NEWSLETTER

CONGRATULATIONS

Marjorie A. Hoy was honored by the Gulf Citrus Growers Association on August 27, 1997 at their meeting in Fort Meyers. An award was presented to Dr. Hoy for timely strategic technical and tactical expertise in launching a biological control program for citrus leafminer in Florida.

The Florida Nematology Forum held its annual meeting on September 17 - 19, 1997 in conjunction with the Soil and Crop Science Society (SCSSF) of Florida. At that meeting, retired nematologist Amegda Overman was awarded Honorary Life Member of the SCSSF.

Mrs. Amegda Overman was also featured as a "Woman of Distinction" in the September 14 issue of the Gainesville Sun. Mrs. Overman got her master of soil science in 1951 and is a professor emeritus of this department. She did extensive work on ecological management of nematodes and other soil-born pests.

Dr. James P. Cuda and his research on the biological control of hydrilla were featured in the IFAS 1996-1997 Annual Report of the Special Help for Agricultural Research and Education (SHARE) program.

Kevi Vulinec was awarded a grant from the Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation for her work, "Dung beetles, seeds, monkeys, and forest regeneration in Amazonian Brazil". The award is for $10,432, which was the approximate amount it took to build the airplane "The Spirit of St. Louis" for Lindbergh's historic flight. Only nine of these awards were presented this year, and proposals were required to emphasize a balance between technological progress and conservation of natural resources.

Cecilia Ritzinger has succesfully defended her dissertation, and will receive her Ph. D. degree in December.

Zhong-Xiao Chen won first place of the student paper competition at the 36th annual meeting of Society of Nematologists. The meeting was held in Tucson, Arizona, July 18-23, 1997. The title of the award-winning presentation was "A Case Study of Biocontrol of Meloidogyne arenaria using Pasteuria penetrans". Zhong-Xiao is a Ph.D student of Dr. Don Dickson.

Zhong-Xiao Chen was also the second-place winner of the graduate student paper competition at the 57th annual meeting of Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida. The $200.00 award was presented at the Florida Nematology Forum which was held in Daytona Beach, Florida, September 17-19, 1997. The title of his presentation was "Biological Control of Meloidogyne arenaria with Reference to Amplification of Pasteuria penetrans Endospores in soil". The paper was co-authored by Dr. Don Dickson.

Andy Rasmussen and Christopher Tipping are the appointed student members of the FES executive committee. They will represent students and will address concerns regarding student participation in FES activities.

New graduate students Mirian Hay-Roe and Akers Pence have been awarded teaching assistships in the Zoology department. Congratulations!

Theses and dissertations online

All indications are that the University of Florida will be placing theses and dissertations on the web in the not too distant future, and will not be using hard copies. If you have comments pro or con, you might want to make your feelings known to Dean Shireman.

Finally, a WWW site that is actually useful. PhinisheD, a new discussion group for people who cannot seem to finish their dissertations. The site is at:

http://www.phinished.org/

Thesis and dissertation "Deadline Dates" brochure are available in room 1028.

Final examinations

Graduate students please make sure to include Dr. Smart when you begin to set up your thesis oral defense or the oral qualifying exam. You must be sure Dr. Smart is available to attend your exam before the date and time is finalized with your committee. The department Student Services office should also be given the date, time and title of thesis or dissertation 15 days prior to the date of exam.

The College of Agriculture's new Academic Programs Dean, Dr. Rachel Shireman, is also requiring 10 days notice for the oral qualifying examinations. Dr. Shireman will attend as many of these exams as possible. We have been told she will not ask questions during the exam.

Undergraduates

Undergraduates please check your SASS reports! Are you being tracted properly, BSP,BSB,BIO or UPM? See Debbie Hall in room 1028 if you have any questions regarding your SASS report. Remember: All categories on the SASS report must have "ok" before a student may be certified by the department, college and registrars office for graduation. Students who have applied for Fall 1997 graduation should see their department academic advisor for a graduation check as soon as possible.

