NEWSLETTER

AWARDS

Eric and Ryan Hewlett participated in the State Science in Orlando in the section of Environmental Science. Eric won 2nd place in the Senior Division, the title of his presentation was "Control of Root Knot Nematode Using Tannin". Ryan won 2nd place in the Junior Division, the title of his presentation was "Use of Hot Peppers to Control Root Knot Nematode". Eric is a senior at Buchholz High School and Ryan is a junior at Fort Clark middle School. The work was conducted in the Nematology laboratory of the department of Ent./Nem. under the direction of Tom Hewlett.

Congratulations to Dr. Philip Koehler for being chosen as the 1996 ENSO Advisor of the Year. Also, congratulations to Dr. James Nation for being chosen the 1996 ENSO Teacher of the Year.

Dr. John Foltz received Special Recognition by the Division of Plant Industry for outstanding achievements in the regulatory profession in Florida agriculture.

THANK YOU From Dini Miller

This year the members of ENSO have had a number of accomplishments. For my final act as president I would like to thank those students who made significant contributions to ENSO and the Department of Entomology and Nematology this year. I thank Corey Lewis and John Petti the hours of labor they contributed to the ENSO fund raising project. We received a total of $3400.00 from SEARS Pest control for eight Cornell drawers of display specimens and a teaching collection of cockroaches and stored products pests. I thank Clay Scherer for his help in coordinating the New Student Orientation program. I also thank those individuals who volunteered to serve as student mentors as part of that program. I thank Enrique Perez for reinstating the department newsletter and doing such a great job with it this year. I thank all those students (also the staff and faculty) who participated in the litter removal project for the Natural Area and Teaching Laboratory. I thank Wayne Grush for coordinating our student outreach program. Wayne has organized numerous tours and educational programs that will have reached over a thousand pre-high school students by the end of May 1996. Wayne has also put together, slide sets and teaching materials that are available to anyone in the department for outreach purposes. I thank Doug Burkett for coordinating our award winning exhibit at the Kanaupaha Spring Garden Festival this year. I also thank all those students who helped in the booth, especially Divina Amalin who I forgot to mention in the last newsletter. I thank Julieta Coulliette for representing ENSO at the Graduate Student Council, Gator EXPO and for a fabulous job of coordinating the Graduate Student Forum. I thank those students who, at Julieta's gentle request, participated in the Graduate Student Forum. ENSO and the Department of Entomology & Nematology was very well represented both in presentations and awards. I thank Jason Byrd for taking on the difficult task of coordinating the department seminar series. Not only did he do a great job with the seminars but also he developed some guidelines which will make the job more manageable in the future. I also thank Van Sherwood for his undying devotion to the seminar coffee. I thank Doug Sieglaff and Robin Goodson for dealing with Cafe ENSO and picking up doughnuts at the crack of dawn. I thank Rejane Moraes, Greg McDermott and Robin Goodson for securing the site for the annual department picnic and of course the food. I also thank Denise Johanowicz and her husband Dave for spending their Saturday night at my house cooking bugs. I thank Clay Scherer and John Cooksey for the beautiful reconstruction of Scott's memorial butterfly garden. It looks great. I also want to thank all those students and faculty who participated in the various weeding assemblies. Finally, I want to thank the ENSO officers, Rejane Moraes, Brett Sojack and Clay Scherer. You have been a great help to me this year. I particularly want to thank Clay Scherer for his energy and willingness. Thank you all for a great year. Be good to Clay.

FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS NEWS

Clay Scherer was selected as a member of the IFAS Ambassador Program for the academic year 1996-1997. This program was created by the College of Agriculture in an effort to spread the word of agriculture to high school seniors and community college students all around the state of Florida. Clay was also selected as a member of the Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Society. Gamma Sigma Delta is the international honorary society of Agriculture and membership is restricted to students and faculty who possess outstanding academic and leadership qualities.

On April 30, 1996, Luke Maginnis Hall was born (7lbs 10oz) to Karen Kilgore, College of Education, and Glenn Hall, Dept. of Entomology and Nematology.

Pauline Lawrence served as a member of the following University of Florida committees: Academic Personnel Board, Graduate Council, Faculty Education Policy Group, University Athletic Board and as an IFAS Rep to the Minority Mentor Program. She also served as a Panel member of the USDA Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program, Washington, D.C.

