Dickson. 1997. Estimating incidence of attachment of (Pasteuria penetrans) endospores to Meloidogyne spp. with tally thresholds. Journal of Nematology 29:289-295.
Byrd, J.H. (January 1998). Secondary screwworm, Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-22. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/secondary_screwworm.htm
Byrd, J.H. (January 1998). Hairy maggot blow fly, Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-23. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/hairy_maggot_blow_fly.htm
Gahlhoff, J. (December 1997). Black carpet beetle, Attagenus unicolor (Brahm). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-18. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/fabric/black_carpet_beetle.htm
Gahlhoff, J. (December 1997). Furniture carpet beetle, Anthrenus flavipus (LeConte). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-19. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/fabric/furniture_carpet_beetle.htm
Sanchez-Arroyo, H. (December 1997). Common cattle grub, Hypoderma lineatum (Villers). UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-20. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/livestock/cattle_grub.htm
Selman, L. (January 1998). Papaya fruit fly, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-21. http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/fruit/tropical/papaya_fruit_fly.htm
WWW Citations Faculty and students who contribute publications to Featured Creatures should use the above format when referencing WWW files or sites. The proper listing of electronic citations is a new experience for many publications.
UPCOMING EVENTS
ENSO meeting On Tuesday January 20, ENSO will have its first meeting of 1998. It will be held in one of the conference rooms at 5:30PM so undergraduates may more easily attend. We will discuss activities for this semester and as always refreshments will be provided. So bring your appetite, bring your ideas, and bring your enthusiasm, because more people mean more possibilities.
So what’s bugging you? The Southeast Urban Pest Management Conference at the University of Florida has been rescheduled for May 3-6, 1998. For complete information on registration fees, training (GHP, L&O, Termites, Fumigation, and Core), CEUs, etc., see the file posted on the University of Florida’s PEST ALERT WWW site. Pest Alert is available on the WWW at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/
Employability Seminar- Thursday, February 12th
If you are a student in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, you cannot afford to miss this seminar. A panel of distinguished experts will discuss their experiences and perspectives on seeking employment after graduate education. The forum will allow each panelist 10 minutes to discuss various aspects of the job search process. Then the floor will be opened for questions from the audience. Panelists will include: Dr. Marjorie Hoy- will discuss how academic candidates enhance or sabotage themselves during the interview process. Dr. John Zenger- will discuss how he prepared for the application and interview process in our department. Lee Bloomcamp (Zeneca Professional Products, Technical sales Lead)- will discuss how to approach and negotiate with employers for positions in industry. Dr. Herb Oberlander (Center Director USDA-ARS CMAVE)- will discuss the employment structure and application requirements for research positions with the United States government. Come prepared with all of your questions. This may be the only chance you have to ask specific questions about expected salaries (what will be offered), negotiating salaries (how much can you ask for), stalling employers while waiting for alternative offers, evaluating your own employability, and preparing for interviews. The panel discussion is expected to run the full seminar period so refreshments will be served at 3:15 PM and we will begin promptly at 3:30.
It is all about exposure The Graduate Student Council cordially invites all graduate students to participate in the Graduate Student Forum. The purpose of this one-day symposium is to provide an opportunity for graduate students to present a paper, poster, or creative endeavor (old or new) and thus share new ideas from a wide range of disciplines. All submissions are judged and cash prizes will be awarded. It will be held at the Reitz Union April 3, 1998. Abstracts are due by February 27.
JOB OPPORTUNITY
A position has become available for an Army Reserve entomologist in a small unit here in Gainesville. The Army wants someone with a Masters or Ph. D.
DISAPPEARANCES CONTINUE
Two unbound issues of the Journal of Chemical Ecology (September and November 1997) are missing from the departmental reading room. Please return them to the reading room immediately so that they can be bound. If the issues are not returned, current issues of the journal will not be placed in the reading room until they can be bound for security. Whoever has the journals, please don’t jeopardize other people’s access to this valuable resource.
PEST ALERT
As of January 1, 1998, Pest Alert is no longer available through the OnLine Database on the UF/IFAS “VAX.” Instead, individuals interested in timely announcement of new and reoccurring pest problems in entomology, nematology and plant pathology can access Pest Alert on the World Wide Web at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/pestalert/
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Rumor has it that Clay Scherer (Ph.D student with Dr. Koehler) has been spending a couple mornings a week at various elementary schools around Alachua County. No, Clay is not looking for a date, he has been assisting school nurses with head lice inspections. Apparently head lice have become a major pest in our schools over the last decade as lice develop resistance to the most common treatments. As part of his School IPM project Clay is working with local school officials to develop alternative treatments for head lice.
Newsletter Listserv
In an attempt to make the newsletter more accessible it is now available on a listserv. This allows people to sign up to receive the electronic version easily and automatically. Simply send e-mail to listserv@lists.ufl.edu and in the text of the message type
Turn off any signature file, if you have one. You will receive instructions for confirming your subscription, how to unsubscribe, and further information on the rules for this listserv.
The next newsletter will be published Thursday, February 19. Deadline for contributions is Monday, February 16.
This version of the newsletter is edited and published for the Web by Tim McCoy.
Hardcopy Editor: Tim McCoy
January 1998. Updated March 2003.