New -student photos

Dr. Paul (Skip) Choate will be available to take pictures of the new students on Tuesdays. If you need to have your picture taken, stop by to see him in room 2004 from 8:00AM to 12:00 and from 1:00PM to 5:00PM.

Like to dance?

The UF International Folk Dancers are a diverse group of people who enjoy dancing to music from all over the world. Come to dance, exercise, or just watch- but mostly to have fun! Beginners are welcome. No dues or charges. Please join us! Every Friday night at Norman Hall Gym from 8:15-11:00 PM (instruction during first hour). For more information see our homepage at:

http://grove.ufl.edu/~folkstep/

NEED MONEY?

National Science Foundation Graduate Reseach Fellowship information is available in the student services office. The deadline date for application is November 6, 1997. Awards will be announced in March 1998. Each three-year fellowship provides a stipend of $15,000 for 12-month tenure, and a cost-of education allowance of $9,500 per year. The E-mail address for information and electronic retrieval of application material is:

nsfgrfp@orau.gov.

ENSO's CORNER

Photo Contest

All Students in the Department of Entomology & Nematology are invited to participate in the ENSO photo contest. ENSO will be providing prizes for the three best entries!!! All entries must consist of 2x2" slides of living insects, related arthropods or nematodes engaged in typical activities in relation to their environment; or 8x10" unmounted prints of SEM work. Please include your name and title on all entries (write neatly and small) and put them in Dini Miller's box in the graduate student mail room. Contest begins immediately. Deadline for submissions is November 1, 1997. All entries displayed and prizes awarded at the department seminar on Thursday, November 13, 1997. All entomological entries will be forwarded to the ESA southeastern branch Photo Salon competition in March 1998. All entries will be judged by Drs. Jim Lloyd, Jerry Butler and Paul (Skip) Choate.

Tubing Trip

ENSO is organizing a tubing trip down the Ichetucknee springs on Sunday, September 28. All students, faculty and staff of the Entomology and Nematology Department are invited to participate in this activity. Interested parties please meet by the loading dock Sunday morning at 9:00 am. We need people with cars to provide rides for those who do not have means of transportation. Bring yourself, a friend, lunch, and bathing suits! ENSO will provide refreshments and dessert.

Fundraising

The lemon chill sell at the gator football games has proven to be a very profitable activity for ENSO. Our student club is particularly thankful to Dini Miller, Tim McCoy, Hussein Sanchez, Dina Richman, Juan Villanueva and Maria Bertorelli for their contribution of time and energy, which have resulted in a $400 profit. Thanks are also due to Claudia Riegel and Mr. Tom Hewlett for providing us with the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the lemon chill sale.

Outreach

Dr. Tom Sanford, Dini Miller, and Yasmin Cardoza represented the Entomology and Nematology Department at the new student welcoming barbecue offered by the Agricultural Student Council. The barbecue took place at the Cecil Webb livestock pavillion on Thursday, September 18. Display presentations from several student organizations were available to inform, and to encourage new students to get involved in the different student activities at UF. ENSO received a special invitation from the Ag-Council to participate in this event. Other Departmental members attending the barbecue included Drs. John Capinera and Don Hall.

PUBLICATIONS

Serracin, M. A. Schurerger, D. Dickson and D. Weingertner. 1997. Temperature-Dependent Development of Pasteuria penetrans in Meloidogyne arenaria. Journal of Nematology 28(2):228-238.

Weissling, T.J., and R .M. Giblin-Davis. (August 1997). Palmetto Weevil, Rhynchophorus cruentatus Fabricius. UF/IFAS Featured Creatures. EENY-13.
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/palmetto_weevil.htm

MEETINGS

The annual meeting of the Soil & Crop Science Society of Florida and Florida Nematology Forum took place on Thursday and Friday, September 18-19. Z. Chen won second prize in the Best Student Paper competition in which he, Billy Crow, and Claudia Riegel took part. Participating faculty and staff from this department included Drs. R. Dunn, G. C. Smart, K. B. Nguyen, Drs. Duncan and Noling from Lake Alfred.