Pauline Lawrence was invited to present her proposal to the Advisory Council, Florida Dept. of Citrus in Lakeland, Florida. Accompanying members of herMiller, and Marco Toapanta. The title of the proposal was " Developmental Physiology and Mass Rearing Potential of the Egg-Pupal Parasite, Biosteres arisanus for Caribbean Fruit Fly Control".

NEW ENSO OFFICERS

Congratulations to the new ENSO officers for 1996-97: President, Clay Scherer; Vice-President, Marco Toapanta; Treasurer, Yasmin Cardoza; Secretary, Enrique Perez.

BRINGING SCIENCE TO THE SCIENTISTS OF TOMORROW

The Student Outreach Program has been busy with tours and school presentations. On May 8th we guided 18 preschoolers through the Department with stops by Lois' fireants and a visit to the Urban Entomology Lab. On May 9th we handled 120 first graders from High Springs Elementary. Special thanks to Bill Crow and Enrique Perez who did an outstanding job in teaching the kids about the wonders of nematodes. Also Kerry and Rich did a great job in giving the kids a tour of the Butterfly Lab. Dr. Capinera did a very professional job in the teaching lab with slides and demonstrations and Jon Morehouse did a good job showing off our cockroaches. On May 13th Wayne Grush did a presentation to 18 Kindergartners at Prairie Biew Elementary with hissing cockroaches and a pickled bat. On May 14th over 100 6th graders from Fort Clarke Middle School were given a wonderful lecture and discussion session with Dr. Capinera, an ant feeding demonstration with Lois, a Butterfly Lab tour with Rich and Kerry and a cockroach session with Jon Morehouse. There are two more groups scheduled in May; 11 Gainesville Christian Academy 5th graders touring the Department May 20th and a program for 27 2nd graders at Williams Elementary on May 21. In addition Tom Dykstra handled over 200 kindergartners at Wiles Elementary. On April 13th we had about 400 people go through the Department. This was organized by Shannon Gibbs and manned by Greg McDermott, Denise Johanowicz, and Wayne Grush. This was a campus wide open house for the College of Agriculture. Our Department won the award for best exhibit.

BUILDING DEDICATION

On April 12, 1996 the Urban Entomology Laboratory was dedicated in an official ceremony at the Department of Entomology and Nematology. Construction of the building cost about $300,000 and was funded from contributions from S. C. Johnson Wax, MGK Company and the Florida Capital Improvements Trust Fund. The building has four rearing rooms for cockroaches and fleas, a toxicology lab, a biology lab, and a student room. A total of three scientists , eight students, and two technicians work in the laboratory. The dedication ceremony was presided by Dr. John Lombardi, President of the University of Florida. Dr. James Davidson, Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources, recognized the dignitaries in attendance. Dr. John Owens of S. C. Johnson Wax and Dr. Fred Preiss of MGK Company commented on the importance of urban entomology research. The building was dedicated by The Honorable C. B. Daniel, a member of the Board of Regents. Acceptance of the building for the State of Florida was by Mr. Ben Rowe, Special Assistant to the Governor. Mr. Jerry Williams, president of Florida Pest Control Association, accepted the building on behalf of the pest control industry. Dr. John Lombardi accepted the building for the University, and Dr. James Davidson, for IFAS. Dr. Freddie Johnson, acting chairman for the Department of Entomology and Nematology, accepted the building for the faculty and staff. Ms. Dini Miller, Ph.D. student in urban entomology, accepted the building for the students. After the formal ceremony, everyone had refreshments on the patio outside the urban entomology lab. . After lunch, Tom Fasulo presented information on computerized education in urban entomology to the group, Chuck Strong presented information on cockroach control, and Dini Miller talked about monitoring techniques as part of a cockroach management program.

PRESENTATIONS

On April 19th, Charles Strong, Eduardo Moreira, and Thomas Fasulo gave presentations on general household pests to pest control operators at a Florida Pest Control Association sponsored seminar in the Pinellas County Extension office.

On May 1st, John Cooksey, Wayne Grush, and Tom Fasulo gave presentations on general household pests to pest control operators at a seminar at the Clay County Extension Office.

