By John Ruberson, Entomology Department Head
The annual meeting of the North Central Branch of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) concluded March 27, 2024, in Fort Collins, CO.
And once again, our students did a great job (pictures below). I attended almost all of our student competition presentations and posters, and every one of them was well prepared and well done. Unfortunately, not everyone won, but all performed well and made us proud.
In addition, Doug Golick (pictured right) received a 2024 Educational Project Award from the Certified Entomologists of Mid-America for his “Little Wings” project for elementary school students. Congratulations, Doug!
The poster and paper winners were:
- BS Posters Session I: Paige Myers - 1st Place, Emma Knezevic - 3rd Place (both mentored by Judy Wu-Smart and Autumn Smart)
- BS Posters Session II: Tyler Babica - 1st Place (mentored by Justin McMechan
- BS Papers: Otavio Silva Xavier - 3rd Place (mentored by Julie Peterson)
- MS Papers II: Ariel Dawdy - 2nd Place (mentored by Louise Lynch-O’Brien)
- MS Papers III: Pragya Gupta - 1st Place (mentored by Justin McMechan)
- Ph.D. Papers III: Natasha Umezu - 3rd Place (mentored by Justin McMechan)
- Ph.D. Posters: Hannah Stowe - 1st Place, Andrea Rilaković - 2nd Place (both mentored by Julie Peterson)
Our students took nine of 39 possible student presentation awards (and placed in seven of the nine sessions in which they competed - there were 13 sessions total) out of the 103 student participants across all 13 sessions. Congratulations to all of the winners! And an enthusiastic and sincere thank you to all the participants for representing the department so well. We are proud of all of you!
