Category: News
Drs. Amanda Buchanan and Adam Ingrao are moving on to new jobs after making great advancements in asparagus entomology in our lab. Amanda as a postdoc was working on using flowering plants to enhance biocontrol of asparagus miner and, Adam did a Ph.D. on molecular gut content analysis of predators collected from asparagus agroecosystems and the chemical ecology of asparagus. We will miss both of you and good luck in your future endeavors!
Adam’s Ph.D. defense
Adam Ingrao successfully defended his Ph.D. today. His thesis topic was on the biological control of two key asparagus insect pests. Congratulations Dr. Ingrao!
New publication
Our manuscript on onion thrips and bacterial leafblight interactions was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology. The lead author is former Master’s student, Ari Grode, who graduated earlier this year. Check out the paper here.
Squash bee citizen science
Participate in our squash bee citizen science project by filling out a survey this summer! To find out more about the project and the survey visit our project’s webpage.
Oikos meta-analysis
Dr. Amanda Buchanan, postdoc, is lead author of a new meta-analysis on arthropod predator-prey non-consumptive effects. Co-authors are Sara Hermann (Ph.D. student in Landis lab), Margie Lund (Ph.D. student in this lab) and Zsofia Szendrei. Our article is open-access and was published online in the September 2017 issue of Oikos!
Thesis defense
Ari Grode successfully defended his M.S. thesis on onion thrips and bacterial diseases. Celebrations were in order!
New publication
Adam Ingrao (Ph.D. student) is lead author of a new publication in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment on biological control in Michigan asparagus fields. Co-authors include former postdoc, Dr. Jason Schmidt, now an assistant professor at University of Georgia and; former graduate and undergraduate students: Jeremy Jubenville, Ari Grode, Dave VanderZee, and Lidia Komondy.
MSU Student Awards
Margie Lund and Adam Ingrao, both Ph.D. students, received the MSU Entomology Department’s Hutson Endowment Research Grant ($2,500 each). Margie also received the Rhodes Gene Thompson Award ($1,500), which is given to graduate students working in applied entomology. Adam received the Guyer Award ($500), which recognizes outstanding achievement in extension by an Entomology graduate student. Ari Grode, M.S. student, received 2nd place in the MSU Plant Science Graduate Student Symposium with his 10 minute oral presentation on the interaction of onion thrips and bacterial blight.
ESA grad student award
Congratulations to Nicole Quinn (former M.S. student) for receiving the Asa Fitch Memorial Graduate Student Award recognizing the research she conducted during her time in the Vegetable Entomology Lab. The Entomological Society of America (ESA) gives this award to an outstanding Masters graduate student each year ($250 and a certificate).
Dr. Wood joins the lab
Dr. Tom Wood joined the lab as a postdoc to work on a new USDA funded project studying the trade-off between pest management and pollinator conservation in cucurbits. This is a collaborative project between Indian, Ohio and Michigan. Welcome to Michigan Tom! Read more about Tom here.