A THANK YOU NOTE From Dr. Jim Nation

I want to sincerely thank the graduate students of ENSO for voting me the Teacher of the Year in Ent./ Nem. for 1996. I know that we have many good teachers in this department who equally well deserve the award, but I am nevertheless grateful that I have it. The plaque with the thought- provoking IMAGINATION statement is going to occupy a very prominent spot on the wall above my desk. I've always been a little surprised that I could be paid to do something that I enjoy as much as teaching. Teaching is hard work if it is done well, and recognition of purpose, hard work, and whatever level of ability I can bring to the job is appreciated. I also teach a course, AGG 2931 Global Environmental Issues, in the Honors program in the spring term. The students in that course are mostly freshmen and sophomores. I am going to be doing more traveling than usual this summer. From May 23 - June 7 I will be in Kenya, Africa, participating in an external review of the research programs of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE); from July 10-July 22 I will be attending a work conference in Beijing, China, sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency; and from about 15 Aug.- Aug. 26 I expect to be in Prague, Czech Republic, attending the meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology.

NEW STUDENTS

The department of Entomology and Nematology welcomes Lane Selman. She will be working on her M.S. program under the supervision of Dr. Freddie Johnson.

GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL

Clay Scherer was elected to serve as the student representative of the Graduate Student Council for the academic years 1996-1998. Clay was also reelected as treasurer for the 1996-1997 academic year. Graduate Student Council, which is funded by the UF student Government, has an annual budget of $40,000. Approximately $25,000 of which directly supports the GSC's Graduate Student Travel Grant Program.

GRANT RECIPIENT

Pauline Lawrence and collaborators E. Harris and R. Bautista, were awarded $30,000 by the Florida Department of Citrus for the proposal "Developmental Physiology and Mass Rearing Potential of the Egg-Pupal Parasite, Biosteres arisanus for Caribbean Fruit Fly Control".

TERMITE POSTER

Drs. Rudi Scheffrahn and Nan-Yao Su have published a two poster set on the identification of Florida's termites. The Ft. Lauderdale REC publications depict alate and soldier characters as well as distribution and flight times. Pat Hope and Jane Medley designed the layout. Copies will be sent to the department for those interested. DowElanco, FMC, and Zeneca provided partial support for the production and printing.

NEW COURSE

Dr. Jerry Stimac will be offering a 2 credit course during summer B on how to develop a plan for sampling field populations of arthropods. The course will meet one afternoon a week. Students will need to have taken Statistics 6166 or its equivalent. For more information please contact Dr. Stimac.

URBAN ENTOMOLOGY TOUR

Dini Miller, Chuck Strong, and Dr. Phil Koehler conducted a series of workshops in Richmond, Va.; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, Pa., and New York City to train and re-tool the pest control industry for least toxic pest control. The workshops were sponsored by Western Termite and Pest Control, one of the major pest control companies located in the eastern part of the U.S. The workshops lasted 8 hours each and concentrated on the use of baits and insect growth regulators for German cockroach control. In order to implement change on a company-wide basis, supervisors, managers, technicians, and regional entomologists were invited to attend. A total of 250 attended the workshops. The tour began on April 30 in Richmond and ended on May 3 in New York. The urban entomology group traveled to each city during evening hours. However, on May 2 the group took a field trip to investigate German cockroach infestations in the casinos in Atlantic City. Chuck was intrigued with the infestations in the craps tables; while Dini spent most of her time inspecting the one-armed bandits. The most interesting restaurant was the Dog House in Wilmington where the foot-long hot-dogs and Philadelphia steak sandwiches are great. In New York, they all cornered the market on bagels, returning to Gainesville with a baker's dozen each.

SEMINAR TAPES

VHS tapes of all the Ent./Nem. seminars are made available to persons interested. Starting with the Feb. 16th seminar through April 24th. They are housed in the reading room and can be viewed on any VHS/VCR machine. There is no sign out sheet but are expected to be returned in a reasonable amount of time. For more information contact Clay Scherer at ext.209.

BRAZILIAN WEB SITE

The Sociedade Entomologica do Brasil now has its own web site. It was pointed from the Potpourri section of our home page. The URL for the site is: http://www.seb.org.br

A hard copy of this newsletter is given to department members in Building 970 only. All others can obtain an electronic subscription by joining the listserv

The next newsletter will be published Monday, June 17. Deadline for contributions is Wednesday, June 12.

Editor: Enrique Perez

This version of the newsletter is published for the Web by Tim McCoy.

May 1996. Updated March 2003.