The second National Meeting of Entomologists (organized by the Royal Entomological Society) will take place September 9 - 11, 1998 at Exeter University. Further details will be available shortly from the Registrar, Royal Entomological Society, 41 Queens' Gate, London SW7 5HR.

Dr. Hefin Jones Ecotron Project Leader NERC Centre for Population Biology Imperial College at Silwood Park Ascot Berkshire SL5 7PY

MISSING EQUIPMENT.

The equipment in the teaching laboratories is not available for short or long term appropiation by students, faculty or staff. The equipment needs to remain in the laboratories at all times. Currently we are missing a Nikon microscope from 2216 and a B & L microscope from 2217. Also, some of the black Reichert-Jung fiber optic lamps have been removed and replaced withanother brand. All these items are engraved with the room numbers, and all need to be returned as soon as possible. Otherwise, their loss will be reported to the police department next week.

MANAGEMENT GUIDES

The Florida Insect and Nematode Management databases are available through the World Wide Web, on the home page (under Publications) of the University of Florida's Department of Entomology and Nematology at:

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/

ENTOMOLOGICAL MATERIAL

If you're a serious collector then Tom Fasulo, room 3103, has hand-made wooden Schmidt boxes for sale for $10 each. Tom also has some free whitefly publications, loaded with photographs, and colorful posters with 35 urban pests.

COMPUTER CORNER

WWW Fame

Tom Fasulo, one of our extension entomologists, is a Civil War reenactor. He has already been featured in two videos on the Civil War and just returned from participating in another on the battle of Antietam. Tom, who develops computer software on insects, initially became a reenactor to get away from computers. But then, as a volunteer with the State Park Service, he developed a WWW site on Florida's largest Civil War battle, the Battle of Olustee. This WWW site was recently selected as a Top 5% Site on the WWW by Lycos. This is the second of Tom's sites to receive this coveted award. The Battle of Olustee site is at:

http://battleofolustee.org/

Training and CEU Tutorials

For several years, Tom Fasulo has cooperated with other faculty and industry in the development of computer-verified training tutorials that also provide CEUs in several categories. Now he and Drs. Philip Koehler and Don Short are cooperating in the development of a series of Windows-based training tutorials in structural and ornamental pest identification and control. The first such tutorial was actually developed in cooperation with Zeneca Professional Products and is on the insecticide Demand CS. This tutorial, as will the others, consists of 50 questions, combined with Windows quality graphics and photographs. The test results are easy to generate and the State of Florida CEU Record of Attendence form for the tutorial is included with the software. See the Buggy Software Web site at http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/fasulo/pests/software/.

Nematology Sites

Dr. Khuong B. Nguyen just created two websites and posted in the internet. The first site "Taxonomy of Entomopathogenic Nematodes" in which he presented the descriptions of 20 species of Steinernema and Neosteinernema and eight species of Heterorhabditis with illustrations, SEM photographs and keys for species identification. The address is:

http://kbn.ifas.ufl.edu/kbnstein.htm

WP for Windows 6.1

The UF/IFAS WordPerfect (WP) site license has expired. To continuing using WP for Windows 6.1, you must be able to show that you have purchased a valid license. Please review your purchase histories; the following constitute a valid license for continued use: a)License for any version of WP purchased through the IFAS Software Support Office prior to Jul 1 95. b)Shrink-wrapped package of WP for WIndows 6.1. Please note that you need one valid license for each copy you are running. If you cannot verify license ownership, it is recommended that you purchase a new license. Purchasing details can be found at:

http://www.software.ufl.edu/wordperfect.html

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing."

-Werner von Braun

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.

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

The next newsletter will be published Thursday, October 23. Deadline for contributions is Monday, October 20.

Editors: Yasmin Cardoza & Tim McCoy

September 1997. Updated March 2003.